<p>A while back I attended Sunday at Emory, and some probably important blurry figure far far away with a microphone said something along the lines that only a handful are deferred each year, only in extreme cases.</p>
<p>As for stevenjm’s case, I have no idea why they’d reject you. I had only marginally better SAT/ACT (1550/2230 SAT, 35 ACT) and my very scant EC’s frankly suck. Nothing else was particularly special about my app.</p>
<p>However, I’m not sure if anything can be done about it now, and you might be better to apply elsewhere. No matter what Emory thought of you, you’re still just as competitive to other top 20 schools as you were before a rejection.</p>
<p>Edit: and to the angry mom, perhaps it is best that your daughter wasn’t accepted. You don’t seem to like Emory all that much :-/, and plus, by placing your daughter into a school where she perhaps isn’t academically ready might be setting her up for failure, leaving her worse off than if she were accepted.
(As a sorta related side note, I read a study a while back how AA admits often ended up worse off because of this reason. They got in good schools, but were unprepared and got left behind. No idea how true that is.)</p>
<p>Sorry stevenjm - I still think it must have been one of your recommendations - or perhaps you essay was not as good as you had hoped. Please, please apply to other schools before the end of the month. You have great stats and you will make a great school. However, try to speak with your teacher recs and see if you should ask another teacher for one this time around. </p>
<p>As for the mom whose daughter did not get in but she had triple legacy.. if you believe every negative thing you are writing here, why did you let your daughter apply to Emory ED?</p>
<p>I think the teachers I choose probably wrote good (not great) recommendations. I don’t think they stated that I am the best student they have ever had in 5 years or whatever, but I believe they said I was a good student in the class,etc. I can’t see a major problem in my 3 recs (1 FROM BOSS at work) that would make me a reject.</p>
<p>SAT:2350/1560
SAT II:750 & 720
ACT:
GPA:3.44 uw
Rank:school doesn’t rank students
Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) AP Eng 5
Essays:very good
Teacher Recs:very good
Counselor Rec:excellent
Location:Boston
High School Type:highly selective private school
Ethnicity: white
Gender male
Applied for Financial Aid: scholars
Extracurriculars: president of student council, V. soccer captain
just happy to be going to Emory</p>
<p>Steve, don’t get down. My brother got rejected ED from Northwestern and ended up accepted RD at Brown. Sometimes these decisions don’t make sense. Talk to your college adviser to take another look at your application before sending off your RD apps.</p>
<p>jmw123- I agree mostly, but just b/c someone has lower standardized test scores for what ever reason doesnt mean that they will be less suited academically at a school because of it. That is a common misconception, though I can understand your point to some people it can be a harsh generalization…I do understand your point about AAs, I have read similar stats. but I too have never actually seen alot of those accurences ( so I wouldnt know)… So have alot of you started recieveing your financial aid packages? I thought they werent going to be out until Jan 1st</p>
<p>Well, I’m sure there are some people who are horrible at those types of tests but just as capable as anybody else with higher stats, but I’m sure there has to be some correlation as a whole between ACT and success. I know that there is at least a statistically significant correlation between ACT and GPA, and since lower ACT scorers tend to go to school where it’s easier to get a higher grade, I’d imagine the effect is even greater in real life. </p>
<p>Emory’s admissions doesn’t have any reliable way of weeding out the really capable but low scorers from the hardworking, high-GPA low scorers who might not be ready to move on to harder academics.</p>
<p>But yes, a good bit of us have the estimated FinAid awards. I’m looking at about $55k or so over four years to pay. I’m not sure how that compares to what others would consider good or bad, but it’s not much cheaper to go to a state school, and at $13.5k a year for housing and food and an education, it’s probably around what I’d be paying to live and eat not going to a top 20 school.</p>
<p>^ I agree… It is just hard to take in sometimes because I am a very low standardized tests scorer for what ever reason, but I am completely confident in my academic abilities. I am a full time college student, and doing better in those classes than the people who are 5 to 10 years older than my self. Im taking calc 3, physics 2, organic chemistry, and some others ( at 16 well 17 now) but sometimes it is hard when colleges look beyond my A/ A- s in these courses and see my unfortunately low standardized test scores… Im done feeling sorry for myself, lets get back to celebrating!!!</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 1400/2090
