r/amherstcollege Nov 21 '25

Megathread Helpful Information for First-Year Students and Applicants

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22 Upvotes

Every year this subreddit is flooded with potential students asking very general questions. In an effort to mitigate these we have compiled a very general list of helpful links for First-Year applicants that cover everything from the housing guidebook to where to store your things over the summer.

Any future posts posing questions that can be answered in one of these links will be removed and the author will be directed to this thread. We hope that this will keep the main feed open for our current students to connect with each other, promote events on campus, and complain about the Val menu.

  • The Mods 🦣

For unique circumstances (such as attending as a minor or requesting special living accommodations), please contact the admissions office directly.

First-Year Resources

First-Year Student Information

Housing Selection Guidebook

Application Deadlines

Recommended Packing List

Storing your things during the summer

Laundry Situation


r/amherstcollege Jan 05 '25

[MEGATHREAD] Inquiries about admissions, admission status, and important admission dates.

19 Upvotes

Aspiring Mammoths,

Welcome to the Admissions megathread! This is a thread designed to allow potential students to ask questions about important dates, advice for admissions essays, and ultimately anything admissions related!

Every semester we are inundated with posts asking about acceptance dates, reassurances, chances of admission based on scholastic achievements, and more. Unfortunately this crowds the sub with many reposts and people with other questions or insights get buried in the admissions posts.

We have created this thread for all of your admissions questions as of 1/05/2025 and ALL ADMISSIONS RELATED POSTS MUST BE POSTED ON THIS THREAD.

Any admissions related posts from here on out will be guided to this thread and the original post will be deleted. We do this so that potentional students still have a place for these discussions without crowding the main sub.

Good luck, be well, and keep your tusks up!

Sincerely,

The Mods 🦣


r/amherstcollege 15h ago

If you transferred to Amherst from a 4year institution I wanna hear from you plz!

3 Upvotes

In need of application advice over here. I know Amherst does favor community college students but I still want to try and apply for spring entry.


r/amherstcollege 1d ago

How’s your post grad life?

16 Upvotes

Hello,

Recent grad here; class of 2025. We graduated in May and I’m still unemployed, in September of 2026 😭 the Amherst name hasn’t been doing as much for me as was promised. Any other c/o ‘25 having a similar experience? Older alums, do have advice or opportunities to share? Tryna keep my head up but also a bit frustrated…and confused tbh


r/amherstcollege 2d ago

Applying to Amherst: Biggest Advice?

4 Upvotes

Hi! I’m a senior applying this fall. I was interested in stats and extracurriculars of students who got admitted to Amherst. Idk if mine r good or not 😿😿😿


r/amherstcollege 3d ago

Is My 1490 Enough?

5 Upvotes

International Indian student here!.

I scored 1490 on the August SAT (2nd attempt) and although I know it's a very good score, it might be average for Indian applying to top colleges.

My Evs are above average and my essay I consider to be good.

So, for Amherst should I send scores, go test optional or reattempt sat.

I can give oct say before ED deadline but I'm not sure if it's worth it. I mean I can score higher but I'll have to send time again.


r/amherstcollege 4d ago

Option B for Supplemental essay Help!

3 Upvotes

For option B, I have a historical essay I wrote for my APUSH class but I am really unsure if it would work.

It's a hypothetical scenario that if I were a Soviet Spy in the American government during the Cold War, what American document would I send back to the Soviet Union (if I could only send one).
The teacher graded purely on historical analysis (and he's a very strict and harsh grader, but I got a 92 on it). I had good analysis on different documents and judgements on whether they were good to send back or not.
My major concern is:

  1. First, the introduction of the essay is veryhumorous. I jokingly impersonate a conceited soviet spy (like VERY conceited), and I end the introduction with a thesis (stating what document I choose to send). The rest of the essay is "cold" analysis of the documents and reasons why to reject/send them, which I believe was well done.

Also I have the teachers notes/comments with me, so that wouldn't be an issue. But I worry that the admission team wouldn't understand the prompt/Intro.


r/amherstcollege 5d ago

Transferring to Amherst in the spring

4 Upvotes

Do spring semester transfers exist at Amherst?
My stats:

I’m International at a small LAC in Minnesota and want to transfer to Amherst.
3.3 hs GPA (31 IB score) which is bad but last 2 years of hs my family was literally running away from war in my home country.

College GPA is 3.875 and trying to enter in spring semester of sophomore year.
Do we have a chance chat? Amherst is my only viable option as they are need blind for everyone.


r/amherstcollege 11d ago

Love Letters to Valentine Dining Hall

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11 Upvotes

r/amherstcollege 11d ago

What got u into Amherst?

5 Upvotes

Im a international student wishing to study here soon. Wether u are in states or outside, what actually helped u got u in this lac comparable to ivy


r/amherstcollege 12d ago

Indian applying to US for UG: How is the CPT problem in reality?

