Basic Info:
-Male
-Asian
-New York
Intended Major: Neuroscience/Pre-med
Stats:
-GPA: 3.7UW, 3.9W. Upward trend.
-I heard Emory doesn’t count freshman year grades and I messed up then so without 9th grade it would be: 3.8UW 4.04W
-ACT: 35
-SAT Subject: Math 2: 800 Chemistry: 800
-Rank: Not sure. Very competitive class but should be top 20%
AP courses:
APUSH: 3 (might not send this)
AP Lang: 3 (might not send this)
AP Chem: 5
AP Psychology (taking senior yr)
AP Euro (taking senior yr)
AP Lit (taking senior yr)
AP Calc BC (taking senior yr)
No honors classes because I wasn’t motivated before
EC:
-Cross Country: 3 years
-Varsity Tennis: 2 years (reaching out to Emory tennis coach to consider playing tennis there)
-Stock Market club: 2 years
-Volunteered for one summer as a coach in training for a tennis center
-NHS: 2 years
-Piano: 12 years, won many awards including NYSSMA and some competitions
-Trumpet: member of high school band (all 4 years)
-Volunteer at children’s museum
-organized/worked on a water project to allow HS students exposure to water quality testing
-taught myself coding with Python during summer after Junior year
Probably applying ED to Emory.
Also applying to:
NYU, Tufts, Cornell, Rochester, UMich, and some others that are safeties
are you from a wealthy part of New York (Westchester/NYC)? There is a lot of competition in the Mid-Atlantic region for getting into Emory and coming from a wealthy part would raise expectations in the eyes of admissions officers.
Yes, I am from a really wealthy part of New York. I didn’t know about this. How much more difficult would it be to get into Emory? Is it still possible for me?
It’s still possible - just apply early (ED1). I am from Westchester county and while many people I know got in early, regular decision was a bit of a bloodbath because of oversaturation from the NY/NJ area. Really convey why you want to go to Emory in your essays + apply early and I think you should be good. Being wealthy raises expectations because you have access to resources of privilege (private lessons for sports, standardized test prep, etc.)
Thank you! I’m from Westchester too, it sucks though because my family is not that wealthy (middle-class) but I live in a wealthy area.
You have good test scores – but admission officers might be concerned about the lack of rigor in your previous courses and your lower grades from earlier years.
Yea, I’m worried about that part of my application, hoping they can understand that the transition from middle to high school was difficult and sort of overlook my freshman/sophmore year’s lack of motivation.
@Jake6868 : My guess is they would be more likely to forgive not so great early grades had there been more rigor. At this point, if you are interested I recommend you just apply and see. Remember that Emory has two ED plans, and it is the first that offers an advantage. ED2 and RD are not going to be great percentage wise, but I suppose ED2 is at least less populated. I just think that ED2, adcoms may be more cautious because they are worried some are settling after being denied wherever for ED1 in which case they assumed “unlikely I will get into another elite, but Emory looks doable, so I will try that” which has little to do with fit. Either way, don’t conflate ED1 and ED2.
Also, how competitive is the school? Does it send many to Emory. Is the school known for being particularly rigorous (not just offers AP/IB, but offers exceptionally strong ones)? If so, the threshold may be lowered.
Although the school doesn’t offer more rigorous classes than AP it is pretty competitive. Each year, about 4 students get into Cornell and a solid 2-3 get into other ivies. The average ACT is a 29. But then our class is super competitive. It’s more competitive than the grade above us and much more competitive than the one below us.
@Jake6868 : I guess I meant more like grade deflation and stuff (like how many have over 3.75-3.8 UW. If it is like 20% +, then it is a fairly typical school in the suburbs with an inflation). Also, while I get some schools go beyond AP/IB traditional offerings, I am primarily talking about the quality of the most rigorous courses. For example, private and charter schools with notorious programs are actually known for having AP/IB instructors who don’t follow the organizations’ provided curricula too closely or go far beyond the demands and complexity of the curriculum that IB/AP lays out.
Based upon what you are saying about placement, despite the average ACT, sounds like your school is relatively normal placement wise, but maybe it will do better this year.
Also, question. If you are pre-health and pre-NBB, why are you not taking AP biology? AP chemistry? I imagine you will be pressured into forfeiting that credit once you get to college, but AP biology is can be skipped as a pre-health because other classes can compensate for it. Skipping biology could save some room in your first semester for other cool STEM or non-STEM courses (you can also start on NBB electives as, at Emory, a 200 level biology course is available to freshmen w/AP biology 4/5). I also think a biology background will just help more with NBB. Consider replacing one of the senior APs with it if you don’t want to go beyond 4 APs (I don’t think Emory can do much with AP Euro anyway other than grant graduation/elective credit in history. AP psychology only gets you out of the socially focused portion of the psychology 2 semester intro. sequence, when the other course is better training/foundation for NBB course work). Honing writing skills and math skills, always a great idea so lit. and BC are great choices.
