Amherst College is a Private (non-profit) College located in Amherst, Massachusetts, in the United States of America. The University was founded in 1821. The college organized world’s first intercollegiate baseball and USA’s first graduate Neuroscience program. It currently offers bachelor’s degrees only. Amherst College is spread across a campus of 1,000 acres, with a wildlife sanctuary of 500 acres. The college provides generous Scholarship aid to students averaging at $66,000 in 2022-23. The minimum ACT score for the Fall 2022 session was 24`while the minimum SAT score for the same session was 1200. Amherst College received an enrollment of 1,898 students from USA and 70 other countries. 52% of this student body is female, while 97% of students live on campus. International students comprise 11% of the student body. Amherst College is ranked at Number 2 in the category of National Liberal Arts Colleges by US News and World Report. Acceptance rate of Amherst College is 7% as per enrollment data provided by the official website of the College. Average tuition fees of the various courses offered by Amherst College comes to be around $66,000.

Why to choose Amherst College

Amherst College is a world-class institution to pursue degrees in a plethora of specializations. Candidates flock to this university for multiple reasons, and some of the benefits of studying in USA are:

  • An Excellent student to faculty ratio of 7:1
  • The College offers 41 majors in humanities, arts, natural sciences, and social sciences
  • 56% students received Scholarships in 2022-23
  • About 45% of Amherst students study abroad during a typical year
  • One of the oldest Athletics Program in USA with several NCAA titles.

Amherst College Ranking

Amherst College ranks among the top universities in USA. The rankings of Amherst College according to various agencies are tabulated below:

Agency

Ranking Category

Rank

QS

World University Rankings 2023 by Subject

201 – 250

THE

US Rankings 2022

22

US News

National Liberal Arts College

2

CWUR

World Rank

436

Amherst College Acceptance Rate

According to the enrollment data for 2022 intake, Amherst College has an acceptance rate of 7%. There are other US Universities with high acceptance rate also. Amherst College enrolment data for the year 2022 is given below:

  • A total of 1,898 students enrolled in the University and all of them were undergraduate admissions in full time courses.
  • The University registered more female candidates getting admission as there were 981 female admissions as opposed to 917 male admissions.
  • A total of 14,864 students applied to the College and 1,079 of those were admitted to various courses of the College.

Amherst College Courses and Fees

The fee structure of the programs offered in Amherst College for the year 2023-24 is tabulated below:

Tuition and Fees:
Per Semester Fee for 2023/2024

Tuition and Fees:
Annual Fee for 2023/2024

Comprehensive Fee

$42,105

$84,210

Tuition

$33,325

$66,650

Housing

$4,745

$9,490

Meals

$4,035

$8,070

Other Fees-Student Activities

$315

$630

Tuition Insurance (Waivable)

$126

$252

Health Insurance (Waivable) - Fall

$1,222

$2,934

Health Insurance (Waivable) - Spring

$1,712

Amherst College Application Process

The application process involves a fees of USD 75. There are other universities in USA without application fees which the candidates can check. The Application Process for admissions into Amherst College is explained below as a step-by-step process:

  • Complete the Application through Common Application or Quest Bridge Application
  • Once the Application is submitted, the college requires several documents to be submitted to the College itself.
  • Students can submit additional achievements in a field of a study they are applying for
  • After submission of relevant documents, the applicants needs to pay a non-refundable application fee of $75.
  • Fee Waiver can be requested through Common Application or Amherst’s Quick Pass.
  • Wait for the Amherst college to provide a decision

Documents Required

The Documents required for getting admission in Amherst College as an International student are enlisted below:

  • School Academic Report
  • High school diploma or its recognized equivalent degree.
  • Counselor Recommendation (College Counselor / Guidance Counselor)
  • Two Teacher Recommendations (English, Math, Science, Social Studies or Foreign Language)
  • Standardized Test Results for the SAT or ACT
  • Early Decision Agreement (for ED applicants)
  • First marking period grades from senior year (for ED applicants)
  • Mid-Year School Report Form (as soon as first trimester/first semester grades are available)
  • Mid-Year Transcript (as soon as first trimester/first semester grades are available)
  • TOEFL or IELTS Results

Amherst College Eligibility Criteria

The admission team of Amherst College checks multiple details if the candidates before admission. The details that are reviewed are as follows:

  • Official Transcripts
  • Optional Standardized Test scores (SAT and ACT)
  • Secondary school transcript;
  • Teacher and counselor recommendations;
  • English Language Proficiency Test Scores (TOEFL and IELTS)
  • Quality of writing as demonstrated in essays, writing supplement, testing and recommendations;
  • Extra- and co-curricular involvements, talents, and leadership.

