<p>I am currently a freshman in the Emory Scholars program. I was offered the Woodruff Scholarship (full tuition, room & board, etc). I thought it might be helpful for some scholar hopefuls if I posted my stats.</p>
<p>I'm a white female, also, for demographics purposes.</p>
<p>SAT: </p>
<p>Critical Reading: 740
Math: 700
Writing: 790
Total: 2230</p>
<p>Class Rank: 1
GPA: 4.0 (UW)</p>
<p>AP Classes Taken: </p>
<p>AP World History (Exam: 4)
AP Language & Comp (Exam: 4)
AP US History (Exam: 3)
AP Literature & Comp (Exam: Not taken, already took Lang)
AP Calculus (Exam not taken)
AP Chemistry (Exam not taken)
(I took every AP my school offered except Bio, which was offered as a junior class and was introduced during my senior year)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: </p>
<p>(I was very active in each)
FBLA (President): Membership 3 yrs, Office 2 yrs
:: Competed in and placed in State Competitions
Academic Team (Captain): Membership & Office 4 yrs
:: Competed at the Region Level
Key Club: Membership 4 yrs
Beta Club (Secretary): Membership 3 yrs, Office 1 yr
:: Competed in State Competitions
National Honor Society: Membership 1 yr
Debate/Forensics (Captain): Membership & Office 1 yr</p>
<p>Intended Major(s)/Interests:
Going in I was primarily interested in Creative Writing and chose Emory for their writing program. I think my essays were what made me most competitive as a potential scholar and the interviews are an exceptional opportunity for students to display their strengths and what they intend to bring to Emory. Individually, though, I firmly believe my essays were what constituted my being a finalist.</p>
<p>Also, I can answer any general questions you may have about being a scholar or being a freshman at Emory. Emory is an amazing school.</p>
<p>What kinds of essays did you write? Were they quirky, moving, or academic-y?</p>
<p>I’m a junior now hoping to apply to be a scholar next year, do you have any advice of what I should work on over the next year? Also, what are some important things that they look at?</p>
<p>I would consider my essays “moving.” I wrote about how being a writer makes me an artist for the scholars-specific essay and wrote a letter to my mom in the Common App addressing the prompt “tell us about someone who has made a difference in your life.” The important thing for the essays is to make sure they are well-written and authentic. Make them memorable. Think of how you’d address the prompt in a standard way - and then do something totally different to stand out.</p>
<p>As far as working on things over the next year, maintain high grades, take the most challenging classes your school has to offer, take advantage of extracurriculars that mean a lot to you (stuff you’re really interested in - if you like leadership but don’t like community service, then focus on ways to let your leadership shine, for instance), and do well on the SAT. I remember reading somewhere last year that the preferred SAT superscore was at least 2230 and preferably over that. </p>
<p>When applying to the scholars program they look first and foremost at grades - what classes your school offers, how many you’ve taken. They want students who take and excel in rigorous course loads. They want students who have held leadership positions, who have competed at high levels (region, state, national), and who can write good essays - basically they look for well-rounded students. I was no national competitor at anything, so don’t worry TOO much about any one of these things. Just try to be well-rounded and strive to take advantage of all the opportunities you can while still excelling.</p>