OP, I’ll be honest at first I felt bad for you. I know many people around me with the Ivy tunnel vision, and being berated by others is always annoying. But what you said after was horrible.
Settle? Why did you apply then? Trust me, Amherst is nothing to sigh about. Don’t waste your time dancing to other people’s tunes.
If you might be interested in a historical perspective, note that some Ivies once placed a tier or two below Amherst academically: LIFE - Google Books. Across decades, these Ivies have gained in popularity, and now appear equivalent to Amherst in some academic aspects. Nonetheless, Amherst maintains its legacy as the earlier school to reach this rarefied level.
That’s not universally true.
I just changed your title….if it’s not accurate, tell me what you really want it to say…or hit the little pencil next to the title and change it yourself!
Congratulations on your very successful admission to Amherst!!
I’m reminded of Winston Smith . . .
Come back after you have been at Amherst for awhile. I am looking for you to eat crow!
Did you mean to address that to the OP? Seems a bit mean spirited.
Yes, I did mean that for the OP. I just meant they will realize how silly they were that they were settling for Amherst
It’s perfect and thank you!
All right – most any…
Amherst is a “little Ivy.” And one of the top ones at that. Little Ivies - Wikipedia
Since the OP wanted an Ivy because they are known in the OP’s country, maybe telling people it is a little Ivy will help.
Once you are there, it won’t make any difference what people think. Amherst is a really great school in a really great area with a consortium with 4 other schools. You really can’t do better.
Amherst is an amazing school! It’s currently in the top three for best liberal arts colleges in the United States, its academics are challenging but interesting, the class sizes allow you to build good relationships with your professors, and there seems to be a social niche for almost anyone. If you decide to stay, you certainly won’t be at a disadvantage come grad school/law school/business school applications. That being said, if you really feel like you want to transfer, don’t let anyone stop you. But I have a feeling that after spending a few months on campus you may come to like it. Congratulations!
OP has a valid concern that in his country a degree from Amherst won’t get much recognition. That’s relevant because he may not be able to stay in the US after graduation. But Amherst will give him a great education and position him very well to do a graduate degree at a college with a more recognized name. That may well be a sensible path to follow, almost certainly better than looking to transfer.
Other countries have limited knowledge about the US, for example many people in Europe and Asia would put Berkeley above all but a handful of US schools in terms of name recognition and academic credibility. My parents had literally only heard of three US colleges: Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley. When I went to a college reunion in the UK the professors, who you would expect to be more well informed about universities than the wider public, joked about a college no one had ever heard of (Pomona) mounting a successful $1B fundraising campaign, because that was incomprehensible to them.
Consider adopting the phrase: “I got admitted to the best college you’ve never heard about.” It has worked well for our D, accepted to an Amherst peer at the other end of the country.
Good lord. I know that this is a late comment, and that the OP seems to have adopted a new perspective, but I still feel the need to respond. I may be biased, since I am also enrolling at Amherst next year, but Amherst is considered very much on par with the Ivies, perhaps exceeding them in some areas, in areas where college prestige really matters (top employers, grad school, etc.). If folks where you are do not know of or recognize Amherst’s reputation, that is much more of a reflection of them than of the institution itself.
If this is any consolation, within the small group of people I know in the 2025 class, people who have declined offers of admission from the following universities for Amherst:
This might also seem superficial, but here are the schools that people that I personally know of got into, who were rejected/waitlisted by Amherst this/last year:
Needless to say, Amherst is most certainly competitive with the Ivies in terms of selectivity and desirability, and also maintains a notably intimate and personal learning and social environment that the Ivy League and other major research universities lack. Congrats on your Amherst acceptance, and I hope to see you on campus next year!
True story: One of my high school friends was accepted to Amherst College. At a graduation party with friends and their parents/families, this guy mentioned to a group of parents that he was going to Amherst. Some eyes lit up and one parent said, "That’s quite an accomplishment! You should be proud. My daughter almost went to UMass.” When my friend explained that he was going to Amherst College and not UMass, people sort of uncomfortably looked away. The parent said flatly, “Oh, I’m sure that’s a good school, too.” And this was in the Northeast!
All this to say that many people that you’ll encounter in life–especially outside the US–will never have heard of Amherst College and know nothing of its academic reputation. If that’s important to you, then you need to consider how that will impact your self-esteem.
I’ve had the same thing happen to me – I went to University of Pennsylvania and occasionally someone will mistake it for Penn State. Never impacted my self-esteem LOL.
Exactly! Because YOU know that UPenn is one of the best schools in the country and don’t care if others don’t. That’s not true for everyone.
I’m going to be a bit more sympathetic to the OP: I’ve known and worked with tons of international college and grad school students, and lived in several countries outside the US. Internationally, there is very much a focus on HYPSM and a few others, with little thought given to the many other great schools, including several in the “T-20” and certainly absolutely brilliant LACs like Amherst etc. That’s reality, and that’s a lack of knowledge about those other schools, quite simply.
But it is not just internationally: it is also a mindset for many in the US. There are so many “chance me” threads on CC posted by American students that focus only on HYP and a few others that there is nothing new in what OP is posting. These posts are often asking the same question that the OP is asking, and I’ve seen many of them before admissions and after admissions.
There may have been edits in the first post that I am missing, but I think OP is forthright and asking a question that, in essence, many students, American and international, are asking, albeit in different ways. And, I’m assuming that you’re relatively young.
I’m a parent of a student beginning the college exploration, and, honestly, I only focused on the brand-name schools like the Ivies, Stanford, and the T-20, forgetting about the rest. I’ve completely changed, and I am likely decades older than the OP. But that change has only come about relatively recently, and after spending a lot of time considering the collective wisdom that you find in sites like CC etc.
If you wind up working in the US, the Amherst name is well-known to anyone worth working with. And if they don’t know about it, well…you might not want to work with them if they don’t know about Amherst. As one of the posters said, NO ONE will care what school you went to when you start your career. The issue is how you do on the job, and learning as much as you can while in college is a great way to be successful at what you do. Indeed, you got into one of the very top schools in the US (and perhaps the world), so you are already way ahead. Be grateful and rejoice, and then work your tail-end off at college.
If you want, you can consider transferring. But do not neglect the fundamental rule that you will see on countless posts on CC by exceedingly wise folks, be they students, AOs, faculty and/or parents. “LOVE THE SCHOOL THAT LOVES YOU”! Throw yourself at the Amherst experience (or wherever you wind up going), and you will be rewarded, whether it’s personally, financially, intellectually etc.
Don’t look back for one second. You should be exceedingly proud of your accomplishments and looking forward to a wonderful college experience. Forget about what anyone else says except those that have your best interest at heart.
Many years ago, I was deciding between Harvard and Stanford. People told me to go to Harvard because "nobody has heard of Stanford ". How ridiculous does that sound to you? But in the part of the world where I happened to be, that was the perception! Times change.
Amherst is prestigious in the US. So are lots of schools many people here don’t know about. Where I live now, I think people would be impressed by MIT. Caltech, otoh, isn’t on the radar.
All you can do is respond that you’re really excited and looking forward to getting a great education. Enjoy it. It’s a fabulous school.