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How to Write the Amherst College Essays 2023-2024

Amherst College is a private liberal arts school located in the picturesque college town of Amherst, Massachusetts. A small school with a student body of just under 2,000 undergraduates, Amherst is very selective. 

Amherst boasts an open curriculum , meaning that students have only one required writing seminar outside of their major, rather than a full set of general education requirements. Around 40% of juniors study abroad, and Amherst’s financial aid follows along, meaning that students pay the same amount as if they were studying on-campus. Students can also take classes at one of the four nearby colleges—Mount Holyoke, Smith, Hampshire, and UMass Amherst—through the Five College Consortium .

To apply to Amherst, you’ll have to submit two supplemental essays and two optional ones. Let’s break these down.

Read this Amherst essay example to inspire your own writing.

Amherst College Essay Prompts

Prompt 1 (optional): If you would like to share more about yourself that is not captured elsewhere in your application, please tell us more here. (175 words)

Prompt 2 (optional): If you have engaged in significant research in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences or humanities that was undertaken independently of your high school curriculum, please provide a brief description of the research project: (50-75 words)

Prompt 3: Please briefly elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience of particular significance to you (175 words)

Prompt 4: Choose one of the following options:

Option A: Please respond to one of the following quotations in an essay of not more than 350 words. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay.

Option a1: “rigorous reasoning is crucial in mathematics, and insight plays an important secondary role these days. in the natural sciences, i would say that the order of these two virtues is reversed. rigor is, of course, very important. but the most important value is insight—insight into the workings of the world. it may be because there is another guarantor of correctness in the sciences, namely, the empirical evidence from observation and experiments.” – kannan jagannathan, professor of physics, amherst college, option a2: “translation is the art of bridging cultures. it’s about interpreting the essence of a text, transporting its rhythms and becoming intimate with its meaning… translation, however, doesn’t only occur across languages: mentally putting any idea into words is an act of translation; so is composing a symphony, doing business in the global market, understanding the roots of terrorism. no citizen, especially today, can exist in isolation—that is, untranslated.” – ilan stavans, professor of latin american and latino culture, amherst college, robert croll ’16 and cedric duquene ’15, from “interpreting terras irradient,” amherst magazine, spring 2015., option a3: “creating an environment that allows students to build lasting friendships, including those that cut across seemingly entrenched societal and political boundaries… requires candor about the inevitable tensions, as well as about the wonderful opportunities, that diversity and inclusiveness create.” – carolyn “biddy” martin, 19th president of amherst college, letter to amherst college alumni and families, december 28, 2015..

Option A4: “Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted.”  – Attributed to William Hastie, Amherst Class of 1925, the first African-American to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals

Option B: Please submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay. If you have submitted an analytical essay in response to the “essay topic of your choice” prompt in the Common Application writing section, you should NOT select Option B. Instead, you should respond to one of the four quotation prompts in Option A.

Option c: if you are an applicant to amherst’s access to amherst (a2a) program, you may use your a2a application essay in satisfaction of our writing supplement requirement. if you would like to do so, please select option c. however, if you would prefer not to use your a2a essay for this purpose and you want to submit a different writing supplement, select either option a or option b. [please note that option c is available only to applicants to amherst’s a2a program]., prompt 1 (optional):, if you would like to share more about yourself that is not captured elsewhere in your application, please tell us more here. (175 words).

This essay is found in the school questions section, and allows you to disclose more information about your identity. Here, Amherst is looking to better understand who you are and this is a great opportunity to showcase aspects of your background that might not be clear from a cursory glance at the other parts of your application.

Typical responses might include sharing more about your culture or ethnicity, your gender identity or sexual orientation, your family history, or socioeconomic background. However, you can choose to center your response around any part of you that you feel has influenced your perspectives, values, and opinions.

You have about 175 words, which isn’t enough to write a full-fledged essay, but is enough space to provide an anecdote or two and then a more in-depth analysis.

For example:

My family celebrates not one, but three new years. 

In late November, my father helps me find a gold scarf that perfectly matches my kurta. As everyone else dances gracefully in concentric circles at the garba, I fumble along behind my older cousins and try to match their steps without trampling on their toes. 

In January, we ring in the New Year three hours early with Ryan Seacrest, toasting apple cider and watching the snow fall in Times Square – an impossibility in our southern Californian suburb.

A month later, we go to my aunt’s house, where he and my cousins have prepared a feast of banh chung and banh day to ring in the Lunar New Year. I stumble through a conversation with my grandmother as she asks me questions about my schooling in Vietnamese. 

Though I can’t quite grasp the raas’ beat, keep my New Years’ resolutions, or handle my uncle’s spicy pho, I love that these celebrations have brought and will continue to bring me closer to my cultures each and every year.

This response shows admissions officers how the student melds their identities rather than telling them. Ideally, your anecdote will be filled with imagery while also communicating information about yourself rather straightforwardly.

Prompt 2 (optional):

If you have engaged in significant research in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences or humanities that was undertaken independently of your high school curriculum, please provide a brief description of the research project.(50-75 words).

Note that this prompt is optional. Only respond to it if you have conducted significant research outside of class, meaning that you didn’t receive credit or a grade for it and didn’t do it as part of a course. If you haven’t done so, it’s advisable to skip this optional prompt. What counts as significant external research? Here are some examples:

• Summer camps during which you completed a research project, like SSTP, YSP, or RSI
• Science fairs taken beyond the school level, perhaps to regional, state, or national competitions 
• Independent research into a topic that interests you, like learning more about the history of your favorite hobby or how programming languages differ from each other

Once you decide what to write about, one of the toughest parts of responding is likely going to be sticking to the constricting word count of only 75 words. With such a short word limit, it is advisable to provide a few key details: 

What was the project? Give a brief description of your research query and what you did to explore it.

Why did you do it? What sparked your interest or led you to pursue this project?

When did you complete it and how long did you spend on it?

Who did you work with, if anyone, and where did you publish or present it, if applicable.

Although providing this many details in so few words may seem overwhelming, it’s easier once you realize you can combine some of them. Here are a couple of examples:

•   Last summer, as part of my participation in FSU’s Young Scholars Program, I worked with a peer over the course of six weeks to explore the effects of bonding various heavy metal atoms to protein structure through x-ray crystallography at cryogenic conditions. (What, When, and Who)
• Driven by my curiosity and love of Margaret Atwood’s work, I spent the last three months of my sophomore year researching the biblical references in The Handmaid’s Tale and how they tie together. (What, Why, and When)

If you’re having trouble cutting your answer down, go line by line and take out any parts that don’t provide key information. If it doesn’t answer one of the five questions above, it probably isn’t necessary.

Please briefly elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience of particular significance to you. (175 words)

Amherst also has another prompt embedded in the school questions section about extracurricular activities (this is the classic “ extracurricular prompt “). Although you’ve already listed your activities with short descriptions, this is a chance to elaborate on one that has a particularly deep meaning to you. This is an opportunity to show admissions officers a more in-depth look at one of your commitments. 

Try to avoid cliche topics , such as being part of a winning sports team or general member of a club. Try to start your response with an anecdote that vividly explains a significant moment during this experience. 

For example, if you’re a hospital volunteer, you can mention a particular patient interaction that opened your eyes to a healthcare career, or a particular doctor or nurse that you shadowed who changed your perspective on the field. 

Also, don’t discount non-traditional work experiences or extracurriculars – these can help set your application apart and provide a more well-rounded view of your high school experience. If you had to work after school, babysit your siblings, or frequently cook meals and perform other household tasks for your family, these are valid essay topics. It can also serve as an explanation for why you couldn’t participate in as many traditional extracurriculars like sports teams and clubs.

Furthermore, keep your prospective major in mind when answering this prompt. This is an especially effective strategy if you are applying to a competitive academic program and want to showcase your dedication to the subject. 

For instance, if you are applying as a computer science major, you can talk about self-driven projects such as building your own computer or website. Get into the nitty-gritty of what parts or coding segments you struggled with the most, taking readers into your journey and thought processes.

There are a number of ways to approach this prompt, but make sure that its content does not overlap with your other essays. For example, if you’ve already mentioned another extracurricular or aspect of your family life, don’t use this opportunity to further elaborate on that unless you have something truly unique to share. 

Prompt 4: Options A, B, C

Amherst’s main supplement has many choices, which might seem overwhelming. But don’t worry, we’ll break it down further for you. For this essay, you’ll choose from three options. Option A asks you to respond to one of four quotations in a personal manner. If you choose Option B, you’ll be asked to submit a graded persuasive essay from your junior or senior years of high school that is backed by evidence. Option C allows you to submit your A2A (formerly DIVOH) application essay, if you applied to their diversity open house weekend.

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Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographic, and other holistic details.

Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographic, and other holistic details. We’ll let you know what your chances are at your dream schools — and how to improve your chances!

Note that this is the first of three options for the supplemental essay. If you choose this prompt, you’ll write a response to one of four quotes, which are listed below. This should be a personal reflection on the quote. Think about what it means to you and how it relates to your life and experiences. You may be tempted to research the quotes, but as the prompt says, avoid this urge. You have all of the material you need to write a great response. If you happen to disagree with a prompt, feel free to do so. Don’t feel pressured into conforming to what the quote says as long as you can write a response that supports your view and back it up with personal anecdotes.

If you’re interested in the sciences, this would be a great prompt for you to respond to. Use this prompt as a way to demonstrate not only your passion for science, but your capabilities. Jagannathan says that in the sciences, having insight into how the world works is more important than reasoning. Take this opportunity to show that you have both.

Here’s a few ways to approach this prompt:

Demonstrate your fascination with the world: What about the applications of science excites you? Maybe you love exploring how different fields of science overlap in pharmaceutical development. Perhaps you enjoy studying the effects of various compounds on protein structure. Regardless of what your interest is, convey it very specifically in your response. Including details and examples will help substantiate your interest and provide substance to your response.

Show that you have the necessary skills: Make sure your response is personal and not just abstract by providing examples of how rigor and insight have played a role in your scientific ventures. For example, you could talk about how you extended your science fair project about dominoes falling over to be about the structure of buildings during hurricanes.

This demonstrates insight into how models can be used to effectively explore natural phenomena that cannot be directly altered. This insight is essential as no matter how many times or how hard you try, it is not feasible to conduct an experiment of altering building distances and observing them during hurricanes. Thus, in this case, insight was more important than rigor and enabled you to explore an issue. Even if you have no formal research experience, you can still respond to this prompt in an effective way. For example, you could talk about an experience that you had during a science class, perhaps during lab, in which you demonstrated rigor and insight.

If your interests lie in the humanities, social sciences, or business, consider responding to this prompt. Stavans provides quite a few real-world examples about the importance of translation: translation of languages, ideating, creating a symphony, international business, and terrorism. If you connect with any of these concepts, write about this connection. If not, consider other applications of the quote. Here’s a few examples of what you could write about:

Dance, art, or music: These are often seen as translations of feelings and expressions. If you have experience with any of these, you could write a beautiful essay about it. For example, if you’re passionate about dance, your response could be about how you use it as an escape from negative feelings, channeling them into your dance instead of into your life. You could also talk about feedback you’ve gotten from others about how your dancing makes them feel, or about how watching others makes you feel.

Literature: If you’ve read translated works, you could write a great response about them, but be sure to make it personal. As an example, you could write about how reading various translations of Camus’s The Stranger led you to realize how minute changes in stories or speech can affect perception, making you more careful about what you say now.

A group project: Have you ever had an idea that sounded great in your head and had trouble conveying it? Have you ever struggled to merge the ideas of multiple people? Group projects are great examples of translation of ideas at work, so if you’ve experienced a substantial one, talk about it. Be sure that your response showcases positive attributes, such as leadership abilities, communication skills, or empathy.

Code-switching: As students who speak multiple languages know, sometimes conversations can become a mashup of different languages. Perhaps this led to you introducing a new word to your friends or connecting to two languages and cultures rather than one. If so, write about it. This could lead to a great response about connecting various heritages and identities, which many immigrants and descendants of immigrants can relate to.

Are you interested in politics and social change? This prompt could be great for you. Martin speaks about the importance of communication, saying that being frank about differences is important to create and maintain friendships despite, or perhaps because, of them.

One option for responding to this prompt is to provide an example of a friendship you’ve had with someone who was different from you. If you were to do this, speak about how recognizing these differences facilitated your friendship and celebrating them opened up new possibilities. For example, you could write about how your friend introduced you to your new favorite food from his culture or going to your friend’s cultural celebration made you appreciate music more.

