Any student who has transferred to Amherst before?

peppermoon · 06-04-2012, 04:46 AM

Hi, I am considering to transfer to Amherst next year from another top LAC. In the meantime, I would like to know if anyone has transferred sucessfully to Amherst or similar schools in the past two years. It will be great if you can offer some tips regarding transferring. Since I am not sure if my decision is prudent enough or not and my current college is good, shall I take all the time and effort to apply?

I applied to Amherst before but got rejected. So will they look at my first-year application file if I am transferring again?

My stats:
GPA-3.9+ for LAC first year
Extracurriculum: not too much, but for each one I takes on, I think I did a pretty job on it.

I think one reason I did not get into Amherst was because of my SAT grade, CR between 600-700
Can anyone give me some suggestions on whether I shall transfer or not, what shall I prepare if I decide to transfer afterwards? What other miscellaneous shall one pay attention to during transfer process?

Many thanks.

dcsmiss · 06-04-2012, 11:48 PM

This is a tough call, as the transfer process is quite selective. Out of the 516 transfer applicants this year, less than four percent were accepted. This continues a trend of ever increasing selectivity that can be seen across higher education.

Your 3.9GPA is quite competitive, but with acceptance rates this low, it becomes much more than numbers. Surely much more than four percent of the applicants were qualified to be admitted.

I believe that Amherst, along with others, are looking to admit students of unique experiences and backgrounds that will contribute to the Amherst learning experience. So I suggest considering what sets you apart, what you care about, what makes you tick, and building your application around that concept. With the three application essays (one-commonapp; two-supplement), you have an amazing opportunity to illustrate who you are.

Hope that helped

peppermoon · 06-05-2012, 05:09 AM

Thank you for the message, dcsmiss. I am actually an international student. I am not sure if applying to Amherst as transfer student and asking for FA will put me at a negative situation. Your comments really helps. Good luck with your upcoming life in Amherst.