<p>I’m int’l student, and I’d like to know how competitive it is to get into Amherst with siginificant (meaning around $30,000) aid. if you got in, what was your stats?</p>
<p>Hi, I got into Amherst with more than $40K in aid. Amherst is extremely competitive, but not more than, say, Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Vassar etc.
stats: SATI:1580 (800V, 780M), SATII: 740Wr, 800IIC, 760Phy, TOEFL: 300 CBT
GPA: 9.68/10, top 5% of class, hardest course choice
county prizes in physics, biology, geography contests;
debate: national champion, national best speaker, international champion, international judge, coach, trainer, convened 1st intl. tournament in Romania;
languages: romanian, english, german(intermediate), italian(intermediate), arabic(beginner), turkish(beginner)</p>
<p>I feel like a cattle at a country marketplace or a freak at some show whenever i have to tell what my "stats" are.
so, i got slightly over $45th./year, but i must tell you it's very competiteive. as far as i know, this year ~600-700 international students competed for ~30-40 places in the 2009 class. I think Middlebury and Vassar (which bogororo mentioned) could be less competitive, but i don't think anyone could say this for sure.</p>
<p>i believe SAT 1 and 2s are very important particularly for us intern'l students, because without them, the administrators would have no idea how strong your country's and school's education is. and i bet you already know the rest - essays, GPA, getting recommendations, etc.</p>
<p>as for exams, i sat TOEFL, SAT1, Writing, IC, IIC, Biology E and Physics</p>
<p>frolik, I certainly understand your queasy feeling about posting your stats. The thing is, as you explained, they (especially test scores) are extremely important for international students to figure exactly in which ballpark a particular college is - it can be a very, very different thing if you are an international applying for aid at a place otherwise deemed not that competitive, although Amherst is extremely selective for anyone - or at least I like to believe so ;)</p>
<p>ok, i got 297/1520(720+800)/800/730/800/730/780 in the order i mentioned them in my first post. i bet there are at least 4-500 other intern'ls with very similar stats who got rejected. it's a very random process and it could all depend on someone's gut feeling <em>shivers</em> :D</p>
<p>Lucky us, their gut was on our side.</p>
<p>"Amherst is extremely competitive, but not more than, say, Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, Vassar etc."</p>
<p>r u talking about competitiveness particularly for international students? because generally, i'm pretty sure amherst is the most competitive of the group, with the exception of williams. amherst is more selective than all ivies except for h, y, p, c.</p>
<p>oh wait, i'm sorry, i just read u meant "with significant aid." whoops, don't worry about my query then!</p>
<p>yes, with significant aid. Although you've told me not to worry about your query, since I don't have anything to do in particular right now, I'll make an explanation anyway :D</p>
<p>A big error many needy internationals make when choosing their colleges is saying "hey, this college is #20 on the USNWR ranking, therefore it should be easier to get into than #1, because less people would be interested in it". While the fact that #20 would receive less interest could be true, the thing is that, most likely #20 also has less money on hand (endowment is a factor in the rankings) - so getting into any top #20 college or university is no mean feat for an international requesting aid.</p>
<p>thanks a lot. I guess what bogororo said is true, but it does seem like a exceptional thing for an int'l to get into non-need-blind schools.
sorry if posting stats made you feel like a cattle in marketplace.</p>
<p>it's almost as tough to get into need-blind ones. i dont think there's a significant difference, considering the sheer number of internationals compared to the number of places they are competing for :)</p>
<p>Amherst seems to hunt for high TOEFL scores, since its average is 673 PBT. I hear from an admission officer that they rarely take those whose scores are lower than 660.
My TOEFL sucks, a mean 647, though my SAT is 1600. I think it hurts me a lot.</p>
<p>Hi, sorry to interrrupt...
May I ask if any of you international student has heard from the college yet, regarding I-20AB and visa stuff? I remember that they require us to send the 'Intl Student form' by MAY 15..I did fax it to them but I have yet got any reply or acknowledgement ! It's kind of worrying! :( anyone in similar situation ? pls help! thanx</p>
<p>I got a letter from ms. Tuleja today and most likely, so did you. Williamzhang, are you coming to Amherst?</p>
<p>I got an email from the dean of students office on friday, probably because i insisted to have a confirmation about my form in a second fax to them</p>
<p>bogororo, I'm rejected by Amherst, so I'm not able to be going.
Princeton, Dartmouth, and Amherst are my top college choices. But it's freaking hard to be accepted into Amherst from mainland of China. (They have accepted no one for 7 years.) This year someone is admitted, but it's not me. Though a bit depressed, I'm happy now with Dartmouth, which gives me a full ride.</p>
<p>Yeah, I can understand that this "policy" towards mainland China can be a little frustrating. We all got our "fine crop" of rejections (I have a Dartmouth one among the many I've got), but this should not be so important - All well when it ends well. I am sure you're gonna do great at Dartmouth!</p>
<p>wow, I'm awed. I never realized how competitive this process is!</p>
<p>wow! you guys are simply awesome!
i think for intl admission, stellar academic record/extracurriculars/essays... are not the only things...it also depend where you come from, i guess! </p>
<p>@williiamzhang, i'm not aware of the policy towards mainland China, is ist st official ? or just hearsay? </p>
<p>@frolik: your finaid pakage is simply...fabulous ! just out of curiosity, does the college also pay for your transportation and personal expenses as well ? </p>
<p>btw, how did you learn about Amherst ? what's ur plan upon graduation, tentatively ;D ? i guess i'll continue with post-grad study first..</p>
<p>One officers said they had very bad experience with Chinese students before. Something went wrong in the last decade. I heard some piece of that years back, but don't know the whole thing.</p>