<p>Well, even though Emory said they are releasing their RD decisions on April 1, I'm guessing they will release them 2 weeks today on March 28 (it's the Friday before the due date). Anybody else want to weigh in?</p>
<p>The website says “by April 1st”, so I think itll be on the 28th too, Hopefully at least</p>
<p>Another two weeks (sigh)… </p>
<p>I’m so nervous… Where else are you guys considering?</p>
<p>I’m actually the mom… my daughter has already gotten into Tulane and the University of Georgia (and she’s waiting to hear back from the Honors Program at UGA), but I think Emory is her first choice. My husband and I both went to Emory, so we’re hoping that helps! I’m nervous too, and trying not to talk to her about it much because she doesn’t want to get her hopes up. How about all of you?</p>
<p>Right now I’m really torn between Emory (if I get in) and Penn State. Just a bit nervous that nobody will recognize a degree from Emory because it’s not as popular of a high ranked school in comparison to others. Also not sure if I’ll be admitted because test scores and GPA weren’t as strong as they could’ve been. Did you guys recieve a chance to interview? </p>
<p>They weren’t interviewing people from Atlanta (which is where we live), so no. And I disagree… people will definitely recognize a degree from Emory! It’s definitely ranked higher than Penn State on US News & World Report’s list. For years, every time my husband and I tell people where we went to college, their faces lights up and they say “WOW!” And that’s what my daughter wants too.</p>
<p>@alicianali: Yes, because employers and grad/professional schools take into account how popular a selective school is among a bunch of high school seniors. That totally makes sense at all. They only care how smart you are, the rigor supposedly associated with the school, your college performance, and skills that you bring to the setting. Do you really think employers are now like “well Washington University is as well regarded as Harvard among us because they get so many applications!” Employers and professionals of any kind are generally not as naive as we were when we 17-18 years old selecting colleges. They know that there is more to these schools than how popular they are among teenagers . Again, folks reviewing your candidacy for post-graduation opps. are adults (usually full of experience). Most of them will know what an Emory degree is and what it means, just as they would know what a RIce degree is, despite both being less popular among teenagers than say Vanderbilt or Washington University (I’m sure they aren’t viewed much differently. Placement differences probably depend on region more so than anything else). If you’re at any of these places and are half-way decent, you will be sought after for many things. The most elite schools just have an edge because they are older and indeed have much more rigor associated with their academic programs. It has nothing to do with how popular they are. Either the students hired at jobs for certain places or selected for certain graduate programs do well or they don’t. If they did well, then those places will continue selecting those students. Their selection isn’t based on our perceptions of popularity, but is based on experience. Places in the top 20-whatever, regardless of varying popularity have earned their reputations and favorability among employers and post-grad opps. because of the results produced by the grads. from the school. Do you think Emory, Rice, and other schools would have rose in prominence if this wasn’t the case? Employers don’t just wake up and say, “oooh, that place is popular among teenagers now, we need to hire those folks!”. It’s more like a come prove how good you are model. If the grads. prove themselves, employers start taking grads. from the institution very seriously. They aren’t like: “we don’t trust it because it isn’t as popular”. That’s a complete fallacy. Explain why Georgia Tech students were trusted by employees despite it being less popular than other engineering oriented schools in the past (it far outperforms many popular places in job placement and return on investment)</p>
<p>I never got an invite to an alumni interview, is that a bad thing? </p>
<p>No it’s not it was only offered in certain areas- generally cities such as Boston, Baltimore, Dallas , SF, Nashville and Seattle ( there were a few more) I got one only because I lived in one of those areas, so I wouldn’t sweat too much.</p>
<p>When I got an email for alumni interviews, I couldn’t remember which cities were on the list they gave me. And I cannot find the email now, so it’s impossible to check.</p>
<p>I’m fairly certain Atlanta was not on the list, though. It was only select areas… About 7.</p>
