Chance Me for Emory University and Oxford College of Emory University- WILL CHANCE BACK

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
1

Hi guys, I’d appreciate if you can chance me for Emory and Oxford College.

Preface: Bit about myself- I was an Indian international student in Singapore who moved to the US (Virginia) after freshman year. I didn’t really take the first two years of high school seriously but I have a huge upward trend (my unweighted GPA for each year respectively is 3.49, 3.5, and 3.875). I got a C+ in my Chemistry Honors class sophomore year for the second semester (first semester I had achieved a B+) but I completely aced my Junior year (earning an A+ in AP Macroeconomics). I now attend a small, private school in Fairfax County. My weighted GPA (the GPA reported to colleges) is the GPA of my sophomore and junior years combined as I didn’t attend my current private school during my freshman year.

Note: During the information session, the admissions director specifically stated that they pretty much discount freshman year grades because they recognize that students are adjusting to high school. What they really look at are sophomore year and junior year grades, as well as the first semester of senior year.

I am applying as a HISTORY MAJOR

UW GPA: 3.62 (again, I got a C+ in Chem Honors for a second semester sophomore year but I have a huge upward trend after)
W GPA (reported number): 4.04 (school does not rank)
ACT: 33 (35 E/34 R/29 M/35 S) I got a 21 in W but who cares really.

Honors: AP Scholar, Honorable Mention on National Spanish Exam Level 3

AP Scores: AP Euro (5) APUSH (5) AP Macro (5) AP Lang (5) AP World (self-studied 5)

SAT II: US History- 770

Recs: I know they’ll be amazing since both are written by my Lang and Macro teachers who saw me do very well in their classes and who like me as a student and as a person, having gotten to know me on a personal basis.

Awards: National History Day South-East Asia Winner, National History Day Virginia State First Place

Languages: Fluent in English, Tamil, Mandarin and Spanish

Extracurriculars:

National Security Archives internship- I had an undergraduate level internship at the National Security Archives. I researched and indexed declassified government documents and wrote historical analysis reports to aid Archive researchers.

NHD- Awards: NHD- 1st place South-East Asia, NHD- 1st place Virginia state (already mentioned above)

Drama- Been participating since freshman year and had major roles and lead roles in school productions.

Relay for Life leader- Led Relay for Life team to raise nearly $2700 dollars for the American Cancer Society.

President of Young Democrats- Was Secretary (10), Vice-President (11) and now President (12) of the club. I helped host mock caucus/primary elections at school to raise civic awareness. I also interned at the John Foust for Congress and the Mark Warner for Senate campaigns.

President of World Water Aid- Founded this club when I came to my new school. Raised nearly $700 dollars for a rainwater harvesting facility in India to help villages without water. Interned at the Dhan Foundation in India to help oversee development projects.

Varsity Tennis- Been on my Varsity tennis team since sophomore year and play 3rd doubles.

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Emory is a bit of a reach because of your gpa. But the upward trend is always good. Your ACT is definitely solid. I think that’s a point higher than the average admitted students. Very good ECs. I hope you wrote a good essay because that may very well be the deciding factor. Admissions are also very random though so no one really knows. All I’m going to say about your chances at Emory is that it’s possible. I think you’ll almost definitely get into oxford college there

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I don’t know where you heard that freshman grades don’t count, because they absolutely effect your overall gpa. However, they do like to see an upward curve in grades, which benefits you. You have a very strong ACT score (higher than average for emory or oxford). Your gpa tends to be more in the range for oxford rather than emory, but you never know. Emory prides itself in diversity and people who think outside the box. I currently attend oxford college of emory and I can tell you that is true for both campuses. If you have a strong hook and essays, you may be able to get into emory. You should be able to get into oxford but their freshman profile is starting to look closer to that of emory’s every year. Btw you should really look into whether you actually like these schools or not (oxford is in the middle of nowhere and feels more like a boarding school than college; lots of kids from the north are considering transferring as they just don’t like the south but the community at the school is great). Academics are actually harder at oxford due to smaller class size and professors expecting more from their students, but you gain more than you would at main and you would obviously have better recommendation letters from professors. Overall, emory is a semi-reach depending on your essays and hooks, while oxford is a more realistic target school. P.S. if you have any questions about emory or oxford just ask and I’ll be glad to answer them. Best of luck with your applications!

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Emory is a reach, but an upward trend is always good. Chance me back! http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1939905-chance-me.html#latest

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@undergrad20; “lots of kids from the north are considering transferring as they just don’t like the south”. How surprisingly snobbish. I really doubt that is the reason. People who transfer from main usually don’t have issues with that. They have issues with price, academic climate, strength of their major, etc. There has to be something more if the students are not even willing to come to the campus in Atlanta.

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@yalehopeful017 : Emory isn’t on your list. Why should they chance you (or at least why .you come to the Emory forum to ask them to chance you on every school BUT Emory?) Also kind of strange Emory is not an interest if you want to be an English major…definitely a better environment for a budding writer than a decent amount of those places. Do you only consider Division 1 sports schools or something?

