@Jake6868
Have you considered applying to the Oxford campus of Emory in addition to the Atlanta campus?
If you think you’d thrive on a much smaller, more rural campus that heavily emphasizes small class sizes and good teaching, especially in core STEM classes, then you should consider applying to Oxford in addition to the Atlanta campus.
In brief, after two years at the Oxford campus, you would spend your next two years at the Atlanta campus.
Note also that your interest in water conservation would play well with Oxford admissions because of the campus’ emphasis on environmental extracurriculars and coursework.
Further, Oxford has its own tennis team and tennis coach and cross country team and coach, which compete separately from the Atlanta campus’ teams. Emory Oxford does its own athletic recruiting.
One disadvantage is that the Oxford campus, though it offers many biology courses, doesn’t have the same depth or breadth as the Atlanta campus. This may not matter if you come in with no biology, or physics AP credits as you would be wise to take those first.
Note that Emory (both Atlanta and Oxford) has changed its chemistry curriculum so that intro chemistry courses have a more organic chemistry emphasis; it’s unclear whether it’d be wise to skip the first year chemistry sequence given that even with your 5 in AP Chemistry.
Alternatively, you can take more advanced NBB courses over the summer at the Atlanta campus to get ahead.
I can tell you more if the Oxford option seems attractive.
I still think Emory is a reach here. My kid applied with similar stats and was a legacy. His ECs and essays were very compelling and told the story of his leadership in his school and broader community. He did not get in (waitlisted, didn’t accept). Weirdly he did get into two higher ranked schools. So you really just don’t know what clicks with the adcom.
@ProfessorMom1
Did your child apply ED1 to Emory? That makes a big difference.
Did your child apply to the Oxford campus as well?
@BiffBrown Fair point. Not ED though early for the scholarship deadline. We don’t qualify for any aid and didn’t want to risk not getting any merit money from Emory after ED. Also it was not his first choice (though he did visit). Did not apply to Oxford campus.
FWIW, applied last week possible to higher ranked schools and got in RD
@ProfessorMom1 There are certain schools that are well known for (apparently) weighing high SAT/ACT scores more heavily than Emory.
Rice, Wash U, and Vanderbilt come to mind. Your son’s experience, if his acceptance was to one of those three, is less a head scratcher and more of a way that things are typically done differently at other schools kind of thing.
Yes, I’m aware that some schools weigh scores higher. And frankly I’m not curious why he didn’t get in to Emory, per se. My earlier post was simply to say that Emory may still be a reach for the OP as it clearly was for my son. I agree with you that ED would help. But then again ED helps nearly everywhere. Legacy presumably helps nearly everywhere too, but it did not in our case.
@Jake6868
I really don’t think its a great idea to apply early decision to Oxford if Emory College is the goal. If you don’t get into Emory C but do get into Oxford then one must go to Oxford even though that was not essentially “the first choice”. Maybe apply to Oxford RD if Emory ED doesn’t pan out.
@Jake6868 and @emorynavy
@Jake6868 you have to decide on your own preferences with respect to Emory College v. Oxford College (Emory) and how to strategize with ED1 v. ED2 v. RD.
I simply want to point out that Oxford College (Emory) is an option you may want to investigate to see whether it suits you. The fact that Oxford has environmentally oriented courses and extracurriculars a plenty, has strong intro STEM instruction and has its own athletic recruiting for tennis and cross country are all pluses for you, I think. It is a different campus and feel than Emory College but that’s a positive for those looking for a smaller campus vibe.
Note that ED1, ED2 and RD are all options for both Emory College and Oxford College.
@ProfessorMom1 : You may want to tell your story here: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21644300#Comment_21644300
It seems that the : “I just expect to get into at least some well-ranked private with highly selective admissions” sentiment is going around as usual. So folks are labeling places like Emory and Gtown as safeties, which makes no sense to me. I like labeling all the top 30 or so schools as some sort of reach.
I read that link and the OP just seemed a bit ignorant as to how selective certain schools are. Had Carnegie Melon as as a reach and Emory and Georgetown as safeties. It is just bad early analysis by someone in the early stages of the application process.
Chancing candidates based on stats for schools like Emory is a waste of time. There are so many applicants with similar stats and Emory even looks beyond the stats. Emory also looks to build a diverse student body. They don’t want the top 1,400 applicants interested in biology. They want kids who are also interested in the arts, theology, the languages, business, economics, etc. and they want representation from many cities, states, and countries. They also show preference to those who apply early who will help them build a cohesive class motivated to attend Emory.
If you want to play tennis, also reach out to the Oxford coach.