<p>@aleyna22 – that’s weird. I would highly recommend you to call the office and check with them since your To-do list is empty as well. </p>
<p>@banker92 I’m about to. Hopefully nothing went wrong with my application…</p>
<p>@banker92 I’m willing to bet they’ll go to WashU as they were accepted their before, and it came down to it and the “school in Ca”. They may not be as familiar w/Emory or as impressed by it. However, I remember my sophomore roommate choosing Emory over it (he transferred from Northwestern, He was doing political science, and ended up liking Emory for it and history a bit more than NU for some reason, despite his grades remaining the same in the 3.4-3.5 range). Who knows?</p>
<p>banker - don’t you have a 2300 sat? anyways, I would def choose Michigan if I were you unless you get into an ivy/duke/stanford. That is the ultimate college experience and even though you are not in Ross, due to strong alumni you’ll likely have same opportunities in business world as emory or washu kids. You are transferring from a full ride at Rutgers - right? what don’t you like there? And how did you get a 3.4? </p>
<p>Please don’t equate all the Ivies (all 8 of them should not be lumped together by any means). For example, Brown and Cornell will not be so much different caliber wise from either Emory or WashU at the undergraduate level. In this case, Michigan flat out has better academics in the areas of interest banker (or someone else) mentioned.</p>
<p>To all of us over-appliers: UVA decisions are up now as well- 24 hours early! - accepted.</p>
<p>Bernie - I totally agree not all ivies are alike and definitely appeal to different personalities and majors - however, if you are fortunate enough to get into one and be able to afford it, the reality is that you can find courses and activities at each of them to appeal to everyone for undergrad personal growth and academically challenging experiences and the name degree will open a lot of doors in the future ( fairly or unfairly). I’d also agree there are likely students who would thrive more at Syracuse than Brown or Michigan vs Harvard, etc; it’s simply too hard to predict what path is better for ages 17-21.</p>
<p>I don’t buy it…Cornell and Brown for example (and maybe not even Dartmouth) don’t offer that much of a brand, networking, or environment advantage over all other top 20-25s by virtue of their Ivy League affiliation. If I got into those 3 and several other top 20s (let’s say we exclude the very top ones except like Chicago or something which is also impossible to get into), I would really just go based on fit. The Ivy League fervor does make much sense…unless you got into the other ones. I feel the others are truly exceptional…(even in comparison to Duke which is quite awesome now. It’s just that the others have academic environments that are still a bit more challenging I think…however, not many students may want that especially when it is accompanied with competition). </p>
<p>Am I too late to join in?</p>
<p>What Major you applied for: English
Career Objective: Writer</p>
<p>I saw my acceptance letter this afternoon! :)</p>
<p>Accepted!</p>
<p>Just checking, we only need to reply by May 23 right?</p>
<p>@2cents4u - I think you are confusing with some other person. I am actually an international student currently studying in Singapore. And I don’t have a SAT anywhere close to 2300. In fact it was so low that I didn’t even submit it at any school, including where I got acceptances from - Michigan, UVA, WUSTL, UW-Madison, and Emory. The only college that accepted me even with my awful SAT was Vanderbilt. haha!</p>
<p>In any case, I am pretty certain I will be attending UMich. It kind of checks everything I expected from my college - large university, friendly people, decent academic and employer reputation, and a large alumni network. :)</p>
<p>Thanks @bernie12 for your comments. 