Another option is to talk about a time that you experienced an environment unlike that which Martin describes. Perhaps you were part of a clique that discriminated against a group of students and you realized that this was wrong. You could write about how approaching these other students opened you up to new ideas and experiences and led to more lasting and meaningful friendships than you had before.

An important part of the prompt references “candor about the inevitable tensions,” which you could incorporate by talking about how you and your new friends spoke about the discrimination openly rather than just pretending it never happened, which is what led to the strength of your friendships. Another example is if you had a friend who was facing difficulties due to race, gender, or any other factor, and you spoke up about it, being vocal and open despite the fact that these are often controversial subjects. Perhaps you were discriminated against and a friend spoke up.

Regardless of what example you use, be sure to highlight openness and compassion. Demonstrating an ability to speak about controversial subjects will show maturity and poise.

Option A4:“Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted.”  – Attributed to William Hastie, Amherst Class of 1925, the first African-American to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals

This prompt is a great opportunity to talk about any hardships that you’ve encountered. What obstacles have you had to overcome in your life? This is a very personal question and your response could be about anything from being bullied to experiencing homelessness. Know that no hardship is too little. If it significantly affected your life, it matters. Especially consider responding to this prompt if the hardships you’ve faced have negatively affected your academic performance, as this could be a way to address that in a positive manner.

Keep in mind the following points while crafting a response:

Don’t be too personal: Although providing details so that the reader fully understands the issue is essential, try not to include more personal details than necessary. Doing so could detract from the main point of the essay or make you seem unprofessional. For example, if you were to write about experiencing difficulties finding a job, it would not be advisable to write about how cruel various managers were for not offering you a job opportunity. As another example, if you were writing about how your parents’ divorce affected you, there’s likely no need to include the details of what went wrong in their relationship.

Don’t be frivolous: Be sure that the topic that you choose matters to you. Although you may be tempted to write about your horrendous teacher who robbed you of your A in Spanish, this story won’t showcase any of your positive attributes. Try to write about an example that shows resilience and strength leading to achievement in the face of hardships.

Be positive: As the quote references achievement after difficulty, make sure you put a positive spin on your essay. Your response should be focused on the achievement rather than the difficulty. For example, if you write a response about failing to convince the school board to switch to compostable lunch trays, don’t spend the whole time talking about their objections due to budgeting. Instead, you should focus on how you responded to this letdown by researching other impactful ways for the cafeteria to become more environmentally friendly, and you implemented a food waste program where students could drop off their unopened lunch items in a box for anyone to take.

If you choose Option B, be sure to carefully read the directions. Do not select Option B if you chose to submit an analytical essay for the Common Application.

An appropriate paper should be:

• From your junior or senior year
• Supported by evidence
• Not too long ( ideally 4-5 pages double-spaced, or 8-10 pages max ).

Here are some examples of appropriate essays to submit:

• An analytical essay based on a piece of literature, such as an interpretation of a poem supported by analysis of rhetorical devices
• A historical essay based on research, such as an essay about which factor was most important in the development of a war

Make sure that the essay that you choose to submit meets the requirements and fully demonstrates your writing and analytical skills. If you’re unsure, it would be a great idea to ask the teacher who graded it what they think.

We strongly recommend submitting an essay on the shorter side, as a longer one might take up too much of the admissions officer’s time.

If you truly want to demonstrate your interest in Amherst, it’s also preferable to choose option A, where you respond to one of the quotations. Doing “extra work” for your application shows that you are more invested in the school.

Amherst hosts two diversity open houses (A2A) in the fall for up to 100 prospective students, covering their transportation fees, housing, and meals for the weekend. Participants get to stay with a current student in their dorm, attend classes, and experience life on campus. These weekends are open to all high schoolers, but preference is given to underrepresented minorities and those from financially disadvantaged families.

Selection is based on an application, which includes an essay. If you were an A2A applicant, you may reuse your essay to apply to Amherst. As with Option B, however, we recommend that you respond to Option A and write a new essay if you wish to truly show your interest in Amherst.

We at CollegeVine wish you the best of luck on your supplemental essay for Amherst!

For more about Amherst, check out this YouTube video, where a 2018 grad shares her experience as a student at Amherst College.

You should also check out the post How I Got Into Amherst College , for a close look into the profile of an accepted Amherst student.

Where to Get Your Amherst Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Amherst essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools.  Find the right advisor for you  to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Amherst College Supplemental Essays Guide: 2021-2022

Not sure how to approach the Amherst essays? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Amherst supplemental essays will show you how to write strong Amherst essays to maximize your chances of admission. If you need help crafting your Amherst supplemental essays, create your free CollegeAdvisor.com account or schedule a free advising consultation by calling (844) 343-6272.

Amherst College Essay Guide Quick Facts:

• Amherst College is ranked #2 in National Liberal Arts Colleges.
• The Amherst college acceptance rate is 12%, which makes it a most selective school according to U.S. News . 
• We recommend answering the Amherst essays comprehensively and thoughtfully.

What is the acceptance rate for Amherst College?

According to U.S. News , the Amherst College acceptance rate is 12%. Based on the low Amherst College acceptance rate, U.S. News lists Amherst as a most selective school. 

The Amherst College acceptance rate also places Amherst at number 27 in the list of the Top 100 schools with the lowest acceptance rates. 

So, how exactly are acceptance rates calculated? Like all percentages, the Amherst College acceptance rate is based on a ratio: the total number of applicants to the total number of accepted students. 

While this ratio may seem simple, many factors influence the Amherst College acceptance rate. These factors include how many seats are available in the incoming class, tuition rates, location, and more. The Amherst College acceptance rate can also be impacted by any policy changes to the admissions process, such as the university’s decision to go test-optional due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Five College Consortium

Another factor that influences the Amherst College acceptance rate is the fact that Amherst students can also take classes at any of the schools in the Five College Consortium . Under this program, Amherst students can register for courses at Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke, Smith College, and University of Massachusetts at Amherst. This opportunity attracts many students and contributes to the low Amherst College acceptance rate. 

Across the country, college acceptance rates continue to decrease as qualified students apply to more schools each year. However, don’t let the low Amherst College acceptance rate stop you from applying. Instead, focus on crafting a strong, unique, and engaging Amherst supplement essay. The Amherst College acceptance rate is just one piece of the admissions puzzle. 

Want to learn more about the Amherst College acceptance rate and acceptance rates in general? Read our blog article here.

Does Amherst College have any supplemental essays?

Yes. All applicants have the option to choose one of three Amherst supplemental essays to submit. You’ll also respond to the main essay prompt in the Common App , Coalition App , or the QuestBridge application.  

One of the optional Amherst supplemental essays asks you to choose from a list of four Amherst essay prompts; the others ask you to submit a graded paper or write an essay for Amherst’s A2A program. The Amherst essays are your chance to show how you’ll shape your education and expand your knowledge. 

For a detailed list of application requirements aside from the Amherst supplemental essays, please visit Amherst’s website.

How many essays does Amherst require?

In addition to the main essay prompt found in the 2021-2022 Common App , Coalition App , or the QuestBridge application , there are three optional Amherst supplemental essays. Applicants must select only one of the Amherst supplemental essays to submit. 

We have provided the prompts for the Amherst supplemental essays below, along with a strategy on how to respond to each of the Amherst essay prompts. All applicants must complete one of the Amherst supplemental essays. However, you can choose which Amherst supplement essay to complete. 

Need some assistance choosing a Common App essay prompt? Get some helpful advice from our essay guide.

How do I write an Amherst College supplemental essay?

First, read the descriptions of all three Amherst supplemental essays to decide which option is best for you. Think about what you hope to convey in your Amherst supplement essay. We will list out each of the Amherst essay prompts in the next section of this guide. 

Amherst College prides itself on admitting dynamic, innovative thinkers with strong writing skills, and the Amherst supplemental essays reflect that ideal. The Amherst essay prompts are designed to identify students who will forge their own path and discover their passions at Amherst. Consider how you can showcase your intellect and values in the Amherst supplemental essays. 

Open curriculum

Additionally, Amherst College is known for its open curriculum, where students can plan and design their own program of study. As you prepare to write your Amherst supplement essay, reflect on the five tenets of how learning happens at Amherst: adapt to new situations, pull it apart, get your hands dirty, make a beautiful mess, and create your own answers. Use the Amherst essays as a chance to show the admissions team how you embody Amherst’s style of active learning. 

Reflect on each of the Amherst essay prompts before choosing one. Remember, the Amherst supplemental essays are your chance to paint a picture of who you are apart from your transcript and test scores. This makes it even more crucial to think carefully as you choose a prompt for your Amherst supplement essay. 

We have outlined each of the Amherst supplemental essays below, along with a breakdown of how to approach the Amherst essays. 

How to Write Amherst College Supplemental Essays – Option A (Optional)

In addition to the essay you are writing as part of the Common Application, Amherst requires a supplementary essay from all applicants. There are three options for satisfying Amherst’s supplementary writing requirement: Option A, Option B or Option C. You may select only one of these options. Before deciding, carefully read the descriptions of all three options. 

Option A: Please respond to one of the following quotations in an essay of not more than 300 words. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay. (300 words).

“Rigorous reasoning is crucial in mathematics, and insight plays an important secondary role these days. In the natural sciences, I would say that the order of these two virtues is reversed. Rigor is, of course, very important. But the most important value is insight – insight into the workings of the world. It may be because there is another guarantor of correctness in the sciences, namely, the empirical evidence from observation and experiments.” – Kannan Jagannathan, Professor of Physics, Amherst College

“Translation is the art of bridging cultures. It’s about interpreting the essence of a text, transporting its rhythms and becoming intimate with its meaning…Translation, however, doesn’t only occur across languages: mentally putting any idea into words is an act of translation; so is composing a symphony, doing business in the global market, understanding the roots of terrorism. No citizen, especially today, can exist in isolation – that is, untranslated.” – Ilan Stavans, Professor of Latin American and Latino Culture, Amherst College, Robert Croll ’16 and Cedric Duquene ’15, from “Interpreting Terras Irradient,” Amherst Magazine, Spring 2015. 

“Creating an environment that allows students to build lasting friendships, including those that cut across seemingly entrenched societal and political boundaries… requires candor about the inevitable tensions, as well as about the wonderful opportunities, that diversity and inclusiveness create.” – Carolyn “Biddy” Martin, President of Amherst College, Letter to Amherst College Alumni and Families, December 28, 2015. 

“Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted.” – Attributed to William Hastie, Amherst Class of 1925, the first African-American to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals.

Respond to a quote

Option A of the Amherst supplemental essays asks you to write a response to one of the four quotes listed above. As you read through the Amherst essay prompts, are there any topics that stand out to you? Can you highlight an aspect of your identity, experiences, or values with a specific Amherst essay prompt? Is there a particular activity, leadership role, or life experience that you can link to one of the Amherst essays? 

Each of the Amherst essay prompts will let you share something different about yourself that admissions officers may not see elsewhere in your application. Spend some time with the Amherst essay prompts to decide which one is right for you. 

Write what you know

For example, if you want to create policies that promote social change across society, you might consider writing a response to the third Amherst essay prompt. In this Amherst essay prompt, President of Amherst College, Carolyn Martin, talks about how creating an inclusive environment can foster connection across groups of people. Martin also states that having candid discussions about our differences might lead to better friendships. 

Perhaps you recently became friends with someone who views the world differently than you. Use this Amherst supplement essay to discuss how you could communicate with one another to bridge these differences in opinions, values, or beliefs. Write about this in your Amherst essay and share how you found common ground. For example, maybe you helped your friend realize the value of spirituality when you introduced them to your religion. Or, perhaps you learned to appreciate your friend’s culture after you vacationed with their family.

Try a different approach

You could also interpret this Amherst essay prompt in another way. Perhaps you were involved in a tense, discriminatory experience at your school and a friend or classmate stood up for you. How did that make you feel? Did your friendship become stronger after this event? In your Amherst essay, be sure to include how talking about the situation led to better outcomes for all involved. 

Whatever story you decide to share in this Amherst supplement essay, make sure to discuss your own response to the event. Use this Amherst essay to highlight your humility and compassion for others, regardless of their beliefs. 

Discuss a challenge

Maybe you are better prepared to discuss a challenge you’ve faced. If so, consider the fourth prompt for the Amherst supplemental essays. Use this Amherst essay to talk about any hardships that you have overcome. How did this issue affect your life? What did you learn about yourself after facing this problem? Did you achieve a greater perspective or better outlook on life because of this event?

