<p>what collegeismygoal has stated. It really gives people who are destined to apply in the future a really good idea of how they stand. I never made a “chance me” thread before because I knew exactly what my chances were by looking at these stat posts.</p>
<p>Having two degrees from Emory, I have a lifetime “vested interest” in the quality of the University. When I first arrived at Emory, it was a school on the rise. Despite a short-sighted decision to close the Dental School (circa, 1980), the College was on its way towards national recognition, with the Law School not too far behind. It is fair to say that even by the late 1970’s, the Medical School had expanded beyond a mere regional institution. As the era of the MBA arrived, the Business School seemed poised akin to the position of the Law School.</p>
<p>Looking at the situation on the cusp of 2012, it is clear the Medical School is doing very well. Ditto the Business School. Unfortunately, instability in leadership has stunted the forward progress of the Law School. The latter continues to struggle in it’s quest to achieve national status. (note that I continue to lament the death of the Dental School, and admit I have no basis to judge the Theology School, Nursing School, and a few more programs).</p>
<p>The present crisis at Emory concerns its College. While once in the “Top 20” with a bullet, for several years the undergraduate school has been on the precipice of falling out of the national top 20. Right now Emory College is hanging on to its “prestige ranking” by its educational fingernails (i.e., it is #20).</p>
<p>While there are several reasons why the College’s once steady forward progress has stopped, and reversed, everything must first be placed within context. Specifically, in the South, the premier educational institution is Duke. Each of the major divisions at Duke- college, law, medicine & business, is at a true “National”, even Top 10, level. The contest in the South (i.e., the 11 former states of the Confederacy, so Johns Hopkins & Washington Univ. are excluded) is for second place.</p>
<p>In addition to Emory, I also attended & have a degree from Vanderbilt. Thirty years ago I believed Emory to be clearly superior to Vandy at the college level, and that Emory was on a path which by now would clearly identify Emory as the #2, & rising, Southern University. That has not transpired. Not at all.</p>
<p>2012 will find Vanderbilt as the clear “second best” to Duke. Vandy’s Law & Medical Schools are at a national level of excellence. In particular, the reputation of Vandy’s Law School is markedly better than that of Emory Law. The B Schools are a push, and I confess ignorance regarding the Divinity Schools. </p>
<p>What is actually quite shocking for a long-time observer is the manner in which Vandy has re-invented its College (e.g., in demographics) in a manner so as to clearly pass by Emory College. Emory has no excuse for its ongoing decline. It has money, it worked hard throughout the 1970’s to get “on the map” of the nation’s best schools, and, above all, it is in Atlanta. Atlanta, despite certain problems, is the major city in the American Southeast. Nashville is, to some, not even the major city in Tennessee, and is best known for Country Music. Forgetting about the Grand Ol’ Opry, etc., Atlanta is a city light years beyond Nashville in every significant respect. And yet, Vandy rises in prestige, and has displaced Emory as the # 2 University in the South.</p>
<p>What to do about Emory’s decline relative to Vanderbilt? First, recognize the decline exists and is ongoing. Remember, there was a time when Tulane was a top university. (please note that I am not giving short shrift to UNC and UVa. Despite the excellence of their graduate programs, their colleges cannot compare with Emory or Vanderbilt in across the board excellence). But above all, come to grips with the ultimate inability of Emory to ever overcome the handicap of Oxford J.C. No undergraduate institution allowing a “back door” for admissions in the nature of a J.C. like Oxford will ever sustain a Top 10, or even Top 15 national ranking. Its too easy to get in Oxford JC, and then too (ridiculously!) easy to move from the JC to being a Junior at Emory.</p>
<p>People from Oxford JC don’t like the truth about “their” JC being an anchor on Emory’s prestige, and aggressively try to censor any discussion of the Oxford JC situation. But unless something is done, Emory WILL fall out of the Top 20. And if you don’t think that matters, then you’re just plain stupid.</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters if some rankings, that are subjective, have Emory falling out of the top 20.</p>
<p>He’s not really talking about that, though. He mentioned it as one of the symptoms of Emory’s decline in relative quality.</p>
<p>From my understanding, he’s saying that because Emory has become less selective, their rankings will continue to plummet. How can we judge the quality of education, and how is it a fair assumption to say that the quality of the education has gone down. It sounds like the measure of this is its usnews rankings. Maybe it’s become less selective, and the back door entrance from the Oxford college definitely does that, but I don’t see anything that indicates its decline in relative quality.</p>
<p>Agreed. The premise seems to be “Emory has moved down in the USNews rankings, therefore the quality of the school is declining.” There isn’t really anything to indicate that. Nothing Loridans said was really relevant outside of reputation. They discussed the reputation of the med school and the B school, the reputation of Vandy and Duke, etc. They mention that Vandy made some demographic changes and never really go on to specify what those positive changes were. I don’t question Loridans’ desire to see the school succeed considering their two Emory degrees, but I’m not sure that they’re interpreting things correctly. </p>
<p>The truth is that a solid portion of the national rankings from USNews is based on reputation, and reputation is largely influenced by faculty prestige, which is directly influenced by graduate research. There is a direct conflict that exists between a school which is focused on building an undergraduate education program and their undergraduate ranking. Ironic, isn’t it? </p>
