<p>"Question #1: Undergraduates at Emory and Oxford Colleges are offered countless opportunities to engage with the student body, the faculty, and your academic program of choice—from hands-on research to student organizations to volunteering. What are some of the programs and/or activities you would plan to get involved with on either campus, and what unique qualities will you bring to them?"</p>
<p>Can I talk about Goizueta in this one? Will it make my response irrelevant to the prompt?</p>
<p>I would assume that it’s OK, given that Goizueta will be a big part of your college experience if you end up there. </p>
<p>It’s okay if you mention Goizueta, but I wouldn’t spend the whole time talking about it. The admissions committee(s) reviewing your file are determining if you’re a good fit for Emory College and/or Oxford College, not the business school. I wouldn’t recommended an essay that comes across as, “And let me ignore your prompt to talk about how the business school is a great fit and how I have no interest in Emory College and will only enroll because I have to suffer through four semesters before entering the business school.”</p>
<p>If both the prompts are the same as they were last year, they shared the common feature of requiring the applicant to do a bit of homework about Emory. I think that they’re looking for something more distinct and specific than your (re-)stating that you plan to attend Goizueta. That really doesn’t answer the prompt. And instead of trying to ‘game’ the question and figure out what they want to hear, you might think of taking a simpler approach – do some research and answer it honestly. Cruise all over the Emory website and see which opportunities attract you. Be specific. </p>
<p>Last year my son, who’ll be attending this fall, answered this question in three parts:
– He planned to get involved in one of the community service programs at Emory. He’s worked with urban youth for the past couple of years, and saw that Emory has a program that can step right into.
– He stated that he plans to win Emory’s NFL pick 'em contest.
– He stated that he plans to play a couple of intramural sports. In response to “what unique qualities” he’ll bring to this activity he noted that he has a wicked behind-the-back dribble.</p>
<p>@DougNguyen97 : You could, but Goizueta is so popular, that would likely end up saying some cliche things that most people say. Maybe find some organizations, faculty members, oppurtunities hosted at ECAS or the b-school instead. And AsleepAtTheWheel is correct in suggesting that the adcoms at Emory likely wants people to use those prompts as an opportunity to present themselves as a human (themselves at that) as opposed to someone who has figured out everything about the rat race of selective college admissions. Just do your research and see how simply being yourself and bringing the experiences you’ve enjoyed so far fit into what you dug up. Avoid sounding formulaic or too into flattering Emory. The prompt is likely there to filter out many of the applicants who take such a route (just as the optional supplements were also likely the way they were to recruit or gauge for more creative than normal applicants).</p>