Should I retake my ACT's?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

t’s been 3 years since I graduated High School. In the meantime I’ve been mulling around at a CC, trying to figure myself out. I did pretty well, but not as good as High School (I got one F and one C) so I’m applying as a first-year to Amherst College.

Stats:
GPA: 4.44 weighted, 3.98 unweighted- lots of APs and Honors
SAT: 720 writing, 710 reading, 650 math = 2080 total
ACT: 27 total, Eng- 31, Reading - 30, Math- 23, Sci- 25, Eng/Wri- 29
ECS: lots of honor societies in HS, active in my current community college as president of some organizations
It’s been 3 years since I took my tests. I may retake the ACT though on late registration.

A little bit about me:

  • URM, also multiracial, Female, Lesbian, Under Poverty line
  • Rejected by all my college choices in Senior year right around the time my grandmother got very sick and after 1 year in CC, she died. I’ve been struggling with grief and trying to find myself since then, and I didn’t do as well in CC as I should’ve (4 W’s, one F and one C, both retaken as A’s- all A’s otherwise). If I had done better, I’d consider applying transfer, but I don’t want to submit these transcripts. I work fulltime and I am immensely passionate about writing, and art to a lesser extent. I want to be in Amhersts creative writing program and am going to send examples of my writing (and maybe art) with my application.

I have some good things going for me, but I know I could be better. Should I register late for ACTS to get a better score or leave it as is.

2
  1. I don’t think you can send in writing as a supplement
  2. I think you should retake the ACT, maths is way too low even if you have a URM hook
  3. work on your essays to show how you’ve grown from your exoeriences (don’t just hash out sad things that have happened in your life, show their positive impact) and make use of the additional info section to explain your situation. There’s an educational interruption section too but get a recommender to talk about your hardship too in their letter
  4. What about ECs?
3

i hope you’re applying elsewhere too!

4

Hey, thanks for the reply! I appreciate it very much! I spoke to the university earlier this month and they said they would allow for me to send in supplemental writing separate from my application. :slight_smile: I think I should retake too but I wanted opinions from those who had experiences dealing with Amherst. My EC’s are okayish. I’ve been a fulltime worker for years so I could only do so much, but I managed to be active in several honor societies and lots of volunteer work when in High School. Since then, I’ve tried to be very involved in my CC as an Honor Society member here as well as being the President of our Asian Culture Club and being an officer in our ALLY society. I also recently won a writing contest by my Univerisity but I dont know if I should mention that or not.

5

I am planning on applying elsewhere, but I’m not sure where to look. In my initial run years ago, I got rejected by the top schools in my state (UVA) and VCU’s art program. I was thinking of William and Mary but I would like to apply to other schools too.

6

I’m honestly not sure if I’m good enough to get accepted many places, unfortunately. I should’ve done better in CC but the past is the past, so best not to dwell on it. :slight_smile: I still have a 3.6 considering my poor grades, but I don’t think its enough. :slight_smile:

7

Then why in the world are you applying to Amherst? Sure, you have a chance, everyone has a chance but really you need to be focusing on schools where you are an aptitude-match and that isn’t Amherst. I’m curious what schools you applied to originally. There are very good schools out there and your stats are very good, why not find a few that you have a good chance of being accepted rather than a minute chance? I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment.