Amherst Official RD Results Thread Class of 2021

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
21

ACCEPTED

Objective:

  • SAT I (breakdown): 770 M, 750 CR+W, 20 Essay
  • ACT (breakdown): 36 Composite, 35 English, 36 Math, 36 Reading, 36 Science,
  • SAT II: 800 Math II, 760 Chem, 760 Physics
  • Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98 UW, 4.61 W (scaling is subjective per school so don’t take this too seriously)
  • Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4th out of 230
  • AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chem (5), AP Physics 1 (4), AP World (5), AP US History (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Calc AB Subscore (5)
  • IB (place score in parenthesis): None
  • Senior Year Course Load: AP US Government, AP Literature and Composition, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP Physics 2, AP Biology, Multivariate Calculus, Linear Algebra
  • Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
    • Academic awards: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Scholarship Program Letter of Commendation, Excellence in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences from the Society of Women Engineers (CT Section), Presidential Scholars Semifinalist.
    • Dance awards: Dance Teachers Club of CT Scholarship Winner (2010, 2012, 2013, 2015), DMA National Jr. Mr. Dance Most Talented Non-Finalist (2012), DMA Jr. Mr. Dance of CT (2012), Sophisticated Production’s Highest Scoring Solo (age 15 and under) (2013), DMA Teen Mr. Dance of CT (2014), DMA Tap Class Audition Scholarship 1st Place Recipient (2016), Numerous First Overall Solo and Group Awards (2010 – Present).

Subjective:

  • Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
    • Competitive Dancer (Senior Competition Captain) Tap: 10 Years, Ballet: 9 Years, Jazz: 9 Years, Hip-Hop: 7 Years, Contemporary/Modern: 7 Years
    • Nutcracker Ballet (I've played the role of Prince and Cavalier these past 3 years) (9, 10, 11, 12)
    • National Honor Society (Tutoring coordinator/tutor) (11, 12)
    • French Honor Society (Executive Officer) (10, 11, 12)
    • Seaperch (11, 12)
    • Math League (9, 10, 11, 12)
    • Varsity Tennis (4 singles, 3 doubles) (10, 11, 12)
    • Offered to produce music for small fashion lines
  • Job/Work Experience: None
  • Volunteer/Community service:
    • Assistant Dance Teacher Ages 9-14
    • Nutcracker Ballet Student Rehearsal Assistant
    • NHS Tutor, all subjects
    • Writing Center Tutor
    • Math Center Tutor
  • Summer Activities:
    • 4 Weeks of Dance Intensives/National Competitions
    • Helped build a dance studio/gym in my basement
    • Dance training
    • College Tours
    • Tennis
  • Essays (rating 1-10, details):
    • Common Application Essay Rating: 9?? I had my AP Lit teacher read it over, as well as a few friends. They all said it sounded really personal and unique while being memorable, but I couldn't judge myself accurately.
    • Amherst essay: Sent a 7 page paper I wrote in AP Lit in place of an original supplement, would be surprised if they took the time to read it.
  • Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
    • Teacher Rec #1: AP Calc/Multivariate/Linear Teacher, Math Team Coach
  • I assume it would be very good as he knows my intense schedule in and out of school, my work ethic, my sense of humor, and my sociability.
    • Teacher Rec #2: AP Chem Teacher Same as Rec 1, with the addition of my love and curiosity of the natural sciences plus my drive and independence in the classroom.
    • Counselor Rec: Unknown, but she used to attend my dance studio? So maybe that helped. This was also her first year, so personal details may have been rough.
  • Additional Rec: None.
  • Interview: None.

Other:

  • Applied for Financial Aid?: None.
  • Intended Major: Physics
  • State (if domestic applicant): Connecticut
  • Country (if international applicant): NA
  • School Type: Public
  • Ethnicity: White
  • Gender: Male
  • Income Bracket: Upper middle class
  • Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Male dancer?
  • Strengths: Test scores, extracurriculars, strong commitment to dance, national dance awards, rigorous course schedule, 3 independent studies in physics (shows initiative)
  • Weaknesses: No interview. Also submitted a 7 page paper as my supplement
  • Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: Dance major, test scores, strong essay, unique

General Comments: None.