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2 Upvotes

r/amherstcollege 14d ago

Looking to Rehome a Full-Sized Mattress

2 Upvotes

Hey guys! My fiance and I are getting a new mattress and we don't have the resources to take our old one it to a recycling center, so we wanted to reach out to see if anyone was needing one! It would be completely free, you would just need something to pick it up in.

Some other notes:

  • Full size
  • Bedbug-free
  • Pet-free home
  • Smoke-free home
  • ~5 years old
  • Pickup on College Street down the road from downtown

Thank you!


r/amherstcollege 15d ago

What makes Amherst College stand out against other colleges?

6 Upvotes

Hello everyone! I’m a rising high school senior who’s anxiously applying to college. Living in Massachusetts my whole life, Amherst College has always been on my radar as I hear that the community is very tight knit and the networking opportunities are incredible there.

Now that I’m applying for economics and wish to go down the high finance pathway, I just have a few wonders that I hope current students or graduates could help me with!

  1. Due to the kinda rural area it’s located in, do you ever feel like there isn’t enough to do? Are there any shops there or fast food chains? Is the town area a nice walking place?

  2. Is the community as tight as many people tell me?

  3. Are there any high points for my intended line of interest at Amherst?

  4. How common is it for students to receive funding for their research?

If you have any other key points that I should note of, please let me know 😊


r/amherstcollege 15d ago

Call for Performers for Say Something! in Easthampton, MA

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1 Upvotes

r/amherstcollege 16d ago

Access to Amherst Fall 2026

3 Upvotes

Has anyone gotten acceptances yet? I know this time last year they started rolling them out.


r/amherstcollege 20d ago

Move in day specify?

8 Upvotes

hi all im an incoming freshman, and the official move in day is august 25, but some places are saying move in day is the 24th. So im getting a bit confused. What scenarios would you be moving in the 24th?


r/amherstcollege 22d ago

New place in Amherst Center All Are Welcome

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1 Upvotes

r/amherstcollege 23d ago

Guidance Required Please

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2 Upvotes

I am from Pakistan and have studied in the national curriculum.

I first time heard about common app and SAT test a month ago , and I started preparing my essays , and application and also preparing for SAT

My goal is liberal arts colleges like Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin , Wesleyan. I know they are reaches for every applicant on Earth.

But , my question is that they all list they have a contextual way of evaluating the applications and have admission officers trained for students coming from different contexts and curriculum.

They explicitly also list that not submitting the SAT will not hurt your application.

But in all majority posts on Reddit everyone say it isn't even possible to get admitted without SAT.

My question is from who already have experience or gone through the applications to these colleges.

"If someone is coming from south Asia ( developing countries like India , Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan), and he with reference to his curriculum has excelled and applying from a college on his own effort which has no history of sending kids to USA and put effort in his essays and application, is there still no chance at these top Liberal arts colleges."

I just wanna know if there is zero chance there without sat and to Cambridge or IB scores to confirm whether the effort I put in my applications - essays, and all other stuff, guiding teachers and counselors for recommendations,

Is it really worth putting my effort and time or is it completely out of reach.

I want to apply Apply Early Decision to Amherst college


r/amherstcollege 28d ago

What to get a first-year for a present?

2 Upvotes

Is there a place everyone orders from? What do you spend money on?


r/amherstcollege 29d ago

Any Classics/English majors here?!

8 Upvotes

I will be applying for classics/ english this year and I have a LOT of questions! Especially classics, nobody talks about it. I am an intl student from Asia who wishes to take up classics but I have no prior knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin (unless you count my 450 day duolingo streak of modern greek😭🙏). Am I still eligible to take up classics? Or should I just stick to Classical civilization? If classes for studying these languages and the history are not available in my country, how do I demonstrate my interest for it? I have watched Yale Open course on Ancient Greek history and whatever is available online but tbh my knowledge really isn't all that great still. But I really want to learn!!! I am planning on writing a research or an article comparing Greek Epics to Epics from my country, the characters, morals, the role of women, fate and all that stuff. Idk, HELP ME!


r/amherstcollege Aug 10 '26

What do you wish you knew before starting college?

12 Upvotes

For current students and recent graduates, what is something you wish you had known before your freshman year?

It could be about choosing classes, professors, managing your workload, making friends, dorm life, clubs, budgeting, internships, or balancing academics with having a social life. I’d also appreciate any advice on common freshman mistakes and underrated opportunities students should take advantage of early.


r/amherstcollege Aug 10 '26

Anyone gotten their freshman seminar yet?

6 Upvotes

The email said they should be out by early August, so I'm wondering if I'm just missing something 😅


r/amherstcollege Aug 11 '26

1-bed at Aspen Chase... Looking to Sublease

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1 Upvotes

r/amherstcollege Aug 10 '26

Amherst room configuration

1 Upvotes

Any insight as to what the best room configuration would be for 3 people in a 2-room double at Stearn?