Amherst College

 

Amherst College 
Amherst, MA 

Acceptance Rate: 14.3% 
SAT/ACT 25th Percentile: SAT 1990; ACT 30 
SAT/ACT 75th Percentile: SAT 2300; ACT 34 

Amherst, founded in 1821, tried to quickly establish itself as a college that opened its doors to all qualified students, no matter their backgrounds. The College's first African-American student graduated in 1826, and the first Japanese student to graduate from a Western college graduated in 1870. In 1871, a member of the trustees stated, "If a woman is fully qualified, [Amherst's] doors will be open to her." Unfortunately, it wasn't until 1962 that the college began hiring women as tenure-track professors, and until 1975 to become coeducational.
Read more