This is the official thread for those applying EA to University of Massachusetts Amherst.
List your unweighted GPA, any SAT /ACT scores, and ECs. What majors are you going into?
Ask your questions, the CC community is here to help!
Kicking off this thread. D24 submitted EA for Social and behavioral sciences, poli sci. Oos, test optional, 8 AP, 1 DE. 4.2w. Great ECs.
Anyone have a sense when decisions typically come out? And do they email or does she have to check portal?
We haven’t visited yet, hoping to have an answer in hand before the new year so we can schedule a trip…
Last year the decisions came
Out on waves. I think one wave was in late December, but all the rest were definitely not until January. I do believe that less competitive colleges and majors at UMass came out before the more competitive ones.
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The decisions come in waves, starting early-mid December usually. Applicants get an email saying check portal, but often the result is there a while before the email. The waves continue until late-middle January, usually once a week but not over the holiday break.
ETA: I think there was only one wave before the break last year, but maybe 2. In past years there have been 2 or 3. Very few (but not zero) declines and waitlists in the early waves, more in the later.
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D23 was accepted in the first wave last year in the Honors College political science in early December. We are instate.
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I didn’t send in my test scores (1580 SAT) through CollegeBoard and apparently they don’t count unless I do it. I am in state and have a 3.98 UW GPA. I emailed an AO and this is what he told me: "To ensure your SAT or ACT scores are considered in your application review, they must be received and processed by our office by the application deadline. If scores arrive after the deadline, we can’t guarantee their consideration.
If you’ve already submitted your scores by the deadline, they will be reviewed as part of your application. If you have not yet submitted your scores, please know that they must be sent officially via the testing agency to be considered as part of an application."
Should I try to send them in now? Or would it not make a difference on whether I am admitted to the honors college, etc?
I sent UMass my resume, which includes them, and I self-reported it in the CommonApp; could that be enough? It’s been 15 days since the deadline and I really don’t want to pay for expedited shipping but I was hoping to have a shot at the honors college.
I would send them from College Board, or else they won’t consider your SAT scores.
Not sure about your high school, but not many students are offered Honors College from our HS (instate, UMass Amherst accepts ~60% of our HS applicants).
My high stats/EC son was accepted in 2022 (but not offered Honors).
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Greetings from UMass Amherst!This is a busy time of year for you and your students, so we wanted to thank you for all you do to empower your students as they pursue their educational goals. Here is an update related to UMass Amherst Early Action (EA) and what to anticipate in the coming weeks.
We will release EA admission decisions in the evening on Wednesday, January 24 .
In the past, we’ve released EA decisions in waves. This year, all EA applicants will receive their decisions on the same date.
**Early Action Highlights**
- We had over 30,000 students apply through EA, a record here at UMass.
- Based on EA application volume, it is likely that majors in three colleges at UMass Amherst (Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences, Isenberg School of Management and the Marieb College of Nursing) will be the most competitive for admission.
Looking forward, we plan to invite admitted students to campus starting in February!
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i just got that 
i was really hoping to hear back in early december
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So glad they’re not doing waves anymore.
It was stressful for S22 to be accepted in the 3rd wave, when his friends/classmates had been accepted in the 1st/2nd waves.
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" * Each EA applicant will receive one of three decisions: Admit, Waitlist, or Deny. Note: We do not defer any EA applicants to our Regular Decision pool."
No deferral to RD = yay!
S22 was deferred to RD by MIT, UVA, GT, etc. What’s the point of applying EA if you have to wait until RD decision day? so stressful
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I agree. My S22 also went through this. This is the right answer. It was crazy to have to check the portal daily for months waiting for a decision. It was extra hard to be in the last round of decisions.
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Hi! I applied with a 3.9 uw and a 4.7 w GPA, went test optional, and I have a few extracurriculars involving leadership and community service (Student ambassador, Spanish Club, Girls Empowering Girls Everywhere, Key Club). I applied to Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences major because I plan to become a speech pathologist… however I am worried about my science credits in high school. I only recently figured out that this was something I truly wanted to major in, so my past science classes have been bio and 2 marine sciences. I am now taking chem and psych my senior year. I don’t know if this looks bad… I am also an out-of-state applicant. What does anyone think?
I think it sounds like you have a great chance.
Have you seen the document with admissions statistics from last year?
https://www.umass.edu/uair/sites/default/files/publications/admissions_enrollment_reports/fall23.pdf#page=5
The school of Public Health and Health Sciences had 2329 applicants, and 1803 applicants were accepted, for an admission rate of about 77%.
Of the students that enrolled in that college, the average GPA was 3.95, but that is a type of weighted average that UMass calculates itself. So you are very likely above the average.
Only 14% submitted SAT scores, and the (mean) average of those was 1271; 75th percentile was 1340.
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Thank you for this information! Fingers crossed:)
Does anyone know if it’s possible to switch the selected college/major on the application at this point? S24 is regretting not applying to Isenberg. He has since gotten into a few solid options in other schools (so he’s in a good place from an admissions standpoint), and he is increasingly certain he wants to major in business. He realizes that an internal transfer to Isenberg is no longer possible, so he’s considering taking his chances applying to it.
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I personally don’t know.
He should reach out to his regional admissions counselor or Admissions to make the switch.
Would he still want to attend Amherst if he’s accepted, but not to Isenberg (since he didn’t select it in his application)?
If he only wants Isenberg, then he should make the switch.
Probably the latter. I think he needs to decide for sure.
Anyone has insight about regular pool acceptance rate?
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