Other schools you applied to and their decisions:
Accepted: Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Muhlenburg, William and Mary, Duke (likely letter), Columbia (likely letter)
Waitlisted: none
Rejected: none
Waiting: Rest of the Ivys, Stanford, Tufts, Wesleyan, NYU

22

ACCEPTED

Objective:

  • SAT I (breakdown): 770 M, 750 CR+W, 20 Essay
  • ACT (breakdown): 36 Composite, 35 English, 36 Math, 36 Reading, 36 Science,
  • SAT II: 800 Math II, 760 Chem, 760 Physics
  • Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98 UW, 4.61 W (scaling is subjective per school so don’t take this too seriously)
  • Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4th out of 230
  • AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Chem (5), AP Physics 1 (4), AP World (5), AP US History (5), AP Calc BC (5), AP Calc AB Subscore (5)
  • IB (place score in parenthesis): None
  • Senior Year Course Load: AP US Government, AP Literature and Composition, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP Physics 2, AP Biology, Multivariate Calculus, Linear Algebra
  • Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
    • Academic awards: AP Scholar with Distinction, National Merit Scholarship Program Letter of Commendation, Excellence in Mathematics and the Natural Sciences from the Society of Women Engineers (CT Section), Presidential Scholars Semifinalist.
    • Dance awards: Dance Teachers Club of CT Scholarship Winner (2010, 2012, 2013, 2015), DMA National Jr. Mr. Dance Most Talented Non-Finalist (2012), DMA Jr. Mr. Dance of CT (2012), Sophisticated Production’s Highest Scoring Solo (age 15 and under) (2013), DMA Teen Mr. Dance of CT (2014), DMA Tap Class Audition Scholarship 1st Place Recipient (2016), Numerous First Overall Solo and Group Awards (2010 – Present).

Subjective:

  • Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
    • Competitive Dancer (Senior Competition Captain) Tap: 10 Years, Ballet: 9 Years, Jazz: 9 Years, Hip-Hop: 7 Years, Contemporary/Modern: 7 Years
    • Nutcracker Ballet (I've played the role of Prince and Cavalier these past 3 years) (9, 10, 11, 12)
    • National Honor Society (Tutoring coordinator/tutor) (11, 12)
    • French Honor Society (Executive Officer) (10, 11, 12)
    • Seaperch (11, 12)
    • Math League (9, 10, 11, 12)
    • Varsity Tennis (4 singles, 3 doubles) (10, 11, 12)
    • Offered to produce music for small fashion lines
  • Job/Work Experience: None
  • Volunteer/Community service:
    • Assistant Dance Teacher Ages 9-14
    • Nutcracker Ballet Student Rehearsal Assistant
    • NHS Tutor, all subjects
    • Writing Center Tutor
    • Math Center Tutor
  • Summer Activities:
    • 4 Weeks of Dance Intensives/National Competitions
    • Helped build a dance studio/gym in my basement
    • Dance training
    • College Tours
    • Tennis
  • Essays (rating 1-10, details):
    • Common Application Essay Rating: 9?? I had my AP Lit teacher read it over, as well as a few friends. They all said it sounded really personal and unique while being memorable, but I couldn't judge myself accurately.
    • Amherst essay: Sent a 7 page paper I wrote in AP Lit in place of an original supplement, would be surprised if they took the time to read it.
  • Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
    • Teacher Rec #1: AP Calc/Multivariate/Linear Teacher, Math Team Coach
  • I assume it would be very good as he knows my intense schedule in and out of school, my work ethic, my sense of humor, and my sociability.
    • Teacher Rec #2: AP Chem Teacher Same as Rec 1, with the addition of my love and curiosity of the natural sciences plus my drive and independence in the classroom.
    • Counselor Rec: Unknown, but she used to attend my dance studio? So maybe that helped. This was also her first year, so personal details may have been rough.
  • Additional Rec: None.
  • Interview: None.