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Actually Emory gives great financial aid to many of its students. The main reason people want to transfer is that it just does not really give you a college vibe. Both Emory and Oxford focus strictly on academics, while Goizueta (Business School) will offer you more internship and networking opportunities. However, many kids feel left out as it isn’t a D1 school and sports aren’t a major thing. The amount of school spirit is close to zero. School spirit is usually the number one factor in uniting a community, but that isn’t present at Emory. And yes, it is ok to say northerners do not like the south. Being in 60 degree weather in november for them just feels awkward. Being from NYC, I just don’t enjoy the city of Atlanta (although there is obvious bias). The south just has a much more different vibe and culture than the north and many people do not enjoy it. However, if your number one goal is academics and nothing else, Emory is the closest you can get to an ivy-league level education.

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@undergrad20 : I just disagree that a school is strictly academic because it does not have sports related school spirit. If one doesn’t have multiple modes and ways of enjoying college life without that, then it may reflect more upon them than the school. Many students at Emory seem quite happy from what I remember (and witness now) and it has traditionally been known for a very high quality of life (and even used to rate high in the so called “happiness” metrics). So regardless of the lack of sports, students manage to make it an interesting place. Many of the Ivies de-emphasize their “money sports” (some have cool rivalries but they are hardly a main feature of attending) and are D-1, and have excellent intellectual environments and social events that students participate in. They develop traditions that typically do not involve the money sports and it works out fairly well and results, in general, a more “productive” student body that is fairly satisfied given the intensity of some of those places. A creative, driven student body finds ways to make the campus light up. I honestly think most people having a serious problem really want the academics of an elite school, but a party atmosphere of a state school.

Even the more “sports vibe” sort of elites don’t come close to the latter but are more satisfactory if you want it. But the point is folks who want that typically want the academic and social life in almost completely different spheres (a true “work hard play hard” environment). Emory is hardly intellectual compare to many Ivies but those two spheres certainly overlap quite a bit more than elite peers where the D-1 sports have an influence on the social culture of the school. Emory and most Ivies and the D-3 schools are simply not for those who want the plain jane rah rah type of social experience. Some quirkiness or an open mind toward what can be considered fun and “unifying” is needed to fully appreciate them. I am comfortable with that narrative (I mean, Emory’s post-grad scholarship performance…I wouldn’t trade it for a football team, as the true prestige among employers and peer graduate schools is ultimately determined by the product that comes out of the school. Emory does extremely well given its lagging selectivity. It outperforms schools with much higher incoming stats. I don’t think Emory can get those folks if the culture was different…and getting those awards requires much more than academic excellence) because most elites are better off having their distinct and unique vibes and likely should not mimic more stereotypical environments. Naturally, one would expect some large deviations in several areas.

It is certainly ok to say it, but I doubt it is a serious driving force for a transfer when a city like Atlanta typically has a higher quality of life and is more affordable than many northern cities. One main weakness I suppose is the suburban culture and that would take some getting used to if from a major northern city.

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I agree to a certain extent, but many students just find that there is not a lot to do. As a community, Emory is divided. I would say the community at Goizueta is much more united as they are always networking together, while you really never get to see anyone else. That also points to the fact that both the Atlanta and Oxford campuses are essentially dead. Although I enjoy seeing friends constantly throughout the day, it feels more like a highly funded research based boarding school rather than a complete college experience. Parties actually aren’t the problem as most students just go to Georgia Tech for parties. I just feel as if the community never bonds together. Although the academic environment is great, I just feel as if the school lacks a “complete” college experience.

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@undergrad20 : Then that is the students’ fault right? Depends on the range of interests and what you consider fun though. For example, at Emory, surprisingly “nerdy” things get unusually high attendance especially considering the selectivity of the school. It may not be “divided” so much as too many different things going on in different communities and no large events (not frequently) that get high attendance. Also, many cool events are traditionally poorly advertised (which explains poor attendance). Point is, if intense places like MIT, Harvard (1 example both of these have their housing days…which was clearly student driven and has developed into cool, quirky traditions), etc can have their student bodies develop some cool traditions that unify campus, Emory students should be capable of and pro-active enough to create some themselves, but there is a general sort of passiveness and tendency for many to play it safe or stick with the status quo that prevents this. Students basically waiting for administration or campus life to create something? Yeah, that’s a problem. However, Things like Campus Movie Fest started at Emory (it also has a huge Hack-a-thon with only a b-school and no real applied science scene on campus) so honestly I am quite surprised we aren’t/weren’t able to kind of self-start traditions. The self-starting needs to just expand itself to improving campus life. Students will have to desire a change or be willing to get creative in that regard to induce change. Unfortunately mentioning lack of school spirit won’t make it appear suddenly.

And again, “complete” college experience is obviously defined differently by most and stereotypical definitions of it certainly have to do with the media and what it has portrayed as that.