The class size in our school is very small and there are a lot of smart hard workers in particularly my class. I don’t think the grading is inflated I just think that this particular class is really above average. I don’t consider it in any way “easy” to get a 95+ in any AP class but still quite a few people do in some.
Yea, I understand the importance of taking AP bio. It’s just that our school’s AP bio teacher is a really bad teacher so I wanted to try and avoid taking that class. Just how necessary do you think taking AP bio in high school is if I want to go into pre-med/ neuroscience?
To be honest, I realistically think taking more than 4 APs while having to work on college apps during fall of senior year will be too much. So if you do think that AP bio is necessary for me, do you think I can discard AP Euro? I still want to take AP psychology because I’m genuinely interested in psychology and I might write about that interest in my essays.
@Jake6868 : Take it for the exam. My AP chemistry and biology teachers were not “good” in the traditional way at all, but we had to band together and learn on our own. Little hand holding. A great preparation for university level STEM. Many people used to having their hand held a lot will often complain about college STEM classes/instructors saying “had to learn it on my own”…no duh! That usually is how it works and the instructor is ideally more so a resource or crutch. Most of the learning and preparation happens outside of class. Good and challenging instructors will do their best to give you a foundation, but then will often test you at a higher level beyond that foundation they gave. Getting that higher level comes from things you do outside of class. If a teacher misinforms or half-asses…usually an AP curriculum can be taught through a textbook which will tell it correctly. And there are other resources to use to clarify things. Such is the life of a college student. Prep for it!
If you are engaged in ECs concerning psychology, that is perhaps better than AP psychology and provides more to write about (the AP psyche curriculum looks like a kind of classical “content focused” course where you memorize scenarios, phenomenon, and terms. May be why it gets a reputation as being “easy”). You can even do your own personal research and read primary literature and other articles that interest you and it would be another example of informal and self-directed learning/intellectual curiosity. Often a class is not an indicator of that and Emory values applicants who display that in some way aside from course work. You can write about the interest without having AP psyche on your transcript to validate the interest. They’ll be able to tell by the quality and depth of interest and knowledge displayed through writing.
As for AP bio or any AP course. I don’t think any are “necessary” technically, but I think biology is a great experience because they changed the AP biology curriculum starting in 2015 (chemistry appears to have been made just more “wordy”. The curriculum for AP chem post-reform still looks basic and the AP exam in the FR section aside from a couple of items seems very plug and chug oriented and not but so conceptual. This is different from Emory’s new curriculum whereas I’d argue AP bio is probably as good or better than most bio 141 sections) to teach one to actually think like a scientist/experimentalists which is a rare way to learn and think about biology. It will be a tremendous help for those who will go into biology/life sciences research as an undergrad or beyond or take analytically oriented (as in not memorization and regurgitation) life sciences courses, which you probably will at Emory. The place does a good job hiring faculty and training faculty in the sciences to train use of higher ordered thinking. Helps to get a jump on that type of thinking as 3/4 of NBB core courses require it (401 is primary literature focused, 301 is a neurophysiology focused course so the first part especially focuses on data analysis, math, physics, etc. 302 focuses on lots of research and clinical applications in behavior. These all require analytical modes of thinking. Emory’s curriculum does not overly focus on neuroanatomy and other sub-disciplines that may typically only demand intense memorization and regurgitation).
If you think more than 4 APs are too much for you, then I wouldn’t take more than 4 APs, but it is your decision whether to take AP Euro or AP Bio
I will probably replace AP Euro with AP Bio. Depending on how much I get done this summer though, I might just keep AP Euro also and take 5 APs.
You are a very strong candidate for admission. Your standardized test scores for ACT & SAT subject tests are great & your GPA is fine.
@Publisher : I don’t really bother chancing people for admissions. Many people look strong for it. Emory values rigor and raw talent over SAT/ACT, so if anything dings them, it is the rigor. GPA, I think only context and rank if available matters. They are okay in that dept I suppose. ECs look a little stereotypical. Very qualified, but who knows how adcoms will decide if Emory gets more apps than last year or really anything close to last cycle.
@Jake6868 : Oh the water quality project thing kind of meshes with Emory promoting its water hub and putting it at the center of educational initiatives. If you haven’t heard or are interested in continuing things like that just thought you should know.
Thank you for the response. So do you think the water project would definitely help with my admission to Emory since they are engaged in something similar?
@Jake6868
Yes the water project could certainly help. However you need to make that connection in your “Why Emory” essay.
@Jake6868 : It could if you actually care and write about in a way that seems genuine. If it isn’t, then write about something else that genuinely excites you.