Last year, my daughter turned down Northwestern, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, UVA, Wash U in St. Louis, UMich, NYU and USC. I’m curious which schools people are debating between.
I haven’t gotten all my decisions but one of my friends turned down MIT and Stanford because Amherst THREW money at him. We are community college students and from what I’ve seen and heard, their aid is generally more than adequate.
Why is this relevant now? Is your daughter thinking of transferring?
Actually my daughter is happy and feels she made the right choice. We have close family friends trying to decide as well as a relative and I noticed a similar post on Pomona’s CC so I got curious.
I turned down UChicago, Williams, Swarthmore, Middlebury, and UC Berkeley.
Cornell, Johns Hopkins, UVA, William and Mary, Colgate, Wesleyan, Brandeis, University of Rochester
I turned down quite a few (safeties, etc.) but some of the notable ones:
Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Williams, UVA and Notre Dame.
I visited all of those places (and more), phew!
In the end, it was not a tough decision. The campus, the town, the classes I sat in and the professors and students I met were all amazing. I’m very excited to start in the fall.
Cornell, WashU, UVa, Wellesley
Bates, colby, brandeis, northeastern. I was lucky to be accepted… But I think legacy helped. However, had I gotten into Brown I likely still would have chosen Amherst so I guess that’s worth something. 
U of Texas, Cornell, and Dartmouth
Add Yale to that list #noragrets
@Surfbort don’t tell me you are truly turning down Yale for Amherst!
@Sapphire24 @soaperwoman @NovusCannis Question for you guys. I paid the deposit for Amherst but I am considering leaving for Georgetown. Amherst hasn’t even officially given me a financial aid package, is this strange? I know they have a good policy but I can’t make a decision based on other people’s experiences (from other sites).
Also, if they don’t end up giving me much, how do I go about insisting for a better package? I’m very worried I won’t be able to afford to go anywhere. This would be easier if I had an idea of how much I will pay.
Have you called the financial aid office to ask where your package is and if they are missing any information? I’d do that TODAY.
@Ahowooh yeah. It looks that way. Yale’s sending me a credit eval and FA package soon, then I’ll give the final say. That said, Amherst’s academics deserve as much respect as Yale’s. At the end of the day, the amazing FA, location, and overall fit played the biggest role.
I’d also note that it’s not a decision I’m taking lightly. As a vet, I’m honored to even have my app get looked at more than once by either school. The biggest deciding factor was saving my GI Bill for grad school rather than burning through it to say that I got a Yale B.A.
I know many kids at Amherst who turned down Ivies to be there. It’s not unusual at all
My son turned down Amherst for U of Texas. He decided he wanted to study engineering.
@OHMomof2 That’s reassuring because as of yesterday, I’ve had people talking my ear off saying “seriously?! You’re gonna turn down a chance to go to Yale!?” Even though I didn’t get to take leave and visit both places, I still strongly feel that Amherst’s environment will be way more conducive to me staying focused as I go back to school for the first time in 6 years. You’d agree too, right? Don’t you have kids there?
I do. My daughter just finished her freshman year and it was more than she hoped for. She’s headed out soon for a summer internship (found with the help of the career center’s Amherst Select program and paid for by Amherst’s internship funding as it is for a non-profit and would otherwise have been unpaid).
I’ve been able to get to know several of her friends, hence the comment about kids who turned down Ivies to attend
(Then again, a family member turned down Yale for Denison so people DO turn down Yale for other schools - 30% do, in fact - but in the family member’s case it was partly for financial reasons).
You will be far from the only vet at Amherst, too. I’m sure you know that already
@Surfbort I didn’t mean to step on your decision. Amherst is phenomenal. By brother and his friends - Harvard students, think I’m a fool for considering Georgetown over amherst. They align amherst with themselves and with Yale. They constantly lecture me about how prestigious and selective it is, and how I just don’t understand.
Thing is, I’m from California and the world of liberal arts colleges is new to me. It seems only my professors have heard of it and not many of my friends. But like my brother has been saying, “the people that matter know of it.”
I don’t know if this gives you insight or not. But congrats on getting into both!