<p>Junior d is a 33 ACT, 3.9 at good public school in Midwest with Gold Award, decent extracurriculars, alum teacher who can write recommendation. Interested in English/creative writing. 760V, 640M on old SAT. Any thoughts on her chances at Amherst? Any other suggestions? (preferably not too left of center in social or academic atmospherics)</p>
<p>You dont have a chance....</p>
<p>Average GPA for Amherst is in the high 3.9 range..
and Mean SAT is 1443..</p>
<p>You are below 50 percentile for both major admission factors..
Your chances are slim to none unless you have some really good awards</p>
<p>33 ACT is below 50th percentile?</p>
<p>Amherst gives priority to your SAT score...
ACT might help a bit though</p>
<p>I watched a video about Amherst, and they show how they throw out an app. with a B+ on it...
and it showed them talking about rejecting ppl with 1550s SAT..
and the importance of non-mediocre ECs...</p>
<p>Either way, it is a reach for you..
If you like Amherst, apply to other schools like that:</p>
<p>Wesleyan
Elon
Oberlin
etc..</p>
<p>All are great schools and you'll prob. get into most of them..
It seems that Amherst is more anal than ivies lately..</p>
<p>Here is a link to Amherst's Common Data Set:</p>
<p>I'd say your d is a good candidate. In fact, her ACT puts her above-average.</p>
<p>her ACT is good. she has a great chance. </p>
<p>variance is talking nonsense. "slim to none" ya rite.</p>
<p>72 admitted from the waitlist - that's a big percentage of the class. That surprises me.</p>
<p>How about Boston College, Williams? I would not say that Amherst is out.</p>
<p>i def. don't think amherst is out. scores are within range, and coming from the midwest is def. a plus. keep on list, but don't let her get her hearts set on it -- or any other school for that matter. good luck.</p>
<p>While I know little about Amherst, why send the SAT if they accept either? My S got into his top choice very selective college without it, (his friends into Ivies) and most of those 3.9 plus average GPA's often reflect weighting of some sort. An ACT of 33 is equal to a range on the SAT of 1470 to 1500. It is how one presents their complete picture that helps. Visit, interview, show love, and apply ED.</p>
<p>I agree that her scores are within range and geography can help. However, please note in some of the rejection threads and others---the advice to not allow yourself to get wedded to any school let alone a reach. Admissions are crazy. While your D stands a good chance it is arbitrary in that many, many qualified students are regected by many of these top 50ish schools. So keep an open mind. Try to hold Amherst as one of many schools (in various so called categories) where your child can have an excellent college experience.</p>
<p>Yeah...no reason to send the SAT. My Dartmouth roommate from the midwest had a 1350 on his SAT but a 34 on the ACT and he never sent the SAT...</p>
<p>Variance2004 is wrong. Your daughter is extremely competitive for Amherst.</p>
<p>Yeah Variance2004 is way off; her ACT scores are outstanding--I mean, a 34. I honestly wouldn't send the SAT scores, and just send the ACT scores. Furthermore, if your daughter has a couple of awards under her belt, and some spectacular extracurricular's--well then yeah, she's "extremely competitive for Amherst."</p>
<p>"How about Boston College, Williams? I would not say that Amherst is out."</p>
<p>if amherst is out... there's no way that williams could be 'in'.</p>
<p>back to the OP, i do think that your D has a chance... admission at LACs has always been more about the person behind the grades than the grades themselves. besides, your D's grades wouldn't keep her out of any school in the country.</p>
<p>i wouldnt say amherst is out at all. I have similar stats (33 ACT, did not send SAT or SAT-IIs) and 3.9 UW.. in fact, im pretty much identical...
I was waitlisted.
33 is not below the mean for amherst, they report that the top 25 percent of people in teh class have a 34 or above, so that means that probably at least a quarter, maybe a half of the entire student body there who has an ACT score got a 32 or 33. </p>
<p>I wouldnt say extremely competitive, she will certainly not be rejected, there is a good chance of a waitlist, and a decent shot at being accepted to make the application worth it. </p>
<p>Do the same thing I did..send the application in, but dont get your heart set on it. I was honored that tehy even waitlisted me, however, Im going to Northwestern, and have a feeling i probably would have chosen Northwestern over Amherst anyhow. </p>
<p>Dogs had good advice. </p>
<p>when i submitted my test scores, i recall them somehow winding up getting all my test scores anyways (i think i stupidly had my collegeboard scores sent to them, i signed up for it before an SAT-I... but tehy didnt even look at my other scores. They got my ACT scores, saw that tehy were higher than my SAT scores, and on their website for my app it listed my SAT and SAT-II scores and said "for notational purposes only" and next to my ACT scores it said "Highest Score - Considered" or something like that. </p>
<p>So to make it short, dont worry about testing. with those stats, you stand a good enough chance of getting in to make the app worthwhile.
In the meantime, I would consider looking at Williams, Grinnell, Oberlin, and Carleton. She should be a shoe-in at any of those besides Williams.</p>
<p>lol, consider Amherst and Williams at the same level, and apply to lots of them, they are pretty similar</p>
<p>that'll make sure you get into atleast one, or increase the chances for it</p>
<p>I guess you need more information besides scores</p>
<p>apply to pomona! its just as good as amherst and williams and its in socal. your daughter has a chance at amherst.</p>
<p>eugene, Just to clarify whom were talking to here: In another post you refer to yourself in the first person and say that youre an Eagle Scout which implies a nifty gender reversal. Maybe you should take a look at Smith. :)</p>
<p>Well, whichever or whatever, theres nothing in this students profile that would keep him/her out of Amherst. The question is what can s/he do to get IN? Her/his statistics are very good of course, but so are most everyone elses. The key will be to present the extras ECs, essays, recommendations, plus any hooks in the most positive light. </p>
<p>These LACs take a holistic viewpoint of the application. They have very few spaces available for kids who do not have obvious hooks like URM status or varsity sports. The other common hooks are the arts (especially at Williams where music and theater are pluses), community involvement or some other activity of distinction. </p>
<p>Amherst doesnt interview which can put the personable kid at a disadvantage, but they do require several essays which should play into the applicants strength. </p>
<p>If Amherst appeals, take a look at Williams. Somewhat less selective are Hamilton and Kenyon. Pomonas a great choice if the Westcoast is an option. Just about all colleges lean left, but Amherst, Williams Hamilton and Kenyon come to mind as being somewhat more balanced politically.</p>