What is my chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
1

I am a little confused as to apply ED2 or RD to Emory. I also worry whether I could stand a chance in a top university. Please help. Any advice is highly appreciated!

Basic Info:
On gap year
Ethnicity: Asian (Vietnam)
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <$20,000/year
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None
School: School for gifted Student. I take gifted schools for the entire 12 years if it could help.
*Intended Major: Economics/ Political Science

SAT I (breakdown): 2190 (660CR, 800M, 730W)
ACT (breakdown): N/A
SAT II: 800 on Math 2, 720 on Physics and Chem, 760 on U.S History
GPA: 9.3/10 consistently for 4 recent years (top ten of my class, in my country no student has higher than 9.5)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): no rank (but my principal stated that I am among the top ten of the school in his rec)
AP (place score in parenthesis): No AP offered
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
Various Awards in Provincial and National English Competition.
First Place in National Knowledge Competition for High School and Uni Students.
Prizes in Provincial Oratorical competitions, including best debater.
Participated in national Math Competition in 9th Grade.
Lawrence S.Ting Scholarship for Excellent Students
some smaller prizes in writing and filming

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
MUN: Participated in 2 most prestigious MUN of the nation; OMUN.
Conference: Youth Conference in Indonesia (presented a research and idea in improving education there); Environmental Programs (presented a short research on environment)
Province’s National English Team (Captain)
Class President. In charge of the class (both extracurricular and educational aspects) when my counselor left for maternity leave.
One of school’s student representatives as we welcome special guests, including Ambassador Ted Osius
Bamboo Flute Club (it is a national musical instrument) (Treasury)
Graduation Night Organizer
Provincial Knowledge Competition (Organizer)
Youth Leadership Forum (Organizer)
Ran a Campaign in which provincial youth interviewed foreigners on how to improve our province.
Founder of an Educational Project in which we play and teach primary school students to run their own small projects.

Self-taught French and Hebrew.
Take Piano lessons (10hrs/wk)

Recommendations: I haven’t read any of them so these are my guesses only
Counselor: stellar i think. I have many chances to talk to her. I even gave her advices when she was severely depressed (fortunately my advices are right)
Math teacher: good. She liked me a lot and I was the best student in her class.
English Teacher: Good i think
Principal: he says that I am one of the best of the school so i hope that his rec would be good.

Job/Work Experience:
Work as a receptionist in family-run guess house.
Translator for a programming team.
English Tutor.
Investor (Forex and stocks and etc)
Affiliate Seller

Summer/ gap year Activities
Travel to find my interests and talents.
Volunteer.
Learn new skills (piano/ chess/ Programming). Practice languages

2

If you are actually interested in Emory enough to apply ED, you’ll probably increase your chances (which are pretty strong). Just how the heck you are going to pay for Emory or other elites that are doable to get into and offer financial aid to internationals (are you international?), I don’t know. Also, you could probably get in elsewhere if you sell yourself well though many other schools are more stats sensitive than Emory. You have the benefit of having great scores for Emory and being Vietnamese which I am sure Emory takes into account (I know that they don’t treat Vietnamese or Vietnamese American students like other Asian nationalities at Emory, but the application volume at many other schools is such that they probably care less).

3

@bernie12 Thanks so much for your words. But could you clarify a little more on this:

“Just how the heck you are going to pay for Emory or other elites that are doable to get into and offer financial aid to internationals (are you international?)” I am pretty confused with this sentence. Do you mean that Emory’s need-sensitive policy would lower my chance? And yes I am international and study in Vietnam so the education system is different.

4

No, it is just that very limited need-based aid is offered to internationals at most US institutions, even the elites. If you are worried about finances, I certainly would not apply ED and would begin applying to outside scholarships for any school (especially elite and/or expensive) you apply to. Usually for internationals, you literally must provide a financial statement proving that you can pay for it.

5

@bernie12 thanks so much for your help!