Hi, I’m a rising senior (Class of 2016) and I was wondering about my chances for a scholarship at Emory. I know it’s extremely competitive, so I just wanted to know if I have a decent chance. I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.
I’m an Asian female from Alabama.
Stats:
SAT I: 2270 (730CR 770M 770W - 10Essay) retaking in October
ACT: 35.25 or 35 (36E 35 everything else - 9Essay)
SAT II: 770 Math 2 (ew) and 760 Chem (double ew)
AP: 5’s on APUSH, Calc BC, and Eng Lang and Comp, and 4’s on APES, Chem, Bio, and Physics C: Mechanics
Awards:
Siemens Competition Semifinalist (10th)
NMSF (PSAT 237), probably NMF if all goes well
AP Scholar with Distinction… nothing else really
ECs:
School Newspaper Club (Founder and Editor-in-Chief, 11th-12th)
Environmental Club (Co-Founder and President, 11th-12th)
First Priority Christian Club (Student Leader, 9th-12th)
Member of a School Board/Committee that meets to discuss things we can do to improve the school. I was nominated for this and there are only 15-20 students from our whole school on it. (11th-12th)
Unpaid Internship at Boeing (summer after 11th)
Won a few writing competitions, nothing notable…
NHS (Member, 10-12th)
SNHS (Member, 10-12th)
Quiz Bowl (Member (9-12th)
Volunteering:
Started a community service drive (Founder and Executive President, summer after 11th - ongoing in hours, easily over 250)
Volunteer at local hospital (60 hours - Summer after 10th)
Worked as a barista at church (20-30 hours)
Volunteered at local rescue mission (not a lot of hours, maybe 10; it’s probably not worth mentioning but oh well)
So that’s me in a nutshell. Well, my resume at least. I’d appreciate all your opinions and advice. Thanks in advance! 
@meaa7130 7130: Getting your score to a 2300+ will honestly make no difference for either this scholarship or the most elite schools. It may for the most stats sensitive places like WashU and Vanderbilt (in fact, they may be willing to throw money at you because of your ethnicity and your score. I don’t know about WashU), but no one is going to recognize a 23something as some special accomplishment over the 2270 you have now even if you are Asian. You’re in the range of diminished returns, where score differences are so subtle that it makes no difference whatsoever for most colleges If anything, maybe you should consider just sending your ACT score. Having interesting EC’s and strong essays (at Emory, this should include the supplement) that show great thinking and ideas is what will put you over.
I can’t tell you your chances for the scholarship because they aren’t but so stats based and besides the Seimens and NMF (which is stats related), the EC’s look a lot like other Emory students with lower stats (or similar ones). They’ll like you but I can’t tell your chances for the scholarship as way too many people apply with similar profiles (and get denied. Many who get into HYP do not make it to the finalist round and some of the students that do make it oddly enough seem more like the upperechelon of students who attend those schools in terms of intellectual and academic drive such as students who use their AP credit and experience to take graduate courses by sophomore year. Competing against someone with that sort of passion for academics or their interests is very hard as those people are rare. Most people just plan to “take it easy” academically when they come to college and their resume would suggest it). I honestly think your chances are higher at gaining admission to a stats sensitive institution (not super elite but SAT means near 1500) or a super elite than making finalist for scholars now-a-days and it isn’t because your scores and resume isn’t great, it is simply because of the volume of applications and how they tend to choose high scoring (maybe not even as high as you) students with some of the more unique EC profiles (may include more entrepreneurship for example, or may be very dedicated to certain types of academics as shown by competition participation, research project endeavor, and many self-directed pursuits of their academic interests). So point is, I don’t know. I would just apply and find out.
@bernie12 The only reason I am going to retake the SAT is specifically for the Vanderbilt scholarship I’ll try for. Thanks for the feedback! I know my ECs aren’t amazing, so that was my primary concern. Anyone else care to comment?
I don’t think you need 2300 (2250 or so is great) even for Vanderbilt…I usually hear Asians w/1500+ being able to manage some scholarship if EC’s are good enough (I don’t think they need to be like other places that award merit or are less sensitive to stats). BTW, are you pre-engineering by chance (I just see the boeing internship and the science AP success and wonder). If this is the case, best to try your hand at somewhere solid at physics/aerospace. Have you considered applying to scholarships at publics known for math, engineering, or physics (places like Berkeley, Austin, Michigan, and UW Madison), because many of their programs are better (as in more known for excellence and often more rigorous) than most privates and the students at these places are great as well (in which case, you may indeed want to retake as you are applying OOS).
