Hamilton College is a small liberal arts college in Clinton, New York, a small town in the upstate Adirondack region. The college is home to about 2,000 students who share a deep commitment to the humanities and a passion for being around nature and experiencing all four seasons. If you want a winter — they’ve got a winter!
The college is exclusively undergraduate, so they are solely focused on the undergraduate experience. They seek students who are just as committed to crafting a unique community and experience, and who are on a journey to know themselves. The open curriculum, one of the few colleges in the world with a true open curriculum, is designed to foster. They encourage students to study anything they want across a broad range of subjects without strict rules for what you need to take outside of your concentration (what they call a major). At the same time, they hold strong to a commitment to educate students to “write clearly and speak persuasively,” no matter what their area of academic focus is.
Hamilton has a strong international student community, which makes up about 7.5% of the student population. The class of 2027 has students from 25 different countries, and there are students from over 50 countries enrolled at Hamilton at any given time. It isn’t easy to become one of those students, though. The overall acceptance rate for Hamilton is low — a mere 11.8%. But the college is so popular for international students that there is a markedly lower acceptance rate for international applicants than the overall acceptance rate. That international applicant acceptance rate is 2.2%.
So, if you’re really interested in Hamilton, you can do it (and we can help), but you’ve got work on your hands! In this post, we’ll break down exactly what you need to know to apply to Hamilton successfully as an international applicant.
If you’re considering submitting an application to Hamilton, send us an email. We’re experts at helping exceptional students get into top U.S. colleges.
What is Hamilton looking for in International Students?
International applicants follow the same application process as applicants from within the United States. That said, the application can be an adjustment, or even a shock, for international students because it’s so different from what colleges and universities outside of the US are typically looking for. Hamilton is passionate about the written word, and that shows from the moment you start work on your application. Which is to say, the essays need to be outstanding.
Courses + Grades
Before you can even get to the essays, though, we need to talk about grades. The most important aspects of your application to Hamilton are your grades, your class rank (if your school does this), and the difficulty of the courses that you have taken. Nearly 80% of students accepted by and enrolled in Hamilton were in the top 10% of their high school graduating class, and the college wants to see that you haven’t simply been chasing easy A’s.
When they look at your transcript, they want to see that you’ve taken the hardest courses that you have access to — and that you’ve excelled in them. While this is especially true for the areas related to what you want to major in, they want to see excellence that is subject agnostic. You may not love a particular academic area, but your transcript shouldn’t betray that.
Extracurriculars
After your grades, the thing that they care most about next are your personal qualities as shown through your essays and recommendations. Extracurriculars give you things to write about outside of the classroom, and underline what you care about enough to invest time in when you don’t have to in school.
Hamilton knows that extracurricular opportunities can be different for international students, so they take that into account when reading your application. Remember, though, that work and family responsibilities are ‘extracurriculars,’ in that they are commitments outside of school, and often make amazing subjects for essays as well. Writing about a job or a hobby is just as valid as writing about an academic club or sports team, and often more impactful.
Remember, too, though, that you can also take initiative and create opportunities for yourself. Volunteering in your community, forming a club with friends, or finding an internship opportunity are all ways of building up your extracurriculars if your school community doesn’t have a lot of options that resonate with you.
Standardized Tests
Something lots of applicants love about Hamilton is that it has long been test optional. This means that you can choose whether to submit the SAT or ACT. About 50% of accepted and enrolled students submit an ACT or an SAT score, so it is possible to get in without a standardized test score — but we say that with a caveat. While you can choose not to submit a standardized test score, we highly recommend that international students use the SAT or ACT to underline their other academic accomplishments. This is especially important given the increased challenges international applicants face gaining admission to Hamilton. So, we advise students to aim for a 1520 or higher on the SAT, or a 35 or 36 on the ACT to dramatically increase their chances of getting into Hamilton.
You will also have to submit the results of an English Proficiency Test, and there are a few you can pick from.
Final Thoughts
Something you need to keep in mind when applying to Hamilton is that they consider demonstrated interest, which means that they want to know that you want them. Taking part in the Visit and Engage programs (which are virtual), and doing a virtual interview are both powerful ways of telling Hamilton that they are very interested. There is one more tool, though, that is even more powerful for demonstrating interest.
Applying to Hamilton Early Decision is a massively powerful tool in your application arsenal. So, if you are really interested in Hamilton, you should seriously consider applying ED.
Navigating the college admission process in the U.S. can be overwhelming, but we’re pros at this.