For example, you could write about how you experienced food insecurity as a child. Use this Amherst supplement essay to describe what that was like and how your upbringing influenced your decision to create a sustainable food center in your neighborhood. 

Or perhaps you lost a parent or caregiver at a young age. Describe how this loss impacted your life. What new obstacles did you and your family encounter because of this event? How did you make it through? 

Additionally, consider selecting this prompt for your Amherst essay if the hardship you endured affected your academics, including your GPA or test scores. By selecting this Amherst essay prompt, you have the chance to address the factors that might undermine your academic profile. 

Try freewriting

Are you struggling to choose between the Amherst essay prompts? Consider starting with a writing exercise. Choose 2-3 of the Amherst essay prompts that interest you and set a timer for 10 minutes. In those 10 minutes, write as much as you can about that topic. Once the timer goes off, review your work. Couldn’t stop writing about one Amherst essay topic? Select that option as your final Amherst supplement essay prompt. 

Finally, do not research or reference the original texts from these Amherst essay prompts in your Amherst supplement essay. Instead, write a personal, thoughtful response to one of the Amherst essay prompts. 

Still unsure how to approach the Amherst essays? Read our article for more tips on how to write a great essay. 

Amherst Essay Draft Key Questions: 

• Did you choose a topic for your Amherst supplement essay that connects to your own identity, values, or interests?
• Does your response highlight an aspect of your identity that supplements your application as a whole? 

How to Write Amherst College Supplemental Essays – Option B (Optional)

Option B: Please submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay. If you have submitted an analytical essay in response to the “essay topic of your choice” prompt in the Common Application writing section, you should NOT select Option B. Instead, you should respond to one of the four quotation prompts in Option A. 

For Option B of the Amherst supplemental essays, you must submit a graded paper that showcases your analytical writing skills. This Amherst essay prompt is unique and quite different from other prompts. Before you choose one of your graded papers from junior or senior year, there are a few things to keep in mind for this Amherst essay. 

Grade and comments

First, the admissions team prefers that students submit a paper that shows both a grade and comments from your teacher on it. There is no need to rewrite your paper or provide a “clean” copy for submission. All submitted papers must be written in English. Additionally, consider choosing a paper that is about 4-5 pages in length. This will provide enough material to showcase your writing skills to the admissions committee. Do not select an overly long paper just because you think it will give you a better chance of being admitted. The paper you choose to submit for this Amherst essay should not exceed 8-10 pages. 

Below are a few examples of appropriate papers to submit for this Amherst supplement essay: 

• A research-based sociological essay, such as an evaluation of the origin of an indigenous community’s values and belief systems. 
• A literary analysis essay, such as an examination of the rhetorical devices found within the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.  
• A research-based historical essay, such as an analysis of the factors that contribute to climate change.

Show progress not perfection

If you are nervous about submitting a paper that earned a less than stellar grade or that has several comments on it, don’t be. It is okay to show your reader that you aren’t perfect. Use this Amherst supplement essay to show that you can develop an argument and evaluate specific, appropriate evidence to support your conclusion. 

Finally, select Option B of the Amherst supplemental essays ONLY if you did not already submit an analytical essay for the “essay topic of your choice” prompt in the Common App or Coalition App.

Curious about Option B of the Amherst essay prompts? Review the FAQ page about this Amherst supplement essay option here.  

Amherst Essay Draft Key Questions:

• Does your paper show off another aspect of your critical thinking and analytical writing skills that isn’t emphasized in other parts of your application? 
• Are you proud of the paper you submitted? Are you excited to show it to the admissions team?
• Does your paper showcase your intellectual curiosity and engagement? 

How to Write Amherst College Supplemental Essays – Option C (Optional)

Option C: If you are/were an applicant to Amherst’s Access to Amherst (A2A) program, you may use your A2A application essay in satisfaction of our Writing Supplement requirement. If you would like to do so, please select Option C. However, if you would prefer not to use your A2A essay for this purpose and you want to submit a different writing supplement, select either Option A or Option B. [Please note that Option C is available only to applicants to Amherst’s A2A program. Non-A2A applicants must choose either Option A or Option B]. 

Every fall, Amherst hosts the Access to Amherst (A2A), formerly called Diversity Open House (DIVOH) weekend program for prospective students. This free program is designed to introduce prospective applicants to the Amherst campus, faculty/staff, classes, etc. Priority is given to students from historically excluded groups, such as first-generation, African-American, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American, and Asian-American backgrounds, as well as students who may have limited financial resources. To be considered for the A2A program, students must submit an online application that includes a written response to a short essay. 

Keep in mind

If you have already applied to A2A or have previously been admitted to the A2A program, you may resubmit your essay for the Amherst College application. However, if you will not or have not already participated in this program, you will want to respond to either Option A or Option B of the Amherst supplemental essays. 

Read more about the application and selection processes to Amherst’s Access to Amherst (A2A) program by visiting their website.

• Did you select Option C ONLY if you are/were an applicant to Amherst’s Access to Amherst (A2A) program?
• Have you resubmited your A2A essay for this Amherst supplement essay option without any changes?

How important are Amherst College essays?

In short, the Amherst essays are a vital part of your application. For the Class of 2023 , Amherst College received over 9,720 applications. Of those applications, only 1,240 students were admitted to the college and 492 students ultimately enrolled. This makes your Amherst essays a major piece of your profile. 

Most applicants have strong GPAs, high test scores, and impressive résumés. The admissions committee looks to the Amherst supplemental essays to help identify students who will exemplify their mission statement to “seek, value, and advance knowledge, engage the world around them, and lead principled lives of consequence.” In other words, your Amherst essay should highlight your intellectual curiosity, civic engagement, and individual values. Additionally, responses to Amherst essays should show how you are a good fit for the Amherst community. 

Want to learn more about the Amherst admissions process and how high quality Amherst supplemental essays can make a difference? Check out the video below from Bloomberg for an inside look!

Amherst College Supplemental Essays – Final Thoughts

Writing thoughtful responses to the Amherst supplemental essays can seem overwhelming. However, don’t let the Amherst supplemental essays stop you from applying! Instead, use the Amherst supplemental essays to show who you are beyond your transcript. Reference this guide often as you tackle the Amherst supplement essay. Good luck!

This 2021-2022 essay guide on Amherst was written by Claire Babbs , UT Austin, ’12. Want more help responding to the Amherst University essay prompt? Click here to create your free CollegeAdvisor.com account or schedule a free advising assessment with an Admissions Expert by calling (844) 343-6272.

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Amherst College 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 6

You Have: 

Amherst College 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations 

The Requirements: One essay of 300 words, a series of optional short answers

Supplemental Essay Type(s):   Activity , Diversity , Essay of choice

Optional additional identity information: The questions below provide a space for you to share additional information about yourself. This information is used in the admission process to understand each applicant’s full context, as part of our whole-person review process. Your responses will be kept private and secure, and will not be used for a discriminatory purpose. 

If you would like to share more about yourself that is not captured elsewhere in your application, please tell us more here. (maximum: 175 words).

Amherst is giving you an opportunity to further distinguish yourself from other applicants—not with amazing test scores or impressive grades, but by painting a more detailed picture of who you are. Think about activities you enjoy, places that give you peace, or aspects of your personality or background that you haven’t discussed in your application yet and tell that story. Maybe you’d like to write about your experience growing up in a military family, competing in the Junior Olympics, or playing Mancala with your grandpa. The options are endless! Just be sure to tell admissions something about you that they don’t already know.

Do you identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community? If you wish to share this information, please complete the following question: If you wish to share more about your LBGTQ+ affiliation, please use the space below. (Maximum: 75 words)

Amherst wants to admit a diverse class of students and takes seriously its commitment to making the campus a safe space for all. That said, this short essay response is entirely optional, so please don’t feel pressured to respond if you identify as LGBTQ+ but aren’t ready to be out to admissions yet. Any response you choose to give here will not make or break your admission; it’ll just add another facet to your application.

Please briefly elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience of particular significance to you. (Maximum: 175 words)

Activity essays like this one are more common than participating in icebreaker activities during your first week of college. All things considered, the hardest part is selecting the activity you want to write about! So, we return to our favorite mantra: tell admissions something they couldn’t learn from anywhere else in your application. If you wrote your Common App essay about your time walking dogs for your local animal shelter, focus on a different activity or work experience that reveals a new aspect of your personality. This can be a great opportunity to highlight your leadership skills and any awards or special recognition you may have received throughout high school. Were you nominated for an award after going undefeated with your doubles tennis partner? Were you asked to manage a team of volunteers at the food pantry based on your community-minded reputation and leadership skills? No matter what you choose, it should probably be something you’ve been involved in for a while, so you can demonstrate your growth and the impact that you have had on others.

If you have engaged in significant research in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences or humanities that was undertaken independently of your high school curriculum, please provide a brief description of the research project: (Optional) (50-75 words)    

There’s not a lot of room for embellishment in this brief prompt. So only answer it if A) you have actually done research that fits the bill, and B) you haven’t already written about it in detail. (In the first prompt of this supplement, for example.) If your work meets the criteria, don’t worry about getting too clever with your description. In fact, you’ll do yourself a favor if you adhere to the standard academic practices around presenting research in your chosen field. If it’s scientific or medical research, cover the bases of a report: research question, methods, and results (with special emphasis in anything you found particularly interesting or central to your experience). If it’s in the social sciences or humanities, a basic synopsis that focuses on your main argument will do. Once you’ve filled in the basic details, you might consider giving a little background on how you came to participate in this extracurricular research: how did you get connected with the lab or program? This small narrative element will help you show admissions that you’re motivated, engaged, and already out in the world impressing people.

In addition to the essay you are writing as part of the Common Application, Amherst requires a supplementary essay from all applicants. There are three options for satisfying Amherst’s supplementary writing requirement: Option A, Option B or Option C. You may select only one of these options. Before deciding, carefully read the descriptions of all three options.

Option a: choose one of the following quotations, and respond to the question posed, in an essay of not more than 350 words. it is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay..

Before you even get to the quotations, there’s a lot to take in about Option A, so let’s take a breather. Don’t let the seemingly academic nature of this assignment fool you; at the end of the day, Amherst admissions is still looking for a personal story.  

Prompt 1: “Amherst College is committed to learning through close colloquy and to expanding the realm of knowledge through scholarly research and artistic creation at the highest level. Its graduates link learning with leadership—in service to the College, to their communities, and to the world beyond.” 

– from the mission of amherst college, prompt 1 question: what do you see as the benefits of linking learning with leadership and/or service in your response, please share with us a time where you have seen that benefit through your own experience..

This option is perfect for students who have a strong background in volunteering, community service, and leadership. If that’s you—great! In your response, make sure you focus on how learning has translated into leadership or community service. Maybe you were a junior camp counselor for at-risk youth and observed how your senior counselor adjusted their approach to each camper based on what they learned about them. Perhaps you started volunteering at an animal shelter and quickly realized you had a lot to learn about animal care, eventually using what you learned to train other volunteers. Make sure you articulate what you see as the benefits of connecting learning with leadership and how you will use this knowledge as a member of the Amherst community.

Prompt 2: “We seek an Amherst made stronger because it includes those whose experiences can enhance our understanding of our nation and our world. We do so in the faith that our humanity is an identity forged from diversity, and that our different perspectives enrich our inquiry, deepen our knowledge, strengthen our community, and prepare students to engage with an ever-changing world.” 

– from the trustee statement on diversity and community, prompt  2 question: in what ways could your unique experiences enhance our understanding of our nation and our world.

This is a Diversity Essay in disguise, perfect for students who have a unique background, identity, or interest that has impacted how they interact with the world. Maybe you grew up on a working farm and look forward to using your experience to educate your peers as an EcoRep in your dorm. Perhaps you’ve lived all over the world because your parent was in the Foreign Service and you bring a fresh perspective on American imperialism. You could also write about your race, nationality, or any other aspect of your background, personality, or experiences. Make sure to focus on not only what makes you unique, but also how that has primed you to educate your peers and make your mark on Amherst’s campus.

Prompt 3: “Strong commitment to the freedom of inquiry lies at the heart of Amherst College’s mission to create a home in which the liberal arts may flourish. As a small residential liberal arts college that prides itself on the ability, curiosity, and diversity of its students, Amherst seeks to create a respectful environment in which members of its community feel emboldened to pursue their intellectual and creative passions.”