Amherst College Application Deadline

The Application deadline for top universities in USA varies. The deadline for admissions in Amherst College Fall 2024 session for a first year International Student are tabulated below:

Undergraduate Intake

Application Deadline

Early Decision

November 1, 2023

Regular Decision

January 3, 2024

Undergraduate Score Requirements

Amherst College does not offer Postgraduate courses, only Undergraduate Courses are offered here. In order to get admission in one of its 400+ courses, the score requirements as per Fall 2022 are given in the table below:

Score Type

Score Required

SAT

1400-1600

GPA

Not tracked

ACT

30-36

ELP Score Requirements

The ELP requirements of Amherst College are given in the table below:

Type

Score

TOEFL score (iBT)

100 (25 or above for each section)

IELTS Academic

7.5 (7.5 or above for each component score)

TOEFL paper delivered test

25 in each section

Amherst College Cost of Attendance

The yearly cost of living in USA and attending Amherst College for new admitted international students is tabulated below:

Expense Head

Cost

Direct Cost (Billed to all Students)

Housing

$9,490 (7.77 L INR)

Meals

$8,070 (6.61 L INR)

Fees

$630 (51,620 INR)

Student Activities Fees

$315 (25,801 INR)

Indirect Cost (Estimated based on periodic survey of students)

Books & Stationers

$1,000 (81,909 INR)

Personal expenses

$1,800 (1.47 L INR)

Transport

$1,410 (1.15 L INR)

Additional Cost (Billed to all but Waivable)

Health Insurance

$2,934 (full year) [2.40 L INR]
$1,222 (Fall semester) [ 1 L INR]
$1,712 (Spring semester) [1.40 L INR]

Amherst College Extracurricular Activities

The Campus Life of Amherst College is vibrant and busy due to many events and recreation. The university also offers sports opportunities to its candidates. The Amherst College has more than 100 student organizations dedicated towards different purposes ranging from activism, religious and cultural affinity, intramural sports, arts, debates, radio stations etc.

The events at Amherst Colleges include:

  • Fall and Winter Festivals
  • Dinners
  • Traditional Celebrations like Homecoming
  • Speakers and Lectures

The Athletics and recreation opportunities at the Amherst College include:

  • Golf
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Track & Field

Amherst College Diversity

The table given below contains the data on gender and ethnic diversity within Amherst College:

Category of Students

Number of students enrolled

Male

917

Female

981

Hispanic/Latino

301

Black or African – American

205

Asians

263

Native Americans

4

White

725

Amherst College Scholarships

Financial Aid at Amherst College offers aid to every single student equal to 100% need of the candidate. The scholarship includes self-help (student employment) and scholarships and grants. Candidates can other scholarships to study in USA. Amherst College offers $1,800 in employment opportunities.

Scholarship

Eligibility Criteria

Amount

Federal Pell Grant

Financial need determined according to Federal Formula

Depends on appropriations made by Congress every year

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants

Students with great financial needs

Up to $4,000 a year

Alumni Scholarships

Candidate is chosen by Alumni offering the scholarship with the help of Office of Financial Aid
No separate application required

Varies

Amherst College Internships

Amherst College has a career advising systems in place known as Loeb Centre and Career Exploration and Planning. They organise a Career trek for an interterm for their students to experience various work ecosystems. Some of these include:

  • Boston Biotech Trek
  • Toronto Education Trek
  • NYC Finance Trek
  • Washington DC Government and Non-profits Trek
  • LA Entertainment Trek

For International Students, those who hold F-1 Visa they can work the on-campus jobs provided by Amherst College but not the off-campus job opportunities.