SAT II:none
ACT:none
GPA:3.60/5.2
Rank:39/786
Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) 13 AP tests
Subjective
Essays:none were revised, I just talked about myself
Teacher Recs:Good
Counselor Rec:Good
Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides)i put in my yearbook pic haha
Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please) none at all
Personal
Location:miami
High School Type:public
Ethnicity:Asian
Gender Male
Applied for Financial Aid: (just yes or no) no
Other
Extracurriculars:VP positions, various other positions, i had a lot of ec and hours
Awards:assorted
Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list]find a school you really want, try to get within the average, and then be sure to LET THEM KNOW that you want to be there.</p>
<p>Stevenjm, with your profile I am sure you will receive happy letters from many excellent schools. Were there many other applicants from your school or area? </p>
<p>Or it could have just been your bad luck that the admissions officer read your file as the last on a bad day when he was working much to late and his baby was screaming and he spilled his coffee and stubbed his toe and got a papercut…</p>
<p>but have faith that good things are in your future.</p>
<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: M 690 CR 690 W 720 (12)
[ *]SAT II: US 690 Math 1 670
[ *]ACT: 31
[ *]GPA: UW 3.85----11 aps through all of high school
[ *]Rank: 37/482
[ *]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB)
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: personal experience essay was great and emphasized my strong points in intended area of study, political science
short answer was a creatively done piece about debate participation
why emory essay was probably the best out of the three because it was very specific and proved i knew a lot about the University and how I wanted to get involved upon admittance</p>
<p>[ *]Teacher Recs: one teacher’s was quite good, the other’s was good
[ *]Counselor Rec: nothing special, just a rehash of extracurriculars
[ *]Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides) none
[ *]Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please) [ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: Florida
[ *]High School Type: Public
[ *]Ethnicity: caucasian
[ *]Gender: male
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: (just yes or no)[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list] Yes
[ *]Extracurriculars: Debate Team Captain, Newspaper Page Editor/Business Manager, Young Dems High School Southeast Corordinator and exec. board member, young dems school president, 500 hours community service, political campaign internship
[ *]Awards: don’t feel like listing them, nothing that special
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list]</p>
<p>SO SO SO SO SO HAPPY. EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF HARD WORK WAS WORTH IT AND I ADVISE IT TO ALL.</p>
<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *]SAT: M 720 CR 620 W 730 (10)
[ *]SAT II: US 670 Math 2 630 (took last year, should have retaken)
[ *]ACT:
[ *]GPA: UW 3.85----6 aps through all of high school
[ *]Rank: 2/58
[ *]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) APUS 4, APGov 4, APChem 2 (whole class performed poorly due to teacher’s aproach–honest!)
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[ *]Essays: Long one was very strong.
why emory essay was probably totally sincere the best out of the three because it was very specific and proved i based my decision on concrete experiences and elements</p>
<p>[ *]Teacher Recs: should be outstanding
[ *]Counselor Rec: he is new this year, so he didnt have as much to go on as he might have. i was the first senior done with all applications, so i know i was a big hit with him!
[ *]Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides) none
[ *]Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please) [ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[ *]Location: Georgia
[ *]High School Type: Private
[ *]Ethnicity: caucasian
[ *]Gender: male
[ *]Applied for Financial Aid: (just yes or no)[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[ *]Extracurriculars: co-founder of Ultimate Frisbee Team (took 3rd in state), Academic Team/High Q team–we’re going to the elite eight next, Newspaper Page Editor/Illustrator, Basketball team, V Tennis Team, Director of Short Film etered in Apple Competition; Have held the same part-time job at a grocery store since grade 10, BBYO Board member, Student Council Member, etc
[ *]Awards: Georgia Award of Merit (top 5%), Columbia Book Award, Scholar Athlete (each year), . . .