<p>Frankly, this is where Emory is. They’re smack dab in the middle of a ten year plan to improve the undergraduate school, and their graduate research (and, hence: their faculty prestige) has suffered somewhat as a result. There isn’t anything to indicate, however, that this is a permanent decline. In fact, Emory just brought over the former Dean of Admissions from Hopkins about a month ago, who will be overseeing next year’s admissions selection. This is a good indication that the school is happy with their undergraduate changes and ready to begin focusing on other things again. </p>
<p>This is speculation, but I predict that we’ll again be witnessing a rising Emory undergraduate program in the next decade. Certainly its reputation as an institution capable of providing a stellar education has not waned, only its reputation with respect to public prestige. We’re talking larger marketing and research budgets here, not fundamental changes.</p>
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<p>I feel like you appear at the beginning and end of every semester with the same false story. Have you thought about finding a new hobby?</p>
<p>Oxford’s numbers are not included in the calculation for the U.S. News list. Our numbers are not negatively affecting the U.S. news list calculations one bit. In fact, Oxford raises the average test scores and GPA of Emory College’s incoming class. The Emory College of Arts and Science admissions office knows that, two years down the year, the class will be joined by Oxford continuees. That means that the admissions office has to accept fewer students, leading to a lower admissions rate and higher stats (things that raise our U.S. News Rank and prestige).</p>
<p>Why isn’t Emory rising in rankings? Emory needs to improve the quality of its non-professional graduate programs and attract excellent non-pre-professional undergrads. Our reputation isn’t going to increase until top students from top schools are coming to Emory for their PhDs and professional degrees and top students from our school are going for PhDs at top schools in much greater numbers. Actually, a greater percentage of Oxford continuees go on to receive PhDs than students who started from the College of Arts and Sciences. We can’t run an national university on a business school, a law school, and a med school.</p>
<p>We are kind of getting off the original thread here, but thought I would throw in my thoughts on the topics discussed about Emory’s past and future. </p>
<p>As an incoming freshman for undergraduate school, I looked at the Business Week Rankings and saw how highly Emory was ranked for their undergraduate business program. I am also interested in minoring in a science field. I seriously looked at Wash U, but decided Atlanta was a much better place to be than St. Louis. Duke and Vanderbilt do not have undergraduate business programs. </p>
<p>What I am looking for is Emory to prepare and help me get a fabulous job after graduation, and open all doors to an ivy league graduate business school. This may be a very narrow way to look at my college choice, but that is what the key decision factors were for me. </p>
<p>Feel free to comment, but maybe we should start another thread!</p>
<p>Has anyone received their official “Mailed Acceptance” package? I have not received mine. Heard a rumor they sent out to last year’s group by mistake, and are re-sending out our acceptance letters? Anyone comment if you have received or not received your official letter? Thanks!</p>
<p>I was under the impression that Emory was NOT sending out acceptance letters. The decisions are online only this year. Yesterday we did receive 3 letters from Emory (one for my husband and myself and two for my son). The first one to my son was from the Senior Assoc. Dean for Undergrad Education and talked about the transition from high school to college. It said he will get mailings this spring about Blackboard and advising and Orientation. Orientation begins on Saturday, August 25 this year (and move in is the same day). </p>
<p>My son’s second letter was thanking him for sending his deposit in and telling him that housing details will be mailed in early May. It also said something about campus email addresses and health insurance. </p>
<p>The parent letter said that we will get a letter in early summer about the advising programs, orientation overview etc… It also said to go online and check out two websites, one of which has orientation information: </p>
<p>[Emory</a> College of Arts and Sciences Orientation | Emory College | Atlanta, GA](<a href=“Error 404: Page Not Found”>New Student Programs) </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>That’s correct clown, I come in from time to time to bring the charade known as Oxford J.C. to folks’ attention. Look at how hard new students had to work to get into Emory. Now, do you really think its fair that in two years several hundred students who could NEVER have been admitted into Emory, will become “full-fledged” Emory University juniors? Oh, if that is, they maintained a “C” average at the J.C.</p>
<p>From where you hold degrees will define you for the rest of your life. Maybe just a little, or maybe quite a lot. Emory has every means available to reach the level of, say, Northwestern Univ. But instead Emory ranks behind Washington Univ., Vanderbilt, etc. Vandy passed Emory because it brought its student body into the second half of the 20th Century (e.g., more than 1% of student body Jewish!), and the fact that Notre Dame is about even with Emory is troublesome. Notre Dame has always been a “strong” academic school, but nothing special.</p>
<p>One of the steps that must occur for Emory to advance is a recognition that, despite the perennial threats, the J.C. Has to go. Do you think an Ivy League school, or Stanford, Chicago, etc. Would allow a back door J.C.? Do you think Duke would??</p>
<p>Wasn’t this thread supposed to be about stats?