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I feel as if Emory has a problem with too much diversity, which may be the cause of division or lack or communication among the student body. About 25% of students are international, which can cause some serious racial tensions among people. Add another 10% of Asian-Americans, and you’ll hear people say they think they’re in Chinatown. Emory’s biggest problem is not getting the students proactive about starting their own traditions, maybe because there isn’t a huge precedent for one. Top schools with major traditions such as Michigan or UNC unite the student body because they feel like they are a part of the school, with something to root and compete for. At Emory, you are competing for your class rank and degree. “Dooley” is not enough for students to be proud about. To me, a complete college experience consists of challenging and influential academics, a major social scene where students can have fun either just hanging out in a college town or at parties, and activities and traditions that help the student body come as one and really appreciate what the school is about. Emory has the potential to be a complete school, but it has its work cut out for it.

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@undergrad20 : Internationals are not a problem in that sense and neither are Asians. That is very prevalent at many top public and private schools, just not typically the ones with the SEC or big sports vibe. One issue with internationals is that they often suggest that it is difficult to be/feel like they fit into American college culture (I kind of don’t blame them, they did not grow up being sold the narrative of the American College experience whose depictions often are devoid of education anyway). This does not cause “racial tension” but it may essentially remove a segment of the campus population from certain attributes of campus life (events, whatever) that would otherwise be well attended. They typically have different interests (I think Emory has recently been working on that, adequately catering to the international population). Also, the number is maybe 15-20% (Oxford may be a little higher), on par with many elites. I am slightly disappointed with that commentary.

And also, you continue to only mention schools with large sports scenes. I believe that is the only way you see true traditions developing. Again, there are too many examples at other diverse schools where sports are de-emphasized. The issue I have is that you portray Emory like students portray Chicago or something which is just far from the truth (apparently folks transfer from places like NYU for the purpose of having more of a community). It is relatively balanced. In addition, all (or even most)Emory students don’t need “Dooley” to be proud of (it is certainly an interesting, fun tradition that attracted some, but not all). Typically students are just proud or happy with the general quality of life at the school (and are heavily engaged with other things that keep them happy and productive) When you think of pride, I can tell that you mainly mean the rah rah type of pride which I don’t believe is necessarily a requirement to a complete college experience so we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one. Many other schools (yes, including the very diverse ones!) pretty much don’t have those types of traditions, but again, developed other things they enjoy as a student body whether it is at the reshall level or a student created or endorsed quirky tradition. I mean even places like Princeton and Chicago, both known as being very intellectual and less (or not really at all) “rah rah” developed things that get students excited. By your definition, maybe less than half of the elite private schools really have what you are looking for. Two are in the south, one in the midwest, one in DC, and one in New York and a couple of Ivies with huge Greek and party scenes (much to their administration’s Chagrin).

I personally would have been very satisfied with the choices outside of that group, many schools which are substantially more intense, nerdy, and quirkier than Emory. Also, Emory has precedent for it, but it seems some of the traditions do not continue today for some reason. These events are certainly not good enough for someone looking for what you want, but were things that students looked forward to and participated in in high numbers (one was Lullwater Day which I believe a “modern day” equivalent could end up looking like Cornell’s spring concert on the hillside). If students don’t care to know or learn about the school, then there will certainly be no basis to lobby for or develop anything else, but again just complaining “it isn’t enough” on here won’t get folks anywhere. Do some research on what similar or more intense schools have and make suggestions to folks like Dean Nair or Reslife people. Emory can do a lot without having big time sports (and some places like Tech have it, but it often gets disappointing spectator ship. It is another campus that is more nerdy so the students come up with other random, but exciting things to do to accommodate the fact that frequent parties or sports may not be it for their high course and workloads. Also, believe it or not, many Tech students come to Emory to party partially because of the gender balance), you just have to demand it and put forth ideas if you want it to become a more “interesting” place. Students at the other non-big sports schools are simply more demanding and aggressive on average.

Regardless, this discussion can go on and on. If you feel strongly about it, all I can suggest is find the right people and make suggestions that fit well into Emory’s current situation (as in, do not suggest the only solution is D-1 sports or promotion of an even stronger Greek presence. It won’t work). Surprisingly I have found that if you have good ideas, and tell the right folks (even through e-mail), they will usually at least entertain or try it and given that Emory is “in transition”, more ears may be open than ever. Also, anyone making suggestions to them should keep an eye out on the fact that the current (and even the old one) wants to boost intellectual vitality on campus as well so they may be squeamish if it would hinder that goal. I am an optimist in thinking that several goals can be reconciled (some campuses are actually more fun than what they would be otherwise due to intellectual vitality or a more nerdy spirit on campus. Without it, there would literally be nothing).

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Your GPA is definitely holding you back a little, but I think your ACT scores make up for the difference. Also, your hook is interesting, because you are bringing an international aspect into your learning, and you have a different culture to reflect upon. Please chance me as well!!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/emory-university/1942932-chances-for-emory-early-decision-class-of-2021.html