Other:

  • Applied for Financial Aid?: None.
  • Intended Major: Physics
  • State (if domestic applicant): Connecticut
  • Country (if international applicant): NA
  • School Type: Public
  • Ethnicity: White
  • Gender: Male
  • Income Bracket: Upper middle class
  • Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Male dancer?
  • Strengths: Test scores, extracurriculars, strong commitment to dance, national dance awards, rigorous course schedule, 3 independent studies in physics (shows initiative)
  • Weaknesses: No interview. Also submitted a 7 page paper as my supplement
  • Why you think you were accepted/rejected/waitlisted: Dance major, test scores, strong essay, unique

General Comments: None.

Other schools you applied to and their decisions:
Accepted: Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Muhlenburg, William and Mary, Duke (likely letter), Columbia (likely letter)
Waitlisted: none
Rejected: none
Waiting: Princeton, Harvard, Yale, UPenn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Stanford, Tufts, Wesleyan, NYU

23

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take
ACT (breakdown): 34 (35 E, 34 R, 33 M, 34 S). 32 Writing
SAT II: Chem (720), Math II (720), Lit (690)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0 (Weighted = 5.2, but our scale is weird)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 5%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Human geo (5), Lang (5), APUSH (5), Seminar-capstone (5), lit (4), Calc BC (4, subscore 5), Chem (4), Latin (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: Physics C (mechanics and E&M), AP Research-capstone, music class, 3 more science classes
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
-Science Olympiad: 1st place state rocks & minerals, 2nd place experimental design, a few other major medals
-Engineering award at state science fair
-AP Scholar w Distinction (on track for national AP scholar)
-School honors society

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Science Olympiad (captain), Science Bowl (team captain), Environmental club, NHS, Cross country and track (I became a team manager after a major injury), stem-based curriculum/major within school.
Job/Work Experience: Science internship at local college, working with solar energy, physics, and astronomy.
Volunteer/Community service: Volunteering at local church since 6th grade (childcare), volunteering at high school concerts with proceeds going to charity, random opportunities through NHS.
Summer Activities: Science internship mentioned above. Conducted research, designed experiments, presented findings.
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
-CommonApp (9) - My essay focused entirely on my personality. I talked about challenging a belief about who I thought I was. (it’s fairly personal so I don’t want to share too many details here)
-Supplement Option B (8) - I submitted my AP Seminar individual essay. It was about language, culture, and the importance of preserving languages. The paper was really long, though.

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP Chem teacher (9) - this teacher really liked me and always boasts about how good his recs are (lol).
Teacher Rec #2: English II/Seminar teacher (9) - I had a very good relationship with this teacher and I’m sure she wrote a very good rec.
Counselor Rec: (8) - I don’t know my counselor too well, but she likes me. At my school, some counselors have to write 75+ recs so it’s really hard to judge.
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Physics and geology double major
State (if domestic applicant):IL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public, selective enrollment
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: upper middle class
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Strong interest in STEM. I’ve been interested specifically in physics, geology, and planetary science for my entire life.

Reflections:

Strengths: ACT, GPA, extracurriculars, STEM focus, visited campus
Weaknesses: SAT II
Why you think you were accepted/rejected/deferred? At this point I have absolutely no idea how the college admissions process works, but I’ll take it.

General Comments: GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!! This whole process is terrifying and stressful, but we’re almost there.
To everyone who was accepted: Congrats! I will most likely attend Amherst and I hope to meet you guys soon!

Other College Decisions:
Accepted: Case, BU, Colorado-Boulder
Waitlisted: WashU, Pomona
Rejected: Swarthmore

24

Decision: Accepted

Asian, Male

School: Private UW GPA: 3.84/4.00 (main weakness, some circumstances to explain)
Location: East Coast (very competitive private school)

Test Scores:

SAT 1: 1550 (780 WR / 770 Math)

SAT Subject Tests: Math II 800 Chemistry 780 US History 770
AP: All 5’s

ECs: Research internship at university biochem lab for past 4 years/summers (1,400+ hours)

Siemen’s Semifinalist.

