Amherst College - GPA and Test Scores for Admission

With an acceptance rate around 15%, Amherst College is one of the country's most selective colleges. In the scattergram above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students, and you can see that most students who got into Amherst had averages of A- or higher, SAT scores (CR+M+W) above 2000, and ACT composite scores above 30. Notice, however, that there is quite a bit of red (rejected students) amongst the green and blue. High test scores and grades are no guarantee of admission to this top-ranked liberal arts college.

Amherst College has holistic admissions, so successful applicants need to have strengths that go beyond numbers. Competitive applications should have a winning essay, strong letters of recommendation, and interesting extracurricular activities. As a few of the data points above illustrate, strengths in some of these areas can compensate for grades and test scores that are a little less than ideal.

To learn more about Amherst College, high school GPAs, SAT scores and ACT scores, these articles can help:

• Amherst College Admissions Profile
• What's a Good SAT Score?
• What's a Good ACT Score?
• What's Considered a Good Academic Record?
• What is a Weighted GPA?


• Articles Featuring Amherst College:
  • Top Liberal Arts Colleges
  • 20 Most Selective Colleges
  • Top New England Colleges
  • Top Massachusetts Colleges
  • Five College Consortium
  • Phi Beta Kappa