UMass Amherst supplemental essays
UMass Amherst asks for two supplemental essays in 2026-27. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is two supplements plus the Common App personal statement: three pieces of writing in all. Early Action closes November 5, 2026 and Regular Decision closes January 15, 2027. The prompts carry this limit: 100 words. Every UMass Amherst prompt is printed on this page in full, with its word limit and who has to answer it, checked against the college’s own admissions page.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Action | November 5, 2026 |
| Regular Decision | January 15, 2027 |
Checked against www.umass.edu/admissions/apply/first-year-students. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Required · 100 words
Please tell us why you want to attend UMass Amherst?
Asked as UMass’s own questions inside the Common App. Sources disagree over whether a third community question still exists this cycle, so only these two are listed; check the Common App.
Short answer. Paste it on the homepage and we will read it.
Required · 100 words
Please tell us why you chose the Major(s) you did.
Asked as UMass’s own questions inside the Common App. Sources disagree over whether a third community question still exists this cycle, so only these two are listed; check the Common App.
Short answer. Paste it on the homepage and we will read it.
Your UMass Amherst checklist
Two supplements, all required. The first deadline, Early Action, is November 5, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- Supplements 1 and 2Required100 words each
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Getting into UMass Amherst
UMass Amherst admits 59.7% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1310-1500 on the SAT and 30-33 on the ACT.
About 6 in 10 applicants are admitted, at a college of 23,671 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1310 | 1420 | 1500 |
| SAT reading and writing | 650 | 700 | 730 |
| SAT math | 660 | 720 | 770 |
| ACT composite | 30 | 32 | 33 |
What SAT score do you need for UMass Amherst?
A 1500 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1420 at their midpoint, and a 1310 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 30, 32 and 33. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.
- What SAT score do you need for UMass Amherst?
- UMass Amherst sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1310-1500 on the SAT: a 1310 sits at the 25th percentile, 1420 at the median and 1500 at the 75th. A score at or above 1500 is a clear strength in the application; below 1310 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures UMass Amherst reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for UMass Amherst?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 30-33 on the ACT, with a composite of 32 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 30. Reported by UMass Amherst to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for UMass Amherst?
- The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for UMass Amherst is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that UMass Amherst admits 59.7% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
- How hard is it to get into UMass Amherst?
- UMass Amherst admits 59.7% of the people who apply, which is about 6 in 10 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What UMass Amherst costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.
Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.
UMass Amherst essay questions, answered
- Does UMass Amherst have supplemental essays?
- Yes. UMass Amherst asks for two supplemental essays in 2026-27. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: 100 words.
- How many essays do you write for UMass Amherst in 2026-27?
- Two supplements, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
UMass Amherst admits 59.7% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Rutgers University–New Brunswick (58.1%), Fordham University (59.3%), College of Wooster (59.5%), College of Charleston (60.0%), University of South Carolina (60.2%), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (60.2%).