Emory University

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
1

Hello, I am a junior at Ardsley High School (in Westchester, NY) and I know for a fact that Emory University is my dream school. Please chance me!

SAT I: Aiming for a 1450+
PSAT: 1180
ACT: N/A
SAT II: I may take Math 1, US History, or Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.77
Weighted GPA: N/A
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): I am assuming top 25%-30%

of AP classes or Full or Partial IB: 5 (including next year)

of Honors: 5 (including next year)

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Art Merit Award
-Honorable Mention from the ACLU
-Art Merit Award

Extracurricular activities (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Art Club (President)
-Art National Honor Society
-Spanish National Honor Society
-National Honor Society
-Building Bridges Club (PR)- promotes acceptance and diversity within community
-Model UN
-JV Softball 2 years (captain)
-soccer 4 years
-varsity ski team 5 years
-Self- run shoe business (CEO)- donates proceeds to the DREAM Foundation
-Shoe auction
-Possible internship this summer
-Attending Emory’s Pre- College Summer Program

Work Experience/Community service:
-Community service in Dominican Republic
-Habitat for Humanity
-Art National Honor Society
-Self- run shoe business
-100+ (cumulative) hours so far

Essays: Will likely be about how I struggled with PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder- on the autistic spectrum) as a child

Teacher/ Counselor Recommendation: I am asking teachers who have seen me overcome many obstacles this year (I assume they will write good recommendations)

OTHER:

Applied for Financial Aid?:no
Intended Major : sociology
Domestic or International (state or country in parenthesis): (New York)
Race and/or Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: not sure
Hooks (URM, first generation college, Recruited Athlete, Famous, High Donar):

Other Schools you are applying to: UMiami, Wake Forest, UMich, UWisconsin, UMaryland, Tulane, GWU, Lehigh, UT Austin, Colgate

General Comments: My academic performance in high school has been steady, but has slightly decreased.

2

It’s probably a bit too early for the chancers here to do their thing. You should wait until you have your final grades, sat scores, and ap exam grades and they will let know here for sure.

Why is Emory your dream school?

3

Thanks for replying! It offers many opportunities given that it’s in Atlanta, it is a good school for social sciences, it has a beautiful campus, it’s a perfect size, and I love the vibe it gives off.

4

Thanks for answering and motivations for attending Emory are more important than demonstrated interest. Bernie is a more recent alum and can comment on the social sciences. I was interested because many schools on your list have excellent business schools. My kid did the “process” this year and last (thankfully, it’s over) and we all loved Tulane’s and Wisconsin’s campuses as well. Great luck on finishing off your junior year with AP exams and SATs. I know how that pressure can wear on juniors.

5

Thank you!!!

6

You know I have so many questions that would lead to some taking the rose colored glasses off.

7

What are they?

8

@Sblumenfeld : The devil is in the details. Many schools have beautiful campuses and a great vibe. What about the vibe did you like?(did you meet faculty, students, sit in a class, go to the library? Or did the tourguides and brochures tell you everything? How did you get a sense of that?) Which social sciences programs? Go look at the departments of interest and see if you are actually interested in any of the programs they host. Are they different from any other schools you may consider.

I encourage students applying to these selective schools to go a bit beyond the vague which is often what they sell…quite successfully. This isn’t high school, the academic experience isn’t particularly generic and limited to the courses. You have research and internship opportunities, which are things you want to look into when you investigate your choices for major. You want to see how well they let undergraduates access those opps. Begin to figure out what you think you will or can do at these places and then figure out if they have an edge over some others. Not just “it is elite, beautifiul, feels nice, and is known for great X”. Often places known for great “X” are known for it at the graduate level or for key faculty members and not necessarily for the opps they provide to undergraduates or even the teaching (like “good for pre-med or life sciences” can lead to students matriculating at places with weak relatively weak teaching in the area and not much of a community feel for those pursuing it. Instead these places are cited as “good” because they have a good medical center and are good at research in the field, which can be great for undergraduates too, but you can have that as well as a place that executes its undergraduate mission in such an area well).

9

Thank you for the advice. I want to pursue a career in either psychology or sociology. I loved how Emory was a medium- size, yet had a strong sense of community. When I went on a tour, I noticed how happy the students looked and how eager my tour guides were to answer questions for me. With Emory being in the heart of Atlanta, I can visualize myself seeking many internship and learning opportunities. I’m not sure if this is specific enough still and I’m having trouble intricately describing it.

10

@Sblumenfeld : You can already envision exactly what those opps would be if you know what it offers (and indeed it offers a lot in QTM, history, and social sciences related to political science). Atlanta is amazing for that, but it is always nice to know if the departments of interest serve as a direct liason to those and other opps as it eases access to them (this is very important when in a city with tons of higher ed institutions with 3 being very large and 1 more being very close by. This spells “competition”. I think Atlanta is like a southern Boston in some respects because of this).

