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i'm going to be a senior this year at a small public high school in new jersey with limited courses available. i have mediocre-low sat i's and even worse math sat ii's... my ec's are pretty good, and teacher recommendations should be likewise. i've fallen head over heels in love with amherst, but almost don't want to apply and set myself up for such a big letdown. any advice on what i could do, or just how much of a long shot being accepted there really is?

note: writing is my passion, i've loved it for as long as i can remember. i've kept a diary of my poetry/streams of consciousness on the internet for two years and counting, which isn't anything special, i know, but maybe i could add it as one of those little extras to try and distinguish myself from other applicants. i'm hoping the fact that i'm not a math/science person but still challenged myself in honors courses in the subjects will stand out rather than the fact that i received only b's in those subjects my junior year and mediocre/poor sat scores also.

sat i: 620 v, 600 m... only taken once, and without preparation. will retake in october after studying over the summer.

sat ii: 550 math iic , 610 math ic (which should be higher; but the proctors failed to tell us how much time had gone by so i spent probably a good 20 minutes working on one problem that i was determined to solve.. big mistake on my part. also, a girl's cell phone started ringing and caused a semi-commotion during the same hour), and 800 writing - is this really as big of a deal as an 800 on other tests? it seems to me that the sat ii writing test is generally viewed as one of the easiest, and thus i'm worried that the fact that i did well on it won't be a big factor on my application, even though i plan on possibly majoring in english.

class rank as of the end of sophomore year: 4 out of 156... it's dropped a few spots since then, but i'm in the top 10 to 5% still.

gpa: approximately 94 unweighted...
all honors classes since freshman year (except for language, where honors classes are only available junior and senior years - and i've taken/will take honors then), two ap's senior year (our school only offers 5, but one of them is history.. a junior-year course, and it was cut the year my class was slated to take it.. i was supposed to have taken it though. so i guess in my case, our school only offers 4 ap's.)

4-year ec's:
track (varsity - senior year)
PEER listening (student counseling group; must apply and be selected)
teen leader @ church youth group
s.h.a.r.e. (school's community service club; officer junior and senior year)
class cabinet (our class chose not to elect officers)
student council (cabinet position senior year, the student representative to the town board of education)

3-year ec's:
creative writing club (published in our literary journal - 2 years)
school newspaper (staff writer sophomore year, assistant editor junior year, co-editor senior year)
babysitting... 2-3 times a month

2-year ec's:
national honor society
spanish honor society
sunday school teaching (2nd graders)
art classes once a week (nothing serious, just a long-time hobby of mine)
part-time job two/three days a week after school working at a dance supply store

1-year ec's/honors:
yearbook staff {editor(s) not determined yet}
attended Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership seminar sophomore year (a.k.a. HOBY)
county finalist for NJ Governor's School of Public Issues and the Future of New Jersey
NJ Girl's State - alternate (is this even worth mentioning? i don't really think so because I wasn't the actual person who went)
participated in Harvard Model United Nations Program (junior year)
Symposium for the Arts (junior year)
Science League - biology (freshman year)
.
.
.
.
i don't know.. one hand, the college search process is the most exciting aspect of my high school career. but then again, it's so discouraging to read about all the impeccable test scores some people are able to get and the thought of myself thrown in with so many other qualified applicants - especially at a place like amherst - is beyond daunting.
any and all suggestions and criticisms would be much appreciated.

By Virginia12345 (Virginia12345) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 03:37 am: Edit

your EC's are excellent. If you can write a really personal, deep essay that moves the reader, with your excellent class rank, and applying ED, you have a good shot. If you feel like retaking the SATs, it cant hurt. Thats really your only weakness. Knowing amherst, they value essays and grades immensely. One kid from my school with a 1600 on the SAT got rejected and one with 1470 got accepted. 1470 is great, but the 1600-reject goes to show that SATs arent everything.

By Sybbie719 (Sybbie719) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 02:44 pm: Edit

You will have two opportunities to wow them with your passion for writing through the essay on the common application and the supplemental essay. This year's supplemental essays are as follows:

Supplementary Essay
In addition to the essay you’re asked to write as part of the Common Application, Amherst requires a second essay (250-500 words).
We do not offer interviews as part of the application process at Amherst. However, we are eager to know more about you. Your
essays provide you with an opportunity to speak to us. Please keep this in mind when responding to one of the following quotations.
It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original,
personal responses to these short excerpts rather than book reviews or book reports.

