Lopsided SATs a dealbreaker at Amherst?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

Hello, everyone. I’d really appreciate it if you could assist me with a question.

Obviously the most commonly accepted range of Amherst SATs is very high. But if one is beyond the 75th percentile in some categories, and below the 25th in another, will that negatively impact their application to the point that they shouldn’t even try?

E.g., I have a superscored 2180 (CR: 800, M: 610, W: 770). My subject tests are an 800 in Literature, and a 640 in Biology (E).

Obviously the 610 is pretty abysmal (It was the best I got out of three attempts, too.), but with stats like that–i.e., one thing abysmally low and others markedly high–how badly is the application hurt?

2

I’m not sure, but you could try to take the ACT and see how you do. I know it’s not great having to pay for yet another test but my daughter didn’t even study. She just figured she’d wing it and didn’t want to stress about it. She walked in and took it and scored higher than her SAT equivalent which she had studied aggressively for.

3

I got a 790 in reading and 690 in math, and I’m trying for Amherst. I would say apply because 2/3 of your scores are phenomenal. Best of luck!

4

I think it won’t totally kill you. My SAT writing score was 590 (overall 1940) and I got accepted. But I guess it depends how strong your other parts of the app are