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Hey! I just finished my junior year and I'm trying to figure out where to apply to college this fall. What do you think my chances are at Amherst? Any other college recommendations? Thanks!

Entering senior at a top 10 public high school in California
GPA: 3.5 UW/ 3.67 W (upward trend with the most challenging curriculum)
SATII Writing: 800
SATII Literature: 690
I'm taking the SATI in October after I do test prep this summer
By the end of senior year, I will have taken 8 APs and 1 honors class (AP Music Theory, AP Psych, AP Euro, AP US History, Hon. English, AP English, AP Gov/Econ, AP Stats, AP Calc AB)
I'm probably going to major in Political science and either English or Classics

-Member of Junior Statesmen of America- 3 yrs
-Mock Trial- 2 years
-Vice President of Philosophy Club
-Staff writer on school newspaper
-Member of Amnesty International- 3 yrs
-Member of History Club
-Member of the school district's Diversity Committee, which works to combat such issues as homophobia in the school environment
-I'm starting a book club and a Democratic club next year, both of which I'll obviously be president of
-Member/Volunteer at Feminist Majority Foundation
-Volunteer/Organizer for John Kerry for President/ Kerry Campaign Writers Bureau/ Students for Kerry (about 15 hours a week)
-Participated in National Youth Leadership Forum for Law in Washington DC this spring
-Won the underclassman award at my school 2 years in a row, once for English, once for Precalculus (each teacher picks one student from years frosh-junior to give an award to for academic excellence)
- Won the California Governor's Scholars Award for high STAR test scores
- National Merit Commended Scholar
- I'm in the Gifted and Talented Education Program (GATE) at my school
-Took classes at UC Berkeley every summer I've been in high school (got straight A's in them)
-Taking classes at local community college as well
-During budget cuts, I led a letter-writing campaign among the students to protect the teachers and programs that had been put in jeopardy
-Wrote a novel (unpublished) and 2 plays, one of which was performed at UC Berkeley
-I don't know if this will factor in at all in assessing my grades, but my mom has been unemployed for a year, on top of which there was a death in the family, the combination of which made for a stressful junior year to say the least. :-( However, my grades have definitely rebounded significantly.
-I'm a very strong writer and will be able to get great recommendations (one of which will be from the director of the nationally-recognized program through which I take summer classes at Berkeley).

If someone could let me know what you think my chances are, that would be great!! By the way, I'm also looking at Haverford, Brown, Mt. Holyoke, Scripps, Bard, and Bates, but I don't know if I'm on the right track with those schools...

Also, does anyone know what Amherst's financial aid is like? Thanks!!

By Nervousmom (Nervousmom) on Sunday, June 27, 2004 - 01:23 pm: Edit

Looks good, probably need to wait on SAT 1 scores. Also, look at Middlebury, Bowdoin, Colby, Wesleyan, Trinity.

By Chrisy (Chrisy) on Sunday, June 27, 2004 - 01:52 pm: Edit

check out princeton, stanford, uchicago, swarthmore, carleton, and grinnell- my favorite schools! haverford and bowdoin are also amazing places. your stats look great! just make sure your sats are 1400+ amherst's finaid is really good, you don't have to worry about that. good luck.

By Leftyleftist (Leftyleftist) on Monday, June 28, 2004 - 01:01 pm: Edit

Really?? That's so cool! You don't think my GPA is going to weigh me down too much once they take my personal situation into account?

I'm definitely also looking at Wesleyan, Haverford, Bowdoin, Colby, and Chicago. If I can get into any of them, I think it's going to come down to financial aid and energy (friendliness, political activism, etc).

DEFINITELY good to hear that Amherst gives good financial aid. My stress is being alleviated by the minute!!

