Recommendations for an International Female hoping to get in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

<p>After a lot of research, Amherst is definitely my first choice.</p>

<p>I will be applying RD (because I will not have everything ready for ED), and I think I have a good profile but not sure if it’s good enough for Amherst. I am a little anxious because I know that a girl from my home country was accepted for this year’s incoming class (class of 2017), and I have been told that my academic profile is close to hers -might be slightly higher-, but my extra curricular activities, sports & community service are much higher. That gave me hope, until I found out that a boy with a similar academic profile than mine is also applying this year (no idea about his complete profile). I know Amherst has a higher Male/Female acceptance rate, but I wonder if they would accept two similar applicants from the same country, or if they would favor a boy over a girl due to the fact that a girl was accepted for the class of 2017?
With my stats, can any current students give me recommendations to increase my chances of getting accepted? I really want to go to Amherst!
Thanks!</p>

<p>HOOKS:
First Generation to go to College, International Student, coming from an Under Represented Country, not sure if I count as a Minority or only as an International ?, Bilingual (English/Spanish)</p>

<p>ACADEMICS:
Top 10% of my class (No 9 out of 105 students)
93% average (last 4 years)
Academic Awards every year (since Elementary School)
Honor Roll Student
NHS member
4 APs in 11th grade (two 4s and two 5s)
4 APs in 12th grade (taking them right now, but I expect to get good scores)
Received the AP Scholars With Honors Award (only two people in my grade received it)
SAT: 2030 (first try) but will re-take on Saturday hoping to do better
640 Math 680 Reading 710 Writing
(I want to be a Writer, so I plan to major in English, and if it is possible I’d double major in Economics)</p>

<p>SUBJECT TESTS: Will take in November but I have scored around 700 in practice tests (Math 1 & Literature)
TOEFL: I expect to do great, most of my classes are taught in English and I only like to read in English (I read a lot!)</p>

<p>PRE COLLEGE: Last two years traveled to the US to participate in summer courses: 1st year: Creative Writing Seminar 2nd year: Creative Writing Class with College credit: B+ final grade</p>

<p>EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:
Drama Club (just auditioned and qualified for an International Competition that will be held next year. Unfortunately, it will be when I have already sent my application and by then it will be in the process of being reviewed, so I don’t know if I can include it in my application)
Year Book Committee
Dale Carnegie Leadership Seminar
Student Host/Guide for visiting Sports Teams</p>

<p>SPORTS:
Equestrian (Competitive Show Jumping) Several Awards, a couple International competitions, constantly placed very well in National Ranking for the past 6 years, several newspaper mentions, and placed in the top 30% world wide in an international competition.</p>

<p>COMMUNITY SERVICE:
Very strong: Volunteer for the last 6 year in an International Organization that comes to my home country to help a local home for at-risk youth, twice a year.
I have done fund raisers, recruited volunteers, promoted the project, mentored kids, served as translator, Host and guide for International Volunteers in mission trips.
I have been mentioned in several articles in this organization’s newsletter that’s distributed world wide, and I just wrote an article that was published about the impact this organization has had on my country, I have appeared in their brochures, in their web page, and in magazine adds for several years in a row.</p>

<p>Also volunteered in two other organizations (Serving as a document translator for the last 5 years, for a foster home for abused Girls, and Volunteered to help build a house for a homeless family)</p>

<p>LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION: My College Counselor said they are great: Both from AP teachers (Scored 4 & 5 final grade) and a letter from the President of the International Organization where I volunteer. I also had thought of asking the Vice principal for a letter… not sure if I should do it ?</p>

<p>ESSAYS: Working hard on polishing them, I’ve been told they look great. I honestly hope so!</p>

<p>So, any recommendations on what to do to improve my chances?</p>

2

<p>As a senior, there’s not much you can do to improve your chances as far as academics and ECs go. Increasing your SAT score would probably help, but in the grand scheme of things, I doubt that a 100 or so point increasing would make any difference at all. Since Amherst is a small school that receives applications from academically qualified students, essays make a HUGE difference. Despite having solid academic stats that are probably going to make admissions take your application seriously, you’re not going to be one of the students admitted for having jaw-dropping academic achievements, you’re essays are pretty much the only thing you can still work on to make them decide to choose you over thousands of similarly qualified applicants. You’re definitely in the running and those international equestrian awards will for sure help make you stand out. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Thank you for taking the time to answer!
I really want to get into Amherst, it just seems to be so hard to be selected among so many applicants! I hope that I am one of the lucky ones that deserves a spot for next year’s incoming class…!</p>

4

<p>Ya you just need your application to get in the right hands at the same time…I also applied as an international student, and my best advice is too apply to as many schools as possible. This usually isn’t recommended for domestic students, but internationals face such tough competition at pretty much every school that applying to more schools can only help, as long as it wouldn’t take away from the quality of each application. EDing at your top choice might also be a good idea depending on what your financial situation is. Also, as an international student, you don’t get the URM boost that American minorities and permanent resident minorities get. When colleges report their incoming class stats, you’d count as an international student and wouldn’t be included in the Hispanic/Latino category…despite the fact that you might be 100% Hispanic/Latino. With that said, they’ll still see you as being able to contribute diversity to the class, but you won’t be treated like a URM as defined by the Dept. of Education.</p>