And I get what you mean by the “vibe”, but again many schools will meet this criteria. Always nice to feel it out more. Go sit in classes (you may be surprised of the differences you find. Like in general, Emory will have smaller intro courses than most of its similar sized or even slightly smaller peers. More large lecture instructors may seriously use active learning…teaching cultures do differ even among elite schools. Furthermore, student bodies may have different standards for teaching, even if the student bodies are of similar caliber. For example, students at Emory, a D-3 school may expect and respect a higher standard for teaching because more students are likely to have come for the academic experience. Places with a stronger sports or a different social scene may give leeway in that arena or tolerate a lot as long as it does not infringe upon socialization…basically different academic climates can lead to different norms in teaching), the cafeteria, check out the crowded floors of the library to see what students are studying (who they are studying with, diverse groups/homogenous?), how they socialize/view their academics and other parts of their lives.

When you attend a place for 4 years, there is a lot more to it than seeing smiling faces and a beautiful mid-sized campus though that will function as a nice start for many. I just think it should only function as a start.

11

I’m attending Emory’s pre- College Summer Program this summer, so I’ll be sure to explore every aspect of Emory.

12

There you go!

13

As to Bernie’s original point on “dream schools” and “campus vibe”, I do agree with him.

I wouldn’t let a tour guide make or break my visit and a campus vibe can get ruined by a rainy day.

Why not come up with a list of 3-4 schools that you really like and worry about ranking them later, when it comes time for a possible ED application? In the meantime, look at the sociology and psychology departments of universities “like” Emory. Of the schools you listed, the most similar in size of campus, location of campus (suburban near big cities) are Tulane and Miami.

Also, you have a nice plan on the summer program. The hurdles you have will be raising the PSAT score 200+ points to an SAT score and maybe getting a couple of 4s or 5s on AP exams.

14

@Sblumenfeld I also want to raise the fact that summer at a medium-sized school like Emory will not reflect reality as much of the student body is not there and many/most of the full-time faculty serving undergraduates are absent as well. The hours and operations of facilities are also different. You have to go the extra mile to tease out the limited representation that exists during the summer or else you will end up once again judging it on the campus look and your pre-College cohort and essentially those equivalent to tourguides (it will be reslife students who stayed for the program). They will host lots of events and programs during summer, but the campus will not reach the fullness of the semester and the students are less likely to be from Emory.

15

I don’t plan on taking the PSAT again, but my scores on the SAT are better than my PSAT one and I am working towards a 1450+. And how do you suggest I get more of a feel for Emory to express “why Emory”?

16
  • Watch YouTube vids related to Emory
  • Peruse/study the Emory web site
  • See if you can subscribe to the school newspaper

You can’t be there all the time, but there are other ways to immerse yourself.

17

Thank you, I’ll make sure to do that!!

18

Definitely work on maximizing your GPA and other stats, but if you fear Emory College is too high of a reach, you could apply to Oxford College. You’d spend your first two years there and then move to the Emory campus for your final years. It is part of Emory University and you’d end up with the same diploma/degree.

19

Isn’t Oxford College almost as competitive as Emory now ?

20

@Publisher : No not really, though on paper it is. The stats are roughly the same, but there is more to a profile than stats. For example, Vanderbilt, WUSTL, and Rice I think have higher stats (at least scores) than Duke, Penn, and Stanford, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the profile of the admits and enrollees is the same. The latter 3 for example, put “talent/ability” in the very top categories for “importance of evaluation” whereas the others have become more stats focused. This means that the latter 3 have a soft spot and a desire to draw more “pointy” students that may be really accelerated or talented in an area beyond what their HS can provide and may trade off on the scores. Different schools go after different things based upon their goals and the programs they provide (like Duke, Penn, and Stanford offer much more acceleration and special academic programs for freshmen and naturally will want to fill those programs with students to ensure they remain in demand, and unfortunately a high score or GPA does not predict whether or not a student really wants to challenge themselves beyond the norm so they may seek some talented people in an area that may be not perfect statistically )when at college so what you see on paper may deceive. You can often look at post-grad award outcomes (namely Fulbright, Rhodes, Churchill, etc) and see mismatches. Some schools with lower stats can put out the same level(or better) as places with higher stats and lower admit rates partly because of difference in selection criteria as well as how the schools choose to promote those opps and the skills students need to gain access.

You really cannot even trust admit rates (Tulane is lower than Emory for example, and yet Emory despite it not focusing on stats as much, still has students that at least look better on paper. Oxford and Tulane may be similar in terms of enrolled students, so Oxford is doing very well now…and actually does send a decent amount of people to main who go on to very top PhD programs and those post-grad prizes I mentioned, but I can’t say for sure it is exactly at the same level YET. Getting there, but since admissions there cannot be decoupled from interest in main campus, it may be a little longer than I expect).