Regeneron STS Scholar (Semifinalist)

1 submitted publication (co-author)

Region Sci Fair ( competitive region) 1st award in category

State Science Fair (competitive state) 4th in my category

Participate in sports, competed in tournaments (achieved 2nd place in two seperate events).

In Club, that teaches STEM and science to students (leader role, organizer).

Volunteering:

Local Hospital/medical clinic for 3-4 years, 15 weeks every year

Essays: good

Recs: should be good

25

Rejected.
Biggest reason-SAT score was below 2000

26

.

27

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2360 (770M, 800R, 790W)
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: 800’s - Math 2, Physics, USH
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): don’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5’s - Calc BC, APUSH, Spanish, Physics, Comp Sci, Psych
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMF

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity and club athlete 3 years (but not recruited), Model UN - won various awards, President of 2 academic clubs
Job/Work Experience: Summer school TA, camp counselor
Volunteer/Community service: various service activities, but not huge number of hours
Summer Activities: see above jobs plus participated in summer sports leagues
Essays (rating 1-10, details): I have no way to judge; for supplement wrote in response to the overcoming a challenge prompt

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): No idea - hope they were good

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
Intended Major: hope to double major in a science and a social science
State (if domestic applicant): East Coast
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: W
Gender: M
Income Bracket: UMC
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): zilch

Reflections:

Strengths: Grades, test scores. My ECs are good, but nothing stellar
Weaknesses: Nothing stellar
Why you think you were accepted/rejected/deferred? No idea. I heard nothing from Amherst between the time I submitted my application and the time they released decisions so I was really surprised when I was admitted.

General Comments: Amherst wasn’t my first choice, but I’ve decided to go and am feeling better about my decision every day. I really like the open curriculum because I’m interested in studying a wide range of subjects and hope to double major. I wanted to fill this out for future applicants because these posts were so helpful for me.

Other College Decisions: Accepted - UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UVA, William & Mary, Williams, UChicago
Waitlisted - Northwestern, Pomona
Rejected - Swarthmore, Brown, Princeton, Yale

28

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted[/color][/size]**

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 32C (31 E, 31M, 33R, 34S) 36 Writing
SAT II: 760 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.92
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/300ish
AP (place score in parenthesis): 5 Biology, 5 Language/Composition, 3 Physics I, 4 Chemistry, 4 Statistics, 4 US History
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Wind Ensemble, AP Literature/Composition, AP Calculus BC, AP Physics II, AP Economics, Honors French III
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): N/A

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Secretary of Key Club, Secretary of NHS, Quiz Bowl/Scholastic Bowl, WYSE
Job/Work Experience:Help out at family’s restaurant in the summer
Volunteer/Community service: 160~ hours
Summer Activities: N/A
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Submitted an regular AP Lit paper about monster theory in Grendel/Beowulf that I got an A on

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: AP Chemistry teacher - I didn’t know him too well, but I think he knew I worked really hard in his class. Got a B in his class though… 6/10
Teacher Rec #2: AP USH teacher - Also didn’t really know him too well but I heard he wrote AMAZING essays for everyone! 8/10
Counselor Rec: Every senior got a new counselor this year because our old counselor resigned, so nobody really knows her… 4/10
Additional Rec: None
Interview: None
Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Double Major - Computer Science and Biochemistry
State (if domestic applicant): IL
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public (1600 students)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <30,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation College

Reflections: I am super excited to attend but whenever I tell my friends that I’m going to Amherst, none of them seem to know where it is which kind of bums me out a bit… I’m still excited regardless :slight_smile:

Strengths: I think my writing was really what helped me get in. I didn’t really have very strong academics or extracurricular activities, but I tried to explain myself and my circumstances resulting from my struggle growing up in America without English speaking parents in my Common App essay and such…

Weaknesses: Academics, Extracurricular Activities

Why you think you were accepted/rejected/deferred?

General Comments:

Other College Decisions:
Accepted: UIUC, Wesleyan, USC
WL: Emory
Rejected: UChicago, Northwestern, Swarthmore, UMichigan

29

You’re from IL…they probably think of Northwestern and Notre Dame first :smiley:

Congratulations :slight_smile: