REQUIREMENTS AND CAMPUS GUIDE
Amherst College
Amherst College is one of the most selective and academically rigorous liberal arts colleges in the U.S.. With a total enrollment of under 1,900 students, the college’s small size ensures that students have an intimate academic experience and build close relationships with each other and with faculty. Its membership in the Five College Consortium, however, also enables students to pursue an expanded range of course options and a broader social life. Here’s everything you need to know about Amherst!
REQUIREMENTS AND CAMPUS GUIDE
Amherst College
Amherst College is one of the most selective and academically rigorous liberal arts colleges in the U.S.. With a total enrollment of under 1,900 students, the college’s small size ensures that students have an intimate academic experience and build close relationships with each other and with faculty. Its membership in the Five College Consortium, however, also enables students to pursue an expanded range of course options and a broader social life. Here’s everything you need to know about Amherst!
REQUIREMENTS AND CAMPUS GUIDE
Amherst College
Amherst College is one of the most selective and academically rigorous liberal arts colleges in the U.S.. With a total enrollment of under 1,900 students, the college’s small size ensures that students have an intimate academic experience and build close relationships with each other and with faculty. Its membership in the Five College Consortium, however, also enables students to pursue an expanded range of course options and a broader social life. Here’s everything you need to know about Amherst!
School Location
AMHERST, MA
School Type:
PRIVATE LIBERAL ARTS
Admissions Rates:
ADMITTED: 9.82%
GENERAL INFO
SAT/ACT Score
Test Optional for 2024-2025
Admission Cycle
Class of 2027 Test Scores:
Middle 50% SAT:
1480-1550
Middle 50% ACT: 31-35
Dates/Deadlines
Early Decision: November 1
Early Results:
Early-to-mid December
Regular Deadline:
January 3
Regular Results: Late March
School Information
Undergraduate population:
1,907
Faculty Ratio:
1:7
Interviews Considered:
No
AMHERST TIPS & GUIDE
How difficult is it to get into Amherst?
With an acceptance rate of 9.8% for the class of 2027, admission to Amherst College is highly competitive, and the college seeks to admit students “of strong vibrant and intellectual promise” who “will take advantage of Amherst’s remarkable resources.”. Ninety percent of Amherst students in the class of 2027 finished in the top 10% of their secondary school class, and the 25th-75th percentile SAT and ACT scores were 1480-1550 and 31-35, respectively. Students interested in attending Amherst should focus on taking rigorous courses and achieving stellar grades and test scores.
What is the campus like at Amherst?
Amherst’s campus is characterized by its blend of historic charm, modern research facilities, and natural beauty. Spanning over 1,000 acres of picturesque landscape, Amherst College boasts a stunning and expansive campus situated in the quaint town of Amherst, Massachusetts.
Amherst is a vibrant small town with many amenities, beautiful natural surroundings, and a diverse community that is home to 30,000 college students during the academic year. Additionally, more than 40% of the local population has a graduate degree. In addition to regular events at each of the nearby colleges, you can find things to do on campus. There are hiking trails, fishing streams, and many people boat on the Connecticut River. Amherst itself has community centers and affinity spaces, and a 500-acre wildlife sanctuary to which you can escape when the libraries and classrooms become too claustrophobic. Getting to (or out of) Amherst couldn’t be easier; Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Conn., is about an hour from campus, and Boston’s Logan Airport is about two and a half hours away. Amherst provides shuttle transportation from either airport to campus.
Whether strolling through its tree-lined pathways, studying in its well-appointed libraries, or engaging in vibrant campus activities, students at Amherst College will find themselves immersed in a historic, small-town setting best suited for students who enjoy a tight-knit, academically focused community.
What is Amherst known for?
Amherst is known as “The Writing College” thanks to its many alumni who went on to become award-winning novelists, poets, journalists and critics. They are also responsible for producing world-renowned literary publications. The college is home to thousands of Emily Dickinson’s manuscripts, letters and personal objects. Additionally, Amherst has one of the largest theater collections in the world and houses the Folger Shakespeare Library.
How diverse is Amherst?
Of Amherst’s U.S. student population, 51% identify as students of color. The students come from 70 different countries, including all 50 U.S. states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. Twelve percent of admitted students are international students, and 57% received financial aid in 2023-2024.
How do I apply to Amherst?
You can apply to Amherst either through the Common Application or the QuestBridge Application by the following deadlines:
- November 15, 2024 (Early Decision)
- January 6, 2025 (Regular Decision)
When you do so, you will have an option to submit supplemental materials in addition to one mandatory supplement, the Amherst Writing Supplement, which is either a high school paper, a response to a prompt provided by the school, or an A2A application (for relevant students).
If you have any special talents or accomplishments related to the arts, you can submit relevant material through the Application Status Portal (ASP), a secure online site personalized for each Amherst applicant. If you’ve participated in significant research in any field (natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences or humanities) independently of your high school curriculum, you can include a brief description of your progress in the “Optional Research Questions” section of Amherst’s application.
Does Amherst College have a good athletic department?
Amherst College competes in NCAA Division III and is a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Amherst offers a wide range of sports for both men and women, including basketball, soccer, and baseball, as well as less common sports such as squash and crew.
What are Amherst’s core curriculum and programs?
Unlike many liberal arts colleges, Amherst doesn’t have any general education requirements. Instead, they have an “open curriculum” with no distribution requirements and no core curriculum. This system gives you the freedom to take a wide variety of courses in any subjects that are of interest to you. Additionally, the open curriculum system makes it easier to double major and still have enough time to explore other disciplines, because students aren’t busy fulfilling requirements in fields that don’t interest them. Students are also able to cross-register for courses at any of the institutions in the Five College Consortium, which includes Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Can I afford Amherst?
Like other private colleges, at first glance Amherst appears outlandishly expensive. The school’s comprehensive fee for 2024-2025, which consists of tuition, housing, meals, and fees, is $88,870. Fortunately, 56% of Amherst students received scholarship aid from the college in 2022-2023. Financial aid is also available to non-US citizens and transfer students. If you want a better idea of what attending the school would cost you before you go through the application process, you can calculate what you may owe on their website. Keep in mind that need (as opposed to merit) is the only criterion for receiving financial aid from Amherst, and the college’s goal is to meet your “full demonstrated need” so that there’s no gap in their financial aid awards. Parent PLUS loans and monthly payment plans are available to those who don’t receive as generous of a financial aid package, but also can’t afford to pay the entire tuition at the beginning of each year.
Does Amherst have STEM programs?
Even though Amherst is a liberal arts college most known for its humanities departments, students interested in STEM can also find a home here. Amherst boasts of a faculty that researches “topics ranging from the quantum behavior of molecular nanomagnets, to brain circuitry, to fish evolution, to disease transmission and genomics.” Indeed, you might have even more opportunities to shine in a STEM major at Amherst, because many students are listed as co-authors of scientific articles and/or present their findings at national conferences. Plus, you get to work directly with faculty—rather than with grad students or PIs— on research projects. In recent years, Amherst has also invested into expanding its STEM facilities and resources. At the Bassett Planetarium, Wilder Observatory, and the Science Center, students can take classes, conduct research, and utilize makerspaces for coursework or personal projects.
Compared to offerings at a larger research university, some of Amherst’s STEM courses and extracurricular programs may be more oriented towards humanistic, ethical, and sociological concerns. The Being Human in Stem (HSTEM) Initiative aims to foster a more inclusive STEM community. Its goal is to understand and incorporate diverse identities in scientific spaces from the classroom to the lab and beyond. A STEM Incubator Program was also launched in 2019 to support students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEM, including Black, Latinx, Indigenous, first-generation and low-income students. For students interested in intensive mentorship and/or intersections between STEM and the humanities, Amherst may be a good fit.
Does Amherst consider legacy status?
In 2021, Amherst College ended legacy preference, no longer giving children of alumni an advantage in admissions. This decision was made in an attempt to level the playing field in college admissions, as Amherst wants to create access to educational opportunities for as many students as possible. Biddy Martin, the president of Amherst College, said of the decision, “We want to create as much opportunity for as many academically talented young people as possible, regardless of financial background or legacy status.” Currently, about 11% of each class at Amherst is made up of legacy students.
