@Happy4u, No, if you work hard, all can have access to opportunities, actually great opportunities.
My son got into CHC for mathematics - ACT 34, GPA 4.4 out of 4.8, Math II subject test 730, US History subject test 770. I don’t know what criteria they use for admission but I guess some of it may have to do with other kids also applying from the same school; they don’t want a whole bunch from one high school which hurts if you’re from a super-competitive high school. He got a Dean’s Award for $2000. If a student is in-state and got into CHC, chances are he/she did well enough on MCAS to get either Koplik or Adams Scholarship. All-in (tuition,fees, housing, meal plan), I will be paying around $25k with no loans or aid (didn’t qualify). That is a great deal compared to $70k nowadays for private colleges. I have an older child at CHC UMass Amherst (rising junior). I can’t say enough good things about the education, opportunities, and social life she is getting there. I would highly recommend UMass Amherst (with or without CHC)!
Hi! I don’t know how helpful this will be considering it has been a while since this was initially posted, but for future reference, I have heard that honors college @ Umass is far more based in being the best of the best in your major rather than your class. For example, someone studying a less competitive major at Umass will get in “easier” than someone studying one of their more competitive majors, such as CS or nursing.
My D did not get CHC a few years back yet was admitted to a little Ivy for less than the price of UMass. Don’t have to guess where she is now…MA needs to cap OOS students like other states do.
My daughter had being accepted to honors college as part of the requirement for attending UMASS. She was not invited. The process seems almost random. She has a 1550 sat and a 4.0 uw. Many honors and activities. The issue here - please tell me if I am the only one with this worry - is that there is something that dissuaded them from her. Is there some time bomb in her application (a low
key recommendation, an activity reviewers deplore, an essay topic they revile)? I’m wondering if not getting honors college at her safety is a harbinger of things to come. And is there anything to do about it. At this late date.
As stated further up thread, @GingerLand, UMass seems to distribute CHC invites across all schools, so those in the most competitive majors (CS for example) will have to have much higher stats than those admitted in less competitive majors. If she is serious about attending, it couldn’t hurt for her to reach out to Admissions and ask if there was any way to be reconsidered for CHC. I would wait, though, until she had some new test scores, grades or other compelling updates from her original application.
She doesn’t plan on taking any more tests after getting a 1550. And an accommodation for testing makes things difficult. She has a 4.o uw, she can show them no improvement on that. Her honors were placing in an international design competition, placing in a state art competition. Etc. She dances. Created an after school program from kids from a failing elementary school. Two other friends from her school (stem magnet style) were also accepted with no honors. Our school may be looked down upon? She applied as a psych major. On the scatter plot on niche (not completely accurate but all we have ) her scores placed her above 100% of psych major applications. So now I worry something else is wrong with the application. I don’t know what to do.
Interesting. If it’s any consolation, my daughter also was admitted as a psych major, has high stats (4.0 uw, 4.8 weighted,1460 SAT, and tons of leadership in ECs) and also did not get honors college. I wouldn’t have thought psych was a super-competitive major filled with high stats kids like comp sci and engineering, but maybe I’m wrong. It might be worth a call to them though…seems maybe coincidental that they are both psychology majors. And you are definitely right about how it makes you second guess and wonder what horrible flaw might be hiding in the application though. This was my D’s first acceptance and now I’m dreading what her (rolling, supposedly pretty quick to admit strong applicants so we’re wondering why we haven’t heard back yet) first choice will bring. UMass was her second choice but without the honors college, it might get knocked down a few slots.
My son was also not admitted to the Honors college although he got a nice scholarship- he is in the competitive major of CS, stats are 1530 SAT (800 math), weighted gpa of about about 4.7, and strong extracurriculars. I am also curious about whether they ever admit to the honors college on a waiting list type basis or if anything can be done. He has some updates to his honors that he didn’t bother to submit as he thought it wouldn’t matter…
I guess all we can do here is buckle in and wait. The overwhelming thought is: if she can’t get in to UMASS honors college, what can she get in to with her stats and resume? Should she apply to more schools? Is she foolish to think she can get into CWRU? Colgate?
