Emory or NYU for Pre-med

College Search & Selection
1

I am a senior in high school with a 3.95gpa, 32 ACT, and a bunch of extra curriculars at a fairly competitive high school. I’m think I’m going to go down the pre-med road but I don’t know if I should go for NYU or Emory. I’ve been to NYU in person and took a virtual tour of Emory and I love both campuses so now I’m stuck trying to decide between them. I’m not applying for financial aid btw.

2

Well - you should apply to both and see if you get accepted at them before having to make the choice. Your stats are in the range of admissions but neither is a sure thing with admission rates in the mid teens for both.
…or are you talking about “choosing” now because you want to apply ED at one of them?

3

yeah I’m trying to decide which one I want to ED to.

4

Does your HS have naviance or scoir? If so, how do your stats stack up? Do you have sufficient rigor in your curriculum to be competitive on GPA/rigor alone?

Regardless of the school you choose for ED (I don’t think either is great for premed but would choose Emory given this choice), you should apply test optional (unless you are URM) as your 32 ACT is below the median for accepted students from class of 2024 at both schools:

Emory: https://apply.emory.edu/discover/facts-stats/first-year.html

NYU (don’t see median accepted ACT but this 1500 median SAT concords with 34 ACT): https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2020/march/NYU_Class_of_2024_Admits.html

Good luck.

5

^ re last comment, NYU just released updated numbers on its “facts” page and it states the middle 50 ACT of the freshman class at 31-35. This is usually a little lower than that of all admits.

6

Exactly. Means OP has to apply test optional wrt ACT, because their ACT of 32 is below both the admitted median and enrolled median scores.

For NYU, if OP had strong AP tests, they might use those in their application.

7

If you want to go pre-med then think about:

  1. The cheapest reasonable college so you/your parents can use the money for med school
  2. The college needs to prepare you for MCATs but still allow you to get a good GPA
  3. Access to volunteering opportunities (e.g., near a hospital)
  4. Success in graduates getting into med school
  5. Options if you don’t go to med school. You think you are going to med school, but less than 20% of pre-med freshman actually do.
8

NYU doesn’t really have a campus, so I’m a bit confused by your statement “i love both campuses.” Keep in mind that the majority of students who come in pre-med at both schools end up switching out for a variety of reasons. Would you still be happy at emory or NYU should you decide not to pursue pre-med soph year?