I agree with you on the fact that Cornell, Brown and Dartmouth are perhaps not in the same league as the other 5 Ivys. But nevertheless, they’re pretty good schools too. If I had been accepted to Cornell, it would have been really difficult turning it down because of the Ivy affiliation and the awesome campus food. :D</p>
<p>@banker92 : See, that doesn’t make much sense…no offense because I know you were slightly kidding. One would think students would weigh much more elements. But I think many students just assume that “all top schools are basically the same, but some just have a better brand than the others”. It’s just totally not true. I would choose Michigan over Cornell depending on the area, just as I would also choose Emory, WashU, and several other places over it depending upon my areas of interest (because some schools just flat out have better UG education in certain areas). For example, I would not choose Cornell over Emory (I could name several other institutions) if I were considering biology or chemistry unless it was some very niche area of the two (say, I wanted to specifically concentrate and ecology and thus Cornell offers it and Emory, and many other privates don’t) simply because of its size will impact how introductory and “gateway” courses are run and taught and those are key courses that have the potential to keep a student’s interest in science or to diminish. And often it’s not just the difficulty that governs this so much as the teaching quality and style. For example, Cornell has almost ALL of its introductory courses in biology run by instructors who only do multiple choice examinations (Emory used to be this way, but has since evolved away from it let’s see, like 4-5 years ago). Can you imagine how stereotypical and dull those biology lectures must be. If I were a regular biology major (not specializing/concentrating), I would definitely consider places like Emory and Washington University more strongly (I refer to these because, like Cornell, they still have a very pre-professional feel to them), with an edge towards WashU. I mean, I feel students should visit schools, especially during open houses, and go sit in some intro. courses to see how and what they’ll be taught as a first year (or later, maybe second year to see if there are things to look forward to) because some schools just do things differently (and the instructors usually reflect this) based on a number of reasons and it will affect your affinity for and success in the subject. I mean, you will be learning at these places for 4 years, so make sure that it’s both fun, has decent food, and that the learning environment is ideal (I would way fun and learning much higher than food). Just because something is an Ivy doesn’t mean it will do these as well as the other schools (many who have become better). </p>
<p>@bernie12 : I agreed with you initially and agree with you even now. Perhaps the underlying meaning of my comment was not very lucid. What I intended to say is that for someone who wishes to be in a client facing job (e.g. Investment Banking), perhaps a degree from Ivy League wouldn’t hurt at all. Let me explain from an international person’s point of view. Let’s say one of my friend/relative has $10m lying around and wants to invest in the US. Perhaps the person is not very well aware of the US education or other aspects and therefore may have not even heard of colleges like WashU or Emory. However, international people usually do happen to know the 8 Ivy Colleges and perhaps MIT and Stanford, and a student from one of these college would instil a higher sense of confidence in such international clients. While I could be mistaken regarding this, but on the other end I also believe a whole lot of Americans also appreciate Ivy and prefer it over universities like Duke, WashU, Emory and the likes. I remember talking to an Asian American during Thanks Giving and he was quite ashamed of attending Vanderbilt just because his entire family including his parents wanted him to attend “Ivy” and hadn’t even heard of Vanderbilt – even though he was completely satisfied with his learning at Vandy. </p>
<p>I believe our generation pays more heed to the quality than the bumper sticker but we are still living in a society that loves the traditional big names. </p>
<p>Lastly, if I had been accepted to Cornell, it would have just meant that I would have compared the 2 programs (Cornell and UMich), since even Cornell is a great feeder school to the field in which I plan to pursue a career. </p>
<p>@banker92 I suppose in your case, it would depend on where you want to work. Like UMich, WashU, NU, and Chicago are in the midwest (close to Chicago obviously), so even if you were worried about brand influence, you will clearly have amazing options unless you are absolutely obsessed with the idea of being in NYC for example. So even those people who feel ashamed of going to “X non-Ivy”, they’ll get over it depending on whether or not the training in the area of interest is good (or renowned/produced amazing students or “products” in the past). Unless an international is planning to immediately return upon graduation, it doesn’t matter much. In addition, you could luck up if you’re from the right country. Like a S. Korean that goes to Emory is not at a disadvantage because Emory has serious connections to S. Korea (an alumni went back and became some major statesman or government administrator there). Also, if I were to go to some non-Ivy/less branded great school, I would be wary of the signature undergraduate programs at the school and perhaps how they compare to other schools (Emory has signatures like creative writing, neuroscience, chemistry, political science, environmental science/studies, psychology, anthropology, business, nursing). People are going to recognize or pay attention to the fact that you are affiliated with such programs that are known to have great (as in exceptional) quality at the UG level (or have a track record of sending good students to a particular type of job or grad. school). The only slippery one is business…because once the program is above a certain threshold in caliber, the location probably matters more. </p>