– from the amherst college statement of academic and expressive freedom, prompt 3 question: tell us about an intellectual or creative passion you have pursued; what did you learn about yourself through that pursuit.

This prompt is perfect for students who have a creative or intellectual passion outside of their classwork that has been a major part of their lives thus far. Maybe you’ve taken coding courses through your local community college and used those skills to build an app for your uncle’s deli. Perhaps you love musical theater and perform every year with the summer stock company in your town, taking on increasingly larger roles. Whatever you choose to write about, make sure the focus is on what you learned about yourself. Maybe you realized that you have a deep-seated desire to utilize your skills to help others. Perhaps you always considered yourself clumsy but discovered you could dance, improving your self-confidence in the process. Through this prompt, Amherst seeks to understand what inspires you and how that inspiration has changed you. To finish it up, tell admissions how you will continue to pursue this passion as an Amherst student. 

Option B: Please submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay. If you have submitted an analytical essay in response to the “essay topic of your choice” prompt in the Common Application writing section, you should NOT select Option B. 

Okay, we’ll keep it short. Although this is technically an option, the wording should make it clear that admissions is really angling for a response to option A. We only see two sets of circumstances where an applicant might want to consider option B: (1) if you somehow procrastinated to the eleventh hour and have no time to write an original essay or (2) you have written something you are so proud of that it could have won an award (and maybe it did). Just make sure it is what admissions is asking for (a persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological, or historical evidence)⸺if not, you’re better off scrambling to write a response to one of the Option A prompts!

Option C: If you are/were an applicant to Amherst’s Access to Amherst (A2A) program, you may use your A2A application essay in satisfaction of our Writing Supplement requirement. If you would like to do so, please select Option C. However, if you would prefer not to use your A2A essay for this purpose and you want to submit a different writing supplement, select either Option A or Option B. Option A, Prompt 2 is the same prompt as the A2A application essay; if you would like to submit an updated version of your A2A application essay, please choose Option A. [Please note that Option C is available only to applicants to Amherst’s A2A program. Non-A2A applicants must choose either Option A or Option B.] 

No explanation necessary! If you think that this essay will be the best way for you to reflect yourself to Amherst admissions, then feel free to use it here. If it’s so nice, why write it twice?

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How to Approach the Amherst Supplemental Essays 2020-2021

August 10, 2020

So, you have set your eyes on the open curriculum, beautiful scenery, commitment to diversity and inclusion, and five-college consortium that Amherst College offers; you are not alone! This past admissions cycle, Amherst College received a record-number of 10,567 applications. Because there are only 473 beds on Amherst’s first-year quad (unless forced triples are utilized), the Office of Admission aims to yield exactly 473 students each year. As a result of such a large applicant pool and a relatively small student body, Amherst has a low admission rate - this past year, the school had an admission rate of less than 11%!

As a Former Admissions Officer at Amherst, I’ve seen many students wonder how to convince the readers at the Amherst College Wilson Admission Center that they deserve one of those limited beds. The most important factor in your Amherst application is that admissions officers can clearly see how students will make meaningful, important contributions to Amherst’s relatively small community. So how does an applicant describe convincingly the impact that they will make on campus and elaborate on how they’ll support their fellow community members? There is no better way to do so than through the Amherst supplemental essays 2020-2021  that the college specifically asks applicants to answer. 

Amherst Supplemental Essays 2020-2021 – The Activity Question

First, you will be required to submit a short response to the following question: 

Please briefly elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience of particular significance to you. (Maximum: 175 words)

Here is your chance to explain in greater detail to admissions officers one extracurricular activity or work experience. The Amherst supplemental essays 2020-2021 only ask for one, so take a look at the activities you have listed on your application, and select carefully just one that meets the following criteria:

• You have not elaborated on this activity anywhere else in your application, particularly not in your personal statement. 
• You are passionate about this involvement! Amherst does not conduct interviews as part of their admissions process, so treat this response sort of like a chance to demonstrate your excitement toward what you are involved with, much like you would be able to portray in an interview. 
• You have made important, specific contributions that you can describe. 
• Preferably, you are currently involved with, or were very recently involved with, this experience or activity, and it could likely be continued in some way once you arrive on campus. Especially since the word count is so low, do not feel the need to explain explicitly why your involvement connects to something that already exists at Amherst. However, if you are most enthusiastic about something that Amherst does not already offer and which you could not realistically start on your own, then select a different involvement.

Download Every Supplemental Prompt Here!

Main writing supplement.

Finally, Amherst asks you to complete their main writing supplement. You have to choose one essay from the three options provided. Note that Option B and Option C are less time-consuming than A, so make sure you read all three options before spending significant time getting started.

Please respond to one of the following quotations in an essay of not more than 300 words. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay. 

Do not ignore the fact that Amherst specifies that there’s no need to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken. This does not mean that you do not have to put a lot of time and thought into this essay - you do! However, it also signifies that the admissions officers are worried less about you drawing upon outside sources and previous knowledge, and more so expecting to read about your own interpretation of the prompt after doing a close read of the text provided. They want to see your own original, critical thoughts that are rooted in your own experience. 

There are four different quotations to choose from for Option A in your Amherst supplemental essays 2020-2021 . You only need to select one for a 300-word maximum response. 

"Rigorous reasoning is crucial in mathematics, and insight plays an important secondary role these days. In the natural sciences, I would say that the order of these two virtues is reversed. Rigor is, of course, very important. But the most important value is insight—insight into the workings of the world. It may be because there is another guarantor of correctness in the sciences, namely, the empirical evidence from observation and experiments." 

- Kannan Jagannathan, Professor of Physics, Amherst College 

"Translation is the art of bridging cultures. It's about interpreting the essence of a text, transporting its rhythms and becoming intimate with its meaning… Translation, however, doesn't only occur across languages: mentally putting any idea into words is an act of translation; so is composing a symphony, doing business in the global market, understanding the roots of terrorism. No citizen, especially today, can exist in isolation—that is, untranslated." 

- Ilan Stavans, Professor of Latin American and Latino Culture, Amherst College, Robert Croll '16 and Cedric Duquene '15, from "Interpreting Terras Irradient," Amherst Magazine, Spring 2015.

"Creating an environment that allows students to build lasting friendships, including those that cut across seemingly entrenched societal and political boundaries… requires candor about the inevitable tensions, as well as about the wonderful opportunities, that diversity and inclusiveness create." 

- Carolyn "Biddy" Martin, President of Amherst College, Letter to Amherst College Alumni and Families, December 28, 2015.

"Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted." 

- Attributed to William Hastie, Amherst Class of 1925, the first African-American to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals

Analysis of Quotes

If you select Quote #1, make sure that you do not fall into the trap of utilizing too much inaccessible scientific or mathematical jargon. Admissions officers can already see elsewhere in your application that you have excelled in your school’s math or science curriculum. They don’t want an unapproachable essay which conveys little to no new information about you. 

If you select Quote #2, the most important piece to keep in mind is that you should know a lot about whatever you write. Too often, students fall into the trap of, after doing a close reading of this prompt and starting to grasp its understanding, being inspired by the ideas it presents, and then trying to inspire the reader to be inspired, likewise, by the ideas. The problem here is that the inspirational piece would not be your own idea, but what is already in the prompt! If you select this prompt, focus on grounding your response in your own interests and experience, and avoid writing in the hypothetical or general. 

If you select Quote #3 for your Amherst supplemental essay 2020-2021 , then it is absolutely crucial that you have thought a lot about what it would mean to live in a college community with a student body as diverse as Amherst’s. If the idea of “diversity,” as President Biddy Martin describes it here in this quotation, excites you, but you have had limited exposure to this idea thus far - then that is fine, and you are certainly not alone. However, do not use the Amherst supplemental essays 2020-2021 to write broadly about your openness to diversity as an idea! This is a space to specifically write about why engaging in dialogue that bridges societal and political boundaries is important to you. Tackling Quote #3 is a chance for you to write about the connection you see between community and race, ethnicity, gender, religion, politics, age, wealth, etc.

If you select Quote #4, make sure that you do not fall into the trap of writing a predictable piece about how something started out as very difficult for you, but through hard work and perseverance, you succeeded. For example, as a general rule, avoid writing about a rainy day in which your chances of winning a big sporting event were limited, but at the last second, your excellent skills earned a win - it has been done too many times! Instead, think about how complicated success and achievement are, and make sure that your writing reflects that complexity. Rather than focusing on the nitty-gritty details of the incident you’ve outlined, highlight the important characteristics or lessons you picked up in the process.

Please submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay. If you have submitted an analytical essay in response to the "essay topic of your choice" prompt in the Common Application writing section, you should NOT select Option B. Instead, you should respond to one of the four quotation prompts in Option A.

This prompt might seem too good to be true at initial glance. But you read it correctly - for Option B, you get to select your favorite paper that you have written from one of the two final years of high school. Make sure that it is a critical piece that is thesis/argument driven, and NOT creative writing, a lab report, or an in-class essay. You should have also scored well on the paper because admissions officers will see what grade you received. If you have a paper that you are proud of that also checks these boxes, then congratulations, you are already finished!

Make sure to keep it short! While there is no technical cut-off point for how long the paper you submit can be, a 5-page paper is ideal (no longer than ten, max!). Amherst prefers if you have a copy of a paper with your teacher's comments on it. If not, they would like to see some sort of indication of the grade or remarks that your teacher gave you on this writing piece. 

If you were an applicant to Amherst's Diversity Open House (DIVOH) weekend program, you may use your DIVOH application essay in satisfaction of our Writing Supplement requirement. If you would like to do so, please select Option C. However, if you would prefer not to use your DIVOH essay for this purpose and you want to submit a different writing supplement, select either Option A or Option B. [Please note that Option C is available only to students who were applicants to Amherst’s DIVOH program.]

Option C, which is new this year, is only for students who applied to Amherst’s Diversity Open House (DIVOH) weekend program. Just like for Option B, if you were accepted into DIVOH you already have your essay. If you did not attend the program, then you have no choice but to pick between Option A and Option B. 

Making Your Selection

The Amherst College admissions officers do not have a preference for whether you submit Option A, Option B, or Option C, as each option offers something different and important to your application. Option C is not applicable to everyone; so, you will most likely choose between Option A and Option B. 

If your academics shine best through the papers you write rather than your transcript or testing, then submitting your best writing piece as an Option B supplement can help prove your academic prowess to admissions officers. Or, if you feel like you don’t have enough time before the deadline to write a new, well-thought-out essay, Option B is a good way to lighten your workload, while still presenting high-quality work. 

However, if you find that, after completing your application, there is a very important part of your personal identity that you have not had the chance to describe yet to admissions officers, elaborating on it through one of the Option A options may be the best choice for you.

Optional Research Supplement

Next, you will be given the option to write a brief research supplement:  

If you have engaged in significant research in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences or humanities that was undertake n independently of your high school curriculum, please provide a brief description of the research project (50-75 words)

As a top U.S. liberal arts college with a sole commitment to undergraduates and with phenomenal faculty members conducting top-notch research, Amherst places a huge importance on research across all domains: natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences, and humanities. 

Importantly, because there are no graduate students on campus, there are bounteous opportunities for Amherst students to work on graduate-level research with professors. Thus, the Amherst College Office of Admission has a commitment to finding students who already love learning for the sake of learning, are learning, are thrilled at the idea of becoming experts in their chosen academic field(s), and love researching and to makeing new discoveries. 

If you have worked on significant research already, then the Amherst supplemental essays 2020-2021 giveis you a chance to write a brief abstract about your project. Make this section as clear and direct as possible, describing what your research question was, your methodology, and any conclusions and/or implications of your research without any “frills." 

A key part of the instructions for this supplement that should not be ignored is that this research project must have been undertaken independently of your high school curriculum. This means that you did not work with a teacher from your high school on this project, and you did not have to complete this research as a requirement for graduation. 

If you did not conduct research that fits these specifications, do not try to force a different research-related experience into this space. Your passion for learning for the sake of learning and any excellent research projects you have conducted through your high school curriculum will shine through in other parts of the application - do not worry!

There are some students for whom it will be more important to include an optional research supplement than others. For example, if you have indicated “researcher” or “scientist” on your application as one of your primary career interests on your application, it will help codify this interest if you already have research relevant experience that you can add here. Likewise, if you have indicated on your application that your desired terminal educational degree is a your doctorate, then having already had this type of research experience will be seen as beneficial. 

