<p>I usually stay away from chance threads and when I do them, I strictly want to encourage and perhaps tell people what could be done other than doing something drastic like raising an 1150 to a 1300-1350 or flat out telling them that they have no chance (I am in no position to do that. Again, a range of people get in here, and for good reasons that I could probably never imagine. I am for holistic admissions, b/c HS stats. are meaningless once you are here and almost anyone here can thrive).<br>
Anyway, here goes: I don’t think legacy will help you but so much Emory isn’t Harvard or some Ivies/schools that are ridiculously big on legacy admissions as it is rather new as a top private researchU and doesn’t have the intensely active/aggressive and loyal alumni base that many peers have. Normally legacies are favored at those schools b/c the parents give a lot of money or are still very active at the institution.
I’ve met many legacies that had similar stats. as the Emory average. In fact most were around it. People who were admitted below (many) the average were admitted because Emory wanted them for whatever reason (just as they want many of the people with higher stats.), so I would only use it as realization that it is certainly possible. However, I wouldn’t bank on it (don’t bank on anything when it comes to private school admissions, especially at top 20s). Displaying interest will help. They may also like the fact that you are involved in the arts to some degree, this will make you probably different from some of the more hum-drum pre-prof. bent students w/high stats. I think Emory is doing “enrollment management” and is indeed trying to diversify the academic interests of the student body (I mean it is really kind of sad that we are one of the only medium sized top 20s not sending a reasonable amount of students into science PhD programs or PhD programs in general. The pre-prof. slant gets old and holds us back to some degree in terms of reputation). Provost Lewis speaks on this issue (as in the idea he has for admissions) here:
[Provost:</a> Admissions is an art as well as a science](<a href=“http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/stories/2011/05/soundbites_provost_earl_lewis_spring_address.html]Provost:”>Provost: Admissions is an art as well as a science)</p>
<p>Anyway, retake the SAT, and hope the score improves (it should) and then apply and see what happens, but don’t ride on the hooks too much (people w/hooks and much better stats. have been flat out denied admission, so they don’t make people shoeins by any means). Hope that Emory likes what your app. reflects on you as a person and what you can add to the class. Emory understands that students w/a wide range of scores can handle the work here (I mean the place can be challenging, but is certainly not tough, and is very supporting), so your SATs will really only mean but so much. </p>
<p>Also, do some research on this school (or else you will screw up the essay. Forbid it if you refer to some non-existent entity/program at Emory in an essay. That would be disasterous). The fact that you just said: “I think I’ll be applying to the college of arts and sciences because I heard it’s less competitive” is really interesting and very wrong. The ONLY entity one can apply to as a freshmen is the college of arts and sciences. Whatever our admit rate (actually, I wouldn’t let this fool you. It may still be over 25%, but that doesn’t make it particularly easy at all) and stats., reflects how competitive the admissions are. You cannot apply directly to the B-School for example (as it is a 2-year program that generally starts junior year), or the nursing school. And we don’t have engineering, so that’s not an option (schools that usually have it make one apply separately to it, and at top schools w/it, it’s essentially like trying to apply to Harvard. The chances are even lower than already low CASs for schools alluded to).</p>
<p>Anyway, raise the SATs some (hopefully you had a rigorous courseload w/lots of AP/IBs so that can compensate and prove that you can handle the work), write a legit essay, and good luck. If you want to come to Emory (I assume this is just 1 of your choices and not necessarily among top), maybe apply ED1 (EDII’s admit rate is a bit lower than EDI), unless of course you need fin. aid in which case you’ll have to apply Regular Decision and cross every finger and toe you have.
Avid: While a 2100 is good for most schools (and is here), We all know that maybe around 40-50% get into Emory w/o it, so this person could have a very solid chance w/o achieving a 2100 or 2050 for that matter. Getting between 1950-2000 places them solidly in the middle-50. People in the middle-50 have just as good a chance as anyone. 1/4 of students here have below a 1950. Emory doesn’t care about these scores but so much. As long as it yields a group of students that has a distribution that makes the average and median near or above 1400 M/V, it is happy. Knowledge of stats. says that everyone need not have a 1400 to achieve this. Also, Emory doesn’t admit much higher than the students it intends to yield like most schools do. We don’t for example, admit students w/an average of 1470-1500 and then yield a class w/a 1400ish average. We admit one w/like a 1400-1410 average and yield one w/a 1400ish average. Given that, it doesn’t get significantly harder for those who fall near the 25% of the previous to get in. It’s about the same. That may change eventually for Emory, but I don’t see it happening this year. Our admissions (apps. mainly) trends don’t follow the extreme upward spikes of other schools and we have a ways to go before it ever does.</p>