<p>Amherst Class of 2017
33% Varsity Athletes
25% URM
18% First Generation College
10% Legacy
10% International
=96% of students
A few students may overlap in more than 1 category but basically I would say that 85-90% of students at Amherst have a hook to get in. This is bad news for the thousands of 2200+/ top 1% unhooked students who apply to Amherst. I would say the situation is identical at Williams too.</p>
<p>I am sure some of those stats overlap. URM who is a varsity athlete whose parents did not go to college. 
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<p>Being international doesn’t count as having a hook. The international student acceptance rate is only about half that of the domestic acceptance rate; it’s usually far harder to get in as an international student. The applicant pool is pretty self-selecting as well, since most people have never heard of Amherst, and of those internationals who have, many don’t want to attend a liberal arts college. Of course, it also depends on what country you’re from. Applicants from well-represented countries like China and Korea usually face incredibly stiff competition compared to applicants from, say, Nigeria or Kazakhstan. Also, several of those varsity athletes probably never needed the sport to get accepted. They could have gotten in completely “unhooked.” </p>
<p>Yes it is true that international is not a hook, but Amherst “reserves” 10-12% of the seats in each class for international students. So this decreases the amount of spots for US students by 10%.
As for athletes, i’m sure a few of them could have gotten in completely unhooked, but I doubt it is a significant number. At Amherst, for ALL applicants with SAT scores in the 750-800 range, Amherst only accepts about 20%. And I would say that almost all Amherst recruited athletes are NOT in this range (or they would be recruited at HYPS) , so I disagree that many athletes would have gotten in without the athletic hook. Sure the athlethes at Amherst are smart and can do the work, but very few would have gotten in without the athletic hook.</p>
<p>^^ Harvard is D1; Amherst is D3. Different level of athletes. Very few Amherst athletes meet D1 standards. Therefore, the SAT could off the charts and Harvard still would not recruit them. Accept them, sure; recruit, no.</p>
<p>My nephew is a D1 caliber athlete with about an 1800 SAT. He was recruited by Princeton and Yale but ultimately no given an offer due to the Ivy banding protocol. Amherst gladly accepted him, I guess winning on the gridiron is important. </p>
<p>^^ Yeah that happens, but few D1 people actually apply to Amherst as first-choice. Notice, your nephew was being recruited D1 first. Amherst was his sports back-up.</p>
<p>But for big sports like Basketball/Football, Ivies/other top D1 schools will often bring on those high scoring athletes with d3 talent in order to increase the team’s SAT average, which allows them to bring in the All State-1800 SAT Quarterback, for example</p>
<p>OP, where are you getting your information? </p>
<p>Just because a student plays a varsity sport doesn’t mean they were recruited for that sport. I have a VERY hard time believing the athletic department has 155 slots for each incoming class.</p>
<p>My understanding is that Amherst restricts the international population to only about 10%. It reserves nearly all of its acceptances for domestic students. If Amherst didn’t do that, many more internationals would most likely get in, especially considering that over 20% of Amherst’s applicant pool is international (for the class of 2017). And many would have gotten in without their international status, since they’re already well-qualified (so if they were domestic, they would still get a spot over other applicants), but most likely several were kept out because of their international status so that a domestic applicant would be accepted instead. </p>
<p>I have two asian friends that were unhooked and their SAT scores were around 2100. They applied ED and they both got in. Nothing special in ECs and GPA was around 3.8 UW and about 4.3 W. They weren’t recruited for sports or anything.</p>
<p>@Sue22 I did not address that issue, I ignored the erroneous number there. But pretty sure Amherst only actively recruits about 60 - 70 athletes each class and I was told that directly by someone in the know. The football team takes the most recruits, like 15 per class. There are more walk-ons than most people know. What actually is true is about 40% of students play a varsity sport and that includes walk-ons. The info on percent participation is somewhere on their website I believe.</p>
<p>@Sue22 All my information is from the Amherst class of 2017 Profile on the website.