As you might expect, elements of your application such as your grades, test scores, letters of recommendation, honors, and your personal statement are all considered important in evaluating your application. However, the Amherst supplemental essays 2020-2021  are absolutely key in going beyond the other components to help admissions officers determine how you would fit into the campus community. Don’t take the prompts lightly – dedicate a significant amount of time working on your responses. Good luck! 

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How to Respond to the 2023/2024 Amherst College Supplemental Essay Prompts

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Amherst College is a selective and top-ranked liberal arts college with an acceptance rate of 9% . They offer unique benefits that combine liberal arts education and the resources of a university, due to being a part of the Five College Consortium . Since it is a highly competitive school, applicants will need to make their Amherst supplemental essays stand out from the others. 

Fortunately, Amherst provides some variety in options for applicants responding to the Amherst supplemental essays. So, let’s learn in this guide how you can ace the Amherst supplemental essays!

Before answering Option A in the Amherst supplemental essay questions 

Option A asks applicants to choose from three quotes and respond to them. 

Choose one of the following quotations, and respond to the question posed, in an essay of not more than 350 words. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay.

Amherst provides its applicants with some vague and open ended direction for responding to the provided quotes. This means there is some freedom in your response allowing you to truly interpret a quote the way that makes the most sense to you. Remember that supplemental essays are intended to get to know the applicants better. So be sure to select a quote that stands out to you! 

In addition, the word count for this response is 350 words. This may seem like a lot, but once you start writing it can feel a bit restrictive. Therefore, be sure to brainstorm and plan out what you want to write about. Make sure you are getting your main points across without exceeding the 350 word limit. 

Quote option #1

“Amherst College is committed to learning through close colloquy and to expanding the realm of knowledge through scholarly research and artistic creation at the highest level. Its graduates link learning with leadership—in service to the College, to their communities, and to the world beyond.”  – from the Mission of Amherst College 

Quote option #1 questions to consider : What do you see as the benefits of linking learning with leadership and/or service? In your response, please share with us a time where you have seen that benefit through your own experience.

Quote option #2

“We seek an Amherst made stronger because it includes those whose experiences can enhance our understanding of our nation and our world. We do so in the faith that our humanity is an identity forged from diversity, and that our different perspectives enrich our inquiry, deepen our knowledge, strengthen our community, and prepare students to engage with an ever-changing world.” – from the Trustee Statement on Diversity and Community

Quote option #2 question to ask yourself : In what ways could your unique experiences enhance our understanding of our nation and our world?

Quote option #3

“Strong commitment to the freedom of inquiry lies at the heart of Amherst College’s mission to create a home in which the liberal arts may flourish. As a small residential liberal arts college that prides itself on the ability, curiosity, and diversity of its students, Amherst seeks to create a respectful environment in which members of its community feel emboldened to pursue their intellectual and creative passions.”

– from the Amherst College Statement of Academic and Expressive Freedom

Quote option #3 question to consider: Tell us about an intellectual or creative passion you have pursued; what did you learn about yourself through that pursuit?

“Submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should not submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay. Also, if you have submitted an analytical essay in response to the “essay topic of your choice” prompt in the Common Application writing section, you should not select Option B. Instead, you should respond to one of the four quotation prompts in Option A.”

Option B is a backup in case you have a writing piece you are extremely proud of. Otherwise, you should stick to responding to one of the Option A quote prompts. Essentially, you have to decide what will provide an Amherst admissions officer with the most well-rounded idea of you. 

Amherst’s website has a helpful FAQ for Option B if you are interested in it! 

Option C – for A2A program students only

“If you were an applicant to Amherst’s Access to Amherst (A2A) program, you may use your A2A application essay in satisfaction of our Writing Supplement requirement. If you would like to do so, please select Option C on either the Common Applications or the Coalition Application. However, if you would prefer not to use your A2A essay for this purpose and you wish to submit a different writing supplement, select either Option A or Option B. [Please note that Option C is available only to students who were applicants to Amherst’s A2A program. Non-A2A applicants must choose either Option A or Option B.]”

This option is only available for students who were applicants to Amherst’s A2A program. The A2A program is available to aid minority students while at Amherst. Therefore, if this option does not apply to you – do not respond to it! Rather select option A or option B for your Amherst supplemental essay. 

Before submitting your Amherst supplemental essays

Before submitting the Amherst supplemental essays, be sure to proofread! You can do this by reading them yourself or asking a trusted friend, parent, or teacher to read it over for you. Remember, you only have one shot to submit your application to Amherst so you want it to be flawless. 

Make sure your response not only answers the prompt but also reveals pieces of your personality throughout the essay. You want the Amherst admissions office to get a good sense of who you are as not only a student but a person. 

Next steps after applying to Amherst

Now that you have figured out which of the Amherst supplemental essays is the best for you – it is time to write! Be sure to plan out what you will write to ensure that all of your main points are included. 

Once you have completed your Amherst supplemental essay question – congratulations! Take a deep breath and go treat yourself to something special! You did it! 

Now that you have a beautiful Amherst supplemental essay written – it is officially time to submit your application! Once your application is submitted, be sure to check your Amherst portal and email for updates on your application status.

Now, you are not done with the admissions process! Continue to show demonstrated interest in Amherst by 

• Following them on social media
• Scheduling an in-person tour
• Reaching out to an admissions officer

This will give you an opportunity to get to know Amherst more! It will also provide Amherst with the opportunity to get to know you better as well. 

Good luck on the rest of your college journey! 

Additional resources

We know how stressful this time can be for students! So, we have a lot of resources available for students going through the college admissions process. We can help you determine what is a high SAT score , how many schools to apply to , how to get a college application fee waiver and so much more. And if you’re thinking that college is not for you check out some top alternatives to four-year universities. And if financial issues are hindering your choices check out our free scholarship search tool to help fund your education! 

Other colleges to consider

• Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH)
• Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY)

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Command Education Guide

How to write the amherst college essays, updated for 2023-2024.

Choose one of the following quotations, and respond to the question posed, in an essay of not more than 350 words. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay.

Prompt 1: “Amherst College is committed to learning through close colloquy and to expanding the realm of knowledge through scholarly research and artistic creation at the highest level. Its graduates link learning with leadership—in service to the College, to their communities, and to the world beyond.” – from the Mission of Amherst College

What do you see as the benefits of linking learning with leadership and/or service? In your response, please share with us a time where you have seen that benefit through your own experience.

Explanation:

In responding to Amherst College’s supplemental essay prompt, which asks you to reflect on the benefits of linking learning with leadership and/or service, it is essential to convey a deep understanding of the institution’s mission and demonstrate your alignment with its core values. The prompt also calls for you to share a specific example from your own life to illustrate this connection.

First, consider how your experiences and values align with Amherst College’s commitment to learning, leadership, and service. How have you used your knowledge and skills in service of your community? Why is Amherst’s commitment to service and community a driving factor in your own interest in the institution? You might express your enthusiasm for an educational environment that values the holistic development of its students, emphasizing the synthesis of academic pursuits, leadership, and community service.

Then, you should share a specific experience from your life that illustrates the benefits of linking learning with leadership and service. This should be a time when you actively partook in a service project or leadership role that allowed you to apply your academic knowledge and skills to make a meaningful impact. For instance, you might recount a time when you took a leadership position in a community service project that was closely related to your academic major or interests. Describe how your academic insights enhanced your ability to lead the project effectively, and how the project, in turn, benefited the community. Be sure to highlight what you learned from this experience, both academically and personally, and include specific and demonstrable results (these may be qualitative through community response or quantitative through funds raised or volunteers mobilized).

Finally, link this experience not only to your personal growth but also to the way that you intend to continue positively impacting your broader community in the future. Doing so will demonstrate your leadership skills as well as the type of community member you will be on Amherst’s campus.

Prompt 2: “We seek an Amherst made stronger because it includes those whose experiences can enhance our understanding of our nation and our world. We do so in the faith that our humanity is an identity forged from diversity, and that our different perspectives enrich our inquiry, deepen our knowledge, strengthen our community, and prepare students to engage with an ever-changing world.” – from the Trustee Statement on Diversity and Community

In what ways could your unique experiences enhance our understanding of our nation and our world?

To answer this prompt effectively, you should first consider your background, personal experiences, and perspectives. Consider the various aspects of your life, experiences, and identity that make you unique. Think about your cultural background, family history, personal values, and formative experiences; then, make a list of the key factors that have shaped your identity. In your response, clearly articulate how your unique experiences align with and reinforce Amherst College’s commitment to diversity and the belief that diverse perspectives enrich the academic environment.

Rather than offering vague or general statements about diversity, provide one specific example from your life experiences that demonstrates your potential to enhance the understanding of your nation and the world. For instance:

• Share an anecdote about an event, relationship, or encounter that was profoundly influenced by your unique perspective or background.
• Discuss a cultural tradition or practice that is significant to you and has broadened your understanding of cultural diversity.
• Reflect on a time when your unique experiences provided a different perspective on a complex issue or challenge.

Finally, demonstrate that you understand the reciprocal nature of this exchange. Just as you can enrich the understanding of others, acknowledge how your experience at Amherst can further develop your own understanding of different perspectives. This mutual exchange of knowledge and growth is at the heart of Amherst’s values.

Submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should not submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay. Also, if you have submitted an analytical essay in response to the “essay topic of your choice” prompt in the Common Application or Apply Coalition with Scoir writing section, you should not select Option B.

If you are/were an applicant to Amherst’s Access to Amherst (A2A) program, you may use your A2A application essay in satisfaction of our Writing Supplement requirement. If you would like to do so, please select Option C. However, if you would prefer not to use your A2A essay for this purpose and you want to submit a different writing supplement, select either Option A or Option B. Option A, Prompt 2 is the same prompt as the A2A application essay; if you would like to submit an updated version of your A2A application essay, please choose Option A.

Please note that Option C is available only to applicants to Amherst’s A2A program. Non-A2A applicants must choose either Option A or Option B.

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5 Amherst College Personal Statement Examples

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Interested in applying to liberal arts colleges? Amherst College is probably already on your list! If not, these essays are a good intro into what it’s like.

If you are applying to Amherst this fall, here are Amherst’s supplemental essay prompts for 2017-2018 . Need some inspiration to help you with your essay? Here are 5 successful Amherst essay introductions that may inspire you to write about a passing encounter you had forgotten, or help you figure out how to approach a specific essay topic. Plus, check out the advice section of these students’ profiles to learn more about Amherst’s student body and campus culture. Who better to share the in’s and out’s of Amherst than current Amherst students? 

Class of 2020

The lessons I have learned in tennis can apply to everybody’s life. When someone begins learning tennis, the main focus is to keep the ball in play. Keep the ball going back and forth until you win the point. I honestly struggled keeping up my motivation in high school. However once I finally found a very steady source, it made life much easier and it kept me going much longer. Keep reading.

Class of 2019.

I am writing this essay from within the bathroom. Please, don’t think too far into that. With the toilet cover down and the door shut, this one sacred space affords me some much sought-after privacy in a house with five other people and a cat that insists on an open door policy. Read more.

Chipotleburrito

There are endless reasons why I should hate riding on airplanes. There is never enough quality food, the seats aren’t comfortable, there’s a complete lack of personal space, and I have to pay if I want to use the wi-fi. Ironically, even with all of the setbacks it is only on a airplane where I feel all of my problems and stresses disappear, as if I checked them in with my luggage at the airport. Read full essay.

I had forgotten about the plastic bowl of greasy, buttery popcorn in my hands. I’m left staring at an empty expanse of screen, mouth open at the grayscaled room. The DVD case for The Usual Suspects taunts me, sitting on the worn coffee table. The film was far from Usual and nothing I would have suspected. Continue reading.

Narcissus, Reimagined

Traditionally, failure sets the foundation for success. I reject this tradition. For me, the process is amended: earlier achievement sets the foundation for my failure, which in turn paves the road for far more meaningful success later. View full profile.  

——

Interested in reading these students’ full personal statements that got them into Amherst College? Unlock all of them in one go with  our curated package ! 

Our  premium plans  offer different level of profile access and data insights that can help you get into your dream school. Unlock any of our  packages  or search our  undergraduate profile database  to find specific profiles that can help you make an informed choice about where to apply!

About The Author

Frances was born in Hong Kong and received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She loves super sad drama television, cooking, and reading. Her favorite person on Earth isn’t actually a member of the AdmitSee team - it’s her dog Cooper.

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News & Events A Transfer Essay That Worked

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What does a successful transfer application essay look like? In an  article for  U.S. News & World Report , Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Katharine Fretwell ’81 examined what made one submission so effective.

