<p>I know Amherst is in fact one of the top-tippity-top liberal arts colleges in the nation.</p>
<p>And since Amherst is a liberal arts college,</p>
<p>do we need to have a super strong indication on our high school records of the secondary courses taken (well obviously), or do they also look at your “whole package”? </p>
<p>it is to say…</p>
<p>do liberal arts colleges look at apps the same way as non-liberal arts colleges do?</p>
<p>If you are super strong in the humanities and weak in math, they will understand unlike an engineering college (for obvious reasons), or vice versa. That said, many applicants are good at essentially everything they do, so you cannot be too weak in a certain area. Does that answer your question? I am not sure if I understood you correctly.</p>
<p>yea, that's perfect.</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>And realize that it was overenrolled this year, (with the same expected next year) with SAT scores and class ranks going up. Since it is an elite school ranked in top 2 virtually every year, it is very difficult to get into. That said, there is more to the equation than just stats. Your essays are incredibly important, since there are no interviews, and whether or not you can fill a necessary slot (major, theater, sports, etc.) will come into play, as well. Good luck!</p>
<p>Be forewarned that next year admissions will be the most difficult they have ever been. Amherst accepted about 17-18% this year, the lowest rate in the college's history, and overenrolled. Plus, applications are expected to increase next year, which means that the acceptance rate will be a few percentage points lower than it already is.</p>
<p>So why not at least consider Williams?:)</p>
<p>I agree. If you like Amherst you would almost certainly feel the same about Williams and Swarthmore. They are more or less equals, like Harvard, Princeton and Yale, and you would do well to get into any one of them. Take your pick once you are admitted.</p>
<p>top liberal arts colleges were all overenrolled this year. at middlebury, for example, they admitted more academic "5's" than usual, thinking they'd lose them to the ivies. however, many of these kids enrolled and they ended up with near a 50 percent yield, meaning the admit rate will go way down next year. this is the case with amherst as well, which gets a lot of cross-admits with middlebury. i tell you this just to make the point that admissions committees at liberal arts schools like WASM will be looking for reasons to reject strong applicants...ultimately, your application (stats, essays, and the whole package) will need to be near impeccable to gain admission.</p>
<p>also, being from an underrepresented state helps GREATLY with amherst. in the info session, the rep said they partition the country into geographical regions and try to take an equal perecentage of students from each area. thus, being from an area that gets fewer applicants will make the college look for reasons to take you, as opposed to the other way around.</p>
<p>In her welcoming speech on Admitted Students weekend, Katie Fretwell said, "if you are from [underrepresented state here], please let us know!" </p>
<p>BrownPlease is right about the geography affecting admissions.</p>
<p>So, since I'm from Hawaii, that would help, yes? Haha.</p>
<p>"If you like Amherst you would almost certainly feel the same about Williams and Swarthmore." </p>
<p>Don't believe that. The fact that all three of the above colleges are ranked highly in USNWR means they are considered the best, but each school is quite distinct. For example, the curriculums at each school are quite different and more than likely one will appeal to you more than the others. Don't decide based on rankings..actually do the research.</p>
<p>I did my research, which included visiting them and talking with faculty. I agree that each has a distinct flavor. But it's like choosing between apple, cherry or pumpkin pie. Concept is the same, with varying implementation.</p>
<p>So which school is which flavor? (Possibly the only college-related topic that has not been covered in exhaustive detail on CC: What Flavor of Pie is Your College?)</p>
<p>IS it always the case regarding the advantage of coming from an underrep region? How about from a underrep country? But needing AID!</p>
<p>Underrepresented region and/or country helps a lot. Diversity is very important to Amherst. There is aid for internationals, and Pres Marx is trying to change the aid to meeting 100% of financial need for internationals. Good luck!</p>
<p>The recent report by the [url=<a href="http://www.amherst.edu/%7Ecap/report2006/2.html%5DCommittee">http://www.amherst.edu/~cap/report2006/2.html]Committee</a> on Academic Priorities] recommended that the cap on international admissions be increased from 6% of the class to 8% and that international admissions be made need blind. I'm not sure whether those recommendations will be implemented for this year's round of admissions.</p>
<p>Regardless, international admissions are even more competitive than domestic. Best of luck.</p>
<p>But the 6% includes us citizens and permanent residents living overseas?</p>
<p>Would i be an auto reject if my A and O levels contain no social sciences, history?</p>
<p>ofcourse not! i was pure sciences in both my O and A levels but still got admitted...just write a damn good essay</p>
<p>Orasool- do you mind PMing your essay? Just wondering what a science person wrote.. It's fine if you feel uncomfy about it..</p>