I strongly feel that often, people who apply to Emory also apply to WUSTL. Either than the fact that both of these schools are highly competitive and prestigious, is there any reason that this trend occurs ?? WUSTL and Emory couldn’t seem more different to me as far as atmosphere and philosophy go.
Additionally, as a follow up question, many claim that WUSTL is more stats oriented while Emory is more holistic, often times supposedly leading to students (accomplished students, mind you, not students who clearly didn’t make the cut in the adcom’s eyes) who get denied from one accepted to the other; Is this true do you think ?? Furthermore, if the previous statement is false, what would you say that these schools look for in a student body (either than demonstrated interest and a diverse student body) ??
Colleges within the same athletic conference often share applicants based upon the general similarities of the member schools (consider the NESCACs and Ivies, for example). Within the UAA, schools such as URochester, CMU and CWRU seem to go together, but so do Emory and WUStL for some students.
They are in the same ballpark as far as admission selectivity goes, even if WashU has a slightly greater emphasis on stats than Emory, both have suburban campuses near parks and golf courses, both have beautiful buildings with a semi-unified aesthetic, and both sit prestige-wise outside the top 10 or so but firmly in the top 20-25. Beyond that, while both have strong liberal arts in general, they attract and even emphasize their sciences and business schools, so both schools have a distinct pre-med and pre-professional air. I live near WashU and just visited Emory with my DS 19 (and actually know a few Emory English-major graduates), and the admissions presentation and tour was sciences, business school, STEM, and med school; our tour group was 8/10 science and business majors.