Objective:
SAT I: 2020
ACT: 31
Unweighted GPA: around 3.7
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 11%
AP (place score in parenthesis): APUSH (5) AP Psych (5) AP English (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov. AP Stats AP Literature PreAP Physics Advanced Anatomy AP European Hist. Varsity Track
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): State Science Award for Chemistry, AP Scholar, President’s Volunteer Award, Girl Scout Gold & Silver
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Debate (historian), Track, NHS, SNHS, TNHS, Girl Scouts, Company Dance Team (historian), SCUBA
Job/Work Experience: Receptionist - same part time job since Freshman year
Volunteer/Community service: A lot - through church, Girl Scouts & 3 honor societies
Summer Activities: part-time job, summer programs at Wyoming College and George Town U. + SCUBA
Essays: Strong - and I did the extra essay as well
Teacher Recommendation: Did not see (no one is supposed to see these!) (AP Chem teacher and AP English teacher)
Counselor Rec: Did not see - The school is big - I had a different counselor every single year - they don’t really know the students.
Additional Rec: From independent study mentor
Interview:Yes - with Emory Alum - I think it went very well
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Neuroscience/Psychology
State (if domestic applicant): TX
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Large Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none
Reflection
Strengths: Probably leadership in GS, good essays, demonstrated interest, lots of community service, heavy course load all 4 years
Weaknesses: GPA/class rank
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: Strong course load from highly competitive HS, decent scores, community service, …
General Comments: I am excited about attending Emory! Congrats to all!</p>
<p>Loridans: </p>
<p>What, exactly, is the effect that you think these students have on the overall academic experience of the school? You reek of misguided elitism. You keep talking about how important it is that Emory close Oxford, which is not a Junior College by the way, but you provide absolutely nothing to bolster your credibility. </p>
<p>Do you have any actual statistics or facts to back up your perspectives, or are you simply speaking from your own personal assumptions? Why on earth do you believe that Emory is only 1% Jewish, and even if it were the case, how is it unrepresentative of the 1.7% of the United States which is also Jewish? [Church</a> Statistics and Religious Affiliations - U.S. Religious Landscape Study - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life](<a href=“Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics | Pew Research Center”>Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics | Pew Research Center)</p>
<p>I think you have an axe to grind, and you seem statistically challenged. I’d love to see what actual evidence you can bring to the table though.</p>
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<p>You know what? You’re right. In fact, colleges only recently became so incredibly competitive. Do you realize how unfair it is that thousands of people are walking around with degrees from schools they’d stand no chance at getting admitted to these days? The nerve of those imposters! Obviously, the top 50 schools on the U.S. News List should rescind all degrees granted before 1990. Furthermore, we should close down all schools of divinity, social work, and education at top schools. A student can get admitted to the Divinity school at Duke or Emory with a 2.75 GPA from the University of Nowhere at Middle. The horror! Forget that we need such people–these imposters have got to go. </p>
<p>We should also stop admitting students from other nations and from “inferior” races and religions. We spend tons of money providing for these students that we are entitled to by divine order–how dare poor people try to get their grubby little hands on our money. Besides we’ve worked so much harder and they’re stealing our spots–it’s not like we actually just benefited from upper-class social cohesion, privileges, and structural issues that aren’t available to the rest of society.</p>
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<p>Of course not. Because Cornell obviously does not have state-supported colleges with far easier admissions and Vanderbilt doesn’t have a college of education that grants second baccalaureate degrees (blasphemy). Of course, we accept that because the college is really just full of pre-med, pre-law, and pre-business students with high SAT scores–they couldn’t actually admit students interested in education, because that would hurt US news ranking which dictates the meaning of life. </p>
<p>Because none of the other top 20 schools (<em>cough</em>, UPenn, Vanderbilt, Columbia, Harvard) have cash-cow professional degrees that they confer upon “experienced professionals”–for the right price-- or Extension Colleges that grant degrees to students who wouldn’t have been admitted to the undergraduate college in a million years.</p>
<p>I actually know some one that is getting their MBA on line and part-time from Harvard Extension/on line program. I started laughing, I thought this person was kidding. Look at the website, they get to graduate with those “real” Harvard students! And they don’t require entrance exams for all of their programs. Really, Harvard?</p>
<p>Decision: Accepted </p>
<p>Stats</p>
<p>Sat:2110 (660R, 730M, 720W)
GPA: 3.40/4.0 Unweighted
AP’s: Psych(5), CompGov&Politics(5), Chinese(5), Env.Sci.(4), U.S. Hist(3)
Senior Course Load: AP Calc AB, AP Literature, AP Economics Macro, AP Econ Micro, Physics, Chinese 7, Criminal Justice
School: Private</p>
<p>Other
3 Varsity Sports
Recruited for Track and Field
Extremely unique life situations</p>
<p>Collegeismygoal, they make a lot of money with those programs, and that matters more than prestige…</p>