I’m currently a junior planning to apply ED I to Emory in Fall 2018.
Objective:
SAT I: 1510 (I’m already above 75th percentile but I might retake to compensate for my GPA)
Unweighted GPA: 3.4 (My junior year grades should raise this to at least 3.55)
Weighted GPA: 4.9
Classes: My academic and language classes were all honors and APs except for one in my junior year. I’m scheduled to take five APs my senior year.
SAT II: I’m planning on taking Physics and Literature and aiming for 700+.
I am going to be taking AP exams for Psych, World History, Physics 1 and Language/ Composition in May. I am aiming for three 5s and one 4.
Awards/ Certificates:
National Honor Society
National French Honor Society
Academic Honor Rolls
Subjective:
Gender: Female
Race: Asian
School: Very competitive but I had an extremely rigorous schedule
I’m from the Northeast region of the U.S.
Extracurricular/ Leadership/ Volunteering:
Key Club- Over 80 volunteer hours (Board position of historian for my sophomore, junior and senior year)
Veteran’s Home- Over 20 volunteer hours
NAMI- Over 12 hours
Yearbook- Photography Team
Newspaper- Photographer
Guitar Ensemble
French Alliance
Intended Major: Biology
I’m attending a summer program for biology and I might also apply to Emory’s pre- college program over the summer. If I don’t end up going, I will at least visit the Emory campus.
I’m accepted into a prestigious biology- related extracurricular for my senior year.
@kat906 I’m expecting Emory’s admit rate to be below 20% this year. Next year, I wouldn’t be surprised if its even lower than this year’s rate. Especially since you’re Asian, your GPA would hurt you a lot. Try to raise it to at least a 3.6/3.7 to make it a Low Reach. Otherwise I’d say it would be a Reach/High Reach.
@kat906 If your high school is one of these very competitive private schools, then your GPA might correspond to a high class ranking. This will help you.
High SAT IIs and APs will also demonstrate that your schooling was rigorous and thus explain your GPA.
When discussing volunteer work in your essays, what must come out is how those experiences taught you something or shaped you in some way. Do not focus on quantitative measures such as number of volunteer hours.
Applying ED1 will substantially increase your chances.
Yeah, I’m doing much better junior year and I’ll try to improve it as much as I can until I have to apply. The 3.4 is only the cumulative GPA of my freshman and sophomore year. Hopefully I can get it to at least a 3.6. But considering I’m applying this fall and the acceptance rate right now is about 25%, I don’t think the rate will change too much by the time I have to apply. Thank you for replying though!
My class rank hasn’t come out yet, but it should be decent. Also, what do you think about my chances at GeorgiaTech? I’m not sure if being female would help if I intend to major in biology. Would it help if I applied with an undeclared major?
Thanks for replying!
@kat906 I’m not able to offer much advice about Georgia Tech, even though its campus is accessible via a short, free shuttle from ours.
Emory EDI has accepted a higher percentage of applicants than Emory EDII and Emory RD. Is Georgia Tech the same way? Not sure.
Regarding biology and science research in general, Emory has focused on applicants who’ve shown promise in doing independent work v. those who’ve simply tested well in STEM SAT II and AP tests. For example, Emory and Oxford offer full rides to some students who’ve demonstrated such independent research aptitude and interest via ISEF or other lab related research work. Your upcoming summer research experience might demonstrate such abilities and thus give you something that Emory values. I don’t know whether Georgia Tech looks at things the same way.
There is a collegiate trend toward recruiting women for STEM but that probably applies to fields where women are underrepresented, e.g. physics, engineering, math. It might even extend to quantitative/computational biology. I don’t think traditional biology qualifies.
If you declare as undecided instead of a STEM field where women are underrepresented, that probably wouldn’t move the needle. Remember they want to recruit women who want to pursue careers in STEM. Undecided just means you’re undecided.
@BiffBrown and @kat906 : I have to wonder if they seriously even check that designation about the major of interest. They likely mostly use clues from resume/EC list and essays. It is really not worth putting undecided unless you are actually undecided. If one finds themselves having to mark that and avoiding discussion of a serious area of interest, then that will likely manifest itself in the overall quality of the app. I would not do these things. Just try to write and present your activities the best you can so that it resonates as a genuine passion or interest with adcoms or anyone who asks.