Essays That Worked

The essays are a place to show us who you are and who you’ll be in our community.

It’s a chance to add depth to something that is important to you and tell the admissions committee more about your background or goals. Below you’ll find selected examples of essays that “worked,” as nominated by our admissions committee. In each of these essays, students were able to share stories from their everyday lives to reveal something about their character, values, and life that aligned with the culture and values at Hopkins.

Read essays that worked from Transfer applicants .

Hear from the class of 2027.

These selections represent just a few examples of essays we found impressive and helpful during the past admissions cycle. We hope these essays inspire you as you prepare to compose your own personal statements. The most important thing to remember is to be original as you share your own story, thoughts, and ideas with us.

Ordering the Disorderly

Ellie’s essay skillfully uses the topic of entropy as an extended metaphor. Through it, we see reflections about who they are and who they aspire to be.

Pack Light, But Be Prepared

In Pablo’s essay, the act of packing for a pilgrimage becomes a metaphor for the way humans accumulate experiences in their life’s journey and what we can learn from them. As we join Pablo through the diverse phases of their life, we gain insights into their character and values.

Tikkun Olam

Julieta illustrates how the concept of Tikkun Olam, “a desire to help repair the world,” has shaped their passions and drives them to pursue experiences at Hopkins.

Kashvi’s essay encapsulates a heartfelt journey of self-discovery and the invaluable teachings of Rock, their 10-year-old dog. Through the lens of their companionship, Kashvi walked us through valuable lessons on responsibility, friendship, patience, and unconditional love.

Classical Reflections in Herstory

Maddie’s essay details their intellectual journey using their love of Greek classics. They incorporate details that reveal the roots of their academic interests: storytelling, literary devices, and translation. As their essay progresses, so do Maddie’s intellectual curiosities.

My Spotify Playlist

Alyssa’s essay reflects on special memories through the creative lens of Spotify playlists. They use three examples to highlight their experiences with their tennis team, finding a virtual community during the pandemic, and co-founding a nonprofit to help younger students learn about STEM.

More essays that worked

We share essays from previously admitted students—along with feedback from our admissions committee—so you can understand what made them effective and how to start crafting your own.

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News & Events The Class of 2024 and Commencement, by the Numbers

A few fun facts about this year’s graduates and what goes into putting on the College’s biggest annual event.

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F un fact: Every continent but one will be represented by at least one graduate during the College’s Commencement exercises on May 26. (So far, we’ve been iced out of Antarctica.)

Students hailing from Canada, Gibraltar, New Zealand, Rwanda, Uruguay and Vietnam will receive their degrees from Amherst that day, in addition to graduates from 45 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. 

During their time at their alma mater, they together took nearly 12,600 classes, produced more than 200 theses and won 50 athletics competitions against Amherst’s archrival, Williams College. (The Mammoths were victorious eight more times than the Ephs in matchups, but who’s counting?)

Here are some more numbers related to Amherst’s 2024 Commencement Weekend and, most importantly, the students themselves.

The Graduates

• Number of students receiving degrees during this year’s ceremony: 464 
• Number of transfer students: 24
• Number of students who are the first in their families to graduate from college: 80
• Nations represented: 32. In addition to the ones already mentioned, this latest batch of graduates came to the College from Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Ireland, South Korea and Mexico, among other countries.
• Most-declared majors: Computer science, English, economics, math and statistics, and psychology
• Number of graduating seniors with more than one major: 237. Of those, 224 are double majors, 10 are triple majors and three are quadruple majors (yes, you read that right).
• Number of students who wrote senior theses: 221. Five of them wrote two!
• National fellowship winners: 13. Six received Fulbright research/study grants, six won Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grants, and one was named a Watson Fellow. 
• Total number of college courses taken by members of the class over four years, including those taken at UMass and Smith, Mount Holyoke and Hampshire Colleges: 12,549; of these, 12,267 were taken at Amherst.
• Students who studied off campus: 154. Destinations included Austria, Bhutan, Chile, Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands, Iceland, Kenya, South Africa, and Turks and Caicos, to name a few.
• Number of times Amherst teams or individuals qualified for NCAA Division III or squash postseason contests: 36 
• New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) team titles won by members of the class of 2024: 6
• Individual NESCAC titles: 7, one of which was won by a 4x800 relay team. 
• Cumulative win-loss-tie record for the graduating student-athletes over their college careers: 718–324–32
• Record against Williams College: 50–45–2

Click image to enlarge

Commencement Weekend and Exercises

• 2024 Commencement speakers: Two. The ceremony will include addresses by College President Michael A. Elliott and Taha Zafar Ahmad ’24, who was voted the student speaker by his classmates.
• Duke University professor Ingrid Daubechies
• Writer Lauren Groff ’01
• University of California, Berkeley, professor emerita Elaine H. Kim  
• Civil engineer Alexis Massol González
• Jazz pianist and artist Jason Moran
• Newark, N.J., attorney and activist Junius Williams ’65
• Conway Canes awarded during the weekend: 474. Each one of the 464 graduates receives a walking stick at Commencement, as do the six aforementioned honorands, the three winners of the Phebe and Zephaniah Swift Moore Teaching Award and the recipient of the Medal for Eminent Service . The canes themselves are a 19th-century College tradition that was revived and reshaped by the class of 2003 to celebrate class unity and spirit. Now known as the Conway Canes in honor of a gift from Brian J. Conway ’80 and Kevin J. Conway ’80 to endow the Fund for College Canes, they are presented to all Amherst seniors to mark their graduation and to serve as an enduring symbol of their connection to their class, to this unique tradition and to their alma mater. 
• Size of the (Mammoth) tent on Valentine Quad that is used for Commencement Weekend meals: 100 by 200 feet 
• Programs printed: 5,300 
• Acres mowed the week of Commencement: 120. The work is done with large ride-on mowers, five remote-controlled mowers and three string trimmers.
• Donations of furniture, clothing and other items from students that will be repurposed or given to local organizations: An estimated 40,000 pounds. Items that are in good condition are then made available to the College community at a Move-In Yard Sale and free clothing events in August and September.
• Residence halls cleaned from top to bottom to house families of the graduates during Commencement Weekend: Five. A team of 20 custodial staffers and 40 non-graduating student workers spend approximately a combined 1,600 hours getting the buildings ready for guests.

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What Do Students at Elite Colleges Really Want?

Many of Harvard’s Generation Z say “sellout” is not an insult.

Credit... Jeff Hinchee

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By Francesca Mari

• Published May 22, 2024 Updated May 24, 2024

The meme was an image of a head with “I need to get rich” slapped across it. “Freshmen after spending 0.02 seconds on campus,” read the caption, posted in 2023 to the anonymous messaging app Sidechat.

The campus in question was Harvard, where, at a wood-paneled dining hall last year, two juniors explained how to assess a fellow undergraduate’s earning potential. It’s easy, they said, as we ate mussels, beets and sautéed chard: You can tell by who’s getting a bulge bracket internship.

“What?” Benny Goldman, a then-28-year-old economics P.h.D. student and their residential tutor, was confused.

One of the students paused, surprised that he was unfamiliar with the term: A bulge bracket bank, like Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan Chase or Citi. The biggest, most prestigious global investment banks. A B.B., her friend explained. Not to be confused with M.B.B. , which stands for three of the most prestigious management consulting firms: McKinsey, Bain and Boston Consulting Group.

While the main image of elite campuses during this commencement season might be activists in kaffiyehs pitching tents on electric green lawns, most students on campus are focused not on protesting the war in Gaza, but on what will come after graduation.

Despite the popular image of this generation — that of Greta Thunberg and the Parkland activists — as one driven by idealism, GenZ students at these schools appear to be strikingly corporate-minded. Even when they arrive at college wanting something very different, an increasing number of students at elite universities seek the imprimatur of employment by a powerful firm and “making a bag” (slang for a sack of money) as quickly as possible.

Elite universities have always been major feeders into finance and consulting, and students have always wanted to make money. According to the annual American Freshman Survey , the biggest increase in students wanting to become “very well off financially” happened between the 1970s and 1980s, and it’s been creeping up since then.

But in the last five years, faculty and administrators say, the pull of these industries has become supercharged. In an age of astronomical housing costs, high tuition and inequality, students and their parents increasingly see college as a means to a lucrative job, more than a place to explore.

A ‘Herd Mentality’

At Harvard, a graduating senior, who passed on a full scholarship to another school, told me that he felt immense pressure to show his parents that their $400,000 investment in his Harvard education would allow him to get the sort of job where he could make a million dollars a year. Upon graduation, he will join the private equity firm Blackstone, where, he believes, he will learn and achieve more in six years than 30 years in a public-service-oriented organization.

Another student, from Uruguay, who spent his second summer in a row practicing case studies in preparation for management consulting internship interviews, told me that everyone arrived on campus hoping to change the world. But what they learn at Harvard, he said, is that actually doing anything meaningful is too hard. People give up on their dreams, he told me, and decide they might as well make money. Someone else told me it was common at parties to hear their peers say they just want to sell out.

“There’s definitely a herd mentality,” Joshua Parker, a 21-year-old Harvard junior from Oahu, said. “If you’re not doing finance or tech, it can feel like you’re doing something wrong.”

As a freshman, he planned to major in environmental engineering. As a sophomore, he switched to economics, joining five of his six roommates. One of those roommates told me that he hoped to run a hedge fund by the time he was in his 30s. Before that, he wanted to earn a good salary, which he defined as $500,000 a year.

According to a Harvard Crimson survey of Harvard Seniors, the share of 2024 graduates going into finance and consulting is 34 percent. (In 2022 and 2023 it exceeded 40 percent. The official Harvard Institutional Research survey yields lower percentages for those fields than the Crimson survey, because it includes students who aren’t entering the work force.)

These statistics approach the previous highs in 2007, after which the global financial crisis drove the share down to a recent low of 20 percent in 2009, from which it’s been regaining ground since.

Fifteen years ago, fewer students went into tech. Adding in that sector, the share of graduates starting what some students non-disparagingly refer to as “sellout jobs” is more than half. (It was a record-shattering 60 percent in 2022 and nearly 54 percent in 2023.)

“When people say ‘selling out,’ I mean, obviously, there’s some implicit judgment there,” said Aden Barton, a 23-year-old Harvard senior who wrote an opinion column for the student newspaper headlined, “How Harvard Careerism Killed the Classroom.”

“But it really is just almost a descriptive term at this point for people pursuing certain career paths,” he continued. “I’m not trying to denigrate anybody’s career path nor my own.” (He interned at a hedge fund last summer.)

David Halek, director of employer relations at Yale’s Office of Career Strategy, thinks students may use the term “sell out” because of the perceived certainty: “It’s the easy path to follow. It is well defined,” he said.

“It’s hard to conceptualize other things,” said Andy Wang, a social studies concentrator at Harvard who recently graduated.

Some students talk about turning to a different career later on, after they’ve made enough money. “Nowadays, English concentrators often say they’re going into finance or management consulting for a couple of years before writing their novel,” said James Wood, a Harvard professor of the practice of literary criticism.

And a surprising number of students explain their desire for a corporate job by drawing on the ethos of effective altruism : Whether they are conscious of the movement or not, they believe they can have greater impact by maximizing earnings to donate to a cause than working for that cause.

But once students board the prestige escalator and become accustomed to a certain salary, walking away can feel funny. Like, well, walking off an escalator.

Financial Pressures

The change is striking to those who have been in academia for years, and not just at Harvard.

Roger Woolsey, executive director of the career center at Union College, a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, N.Y, said he first noticed a change around 2015, with students who had been in high school during the Great Recession and who therefore prioritized financial security.

“The students saw what their parents went through, and the parents saw what happened to themselves,” he said. “You couple that with college tuition continuing to rise,” he continued, and students started looking for monetary payoffs right after graduation.

Sara Lazenby, an institutional policy analyst for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that might be why students and their parents were much more focused on professional outcomes than they used to be. “In the past few years,” she said, “I’ve seen a higher level of interest in this first-destination data” — stats on what jobs graduates are getting out of college.

“Twenty years ago, an ‘introduction to investment banking’ event was held at the undergraduate library at Harvard,” said Howard Gardner, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “Forty students showed up, all men, and when asked to define ‘investment banking,’ none raised their hands.”

Now, according to Goldman Sachs, the bank had six times as many applicants this year for summer internships as it did 10 years ago, and was 20 percent more selective for this summer’s class than it was last year. JPMorgan also saw a record number of undergraduate applications for internships and full-time positions this year.

