1520 SAT (790 math, 730 Eng, 6/7/8 essay)
780 Bio E
750 Math
GPA: 99.32 (UW), 100.92 (W)
Rank: 1/532 (UW), 2/532 (W)
Senior Year Courses: AP Calc BC, AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Macro, University French
As far as EC’s…I do a year-round sport (10 hrs/week), co-section leader in band, clubs (NHS, French NHS, tutoring), volunteer regularly with different organizations, I have a job…not much leadership and nothing unique though
Awards: again, nothing special…Nat Merit commendation, Harvard Book, etc.
Applied as a physics major
White female from upstate NY
I guess I’m just really worried because I was deferred EA from NEU. Amherst (along with most of the other schools I’m shooting for) is much more competitive…
Hi. I don’t think it’s possible for anyone (including admissions officers) to talk about your chances…other than the simple fact that your stats are within range of what Amherst admits historically. My D who got admitted ED to Amherst, also has similar stats (non-legacy, non-athlete, non-URM, Asian), although we can nit-pick areas where she is stronger/weaker. In the end, it will really depend on what Amherst considers ‘fit’, and that in itself is a very nebulous concept. Reading from her acceptance letter, we can surmise that Amherst considers admissions holistically - it referred to, in a circumvent way, aspects from various parts of her application; grades, scores, essay, ECs and teacher recs. However, this may very well be a standard letter they send out to everyone, and they may indeed just care about scores/grades.
From what little I know, Amherst does do some form of AR segmentation of applicants. A thesis published by a Williams student seems to suggest Amherst initially divides applicants into 9 groups (Williams does 7), with group 1 being applicants with the best and group 9 being the worst. Kids in AR group 1 and 2 are considered, group 3 is considered only if there is a strong hook or other underlying reason supported by the AO. The paper claims that all other groups (4 - 9) are dropped from consideration. Your score seem to put you either in group 1 or 2…so I guess you have a much higher chance than the average 12-14% acceptance rate (some surmise up to 50% for group 1 applicants).
One word of advice. You are obviously a smart, motivated student who has worked very hard to get where you are today. You know how to push yourself, and have demonstrated you have the tenacity to continue to push yourself towards a goal. And you are engaged enough in shaping your future to come to CC and ask questions. Be proud of that and never forget that you have that drive inside you. If you retain that ability, you will find that you will continue to tap into it for the rest of your life. As for Amherst results…you’ve done everything that you could possibly do. Alea iacta est.