<p>I am always skeptical about doing chances..its not like anyone on the forum reallly knows, so I am looking for constructive advice/opinions. But they are fun and potentially helpful so here goes.</p>
<p>Male; Competitive high school-Kentucky</p>
<p>GPA: 3.53, top 15%
SAT: CR-740, W-680, M-600 (plan to retake)
Schedule: Almost all honors and AP
Jr: AP US-A (4)
Sr: AP Stats, Ap Lit, AP Bio, H Chinese II (Highest Chinese course, have a 98), AP Modern Euro </p>
<p>EC: Debate, Natl Qualifier, Captain (4 years)
Mock Trial-Texas State qualifier (Freshman)
Drama Production (Freshman)
NHS (11,12)
Young Republicans Club, President (11,12)
Chinese Club, CoFounder (12)
Volunteer @ Local Retirement Home, various other service 100+ hours
Work: Dairy Queen (11,12) 15-20 hr/week</p>
<p>Recs: Excellent---Chinese teacher, head of English and Drama department (published author)</p>
<p>Essays: Why Emory--Awesome, unique b/c anecdote about visit; Essay about experience traveling in China/Tibet</p>
<p>Hooks: From Kentucky (URS), Extensive contact with Chinese Department head, Applying as Chinese major, Personally paid from class trip to China/Tibet</p>
<p>I think it could go either way. Your GPA and SAT seem a little low, but contact with the department head should DEFINITELY help you. Depends how much he/she pulls for you.</p>
<p>BTW how conservative is Emory, overall? (as a fellow young republicans president and founder)</p>
<p>its college so there are plenty of liberals, but howveer since i've been here i've found that there are plenty of non liberals as well...i guess it also depends on who you happen to come in contact with</p>
<p>If you are a non-Chinese from Kentucky, your proficiency and interest in the language and travel to China/Tibet make you a very interesting person, at least to me. If you're Chinese, not so much. Either way, if I were looking for people to fill my Chinese program and you're applying ED, you look pretty good to me. You can try to bring up that math SAT score (or take the ACT--it's different and you might do better), but in the end, you don't top algebra skills to study Chinese. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks. This is very encouraging. NorCalDad, if you see this, would you mind commenting? It is interesting to know that you are from NorCal because my cousin who is a freshman at Emory and who really encouraged me to apply is from the Bay area.</p>
<p>I think Rightwings response to you was on the mark. I acknowledge that your first choice is Emory, and I want to stress that applying ED appears to be a good option in your case so long as you do not have any significant considerations regarding need for financial aid.</p>
<p>Looking at those admissions criteria that Emory considers to be relatively very important, your GPA is below the average of about 3.75 (UW) for enrolled freshmen; and your SAT scores are a mixed bag and also fall below the average of enrolled freshmen. You appear to have challenged yourself academically, which is important. The other very important criteria are your application essays, recommendations and ECs. It appears that you are confident that your recommendations will be solid. Write good application essays and have them reviewed by your English teacher. Create an engaging essay by grabbing hold of the reader and not letting go. Stay consistent with your writing voice and dont mix tenses. Tell a personal storage that demonstrates its impact on you and or others. Along with your work commitment, you seem to have some established EC interests. Bring out any distinguished honors and personal passions. I gather youve already done an official campus tour/information session through the Admissions Office. This will suffice Emory is showing demonstrated interest. Follow up with your contact at Emorys Chinese program after you have submitted your admissions application.</p>
<p>If you are planning to retake the SAT on October 14, it will serve you well to boost your Math and Writing sections. I actually think that prepping for the Math section is relatively easy do as many practice tests as possible, and you will increase your testing acumen. So long as you understand the math concepts, the practice tests will give you a better grasp of the patterns to the problems. For Writing, you have 70 grammar-related questions that can be made easier by review of the rules of grammar not much more to be said. If you know how to diagram sentences, that might be good practice. In evaluating how the essay seems to be evaluated, I believe that you need to write as much as you can (I like 3 paragraphs, but you can have more if it makes sense) within the framework of a well-constructed and critically-reasoned writing piece. Create a clear introduction by expressing a specific point of view. Substantiate your thesis by presenting examples to support the statements you make. Be careful of metaphors that go nowhere. I think that if you interject corroborative information that comes from a well-known book or author, its easier for the reader/evaluator to readily accept the validity. If your statements are judged dubious and without merit, it will be because you have not reinforced your comments plausibly. Know your conclusion before you begin writing. A minute of mentally outlining your essay should help you to compose and write your point of view more effectively. </p>
<p>Its a slight reach for you, if one looks only at your GPA and test scores; however, you can make up for these relative factors. The good news is that a lot of this is within your control if you do well on your SAT retake and also take time to prepare an effective, compelling application. Good luck!</p>