The director of the Mignone Center for Career Success at Harvard, Manny Contomanolis, also chalked up the change, in part, to financial pressure. “Harvard is more diverse than ever before,” Mr. Contomanolis said, with nearly one in five students eligible for a low-income Pell Grant . Those students, he said, weigh whether to, for instance, “take a job back in my border town community in Texas and make a big impact in a kind of public service sense” or get a job with “a salary that would be life changing for my family.”

However, according to The Harvard Crimson’s senior survey, as Mr. Barton noted in his opinion column, “The aggregate rate of ‘selling out’ is about the same — around 60 percent — for all income brackets.” The main distinction is that students from low-income families are comparatively more likely to go into technology than finance.

In other words, there is something additional at play, which Mr. Barton argues has to do with the nature of prestige. “If you tell me you’re working at Goldman Sachs or McKinsey, that’s amazing , their eyes are going to light up,” Mr. Barton said. “If you tell somebody, ‘Oh, I took this random nonprofit job,’ or even a journalism job, even if you’re going to a huge name, it’s going to be a little bit of a question mark.”

Maibritt Henkel, a 21-year-old junior at Harvard, is an economics major with moral reservations about banking and consulting. Ms. Henkel sometimes worries that others might misread her decision not to go into those industries as evidence that she couldn’t hack it.

“Even if you don’t want to do it for the rest of your life, it’s seen kind of as the golden standard of a smart, hardworking person,” she said.

Some students have also become skeptical about traditional avenues of social change, like government and nonprofits, which have attracted fewer Harvard students since the pandemic, according to the Harvard Office of Institutional Research.

Matine Khalighi, 22, founded a nonprofit to award scholarships to homeless youth when he was in eighth grade. When he began studying economics at Harvard, his nonprofit, EEqual, was granting 50 scholarships a year. But some of the corporations that funded EEqual were contributing to inequality that created homelessness, he said. Philanthropy wasn’t the solution for systemic change, he decided. Instead, he turned to finance, with the idea that the sector could marshal capital quickly for social impact.

Employers encourage this way of thinking. “We often talk about the fact that we work with some of the biggest emitters on the planet because we believe that’s how we actually affect climate change,” said Blair Ciesil, the global leader of talent attraction at McKinsey.

The Recruitment Ratchet

Princeton’s senior survey results are nearly identical to The Crimson’s Senior Survey: about 38 percent of 2023 graduates who were employed took jobs in finance and consulting; adding tech and engineering, the rate is close to 60 percent, compared with 53 percent in 2016, the earliest year for which the data is available.

This isn’t solely an Ivy League phenomenon. Schools slice their data differently, but at many colleges, a large percentage of students pursue these fields. At Amherst , in 2022, 32 percent of employed undergrads went into finance and consulting, and 11 percent went into internet and software, for a total of about 43 percent. Between 2017 and 2019, the University of California, Los Angeles, sent about 21 percent of employed students into engineering and computer science, 9 percent into consulting and nearly 10 percent into finance, for a total of roughly 40 percent

Part of that has to do with recruitment; the most prestigious banks and consulting firms do so only at certain colleges, and they have intensified their presence on those campuses in recent years. Over the last five years or so, “the idea of thinking about your professional path has moved much earlier in the undergraduate experience,” Ms. Ciesil said. She said the banks first began talking to students earlier, and it was the entrance of Big Tech onto the scene, asking for junior summer applications by the end of sophomore year, that accelerated recruitment timelines.

“At first, we tried to fight back by saying, ‘No, no, no, no, no, sophomores aren’t ready, and what does a sophomore know about financial modeling?’” said Mr. Woolsey at Union College. But, he added, schools “don’t want to push back too much, because then you’re going to lose revenue,” since firms often pay to recruit on campus.

The Effective Altruist Influence

The marker that really distinguishes Gen Z is how pessimistic its members are, and how much they feel like life is beyond their control, according to Jean Twenge, a psychologist who analyzed data from national surveys of high school students and first-year college students in her book “Generations.”

Money, of course, helps give people a sense of control. And because of income inequality, “there’s this idea that you either make it or you don’t, so you better make it,” Ms. Twenge said.

Mihir Desai, a professor at Harvard’s business and law schools, wrote a 2017 essay in The Crimson titled “ The Trouble With Optionality ,” arguing that students who habitually pursue the security of prestigious employment foreclose the risk-taking and longer-range thinking necessary for more unusual or idealistic achievements. Mr. Desai believes that’s often because they are responding to the bigger picture, like threats to workers from artificial intelligence, and political and financial upheaval.

In recent years, he’s observed two trends among students pursuing wealth. There’s “the option-buyer,” the student who takes a job in finance or consulting to buy more time or to keep options open. Then there’s what he calls “the lottery ticket buyer,” the students who go all-in on a risky venture, like a start-up or new technology, hoping to make a windfall.

“They know people who bought Bitcoin at $2,000. They know people who bought Tesla at $20,” he said.

Some faculty see the influence of effective altruism among this generation: In the last five years, Roosevelt Montás, a senior lecturer at Columbia University and the former director of its Center for the Core Curriculum, has noticed a new trend when he asks students in his American Political Thought classes to consider their future.

“Almost every discussion, someone will come in and say, ‘Well, I can go and make a lot of money and do more good with that money than I could by doing some kind of charitable or service profession,’” Mr. Montás said. “It’s there constantly — a way of justifying a career that is organized around making money.”

Mr. Desai said all of this logic goes, “‘Make the bag so you can do good in the world, make the bag so you can go into retirement, make the bag so you can then go do what you really want to do.’”

But this “really underestimates how important work is to people’s lives,” he said. “What it gets wrong is, you spend 15 years at the hedge fund, you’re going to be a different person. You don’t just go work and make a lot of money, you go work and you become a different person.”

Inside the World of Gen Z

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For many Gen-Zers without much disposable income, Facebook isn’t a place to socialize online — it’s where they can get deals on items  they wouldn’t normally be able to afford.

Dating apps are struggling to live up to investors’ expectations . Blame the members of Generation Z, who are often not willing to shell out for paid subscriptions.

Young people tend to lean more liberal on issues pertaining to relationship norms. But when it comes to dating, the idea that men should pay in heterosexual courtships  still prevails among Gen Z-ers .

We asked Gen Z-ers to tell us about their living situations and the challenges of keeping a roof over their heads. Here’s what they said .

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Desirée Rieckenberg lifts students in need

The Massey Award winner and dean of students is always on call to help them navigate difficult situations.

Desirée Rieckenberg’s passion for helping students began when she was in their shoes.

Rieckenberg, the UNC-Chapel Hill dean of students, was a first-generation college student from a rural community when she arrived for her first year at Eastern Illinois University. She was forced to do a lot on her own as she learned how to navigate campus life.

Fortunately, she met people who invested in her when things were good but also supported her when they weren’t. That experience stuck with her and is something she still draws on today.

“The notion of working in a space that allows me to lift up and celebrate folks, and also support people as they navigate something, really rang true to me,” she said.

For helping students in many situations across her 12 years at Carolina, Rieckenberg was given a 2024 Massey Award . The honor recognizes “unusual, meritorious or superior” contributions by University employees.

Rieckenberg sees most of her work at what she calls intersections of the student experience, key moments that include anything from taking a leadership role in a student organization, struggling to pass a class or having a mental health challenge. From there, she strives to help support their success at Carolina.

Nominators highlighted her work creating the Care Team , which meets weekly to assist students experiencing challenges that threaten to disrupt academic progress, and partnering with the Office of Scholarship and Student Aid on a new financial literacy initiative. Carolina hired its first director of financial well-being this spring.

Additionally, Rieckenberg was praised as a “relentless champion” of the Carolina Veterans Resource Center, a “committed collaborator” and an unselfish servant leader who creates a culture of trust within her office.

Her team has grown over the last several years as it serves more students, particularly in times of crisis and emergency. No matter the situation, Rieckenberg keeps the individual student at the forefront.

“Carolina may be a big place, but Carolina should be a place where they feel like they are family and that they’re cared for,” she said.

The nature of her job means she’s as likely to get a call at 3 a.m. as she is at 3 p.m. She’s the primary contact for students going through traumatic life events ranging from the death of a loved one, a serious injury or significant financial setback.

She credits the people around her for helping juggle those difficult situations.

“It comes down to being able to surround yourself with good people and really talented people, and being able to have a supportive family and personal life that allows me to do those things,” Rieckenberg said. “I have a fantastic team of people who do the work and who surround me in a way that lifts up the things we’re doing in support of students. I have a fantastic partner, and I have two kids I’ve had since I’ve been in this role. They have come up in the space that they understand the work I do is important, that it helps and serves so many people.”

Rieckenberg was speechless when told of her Massey Award. She was drawn to this work because she saw its impact first-hand, as a student. She’s humbled to know others see that, too.

“It touches your heart in a way that recognizes an impact,” she said. “That’s really how I got into this work, because I had people who poured into me and created an impactful experience for me. And I continue to do this work with the hope that I can be impactful on our students and our campus and colleagues.”

This listing includes the recipients of prestigious appointments approved in the past year.

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In this video, Luis Sanchez reflects on a college career that began during the pandemic.

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Want to do a solo show? Grab a friend or two first, says Alex Edelman

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I’m asked sometimes now how to craft a solo show.

Well, if you’re me, at least, here’s how you start. First, assemble all the stand-up material that you’ve mined and scrounged from comedy sets on stages in Brooklyn breweries or Midwestern cities or Scottsdale malls and put them into various notebooks, emails to yourself or backs of receipts. Then, go to London and sit down at a table with your friend, Adam Brace. Then take all that stuff and throw it like rice at a wedding, at Adam, who, fortunately, also happens to be your longtime director.

For me, the phrase “solo show” has always kind of been an oxymoron. I craft my solo shows by bouncing ideas off of other people. Especially Adam.

That’s how “Just for Us” began. Before it was a Broadway offering, a touring show that your friend’s aunt really liked or a streaming special, my solo show was a story I told a pal over three ciders to try to make him laugh. This is my process. I find the friend whom I most want to be seen as clever by, and I empty out my mental backpack onto the table in front of them.

Adam sat across that table, one drink ahead of me. He hem-hawed and “mmm”-ed and tsk-ed and scribbled in a Moleskine and, occasionally, gave me my favorite sound in the world, which was this big, booming, hurling laugh that meant there was something there. And I told Adam this story about something that had happened since I last saw him: I had gone to a meeting of white nationalists in Queens, N.Y., and sat there for a while before being found out. The story would be more interesting to Adam than to a stranger — he knew my neuroses, my desire to be liked, my Orthodox Judaism from working on two previous shows together, and from his interjections and provocations, narrative was starting to emerge. “That story,” he told me, “there’s something in there. It might be enough for a show.”

‘I can’t do it anymore’: Alex Edelman on ending ‘Just for Us,’ his hit show about antisemitism

Alex Edelman has spent six years revising and performing “Just for Us,” but now he’s ending it with an encore run in L.A. that coincides with its HBO special on April 6.

March 26, 2024

Adam was right. Besides the fact that the meeting was a setting where so many parts of me could show up for comic examination, there was a tangentially geopolitical aspect to it. The question, which audiences found interesting, was the double bind of whiteness: In that room, I was allowed in because my skin color allowed me to pass for what the attendees found socially acceptable — but they considered me excluded because of my Judaism.

In the sandbox around that, I found jokes that were timely but also age-old. And not just limited to Jews. Audiences from all backgrounds found valence to a story that I found to be more about assimilation than antisemitism. And the conversations sparked by the show rebounded into it. An answer to a tough question on a sidewalk after Tuesday’s show might wind up in it on Thursday.

Later, I found help in a different conversation, over a different table, 5,000 miles from the one I ate at with Adam. I had gone to see Mike Birbiglia’s show “The New One,” and afterward hauled him to Grand Central Market for some Thai food. After a few bites, Birbiglia said, “I hear you have a decent solo show.”

“Yeah, my last one.”

“What’s it about?”

I told him. He blinked and stopped eating for a second.

“That’s not your last show,” he told me, “that’s your next show.”

Birbiglia considered.

“Why don’t we put it up in New York for a night, and if it’s any good, maybe we’ll do something with it.”

Birbiglia’s guidance too was essential in kicking the show on. It helps that he’s probably the best solo show artist in the country, and had done this before with Jacqueline Novak’s “Get on Your Knees.” He encouraged an even stricter adherence to the main narrative, and Adam and I set about cutting 20 minutes of tangential jokes and adding 30 or so new minutes.

