United States

Amherst College

Not fully reviewed yet. Read the official pages before relying on this.

Funding

Amherst is need-blind for all undergraduate first-year applicants regardless of citizenship and meets 100% of Amherst-calculated financial need for admitted students. Aid is need-based and not a merit scholarship; there can be an assessed family contribution.

Eligibility

Selectivity context: Exceptionally selective. Bangladeshi first-year applicants eligible. SAT or ACT is optional. Amherst requires English proficiency testing (DET/IELTS/TOEFL) from non-native English speakers unless its waiver rules are met. The currently available QuestBridge applicant source says two most recent years of secondary school instruction in English can be eligible for a waiver, but verify your own pathway.

Deadlines

Amherst Financial Aid confirmed in writing on November 3, 2026 that Fall 2027 international first-year financial-aid applications are due November 13, 2026 for Early Decision and January 15, 2027 for Regular Decision. These are AID dates, not admission deadlines. Amherst admission/QuestBridge pages may show different admission dates; confirm the chosen admission track separately. Detailed international aid forms and upload instructions are linked from the official financial-aid site.

What Amherst College needs for Fall 2027

Draft research from official pages (checked 14 Nov 2026). Not yet verified by a bdesh editor — confirm every date and prompt on the official page. 6 details still being checked.

Rounds and deadlines

Round	Application	Financial aid	Decision
Early Decisionbinding	9 Nov 2026	13 Nov 2026	early-to-mid December 2026
Regular Decision	5 Jan 2027	15 Jan 2027	on or around March 20, 2027 (reply by May 1, 2027)

Essays and short answers

Required350 wordsanswer 1 of 3 prompts under Option A
We couldn't copy this prompt word for word yet. Read the exact text on the official page.
all (Amherst writing supplement: elect one of Options A, B or C)
Requiredelect one of Options A/B/C
We couldn't copy this prompt word for word yet. Read the exact text on the official page.
alternative to Option A

Testing

SAT/ACT optional
English tests: TOEFL iBT, TOEFL Home Edition, IELTS Academic, Duolingo English Test (TOEFL 100 (strongly recommended; one page says the figure changed for tests taken after Jan 21, 2026, verify) · IELTS 7.5 overall (strongly recommended) · DET 130 (strongly recommended))
Only for applicants who completed the two most recent years of secondary education at a school where English is the primary language of instruction; no other waivers. No superscoring of English tests; official reports only for TOEFL/IELTS.

Recommendations · Interview

counselor + 2 teacher
Interview: Optional
Application fee: $65 · Apply through Common App, Coalition with Scoir, QuestBridge

Financial aid for international students

Need-blind for international applicants
✓ Meets full demonstrated need
Forms: CSS Profile (2027-28), International Student Financial Aid Application (ISFAA)
Documents: Signed copy of all pages of original and translated tax statements; Income documents uploaded to the Financial Aid Portal (instructions emailed after applying)
CSS Profile code: 3003

Amherst states need-blind admission for domestic and international applicants and meets 100% of demonstrated need for admitted internationals; aid is scholarship plus work opportunity, no initial need-based loans. No FAFSA for internationals.

Official pages used

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