[ *]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list]
Major Yippee</p>
<p>**Stats:[ /b][ list]
[<em>]SAT:1360/2080
[</em>]SAT II:Math I 750, Math II 750, Spanish 690, Physics 630
[<em>]ACT:
[</em>]GPA: 3.5/3.76
[<em>]Rank: n/a
[</em>]Other Tests: (AMC, AP, IB) macroeconomics 4
[ /list][ b]Subjective[ /b][ list]
[<em>]Essays: main essay on my mother’s sacrifice of her career (for my brothers and me) after moving here from Pakistan and her subsequent return to her career. my why emory essay was a bit more creative; i basically went through what would be a typical day at emory if i was a freshman there and based it off of my overnight visit in december
[</em>]Teacher Recs:pretty good; one from my physics/ap physics teacher, the other from my sophomore year english teacher who’s also our key club advisor (i’m president)
[<em>]Counselor Rec:good, i think. when i went in to talk to her before she wrote my rec, she was in awe over the courses that im taking this year as well as the number of languages i can speak/understand
[</em>]Supplementary Material: (research abstracts, music recordings, art slides)
[<em>]Hook: (recruited athlete, cured cancer- only major ones that actually would have made a difference, please) [ /list][ b]Personal[ /b][ list]
[</em>]Location:a small suburb outside of philadelphia, pa
[<em>]High School Type:public
[</em>]Ethnicity:south asian. i was actually born in pakistan, but i moved to the U.S. when i was 3
[<em>]Gender:female
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid:not yet (just yes or no)[ /list][ b]Other[ /b][ list]
[<em>]Extracurriculars:key club president, mosque youth club coordinator, secretary of the global resposity organization, year book section editor, event captain for physics olympics, member of an all girls chorus after school, member of honors orchestra and honors chorus, and much much more!
[</em>]Awards:distinguished honors freshman and sophomore years, honors junior year, president’s volunteer service award, and some others
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?:[ /list] i’m SO excited! work hard and believe in yourself, and everything will be fine! :D</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: 2080/1380
[</em>]SAT II: Math II 770, Chem 730, US Hist 720
[<em>]ACT: None
[</em>]GPA: 3.76
[<em>]Rank: 68, Second decile
[</em>]Other Tests: AP Psych 5, AP Chem 4, AP Eng Lang 3, AP Stat 5, AP US 4
[/ul]Subjective[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Really good.
[</em>]Teacher Recs: I didn’t read them, but my counselor said they were some of the best she has seen. My debate coach was my english teacher, and he loved me.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: Good
[</em>]Supplementary Material: None
[<em>]Hook:None [/ul]Personal[ul]
[</em>]Location: New York Suburb
[<em>]High School Type: Public
[</em>]Ethnicity: White
[<em>]Gender: Male
[</em>]Applied for Financial Aid: Yes, haven’t finished yet[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: Debate Team, Mu Alpha Theta, English Honor Society, Academic League, Year round job
[</em>]Awards: AP Scholar with Distinction
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: YAY[/ul]</p>
<p>Stevenjm, don’t dwell on the fact that one school didn’t accept you. I am sure you realize that you have very good stats. Elite college admission is a crapshoot. You only see an extremely small percentage of ED applicant decisions here on this thread. Overall, MANY students with high stats like yours were rejected. Why? Because there is no way Emory can take every qualified kid who applies. They try to put together a class that includes students with a variety of life experiences. Some great, well qualified kids just plain don’t get in … nothing they did or didn’t do … more like luck (or NOT luck) of the draw. Please don’t let it bother you too much.</p>