<p>@bernie12 I didn’t mean to put you on a rant but that’s not really what I meant. I’m from Texas and when I told my counselor that Emory was my top choice, she had never heard of the school. Now that might be because she’s not where she should be but that’s what scared me a little because I got to thinking well what if no body else recognizes the school either. I was not talking about the overall popularity of the school, just the recognition of it basically. </p>
<p>@emmcar I live kind of near Dallas, but if you don’t live near one of those major cities, then don’t worry about it. However, my interviewer did tell me that I was past the first round of cuts </p>
<p>@bernie12: A significant amount of people in Texas know about Emory (Emory has a HUGE alumni base there), don’t worry about it.The employers know about it (just as they know about Rice, Austin, and places like that). Also, for it to have a decent guidance counselor score, a significant amount of gc’s must know of it too (even if yours didn’t). It would be like if my counselor did not know about places like Northwestern, Washington University, Rice or Swarthmore, which is very possible (it’s regionalism). I wouldn’t really care…It’s a high school guidance counselor, don’t worry about. It’s likely the people that matter for your future do know what it is. For example, I would imagine that Google knows what Emory is (given that it gives our students jobs and internships). </p>
<p>Darn!!! I really wish they had done alumni interviews for Atlanta folks! It would have been quite reassuring to hear from somebody “on the inside” that my daughter had made it past the first round of cuts!</p>
<p>Wow, I must have been half-way sleep when I wrote that (or reading something else/multi-tasking), why would I alert myself? lol </p>
<p>oh well it was @allicianaanali </p>
<p>@jocjarmom: Atlanta wouldn’t have it because the spirit of regional diversity. Also, it may be a way of quality controlling the droves of students coming from some metro areas (perhaps so that they all don’t seem the same. Like, oddly enough, huge amount of those from Texas are strictly pre-med types. Interviews can give a chance to probe some of those candidates or perhaps probe some of the ones that appear more interesting than normal). The Chicago interviews probably exist to pull more people from there (and to see what types of students from that area are interested in Emory. Given the competition: NU, Chicago, WashU, Vanderbilt, ND, Michigan, Madison, etc, it could also show some love to a Chicagoland applicant if they are offered an interview). </p>
<p>You’re over thinking it.
Alumni interviews don’t matter much, if at all.
There’s too much variance in interviewer quality.</p>
<p>If anything, alumni interviews are to hopefully sell the university to the prospective student. And also exist because every other college does them. </p>
<p>Also, I don’t think alumni have the authority or even the insider information to tell you where you stand in the process. I’m sure the Office of Admission keels that information under lock and key. </p>
<p>@aluminum_boat I will agree with you here… I believe Emory is simply trying this out and is not a significant factor in terms of admission. According to their website this is a pilot program and at my interview the interviewer ( who was very nice) mostly discussed his time on the campus. </p>
<p>Like I said, it’s probably a marketing tool (for some areas, at least). I would definitely use them in areas where top students are heavily recruited by competing schools that are more well-established in that region. And who knows? Maybe if a very strong student for some reason doesn’t get in or doesn’t like those places, the alumni interview could leave a lasting mark if they are admitted, to the point that they may consider committing if the conditions are right. Also, they could have just said that to make the student feel more at ease (as if someone being interested enough to interview you shouldn’t make you comfortable). </p>
<p>However, I wouldn’t quite underthink it either, while it may not play too much of a role, I really doubt those selected for the interviews are completely random. </p>
<p>@aluminum: Do many of the other selective universities interview all of their applicants (I just don’t see how this would work with like 30k or more, I wouldn’t even bother. And let’s be honest, some schools are clearly selecting those with the highest stats. just because… especially some outside of the Ivies. Why waste time interviewing everyone if your general admissions scheme is to be a stats. whore without too much regard for EC’s or talent that far beyond the average for a selective school?) or is it a similar, but expanded version of Emory.</p>
<p>Yeah I’m not quite sure if he was telling the truth or not now that I’m seeing y’all talk about it but my interviewer basically told me that they only interview people past first cuts and they’re selective in that they only interview people if they want to know more about personality and whether Emory will serve as a good school for them personally. My interviewer really didn’t say too much about his experiences there. </p>