Hamilton College prepares students for “a life of meaning, purpose, and active citizenship.” Located in the village of Clinton, New York, a town closer to Canada than it is to NYC, but 45 min from the city of Syracuse, Hamilton is a small liberal arts experience in a unique environment crafted to nurture exploration and launch future leaders. Just over 2,000 students call Hamilton home, and they come from 48 states and 56 countries for the opportunity to learn in the Hamilton way.
What’s the Hamilton way? The core is an open curriculum with no distribution requirements and over 50 programs of study students are welcomed to explore, creating individualized courses of study tailored to your interests and passions. So, you only have to take classes you’re genuinely interested in. Students work towards the completion of a concentration, their version of a major, and most courses have under 20 students. Two-thirds of students study abroad, and one-third play a varsity sport while in college.
While Hamilton is a small school in a small town, they have a truly global perspective, and they empower students to go out and change the world. To do this, Hamilton maintains a strong focus on internships. Students are encouraged to start their careers while at Hamilton, rather than waiting. And students have access to personalized career programs designed to launch them towards a successful future. They also encourage conversation. They want students to engage in discussion and debate. They want a lively campus that comes closer when others fall into conflict. The backbone of this is the Hamilton Student Code of Conduct, which is a living document that all students must agree too, and that students guide.
The combination of an open curriculum, nurturing community, and strong student outcomes has led to lots of students who see their futures at Hamilton. The acceptance rate for first-year admission is 11.8%.
Becoming one of that one-in-ten takes effort, strategy, and time during your summer. In this post, we’ll break down what you need to know to use your summers to strengthen your application to Hamilton.
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What does Hamilton want to see from your summer?
Hamilton doesn’t like cookie cutter. They don’t care that much about a 17-year-old having a career path, but they do care about caring — and about passion. So, what does that mean they want? What Hamilton wants to see most from your summer is, well, you. You doing you, the best that you can do, and following what you love as far as you can. Of course, that isn’t very specific, though, so below we go deeper into the how of this high-minded ideal.
Augment Your Academics
Hamilton doesn’t require any particular courses for admission, although they do have a ‘recommended’ minimum course distribution. You’ll definitely want to make sure that you’ll exceed the recommendations. If that isn’t possible at your school, we encourage students to take for-credit courses that will show up on your transcript. You can take in-person or online courses, but don’t take a class just to take classes. If you are going to take courses over the summer, whatever classes you take must build upon a passion and increase your skill or expertise in an area you really care about. It should make sense to someone reviewing your application that you opted into making summertime study time.
Something you shouldn’t stress much about (if at all) are the SAT and/or ACT. Only about 50% of accepted and enrolled students at Hamilton submit standardize test scores, so there isn’t massive pressure to even send them. If you are going to spend some of your summer studying for standardized tests, it helps to have some numbers to aim for. These are the lowest scores we’d recommend sending to Hamilton.
SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing: 700
SAT Math: 700
ACT: 32
Instead, practice for the interview.
Something Hamilton does love, though, are internships. They emphasize internships for students at Hamilton, and they love to see them on applicants resumes and activities sections.
We encourage students to secure an internship with a local business, non-profit, creative (like a writer or artist), or academic. Any internship should be at least four weeks, and longer if it is only a few hours a week. Every internship should also have clear project outcomes or tasks that you can work towards completing. And internships can be paid or unpaid.
Emphasize Your Interests
What Hamilton wants to see most is that you use your time off of the school ‘clock’ to go deeper, and to build your skills as a writer and communicator.
If you are an artist, this could mean pursuing a new medium or putting a body of work together in preparation for a show.
If you are a writer, this could mean writing a story or an essay you will submit for publication.
If you are a science person (a technical term, obviously), it could mean conducting independent research.
If you are a history person, it could mean writing a paper exploring a particular event or drawing connections between a series of historical moments.
You can also explore your interests in service of your community. We encourage students to volunteer with a local nonprofit you’re involved with during the school year, to mentor younger people who share in your passion (ex. playing a specific instrument), or to become involved in nearly anything else that connects with your community, from becoming an EMT to joining your local community theater.
We also highly encourage students to find a summer job! This doesn’t have to be fancy sounding — and, in fact, it’s best if it isn’t. Look for a service-oriented customer-facing job that will both teach you how to handle difficult situations and undoubtedly result in lots of stories.
Have Fun
Hamilton just doesn’t want to see you study and work, though. They want to see you take time to explore, adventure, and discover. Trying something new excites them, and they like it when students push themselves even if they might not succeed immediately. Hamilton is career-focused, but they don’t like students who only have outcomes in mind. So do some stuff simply for yourself. It’s not a waste of time if you learn more about who you are that you’ll be able to bring to Hamilton.
Hamilton is not a cookie cutter college, and they aren’t looking for cookie cutter kids. Use your summer to express yourself, and to explore. Pursue a passion, and push yourself beyond what you perceive as your limits. Also, have some fun. Seriously.
If you are a high-achieving student aiming for a top-tier college, get in touch. We’re experts at this.