The College offered admission to 1,167 students from 47 states and 50 countries in the early- and regular- decision rounds out of a total 6,669 applicants; an eight percent increase in applicants over last year's pool. The admission rate hit a record low 17.5 percent. The Office of Admission hopes 306 students will choose to join the 134 students admitted early decision for a class of 440 students.
Average SAT and ACT scores for the admitted class increased slightly from those for the Class of 2010. The admitted class has an average score of 726 Verbal, 716 Math and 718 Writing for the three-part SAT and 32 for the composite ACT. About one-third of the admitted students are National Merit Finalists, National Hispanic Scholars or National Achievement Scholars. Of those students from schools that rank, 90 percent will graduate in the top 10 percent of their class and 25 percent are on track to become valedictorians.
The admitted class comes from an incredibly diverse range of backgrounds as well, mirroring the record amount of racial diversity in the Class of 2010. Forty-nine percent of the admitted group are self-identified students of color, selected out of a record applicant pool of students of color-the result of the College's intense recruiting efforts to bolster both the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity of the College.
Of the students of color, 13.5 percent are African American, 14 percent are Latino/a and 13.5 percent are Asian American, while seven percent do not hold United States citizenship and 7.3 percent are multi-ethnic. Thirty-four different languages are spoken in the homes of the admitted students, and English is not the first language of 19 percent of the students.
Numbers for students who qualify for financial aid and Pell Grants are not yet available, but the College predicts strong yield on that group of students, given Amherst's leading financial aid program. "It's safe to say that our recruitment efforts with low income students have increased so we can anticipate a higher yield for that group," explained Director of Admission Katie Fretwell '81. Eighteen percent of the admitted students will be the first in their families to attend college.
Sixty-five percent of the admitted students come from public high schools, 30 percent are from independent schools and five percent are from parochial schools. Two accepted candidates will graduate home-schooled. 831 different secondary schools are represented in Amherst's group of accepted students. Of the accepted students, 7.4 percent are sons or daughters of Amherst alums, a record number.
Forty-six percent of the admitted students are men and 54 percent are women, reflecting the national shortage of 18-year-old men pursuing higher education. Fretwell expects the gap between men and women to decrease because Amherst traditionally yields a greater proportion of men than women, unlike most small liberal arts colleges that have trouble finding that balance.
As any Amherst student knows, Fretwell loves collecting random pieces of information on the incoming class. Fretwell noted that seven sets of twins were accepted to join the College community next year. "We don't keep data on twins, but I'm fairly confident that must be a record," explained Fretwell.
On a more serious note, she perceived this year's class to be more interested in pursuing science than in previous years and more interested in public service, as an exceptionally large proportion of students have participated in community outreach organizations like Habitat for Humanity and have indicated a desire to make public service a career. A top-ranked under-18 Scrabble player, a student whose novel was just accepted by a major publisher, a bagpiper, a glass blower, a belly dancer and a student who can solve the Rubik's Cube in less than 2.5 minutes were all sent letters of admission.
According to Fretwell, this year's admissions cycle, however, is "so far from being over," as the College's admissions officers wait with great anticipation to see which students choose to enroll at Amherst in the Fall. The tables have turned and students must decide if they will accept Amherst.
Fretwell explained that it is particularly hard to predict how many students will choose to attend Amherst this year because, statistically, students are applying to more colleges and the applicant pool was so strong. Almost every elite college received an increase in applications.
Amherst does not reject students it does not think will attend, as many schools now do in an effort to lower their acceptance rates. "I'm proud that we don't," explained Fretwell. "We admit the most exciting and vibrant candidates. If people apply to Amherst, we want to give them the choice to attend Amherst so we don't play that game,"
Amherst's yield is also hard to predict because the College pledges to admit no more than 30 percent of the incoming class early decision, an unusually low proportion for an institution of Amherst's caliber. Many select colleges use early decision to lower their acceptance rate and increase yield, statistics that are judged in college rankings.
Amherst believes early decision disadvantages those that wish to compare financial aid offerings and those "who may have discovered Amherst late." By adhering to its self-imposed cap, Amherst yet again acts as the good guy in college admissions.