@bernie12 I’m not sure what I want to major in, but I’m interested in both engineering and business. Ultimately, I’d like to get an undergrad in something (possibly engineering, I’m doing more research on viable majors) and then go on to get an MBA. So engineering is definitely a possibility for undergrad. Those schools really are great for engineering; the only problem is that they don’t offer a lot of financial aid/merit scholarships. I just might apply to a few of them, but I’m afraid that they will cost much more than I’d like to pay for an undergrad degree.
Also, I forgot to mention my GPA and Class Rank:
GPA: 3.96UW/5.05W
Class Rank: 2/369
@meaa7130 Again, apply for their scholarship programs. They do offer them to OOS people.
Also, you’re very smart and thus will be able to land a job or go to grad school regardless, so “viable” major should be whatever you want(you can always choose a major you enjoy and then develop skills you want for a professional track through internships or additional coursework in other disciplines). I know most people pursuing MBA’s, especially at top programs, did not have BBAs (as BBA folks often do not pursue them), so doing UG business is not a necessary pre-req. It may not even be helpful considering how often such programs are far more rigorous in the critical thinking category. BBA classes at top schools are more rigorous than normal, but often lack courses that require truly deep analysis of cases and the like. You’re more likely to benefit from social science courses/majors than a BBA. As for engineering, you want to go somewhere where the recruiting is strong. I forgot to recommend Georgia Tech! Strong business program and world class engineering (so gets ridiculous recruiting for a great but non-elite school. I guess it could be considered an elite public)! I think honestly this is better than the other publics I suggested because of this. It is also significantly stronger than some top privates in science, especially engineering, math, and the physical sciences. Maybe take a crack at their scholarship or Grand Challenges program. I honestly think Tech is a STEM version of Vanderbilt (location at city center, school pride b/c of D1, etc), just perhaps more intense academically (the courseloads required for Tech degrees are very intense and intro. math and physics classes are more rigorous than most top privates except for maybe the very top/ones known for engineering and physics and math). Again, shoot for the places where you’ll get the best training and recruiting. Many top publics excel in areas where top privates do not, especially when it comes to STEM.
@bernie12 Yes, I’m applying to GTech. I’m going to try for the Presidential Scholarship, even though it’s insanely competitive. But thanks so much for the advice! I will definitely take it into consideration when creating my college list. You’ve been a great help
You’ll likely get an interview if you apply to Emory Scholars, but from then on it can be very subjective and as mentioned above many of the applicants will have similar or better resumes than you, so definitely no guarantees. You’ll have to show during the interview that you would likely attend Emory if you got the scholarship and are truly interested in the school and specifically what Emory has to offer, especially if you are apply RD. They would also want to make sure that you are continuing the type of ECs you did in high school at Emory (there’s obviously no binding commitment here so you’ll have to convince them). Even if you don’t get Emory Scholars, I believe being a semi-finalist will get you around $10k off tuition per year for 4 years.
If you want to go pre-business then Emory’s business school is solid and usually has over a 90% job placement rate right out of undergrad (though some of these jobs are going to be a lot better than others of course). However with engineering, as you probably already know the only way to do engineering at Emory is through the 3-2 program with GA Tech. This would involve staying an extra year and school and paying for 5 years of tuition (3 years to Emory and 2 to Tech). So if cost is a concern and you are absolutely sure about doing engineering I would look to other schools. Though you shouldn’t be completely opposed to taking out some loans, as with either an engineering or business degree you can have a high chance of landing a relatively better paying job right out of undergrad to pay them off. It’s only for the pre-med, pre-dental, or pre-law people or any of the professions that require you to pay for several more years of school beyond undergrad where I would be more careful about taking out loans for undergrad.
If all fails and you don’t land a scholarship at any OOS school and you are opposed to paying high tuition, I would just go to your state school (UAB I believe). They should have a decent engineering program and you’ll probably qualify for some type of scholarship from them. You may have to be more active about seeking opportunities outside of the classroom at a big state school (where there are more students competing for on-campus research or for internships from companies that are recruiting), but you definitely still have good job placement if you continue to take the active approach that you’ve shown with your high school resume.
@collegestu816 : be very careful with the interview chancing because if there are almost 7,000 scholar applicants again, that is going to be a problem no matter how amazing anyone looks on paper. Again, it usually to pull people away for near peers and even top Ivies, however many of the people with stats like hers who get into Ivies EA or later don’t interviewed for some reason. I think the OP is amazing and would be happy to have her at Emory, but I can only pray that they give her a chance. Her best chance is if application numbers for both admissions and the scholarship program return to normal levels (as in the “ebola bump” disappears if it was the thing responsible for the increase), somewhere in the 17-18k range. Another chance would be if their efforts to grow the scholarship fund have paid off and thus they can afford to interview folks and distribute more scholarships.