Entertainment & Arts

Review: A Jewish man walks into a room full of neo-Nazis. Self-exploration, empathy and sly humor ensue

Comedian Alex Edelman brings his acclaimed Broadway show, in which he muses on Jewish identity, empathy and how he came to hang out with a group of white nationalists, to the Mark Taper Forum.

Nov. 13, 2023

When the show opened in New York, it found a home with audiences off-Broadway. Fulsome word-of-mouth and additional notes from visiting comedy legends — Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin — helped haul it on Broadway, where it was filmed for HBO. And the conversations. They sustained the show and then me through some tough bits. A show-threatening omicron shutdown, illness and the loss of Adam, who passed away at the end of April 2023. I could not possibly miss him more. A final essential collaborator was found in the multihyphenate Alex Timbers, who, stepping in as a creative consultant and eventual director of the special, elevated it in a way that no one else could have for Broadway and capture.

When I watched the special for the first time as a finished piece, I saw behind the jokes the breadcrumbs of countless arguments, debates and the masters of the stage and eagle-eyed audience members alike who had helped me sand it into something.

As I said, people ask me all the time now how to make a solo show. It’s easy.

All you need is thousands of other people.

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UMass Amherst Celebrates the Resiliency and Advocacy of Graduating Class of 2024 at 154th Undergraduate Commencement

The University of Massachusetts Amherst celebrated the graduation of approximately 6,800 students before a gathering of 20,000 family and friends at the 154 th UMass Amherst Undergraduate Commencement ceremony today at Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes, presiding over his inaugural Commencement, praised the resiliency of the graduates. “You, the class of 2024, have faced unprecedented challenges in the pursuit of your degree. Despite these challenges, you showed up: You showed up in the classroom. You showed up in the laboratory. You showed up on Zoom. And you showed up here today. You met the rigors of your academic program and you succeeded.”

The Chancellor said, “You pursued your undergraduate degree during a global pandemic and now graduate at a time of continued global uncertainty. Over the past year, this uncertainty has been increasingly visible on college campuses across the country, including our own. As both Chancellor and as a father of two college students — one who just graduated  last week — I  am heartened by the passion of this generation and your desire to actively work toward creating a better world. Your advocacy challenges us to explore new perspectives and create new understandings.”

Reyes observed, “As a public university, we are deeply committed to upholding the tenets of academic freedom. We will always support the rights of our students, faculty and staff to explore challenging ideas and advocate for a point of view. We also recognize that while we may not always agree, this university must be a place where students and faculty are able to pursue opportunities and make choices that work for them, even if they are not choices that we would make for ourselves.”

“As you begin your next chapter, I ask that you continue to bring a sense of curiosity to all that you do,” Reyes said. “Ask questions, seek diverse perspectives, listen—and then ask more questions. Engage in civil dialogue and be open to opposing points of view. If we are to solve the myriad of issues that face our communities and our world, we must be able to engage in dialogue that is grounded in facts, logic, and reason. This is how you begin to make impactful change.”

Protestors marched briefly and then departed the stadium without incident at the start of the ceremony.

Sophia He , of Fremont, California, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and a minor in sociology, represented the undergraduate Class of 2024 as student speaker at the ceremony .

“As you sit here adorned in your caps and gowns, surrounded by those who have walked this path alongside you, I invite you to take out your phones and take a moment to look at yourself through your reflection in the camera app or on the black screen,” He said to her fellow graduates. “Closely look at your reflection and understand that this isn’t just an image of you, but proof of your success, resilience, and the embodiment of your triumphs and trials. It contains every laughter, every tear, every late night, every moment of doubt, and every emotion you experienced during these past few years. Now, please lift your gaze to everyone sitting around you. Each one of them holds a new combination of those emotions—a whole new story behind their eyes looking back at you. Together, we have all created a mosaic of vibrant memories unique to our class.”

An exceptional student, He qualified for the dean’s list every semester in the university’s internationally recognized Department of Linguistics and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society.

“We all entered UMass Amherst as individuals, but we will all leave as a community, a close network, and a family,” He continued. “In the reflections of each other, we have witnessed the struggles and strengths we all share, and in doing so, we discovered more about ourselves. As you now step into the newest chapter of your lives, I ask for everyone to remember this feeling. Please remember that you are not alone in your journey called life.”  

Honorary Degrees

UMass Amherst also conferred honorary degrees to three illustrious alumni at the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony.

Paul Manning ’77 , an entrepreneur and chairman and CEO of venture capital and private equity firm PBM Capital Group, was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree . 

Prior to founding PBM Capital Group, Manning successfully founded several companies that developed and distributed prescription and over-the-counter products to major retail chains throughout the United States. Manning and his wife, Diane, established the Manning Family Foundation in 2003, which has awarded over $50 million to 120 organizations focusing on health and innovative life sciences research, health care services, educational and developmental opportunities for children, and financial literacy. Since 2013, Manning has fostered innovation at UMass, starting the Manning Initiative and the Manning Inventor Fellowship, followed by the Manning Innovation Program in 2019 to boost entrepreneurial efforts. Furthermore, he is a lead investor in the Maroon Venture Fund, a for-profit entity investing in early-stage companies associated with UMass Amherst.

Earl Stafford ’76 , a prominent leader and philanthropist renowned for his impact across diverse sectors, including nonprofit, business and entertainment, was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Public Service Degree . In 2002, Stafford founded the faith-based Stafford Foundation, which uplifts people who are socially and economically marginalized in the United States and Africa. The Stafford Foundation’s initiative, the People’s Inaugural Project, enabled over 400 disabled veterans, people experiencing homelessness and other underserved individuals from across the U.S. to participate in the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Stafford is also CEO of The Wentworth Group LLC and is currently a partner in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, an American sports and venue management company. An executive producer for several commercial films, including “The Butler” and “Willie,” he is a board member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and trustee emeritus of the UMass Amherst Foundation and the Wesley Theological Seminary.

Jason Fettig ’98 , an internationally recognized conductor and esteemed educator, was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree . The former director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band from 2014-23, Fettig served as music advisor to the White House and performed under five presidents. Conducting both the Marine Band and Chamber Orchestra in support of hundreds of nationally significant events, he has worked with a wide array of artists ranging from violinist Joshua Bell to Lady Gaga. A fervent advocate for new music, Fettig has commissioned or premiered almost 50 works and maintains a strong commitment to preserving historic American repertoire. Deeply committed to music education, he has served as a visiting clinician or conductor at over 40 colleges and universities and countless public school band programs across the country. He currently serves as director of university bands and professor of conducting at the University of Michigan, where he conducts their acclaimed Symphony Band, leads the graduate program in wind conducting and oversees the university’s band program.

Read more about the Honorary Degree Recipients and Distinguished Alumni Award Winners

Distinguished achievement awards.

The university recognized two accomplished alumnae with Distinguished Achievement Awards at the Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony.

Denise Hurst ’01 , an active member of the Springfield School Committee since 2009, champions initiatives to improve academic achievement and implement equitable policies within the educational system. Hurst led the establishment of the Minority Caucus for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, formerly as chair and now as vice president of MASC. Beginning her professional journey as a social worker and clinician, Hurst ascended to the role of area director within the commonwealth’s Department of Mental Health. Her dedication to community engagement transcends boundaries, as she has navigated roles as a policymaker and legislative advocate across local, state and federal levels. In 2016, Hurst assumed the role of regional manager for western Massachusetts of the Massachusetts State Lottery and became the inaugural vice president of advancement and external affairs at Springfield Technical Community College in 2018. She currently serves as vice president of community impact and partnerships for the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, leveraging her expertise to foster positive and transformational change.

Michelle Cardinal ’89 , is a media and marketing executive and chairwoman and co-founder of Rain the Growth Agency. Cardinal’s first company, Cmedia, founded in 1998, quickly became one of the top media buyers in the country, with clients such as Humana, Carnival Cruise Line and Cancer Treatment Centers of America. In 2005, Cardinal merged Cmedia with Respond2, a Portland, Oregon-based creative agency, to create the fully integrated direct-to-consumer (DTC) agency, R2C Group, now known as Rain the Growth Agency. One of the largest independent, women-led advertising agencies in the country, Rain is the top choice for fast-growing e-commerce brands and many traditional brands that have expanded their DTC channels, including companies like Humana Healthcare, Shopify, Chewy, Peloton and Bissell. An Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 national finalist and winner of the Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 Pacific Northwest Region Award, Cardinal joined the ownership group of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm in January 2024.

21st Century Leaders

Ten of the university’s most talented and accomplished undergraduates were honored for their exemplary achievements, initiative and leadership with awards naming them as 21st Century Leaders . Receiving $1,000 honorariums from the UMass Amherst Alumni Association were:

Alina Antropova , a double major in English literature and social thought and political economy from Southwick, who has demonstrated a combination of academic excellence and a deep commitment to social justice , having spent the last several summers, dedicating her time in service of immigration rights; Sean T. Bannon , a Commonwealth Honors College student from Winchester, who graduated on the pre-medical track with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and as a junior was a recipient of the UMass Amherst Rising Researcher Award, the highest award an undergraduate can receive in research; Naicha Chamille Christophe , of Taunton, and born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who earned dual degrees in psychology and public health, with a certificate in criminology, and whose dedication to social justice and public health proved evident as president of the Haitian American Student Association when she reactivated the organization’s charity initiative, P.E.A.C.H., to help raise nearly $6,000 for the Haitian Health Foundation and for winter blankets to donate to a local migrant shelter; Zoë Pearl Cohen , a music education major from Nevada City, California, who was the first-ever recipient of the Jeff Poulton and Suzanne Jessee Drum Major Scholarship and was awarded the Howard M. Lebow Memorial Scholarship from the university’s music department, looks forward to inspiring the next generation of musicians as a high school band director; Rianna Jade Jakson , of Marlborough, who earned dual degrees in film studies and communication through the bachelor’s degree with individual concentration (BDIC) program while maintaining three on-campus jobs and serving as a peer advisor, and was also cinematographer for two fashion shows and the director of photography for 12 short films for UMass Fashion Organization (UFO), where she also designed a more than 275-page look book for the spring 2023 fashion show and acted as editor-in-chief of two editions of UFO’s magazine; George F. Olisedeme-Akpu , a mechanical engineering major in the Commonwealth Honors College from Abuja, Nigeria, who served as president of the UMass chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) following a two-year tenure as senator, growing the organization’s membership by more than 60% in one semester, raising thousands of dollars to support the professional development of NSBE members, sending 60 members to national and regional conferences, and hosting an outreach event to teach high school students about opportunities within STEM; Molly Roth , a Commonwealth Honors College student from Exeter, New Hampshire, who double majored in legal studies and anthropology and co-created the Massachusetts Daily Collegian’s first social justice podcast and served as president of the UMass Pre-Law Club, where she established the UMass Undergraduate Law Review and oversaw speaker panels, networking events and visits to law schools; Vandrey Sisson , a biology major in Commonwealth Honors College from Newton, who has been a leader on campus, participating in and steering community organizations that help people with developmental disabilities as president of the Autism Awareness Club, a member of the Developmental Disabilities and Human Services letter of specialization program, and founder of the UMass LEGO Playgroup, a respite care program for children with a range of abilities; Gaia Taig , of Lexington, a Commonwealth Honors College student, who earned a dual degree in biochemistry and molecular biology and psychology with a concentration in neuroscience and conducted research on breast cancer development in the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences’ Jerry Lab where she immortalized over 15 primary breast cell lines, making the lab the largest storage of immortalized breast epithelial cells in the world; and Caroline Tran , of Everett, a member of the Commonwealth Honors College and a pre-medical-track student graduating with dual degrees in microbiology and public health sciences, who started a free college application assistance program for underrepresented high schoolers, guiding students through the application process and conducting workshops on topics related to the university experience.

Jack Welch Scholars

Two graduating students were recognized at Undergraduate Commencement as Jack Welch Scholars for 2024 and will receive merit scholarships funded by the GE Foundation. The award is named in honor of alumnus Jack Welch, who drew upon his UMass undergraduate education in chemical engineering to forge a career as an international business leader, serving for two decades as chairman and chief executive officer of General Electric. 

Honored at the ceremony were Gillian Gaboury , of Brimfield, who earned dual degrees in finance and managerial economics, and Tiana Elaine Naylor , of Littleton, a Commonwealth Honors College student majoring in biomedical engineering with a minor in computer science.

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