Amherst Class of 2028 Official Thread

[elise123]

waitlisted

[1728MMB]

C24 accepted too with a surprisingly great scholarship (school phrased it as scholarship but I found it was need based only). I am very thankful. Rejected Willams .

[Polly_P]

Accepted! In case anyone was jumping on the portal astrology train, my FA logo was not partially hidden. I should also say I did the Access to Amherst fly in last year

[Chitchatcms]

Accepted!!! Waitlisted at Williams. My son is happy.

[judifyy]

Did anyone else get into both Williams and Amherst?

[Georgiegirl412]

Daughter was accepted. Waitlisted at Williams and Swat. (Accepted last week to Pomona.)

[Polly_P]

yes!

[kokotg]

Does anyone know if Amherst will match FA offers from peer schools? (i.e. other NESCACs)? I’m assuming not, but DS’s offer from Colby is $3000/year better than Amherst, and it’d be awfully nice if that gap closed a bit.

[tauro]

Why not ask the financial aid office instead of here? Any answer from them will be more helpful than any CC user.

[kokotg]

We’ll definitely do that if it’s a serious contender after he visits, but I know some schools just come right out and say they’ll match other offers (and some say they definitely won’t), so I was just curious if anyone had first hand experience.

[tauro]

I did read somewhere (I can’t find the source nor can confirm nor will name said “Tier-whatever” school to spread non-certifiable info) that some unis match financial aid packages, but it wasn’t from the school directly and I can’t find anything from a financial aid department advertising this policy of financial aid matching. Each school calculates “demonstrated” need differently, and I’m sure even though Colby/Amherst are in the same athletic conference and have GENEROUS financial aid endowments (meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need without loans for any school is huge), I’m sure at certain brackets of income their expected parental contribution/out-of-pocket cost may be different. There’s also the varying cost of food, housing, living expenses, etc. which both schools also cover if a student’s fall below a certain income level. If you income falls in the middle area, the schools could cover full-tuition and offer some additional aid for living expenses/room/board but not all. They could still expect some financial contribution which is probably different for every school. I’m not a financial aid officer though, so I can’t tell you specifically how they piece together finaid packages other than what is listed on the website.

At Amherst, any family that falls below the 80 percentile of U.S. household income ($141,000) receive (at a minimum) full-tuition scholarship. Anyone under the median income of $67,000 receives full-tuition plus room and board. If your family falls below either level and didn’t receive that minimum in your financial aid package, I would absolutely reach out to FinAid. If you fall somewhere in the middle and that $3,000 is the “deal-or-no-deal” factor, I would still reach out to financial aid. You have not because you ask not and the answer will be definitive, from a finaid officer, and tailored to your family situation specifically.
https://www.amherst.edu/admission/financial_aid

It sounds like your DS has some phenomenal options if Amherst isn’t already a serious contender! I hope DS decision process and all your finances work out!

[kokotg]

Thanks! Amherst is definitely a serious contender, but he hasn’t seen it in person yet, so it’s just hard to know whether it will feel like a fit to him or not until that happens. And the FA is workable for us at both schools–it’s just that it would be nice (and perhaps be the difference between him needing to take some small amount of loans or not) if Amherst’s were as good as Colby’s. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s likely Amherst hits home equity harder and that’s the difference…but who knows? As you say, definitely worth a call to the financial aid office to ask!