<p>Indy500, Colleges, Hilsa, and others …</p>
<p>I recognize that some of you may be “really nervous” about the decisions due out in the next couple of weeks, but at this juncture, you’ve probably done about as much as you can. I know it’s easier said than done, but try to RELAX. In the end, everything will work out just fine.</p>
<p>You will notice that I rarely offer opinions on any “chances” oriented thread. The reason isn’t because I do not have an opinion, rather that there’s likely so much I don’t know about an applicant to render a truly valid assessment. I have mixed feelings about the feedback I see here on CC about “chances”. In most cases, I suppose the feedback offered is about 50/50, based on what information/data was provided. If you’re smart, you consider the source of the information, and although mostly well-intended, an off-hand “guess” should be looked at with some skepticism.</p>
<p>I’ve spoken with the Director of Admission a number of times (Jean Jordan, my daughter’s first personal Emory contact several years ago), and it’s clear to me Emory follows a deliberate, though holistic, process which puts their assessment in context with a student’s circumstances. Measurements are not absolute. For instance, one’s academic preparation and challenge to rigor is very important in their evaluation. However, they consider relative context – that is, if an applicant’s high school offers say 25 AP courses, but the student has taken only 1 or 2 AP classes, that doesn’t demonstrate challenge. On the other hand, if a student has not taken any AP classes because the high school doesn’t offer any, the student will not be penalized if s/he has otherwise demonstrated academic excellence. (They determine some of this based on a database of information about high schools around the country, plus a “school profile” that is usually part of the information that your HS guidance counselor sends to the admission office, with your transcript, recommendation(s), etc. This information may also include recognitions such as being a “Distinguished School” or “Blue Ribbon School”, whereby competition is at a high caliber – suggesting for instance that “top 20%” may be equal to “top 10%” at a less competitive school. The Office of Admission will know these peculiarities about schools.)</p>
<p>Other factors that are truly “factored” in context might be URM, first-generation in college, extraordinary achievement/distinction, geographical, etc. They may admit a student with “lesser” stats in order to maintain a broader diversity, i.e., taking somebody from Alaska vs. another applicant from NJ. Or they might consider how one brings a certain passion/interest to the Emory community. If for instance, your grades or test scores aren’t as high as they could be – because you’ve been spending your every spare moment in the lab researching an innovative cure for cancer, that might be OK. </p>
<p>Ultimately, they are wondering “What does this student bring to Emory?” … and “Why does this student want to attend Emory?” … and “How has this student demonstrated his or her desire/interest in Emory?” All of these questions can be answered in different ways. </p>
<p>One last thing, and I’ve confirmed this a number of times, there are no brownie points for “multiple” demonstrations of interest. If you’ve visited, that counts as “demonstrated interest”; if you’ve ordered the DVD (and NOT visited), that also counts in the same way. Remarkably, there are literally thousands of applicants who do nothing more than submit an application – and these are the ones whose applications, despite grades/test scores, may be viewed askance. (The reasons are many and complex, but certainly “yield” and estimating incoming freshman class numbers, etc. are part of it.)</p>
<p>Truly, good luck to all of you.</p>