<p>However, with liberal arts (social sciences, humanities, and non-Technological sciences), academics and employers will likely recognize the quality of the program especially if you performed well (the economics programs are a good example, where Chicago and Duke are really good, and everyone who matters in terms of post-grad prospects knows it!) in it. I wouldn’t be ashamed to attend a top school (that isn’t say in the top 5-10) unless my academic program/curricula of choice ended up being below par or underwhelming in comparison to some other places (like if I did chemistry at Vanderbilt, or CS or physics at Emory. I would then be annoyed I didn’t attend elsewhere. Even then, there is no time for being annoyed. Just maximize the opps available if you’re good at what you do. Like CS majors at Emory get amazing internships, and physics majors are good at landing summer research opps at top physics programs, so in the end, you end up as well-credentialed as many average Ivy League students or students at schools renowned for their UG programs in those disciplines). I guess it just depends on if you are in a “brand and location matters” sort of discipline or in a “quality and oppurtunities offered matters most” discipline. I’m looking at it from the latter scenario because I did science (where quality will matter more than brand). You have good points, it was nice engaging you in discussion. I just think that folks that are in a more liberal arts oriented field or engineering, and are worried about the brand of the school they attend more so than location or quality of the actual program, are perhaps trying to use the brand to hide their mediocrity. They’re hoping that the brand will lift them to other opportunities in case they aren’t able to stand out (hiding behind a brand…hoping that post-grad prospects will have an inflated view of the school and thus the person who attended it, even if the person isn’t actually that great for the position…). Students who are good or really work on becoming good at their discipline just need a decent program (like you can be okay by going to a less branded top school simply because the students are good and often influence you and give you ideas. A student who really cares, recognizes this and doesn’t more or less expect opps. to fall from the sky because they are at “Ivy/Ivy Plus”. Going through with a bitter attitude the whole way is a waste) w/decent advising and opps…they don’t really need the brand because they are good enough to build their resume and land top experiences and jobs without going to an extremely well branded school.</p>
<p>The good news: Accepted.</p>
<p>The bad news: their financial aid sucks.</p>
<p>So I won’t be enrolling next semester. Perhaps someone from the waitlist will take my place. </p>
<p>@2cents4u “banker - don’t you have a 2300 sat? …You are transferring from a full ride at Rutgers - right? what don’t you like there?”</p>
<p>That was me, I think you confused our stats.
And if you still really wanted to know, Rutgers didn’t offer the major I wanted; also, it’s too big of a school imo. </p>
<p>@jkim3265 sorry, but congrats on Vanderbilt and Emory. R u waiting on more schools or have you decided?
also banker - I agree most kids do not look at the school’s actual academic adv and disadv, although truly one great teacher can make a huge difference so that’s just luck. Also many kids change their mind about their major so choosing a school based on chemistry department can be risky. People should also look at core requirements, major requirements, class sizes and I don’t mean just the PR on the websites but the real facts.</p>
<p>So, apparently the Common App website messed up my application and I somehow got put in with the regular transfer apps, rather than priority, even though I applied before the deadline. And the admissions people say there’s nothing they can do about it. Of course this would happen…It seems like every time I apply to Emory, something stupid and completely avoidable happens to screw things up. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be?
I really needed to know by April so I could know whether or not to commit to certain activities for next year. For example, I was just informed today that next year I’ll be the assistant editor for my school’s honors magazine, and that I’ll be editor my junior and senior year if I want to. I’m also a writer and editor for a student run publication, and there are a few departmental scholarships I’m in the running for, not to mention I’m going on a research trip to Ireland with the honors program in a few weeks! So…I don’t know. I wonder if I’m going to transfer to Emory at all now. The only things I really don’t like about my school are the social scene and the fact that I’m a bit far from home. </p>
<p>But my financial aid package will determine my decision probably more than anything else. For those of you who got accepted, do you mind sharing what your fin aid looked like? I know some of you already did, and one person posted that packages are often less than what the calculator says, but I would like to know. </p>
<p>@aleyna22 Maybe you should stay. Sounds like it’s working out…</p>
<p>How does everyone’s financial aid look? Mine is seriously disappointing.</p>