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 04:59 am: Edit

Well also try Williams ...they are extremely generous with their financial aid and thier finacial aid office is most acessible..my fafsa EFC is 333 and they where the most supportive out of the top LAC's I applied too ...I still choose Amherst because I talked it over with my parents $$ should not be an issue in education but if it was i'll be at Williams ...haon is a strong emthusiast of all things with williams so post him a message ... also try out Dartmouth, Brown, Pomona, Yale, Harvard, Cornell(in a worst case scenario) ...alot is banking on AP scores and SATI scores but you can offset alot by youy essays ..by the looks fo your profile you are an excellent writer so dazzle them with your skills and be sure to include the play performed in UC berkely (don't overwhelm them with stuff though)

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 05:01 am: Edit

Ohh yea by the look of things if you get anything above a 1350 in your SAT's and you are expected to atleast make it to one of those great schools (your EC's make you stand out tremendously)

By Leftyleftist (Leftyleftist) on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 07:50 am: Edit

You really think I'd have a shot somewhere like Brown? I had no idea- I thought my GPA would hurt me tremendously at all the schools you mentioned, although I adore a lot of them, particularly Brown and Pomona... I don't know if this'll help me out at all, particularly at Brown, but I'll be getting one of my recs from a recent Brown graduate/current teacher at UC Berkeley.

My AP scores should be very high. I took practice tests for Euro, US, and Psych, and I got 5's across the board, so I certainly won't get anything below a 4 on any of them. I'm taking an SAT class this summer, so hopefully my SATs will be in the 1400 range, but I'm not sure yet.

Thanks for all the support, and congrats on your acceptance to Amherst and Williams! You must be very happy...

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Thursday, July 01, 2004 - 03:20 am: Edit

Yeah defiantely Brown is a reach but not too high of a reach. I'd say Brown, Dartmouth, Amherst, Williams, and Swarthmore are all the same in terms of admission. Granted its the same problem as applying to HYPSMC. Even the most qualified applicant will not get accepted into all 6 schools. Maybe three or four at best but regardless they are all great schools and even if you make it to one you shoudl count yourlucky stars. Another one of my friends got waitlisted from Brown and he has almost the same exact stats as myself. I just applied to places where Florida applicants are more competitive (admissions boards work by area of selection) and my essays where probably better (I invested 3 weeks on them). In California I would figure its harder to get into Pomona and Stanford than Amherst and Harvard. Its just geographic advantage. About the recomendation, its good if you really know the profesor and if he knows you well also. My economics teacher was a Williams grad but he just knew me for a semester and I did not put my best effort in that class (I got an A but its an easy honors course). I rather my English teacher who is a grad from the local univeristy but has known me for 3 years and really values my effort write a recomendation for me.

Well I take everything in stride. Amherst does not do minors which is a recent discovery and a bummer but its a blunder on my side. Also Swarthmore had an engineerign department. Williams has incredible oportunities and programs. The fact is I will be happy as long as I make the best of where I go. I'am confused on the practiucality of an LAC or Univ. education as compare dto something more technical but I will follow what I like and hopefully I will end up in a job I love.

By Leftyleftist (Leftyleftist) on Thursday, July 01, 2004 - 12:08 pm: Edit

It sounds to me that, like you said, you'll be happy and successful wherever you go to school, and fortunately that place is somewhere as exceptional as Amherst. That is really unfortunate that the don't offer minors, though. Do they offer double major? (That's probably going to become a litmus test for me in the college search because I'm interested in studying so many things in depth.)

The recommendation is from a teacher I know very well- I've taken 3 classes from him (2 consecutive summers), and we email frequently, so I'd say he knows me well both as a student and an individual.

Well, it is kind of a bummer that I'd probably have a harder time applying to Pomona because of geographic issues, but it'll probably work to my advantage in the sense that almost all the schools I'm interested in are on the east coast (Pomona and Berkeley being the only exceptions).

Out of the reach schools that you mentioned, do you think that there are any in particular that I might have a better shot at (maybe a less numbers-oriented and more persona, holistic admissions review) than others?

By Virginia12345 (Virginia12345) on Thursday, July 01, 2004 - 03:17 pm: Edit

yes, amherst offers double and even triple majors.