Chances at Amherst?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

<p>Do I have a chance to get in? And does it seem like a good fit for me? I only know from what I’ve read that it sounds really promising.</p>

<p>GPA UW: 4.0 (not weighted)
Rank: 1/550
SATs: 2280 (720 M, 760 CR, 800 WR).
SATIIs: 780 Spanish, 750 Lit. Unsure of third one to take, prob. US History</p>

<p>Extra-curriculars</p>

<p>Varsity soccer 9-12 (top team in district for 12 years, but have never gotten past first level of State…inner-city school and all can’t compete with suburbs in terms of sports)
Club soccer top-level since age 8 (captain)
Newspaper editor 11-12
Volunteer coach of mid-level Spanish-speaking girls’ soccer team
Volunteer with literacy program for Spanish-speaking preschoolers (my biggest source volunteer hours…somewhere around 350 for two summers)
Big Sister (Spanish speaking “little sister” o’course)
Accepted as intern at top independent publishing house this summer (as rising senior)
National Honors Society Vice-President
Volunteer for a program that gets teenage mothers involved in poetry/spoken word readings</p>

<p>Awards</p>

<p>National Merit Finalist
Youth journalism award for article, paper I edit
Scholastic Art and Writing Gold Award Short Story (national level)
Applying for Davidson Fellowship (maybe a slim chance, I think?)</p>

<p>My passion (I hope it shows through my extracurriculars) are writing and Spanish (I skipped three years of Spanish: second, fifth, and sixth. I am not a native speaker.) I’ve been trying to follow them…</p>

<p>Sophomore schedule:
AP English (5)
AP Spanish (4)
AP US History (5)
Honors Chemistry
Honors Algebra II
Spanish IP</p>

<p>Junior Schedule:
College-in-the-schools Economics
Writing class at University of Minnesota
Advanced Spanish Communication at University of Minnesota
Honors Physics
Honors Pre-Calc
Newspaper
Self-study Spanish Lit (plan on 4, 5)</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP Calc AB
AP Environmental Sci
English class at Macalaster (top college in my state w/ Carleton)
Social Studies class at U of M (unsure which)
AP Psych
Spanish class at U of M
Newspaper</p>

<p>The lack of APs junior year was due to the fact that my school only offers limited AP classes. AP Psych will not be offered until next year, and the only AP I didn’t take was chemistry (we have just six). Spanish lit was not offered and I studied it all on my own.</p>

<p>For my essays I’m planning on writing about an article I did for my school newspaper junior year about teenage parents at my school, less about the academic journey and more about the personal journey I took bonding with the moms and how it made me more confident as a writer, stuff like that.</p>

2

<p>You look like a very strong applicant. You appear to have taken the most rigorous schedule your school offers - even going beyond at some points to take college classes and self-study - and you still have excellent grades and rank number one. Your SAT score is in line. Your EC's are strong and show passion and commitment. </p>

<p>Info that would be helpful to know would be your gender, ethinicity, and socioeconomic status. Being an underrepresented minority and/or low-income is an especially big plus at Amherst. Also, no loans if you get in!</p>

<p>A couple things:
1. Don't worry about your lack of AP's junior year. Your guidance counselor will give Amherst info on how many AP's are offered and how tough your schedule is.
2. Unless they've changed since last year, you only need two SAT II's. If you think you can do better on another test (or by retaking Spanish or Lit.), take it by all means. But otherwise, don't bother.</p>

<p>My advice would be to keep up your grades and focus on your essays. Have them reviewed by a few adults whom you trust to catch those silly mistakes we all make and to make sure that your essays reflect the true you. I asked my friend's mom (who happens to be a professional editor) and an aunt and uncle. I think they offered a good balance of objectivity and personal knowledge of me. Parents can sometimes be too close to take the necessary step back.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>P.S. I'm guessing you live in one of the Twin Cities. How large is the Spanish-speaking population up there? I guess I never thought of immigrants making it that far north!</p>

3

<p>Catfish--thanks for your advice. I'm a white female from Minnesota whose parents make <$60,000 a year, but are both Princeton grads (artists).</p>

<p>I do live in the Twin Cities. We have quite a large Spanish-speaking population, actually, though it is quite cold here. I don't know the exact numbers, but my public high school class is 18% Hispanic, 40% white.</p>

4

<p>Being a white female won't help you, but Minnesota isn't an overrepresented state and being middle-income is looked on favorably by Amherst.</p>

<p>I see you cross-posted this on the Northwestern board. Your chances there are probably similar, but perhaps a bit better because NU's acceptance rate is a bit higher than Amherst's. "Higher" in this case means 25% rather than 17.5%.</p>

5

<p>You're in. I have a friend who's a sophomore this year at Amherst and his stats were much worse than yours.</p>

6

<p>ccri, no one can say for sure that anyone is IN at Amherst. Yes, the stats are there, but the essays are of paramount importance. Your stats are similar to my D's and she is there, but it has gotten even harder to get in since they were overenrolled, and expect that next year, as well. Make sure your essays are the best htey can be, and Good Luck!</p>