@Bouncer, that is definitely an isolated occurrence, as Amherst really has no incentive to accept such students (not saying your friends are bad students).
Amherst accept only 20% of those with 2250+ SATs, and I am assuming that most of these applicants with a 2250+ have GPAs/ ECs that correspond with their SAT scores. So logically, why would Amherst accept your friends who have a 2100/3.8? It seems likely that they probably have a hook that you are not aware of. </p>
<p>@goblue2018 - I would look at the stats again. I have not seen that profile, but there is a difference between 33% of a class being varsity athletes, as compared to 33% accepted are recruited varsity athletes. For example, my son is counted as a varsity athlete at his school in its profile, yet he is a walk-on. </p>
<p>@goblue2018 Amherst does not accept 20% of those with 2250+ SAT score, it only accepts 20% of those who scored 750+ in one or more of the sections. There is a difference between these two, as someone with an 800 Math score but 600 Reading/ Writing score may be rejected. The rejection of someone who scored 750+ in one section does not mean that they scored 750 in all sections. I would say that, if unhooked, you would have pretty good chances of admission with 2200+ (even 2100+) and a top 3% ranking. Also, I believe essays play a huge part in admissions. I think I was admitted with average stats (2150 SAT and 4.0 GPA) because of my essays. </p>
<p>@student970 I understand your point. But look at ACT scores for those with 34-36 Composite (SAT eq. 2250-2400)
With only 27% of people with 34+ (2250+) being accepted, how are you saying that an unhooked person would have a pretty good chance with a 2100 and top 3% rank?
@awcntdb I am sure that all 33% are not recruited, but it still helps in admissions. Many athlete applicants in RD are not formally recruited but get the boost that comes with being a recruited athlete. Amherst (and other d-3 schools) are not going to rely on luck that enough d-3 caliber soccer players HAPPEN to get accepted RD and walk on to the team. Those situations are definitely the exception where a person tries out and makes a varsity team when the coach has had no priot contact with the player beforehand. </p>
<p>@goblue2018 I agree, but the only issue with your analysis is that it is static across the board; meaning that it is the same for all schools, so the stat really is not a standout for Amherst or any other school of its size. Therefore, it has always been that way in order to field teams. I just do not see it as anything unusual, strange, unique etc. It is par for the course, and students applying have been dealing with this of generations.</p>
<p>There are very few true “walk-ons” at Amherst or any other NESCAC. Virtually every athlete is recruited but not all are “tipped,” meaning that they do not require the same level of assistance to get through the admissions process. Amherst acknowledged a few years ago that each class typically includes 66 tipped athletes and another 50 to 60 or so recruits, who are referred to as “protected.” That 33% of each class is taken up with athletes is likely factually accurate as it takes a lot of athletes to fill out each team. The second group of 50 to 60 are likely as qualified academically as the average Amherst student but their athletic credentials likely do help get them through the door. Some athletes would be URMs and 1st genners but not too many. </p>
<p>Could you link this class profile you are seeing, but it does not line up with one that I am looking at here:
<a href=“https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/523119”>https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/523119</a></p>
<p>This says that 40% of the people with 34+ ACT were accepted. It also says 183 of 472 Early Decision applicants enrolled - that’s a 38.7% acceptance rate, which shows how Bouncer’s friends got in with 2100 SAT. The SAT means of students who enrolled (CR 714, M 718, W 713) total a 2145. </p>
<p>162/594= 27% of people with 34-36 ACT were accepted.
The ED stats are misleading because the “tipped athlethes” all apply ED which really brings down the overall average scores and brings up the acceptance rate. I guarantee there were very few, if any, unhooked white students getting in ED with a 2150.
Basically, the students accepted ED were all either tipped athletes with lower scores (I know a tipped athlete with a 1700 and top 25% rank) and Academic Superstars with 2300+ which is how the overall ED average comes out to a 2150. Its pretty misleading.</p>