I applied to Amherst College because I liked it when I visited. But my college counselor had told me before I applied that it was a very big stretch, and that he thought I wouldn’t get in. I applied anyway, and somehow I got in. I have no idea how. I really like the school and I want to go, but I don’t know if I can handle the work. I went to a difficult college preparatory private school, but my grades and SAT scores aren’t as high as those of most applicants to the college. Plus I really want to go to medical school afterward, so good grades are important. What should I do? Should I go to Amherst or an easier school?
You sound like you may be a URM having doubtful thoughts about you’re ability. Don’t listen to them. Amherst would not have taken a chance on you if they didn’t think you could handle the work. As for going to “an easier school” to ramp pp your gpa, that’s a myth; you’ll only be competing with a whole lot more people from the same school and with the same grades and with far less mentoring than you’ll find at Amherst.
Let me ask you a question: Do you think it better to go to an easier school, get into medical school, and THEN discover you can’t handle the workload?
Amherst would not have admitted you if it did not think that you could succeed there!
Circuitrider is right about their being great mentoring and support at small prestigious LACs like Amherst. Look at the high percentages of freshmen returning for sophomore year and of students graduating. Colleges like Amherst want you to succeed.
Also, just because a school has more competitive admissions also does not mean that there is more or harder work there than at another college. I worked hard at Williams, but frankly worked harder at my public high school. In college, it’s largely about good time management, because most of your time is not spent in classes, unlike in high school when there sometimes aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything you need to. In college, you will need to plan to balance your “homework” (though it is not called that anymore) with extracurriculars/ sports and socialization and relaxation. If you can stay on top of your work through time management, and visit professors during office hours and seek other forms of extra help when needed, you should do fine.
I forget which school said it in a news article once, but I think this is true of all elite schools: to paraphrase what an admissions officer said, “We don’t make mistakes with whom we admit. All admitted students can handle the work. On the other hand, we reject many students who could also handle the work.”
Speak with an admissions officer or other official at Amherst about where students can find support if they need it. You may find their answers reassuring.
I am an Amherst alum and a physician. I would highly recommend attending Amherst! It is an outstanding school and its rigorous liberal arts curriculum will fully prepare you to be a good doc and a well-rounded human being. Forget about being “prepared”, the admissions team knows what they’re doing, and if you have been accepted, then they entirely envision you succeeding as a student there.
If you go to a rigorous college prep school, you most likely will be well prepared. Sure there will be kids smarter than you there, but there will also be some not as smart as you.
Congrats
Judging one’s abilities is a funny thing. On the one extreme are people with unshakeable confidence that they are stars even in the light of contrary evidence (look up the “Dunning Krueger effect”). On another end, many people who ended up doing quite well can remember a time at the start of college when they looked around and thought the adcoms made a terrible mistake and they aren’t as capable as the other kids.
Still, as Malcolm Gladwell addresses at length in his book “David & Goliath”, someone who is a strong performer compared to most students overall but ends up at a top school where they are one of the weaker performers compared to their peers can suffer for it. And it sounds like this is your concern.
I have no idea whether you just have a common case of the jitters or a legitimate worry. I’m not sure how those previous posters who assured you all will be fine can know that. But since you say you attend a “difficult college preparatory private school” then you have easy contact with people that do know. No doubt previous graduates from your school have gone to Amherst and similar schools. Ask several of your teachers for their assessment of where you fall compared to others.
I know because 45 years ago, I was that kid (which is more than Malcolm Gladwell can say.)
For what it’s worth, my D is at Amherst and has found incredible support and help when she needs it. She was not one, in high school, to ask for help from her teachers, she saw it as a sign of weakness no matter how often I told her they’d be glad to help. She largely got through stuff she wasn’t mastering on her own, and not always successfully.
Well she got over that fast at college. She goes to her prof office hours, she uses the quant and writing centers, she sets up regular appointments with her advisers, she signed up to get an alumni mentor (this is a program called Pathways) and she talks to her often. She did workshops at the career center and got herself approved for certain selective internships. She has, in her second semester, really improved her time management skills too. She has a full courseload and is active in 5(!)clubs, finds time to eat, sleep, work out and apply to summer internships and such too.
Not only is Amherst not accepting kids they don’t think can make it, they are making darn sure they DO make it once they get there. It would be very difficult to fall through the cracks there.
The frosh dean spoke to parents at orientation and said not only does he reach out to a student when a prof tells him one may be struggling, he’ll go stalk them in their dorm if necessary. I believe him 
You can do it! If Admissions admitted you, they believe in you.
Assuming one has the basic level of intelligence to do the work, effort, motivation, and perseverance often count a lot more than native intelligence in both college and the professional world. I also agree that effective time management is one of the most important skills that you learn in college. I also would add that finding out the way that you learn best so that you can effectively learn whatever material you need to learn in college and later in life also is important. At some point, you will be your own best teacher. I think places like Amherst, where critical thinking is encouraged and asking the hard questions is continually affirmed, will help you develop these important life skills.
Read this and repeat:
NO ONE gets into Amherst who’s not capable of doing the work.
NO ONE.
Amherst has faith in you. Have faith in yourself.
My daughter attends Mount Holyoke where she’ s basically a B+ student. So far she’s taken two classes at Amherst. and received As in both. I asked her if Amherst was easy. She laughed. In her opinion, “Amherst isn’t easier. They just make it easier to do well”. AKA the teachers work hard to make sure you grasp material.
I bet your prep school GC was referring to Amherst as long shot, because even the most qualified candidates are often passed over. GCs try not set up unrealistic exceptions. But in this case, he/she shot down your confidence too. For some reason Amherst likes you. The only question is, do you like Amherst?