Amherst College

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a town not far from a more urbanized area.

Overview

Amherst College is located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1821. The college traces its origin to a secondary school called Amherst Academy. Zephaniah Swift Moore became the college's first president on May 8, 1821. The first classes began with 47 students. It became coeducational in 1975. The college campus encompasses approximately 1,000 acres. Amherst College offers a wide variety of degrees and certificate programs in over 30 different areas of study. It attracts students from around 40 foreign countries.

Amherst College has officially recognized several student organizations such as the African Students Organization, Association of Amherst Students, Mixed Martial Arts Organizations, Amnesty International, Black Student Union, China Awareness Organization, Progressive Student Alliance, Habitat for Humanity, International Student's Association, and Italian Club.

Amherst College competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference and in the Eastern College Athletic Conference. Their sports teams are known as the Lord Jeffs. They are Division III members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Many students concentrating in liberal arts, mathematics, art studies, science, and music.
• High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
• Selective admissions.
• High faculty salary.
• High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
• Number of dorm rooms for students.
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• Large number of students.
• Large number of programs of study offered.

School characteristics:

• The school is private, not-for-profit.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Baccalaureate Colleges, Liberal Arts.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students have meal (board) plans.
• Students may study abroad.
• ROTC.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Amherst:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 1,697 in 2009-2010 (1,676 full-time equivalent).

About 51% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 49% of the class.

Undergrads are 100% of enrolled students.

Students under 25 years old represent 99% of the student body.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

Amherst provides on-campus housing for 1,746 of its 1,676 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 20 meals weekly.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the New England Small College Athletic Conference for major sports.

Graduate School Focus

The highest degree offered is the Bachelor.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ART STUDIES (17 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (3 awarded)

• Computer Science

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (4 awarded)

• Environmental Studies

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (3 awarded)

• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts

LAW (13 awarded)

• Legal Studies

LIBERAL ARTS (251 awarded)

• African-American/Black Studies
• American/United States Studies/Civilization
• Anthropology
• Asian Studies/Civilization
• Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
• Economics
• English Language and Literature
• European Studies/Civilization
• French Language and Literature
• German Language and Literature
• History
• Latin Language and Literature
• Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
• Political Science and Government
• Russian Language and Literature
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (6 awarded)

• Mathematics

MEDICINE (10 awarded)

• Neuroscience

MUSIC (9 awarded)

• Music

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (9 awarded)

• Philosophy
• Religion/Religious Studies

SCIENCE (54 awarded)

• Astronomy
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Geology/Earth Science
• Physics

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (40 awarded)

• Psychology