I could have written your post! My S was completely taken aback to not be invited to the honors program. He has a 1520 sat, 4.5 gpa, multiple ec’s Including varsity sports captain and marching band section leader. I guess we mistakenly assumed that umass honors was a safety. After hearing, I’m having the same panicked thoughts about his application. Maybe his references weren’t as strong as we thought? Is his essay too plain? He did get in to our state university with honors but now I’m wondering about his reach schools. I guess the next few weeks will be telling. With no honors, though, umass is out for him. Very disheartening.
When we visited, the admissions person who did the presentation told us that admission to CHC is by major - they take the top X percent (I don’t remember the exact number) candidates from each major so as to not load up the honors college with all high stats engineering, etc. majors. So she did warn the audience that especially for the very competitive majors, there are a lot of kids with perfect stats who don’t get invited. I just did not think psychology would be super competitive (she kept mentioning engineering, comp sci and nursing as the most competitive). I could see my D’s 1460 SAT keeping her from getting invited but Gingerland’s 1550/4.0uw-- I’m having a hard time believing that is not in the top 5% of psych majors. It is what it is though, I guess. I know you can apply after your freshman year assuming you have the grades but you won’t get the honors housing etc.
We did not do an official tour. Did that count against us? She did not ask in her essay to be in the honors college. Should she have? My D did mention by name the lab she wanted to study in at UMASS and how impressed she was with it. I have always worried that as a dancer, leadership is not something she can show easily. We are floored. And frankly UMASS is off her list. I don’t know what the honors college is anymore. But it is not based on gpa or sat or resume.
To the folks getting worried about not getting an invite to CHC means for your child’s other apps - don’t worry! My kids are/were at arguably one of if not the top public non-exam high school in MA. Kids in my S17’s class who got into Ivies did not get into CHC. CHC admissions is a bit of a black box…
My son was just accepted to the CHC, but we weren’t expecting it because although his weighted GPA is 4.7 and he carries a heavy course load, his SAT was 1320 which we thought was too low. In his case I believe it was his choice if major that tipped the scale. He’s a mathematics major with an interest in actuarial science. Not many kids want to be actuaries or do pure math. My friend’s daughter with similar scores did not get into CHC last year, but her major is biochem, which is very popular right now. Hopefully she’ll get in by applying. He also was offered the honors college at UML which we were expecting. The last one he’s waiting to hear from is WPI.
@Hbw2019 congrats! Our daughter is still waiting on UMass (engineering) and will hear from WPI tomorrow! Very exciting.
Our D was accepted to CHC as a Slavic studies major (Russian) in state. 35 ACT, 3.8 GPA/ max 4.0. Tons of EC’s.
My daughter was accepted to CHC 2 yrs ago, my son was not accepted this yr with identical academic profile, but different majors. I think it can change year to year but relative to the number of applicants it is very competitive. I think they may not want to use some acceptances on students they think will not be attending anyway. I think to show gpa/sat improvement in admitted students they need to find that line of excellent stats that will actually attend. Anyway my son is disappointed and is considering another state flagship which did accept him to honors. While my daughter’s experience at umass has been very positive I think she would be having the same experience if she wasn’t in honors(other than the AC in the dorm!) you get out what you put in. The honors program itself is pretty light as far as number of honors credits that need to be taken, especially if you compare it to other school’s honors programs that are highly rated. She has had great access to all her professors and they are not honors classes, most are large lectures. The dorms are newer and well maintained but the size of the freshman rooms are small compared to other area rooms. The suites are great but for sophomore and up- so apply to honors 2nd semester freshman year and get in the dorm sophomore yr. Also socially some of the honors floors were extremely quiet and was not as easy to meet people. I think for kids and parents it stings a little that they were not recognized for their hard work but if they can get past that it’s a great school honors or not
How did you check for CHC acceptance?
@GingerLand where did your daughter end up attending? We are in similar boat - 35 ACT, top 5%, great ECs and did not get into CHC.