1) “I like science—but only a little. What I love with all my heart is the universe. The world as revealed by science is far more
beautiful, and far more interesting, than we had any right to expect. Science is valuable because of the view of the universe that
it gives.”
George Greenstein, Sidney Dillon Professor of Astronomy, Amherst College

2) “For me, ‘diversity’ is not a political slogan or a theoretical goal; it is an absolute necessity. … It is impossible for students from
any particular background to engage fully the racial and ethnic dimensions of American culture in a setting that does not approximate
the racial composition of the society as a whole.”
From an essay published February 26, 2003, in the Chicago Sun-Times by Frederick E. Hoxie, Amherst Class of 1969,
Amherst trustee, Swalund Professor of History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3) “Photographs can describe the past; they have a limited capacity, however, to explain it, no matter how much we might wish that
they could.”
From Print the Legend: Photography and the American West by Martha Sandweiss, Professor of American Studies and History,
Amherst College


4) “Krushchev’s mother instilled in him a sense of rectitude and responsibility, a conscience that carried with it the capacity for guilt
and shame.”
From Krushchev: The Man and His Era by William C. Taubman, Bertrand Snell Professor of Political Science, Amherst College


5) “I’m not a machine. I feel and believe. I have opinions. Some of them are interesting. I could, if you’d let me, talk and talk….”
From Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, Amherst Class of 1985, Roy Edward Disney Professor in Creative Writing,
Pomona College

IF going to Amherst is your dream, don't be afraid to pursue it. Remember, it takes all kinds of people to fill the freshman clas, so not every one if going to be filled with toll free 800 numbers. My suggestion is to continue to do well in school, Start now obtaining stromg recommendations, that speak about you as a prolific writer, take the SAT once more, Take a SAT II writing (which is required) and show the school what you can contribute to the Amherst community.

My D was also a peer leader in H.S. it was such a great experience for her that she wrote about it in her essay to Amherst and got accepted.

All the best.

By Nervousmom (Nervousmom) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 05:19 pm: Edit

Maybe you should take the ACT. I believe if you do well on the ACT, Amherst will accept it instead of SATI and SATII. If you send them one of your SAT scores, they can access all SAT I and SAT II scores. Some people (girls especially) score significantly higher on the ACT. If that's the case, then never let them see your SAT scores at all.

By Sami948 (Sami948) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 05:55 pm: Edit

I'm a senior planning on applying regular decision to Amherst. I'm wondering what my changes are of getting accepted. Your comments or advice are welcomed.

Here's my profile:
white male
+SAT V - 740
+SAT M - 710
+SAT II Math II 710
+SAT II Writing/Lit 710
+SAT II History 660
+ACT 34
+Class Rank 82/763 public HS
+Weighted GPA 4.3 (4.0 scale)
(my class rank is low because my HS is full of achievers. The class of 2004 had 31 valedictorians .)
+The most difficult curriculum at my HS
+7 AP classes all 5's
+4 year lacrosse player
+worked parttime during school year since my sophomore year.

By Virginia12345 (Virginia12345) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 06:06 pm: Edit

decent shot, try to get all A's first semester senior year. your ACT score is excellent.

By Nervousmom (Nervousmom) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 06:18 pm: Edit

Talk to the lacrosse coach.

By Kimfuge (Kimfuge) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 07:17 pm: Edit

is it that easy to get recruited at Amherst?

By Kousuke (Kousuke) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 11:17 pm: Edit

well.... it is D3.... it probably doesnt take olympic qualifier to get recruited. their track times are slower than high school varsity meet times. they arent really that "bad" to speak, but to put things into prospective, the schools 4x400m relay team would have lost to my high schools 4x400m team this year.

By Julie29 (Julie29) on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 11:33 pm: Edit

thanks a bunch for all the help and suggestions...
sybbie, i did take the sat ii writing and got an 800, so i'm hoping that will help. as for the supplementary essay topics, that'll definitely be a place i'm going to focus a lot of my energy on come application time. i guess it all comes down to how much i can make a difference in my sat i's this october... thanks you guys, again, for the valuable advice, and for the encouragement. where did any of you apply to and/or attend college? what factors were important in making your final decisions?

By Sybbie719 (Sybbie719) on Tuesday, June 22, 2004 - 09:42 am: Edit

My Daughter applied to Dartmouth, Williams, Amherst, Bryn Mawr, Tufts, Barnard and Mount Holyoke. She approached it with the mindset that if she only got into one school, it wuld be a place where she could be happy. However, she was accepted at all of the schools.


After much angst because she really did love each school and never expected to be accepted at all of them, she chose Dartmouth.