Amherst College Placement

The Major Employers as per 2022 Statistics provided by Amherst College include

  • Bain & Company
  • Microsoft
  • Accenture
  • Amazon & Goldman Sachs

Graduates from Amherst College were able to find jobs in USA with these establishments within 6 months of graduation. However, Amherst College does not have a dedicated Placement Cell neither does it invite recruiters to provide jobs to its students.

Amherst College notable alumni

The Notable alumni from Amherst College are tabulated below:

Alumni

Famous for

Caroline Patterson

Executive Director of Missoula Writing Collaborative

Jonathon Vinson

Flight surgeon in Air National Guard

Sung Joo Kim

Owner of MCM

Michael Beah Nichols

Filmmaker

Lauren Groff

Novelist

Amherst College vs Hampshire College vs Smith College vs Mount Holyoke College

A quick comparison among the institutions is tabulated below:

Particulars

Amherst College

Hampshire College

Smith College

Mount Holyoke College

Ranking (THE)

201 – 250

317

39

55

Programs

Music, Anthropology & Sociology, Film & Media Studies, Economics etc.

Dance, Theatre, Literary Arts, Anthropology, History and Sociology etc.

Film and Media Studies, Geosciences, Government, Neuroscience and Urban Studies etc.

Asian Studies, Computer Science, Dance, English, Gender Studies etc.

Acceptance Rate

7%

75%

29%

40%

Accepted Exam Scores

SAT: 1200
ACT: 24
GPA: not traced
TOEFL: 100
IELTS: 7.5

SAT: not used
ACT: not used
GPA: not used
TOEFL: 91
IELTS: 6.5

SAT: 1000
ACT: 24
GPA: 4.0
TOEFL: 90
IELTS: 6.5

SAT: 1000
ACT: 18
GPA: 3.89
TOEFL: 100
IELTS: 7.0

Tuition Cost

$66,650

$54,892

$61,260

$82,980

Placement (Average Package)

Placement services are not offered.

Amherst College is a premier institution known for its generous scholarship awards. The College specializes in liberal arts courses, as it only ever offers bachelor’s degrees in Arts. It is part of a Five College Consortium which increases its course availability spectrum from 400 to 6000. The college also has a robust Athletics program with 76 Division III titles and 11 championships to its name. Amherst College provides for student faculty collaboration for cutting edge research as well, mixing science with liberal arts.

FAQs

Ques. Is Amherst an all-girls College?

Ans. Amherst College was established as Men’s College when it was founded. It switched to co-education in the year 1975.

Ques. Is Amherst an Ivy League College?

Ans. No, Amherst isn’t an Ivy League College. It is informally acknowledged as one of the Little Ivies due to its low acceptance rate and high academic standards.

Ques. What is Amherst College ranked in the World?

Ans. The Amherst College ranking at the Global level is between 201 – 250 as ranked by QS World University Rankings by Subject.

Ques. What are some of the flagship courses offered by Amherst College?

Ans. Amherst College is known for its Liberal Arts Courses. The Flagship courses of this College are:

  • Mathematics
  • Psychology
  • History
  • Government
  • Political Science
  • Computer Science

Ques. What are the advantages of Amherst College?

Ans. Some of the reasons to attend Amherst College are:

  • Personalized attention from top-of-the-line faculty
  • College focuses more on intellectual exploration
  • A brilliant and active student body

Ques. What is the downside of attending Amherst College?

Ans. Amherst is a top-notch liberal arts institution, but they don’t prepare their students for real life job opportunities.

Ques. What really helps to get admission into Amherst College?

Ans. Even though GPA and Test Scores are not mandatory, but the ones submitted are quite high. Apart from that, a good Essay and extracurriculars would be helpful in admission along with suitable recommendations.

Ques. Does Amherst College have an athletic program?

Ans. Amherst College has one of the oldest Athletics programmes in USA dating back to compulsory fitness regimen of 1860. The College has several NCAA titles to its name.

Ques. How many Sports Amherst College offer?

Ans. Amherst College offers several sports for both Men and Women. These sports include Football, Golf, Track & Field, Baseball, Tennis etc.

Ques. Is Amherst College a public or Private University?

Ans. Amherst College is a private institution and is considered to be top-notch in the field of liberal arts.