<p>My D was accepted to some top schools last year & was waitlisted at 1 where she absolutely “should” have been accepted. Obviously her app was not weak in any way, since she was accepted to some more selective schools. Yes, it bummed her out (no one wants anything less than a “yes”), but she eventually realized that it really is not a personal reflection. It’s more a reality of the selective admissions process. I told her right from the start: If you can’t stand the heat, don’t go in that kitchen! When she chose to go into the selective-school-app-kitchen, she knew very well she could get burned. It’s just the nature of the beast.</p>
<p>Most likely, you will be accepted at some great schools. I do want to warn you, though, that there is no guarantee. Hopefully, you have applied to a safety or two. That is always wise.</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>]SAT: CR=670 M=670 W=700 1340/2040
[</em>]SAT II: Math 1=640 US History=670 Bio=590
[<em>]GPA: weighted=97 unweighted=92 (don’t know out of 4)
[</em>]Rank: N/A, but at least top 10%</p>
<p>[/ul]**Subjective **[ul]
[<em>]Essays: Common App=pretty good, it was about me having an odd upbringing with a French mom Why Emory=this one many have hurt me…why I was waitlisted? (along with the ok SAT scores)
[</em>]Teacher Recs: both teachers loved me, so I assume they were great recs. one of the teachers I had had from freshmen through junior year.
[<em>]Counselor Rec: she’s a good counselor who I had a good relationship with, so I assume that it was good
[</em>]Hook: not really a hook, but must of kind of helped that my mom was born in France…at least a little diversity.</p>
<p>[/ul]Personal[ul]
[<em>]Location: Long Island (where oh-so-many people apply to Emory =/ )
[</em>]High School Type: public
[<em>]Ethnicity: white, jewish
[</em>]Gender: male
[li]Applied for Financial Aid: yes</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>]Extracurriculars: varsity tennis, marching band, jazz band, wind ensemble, many honor societies, volunteer at local religious center, intern at major company for 2 years, etc.
[</em>]Awards: 1st place french national exam in county (and top 10 every year since 7th grade. thanks mom! haha), scholar/athlete, 1st chair in jazz/wind ensemble, section leader in marching band (one of the top bands in new york), etc.
[*]Advice? Commiserations? Feel like bragging?: I’m quite sad that I’m on the waitlist, but I refuse to give up hope! :)[/ul]</p>
<p>julienf.
u r right to hold onto hope.
here r somethings that ur stats make me wonder and that u may have time to address.
First: u don’t discuss the way u demonstrated interest.
how did u?
why is it that ur essays r only pretty good?
from what i see, from what u say, ur test scores were ur weaker area, and u needed to pull up everything else.
ur grades sound fine.
but i see no APs. so without an AP, how do u raise a GPA from a 92 to a 97?
IBs and APs r the only universally recognized class type to raise a GPA for most places.
an honors course at one school could very well be equivalent to a regular class elsewhere.
i think ur SATs would have been fine had ur courseload demonstrated that u took the most challenging classes offered.
and even if u took an AP or IB class, if u didn’t sit for the exam, then there’s no demonstration of any type of mastery in the class.</p>
<p>ur activities look just fine.</p>
<p>i’d think about rewriting an essay–maybe the why emory one.
u could say that “when u initially wrote the essay in october (or ?), you hadn’t really delved into the reasons behind your choice.
having been waitlisted, ur response to the news demonstrated to u how much u had really been hoping for an acceptance.
faced with a decision as to whether or not to remain on the waitlist, u were forced to re-examine ur goals and ur inspiration for applying in the first place. while initially u felt a bit defeated by being watlisted, ur views changed after u had time to process everything. u’ve taken ur waitlist status as an opportunity to do more research, talk to more emory students, study the department offerings, and construct a clearer view of what emory has to offer and what u have to offer emory.” and i recommend u do just that and tell them what emory has to offer u and what u have to offer emory.
then thank them for their time and their support or something.
use this a a chance to take control of ur situation.
learn form it.
that way, whatever happens, u’ll be in a better position.
best of luck!</p>