Why Emory/Chances

Colleges & Universities A-Z Emory University
1

<p>I'm applying to others schools like Wash U (which i get the sense is a lot like Emory) U of Wisconsin, Michigan, Wake Forest, Bucknell, etc. and was wondering if yall can think of anything that really would draw someone to Emory over some of those other schools. </p>

<p>Also wondering about my chances:
2140 SAt
700 CR
690 M
750 W</p>

<p>31 ACT</p>

<p>Lots or work, president of a club, vice pres of another, some unique stuff too</p>

<p>3.85 GPA, 3 AP's and 3 honors courses throughout high school (no honors/aps really for soph and freshman year)</p>

2

<p>The ATL! The reputation and the smaller (and better) learning environment. It is difficult to compare Emory to all of those schools. I also applied to a diverse group of schools. Ultimately, it came down to which factors were most important to me. It is easier to compare the schools head to head and decide which you prefer. Emory is certainly not going to have the big school sports atmosphere like Michigan, Wisconsin, Wake, and and Bucknell. However, there are some huge benefits to having a smaller, less sports driven, community.</p>

3

<p>As you know, your list is really diverse, which is not necessarily a positive or negative thing, but I would encourage you to research exactly how the colleges differ from one another.</p>

<p>From my understanding, there are many similarities between WashU and Emory. Both have strong and popular pre-med programs, are located in residential areas fairly close to the downtown of a large city, Divsion III sports, ranked 10-20, are medium sized research universities, are intimately tied to their respective cities, have a comparatively large Jewish population, strong pre-professional programs, and are fairly close to each other in terms of geography.</p>

<p>IMO, Wake Forest has a more southern feel than Emory. Stereotypically, it's more of a jock school with less diversity than Emory. Winston-Salem is a lot smaller than Atlanta. WF has a solid business school.</p>

<p>I perceive Michigan and Wiscousin as being in a different class than Emory; Emory is a medium sized private whereas those are elite large publics. Emory is not exactly the anti-thesis of Michigan, like oh say..St John's in New Mexico is, but still very different.</p>

<p>Bucknell is in the northeast. Lewisburg, PA is an entirely different atmosphere than Atlanta. Even though it's really small, it has an awesome basketball team. Go Bison!</p>

4

<p>A quick opinion. I applied to WashU, Emory, and Wake Forest. Why did I choose Emory? WashU is in St. Louis (not a big draw for me, especially comparing it to Atlanta). "Work Forest" has great school spirit and a good b-school. However, again, the location was subpar (Winston-Salem?!). Also, the b-school is well-known for its accounting programs and, overall, is not as well respected or connected as Emory's b-school.</p>

5

<p>uwbball - good luck with your search. Last year my son applied to similar schools. Actually, he applied to many schools, but in the end, the top choices were Wake, Emory, Wash U, Vanderbilt, Lehigh, W & L - not necessarily in that order - liked them all equally. All good liberal arts schools with solid reputations - each had something unique that maybe the other didn't have. </p>

<p>His stats:
2240 (800M, 750W, 690R) 7 APs (5 fives, 1 fours, 1 three - although they didn't have all those scores then) 800 on SATII in Math and Chem.
GPA was lower than it could have been - 3.5 - mostly because there were major extracurriculars. (Not going to bore you by listing them - you all are so talented - you all have them - believe me your generation really puts ours to shame... most of my high school "extracurriculars" involved watching TV and talking on the phone...)</p>

<p>Anyway, his results for his top schools:
Wash U - wait list
Emory - wait list
Wake - accepted
Lehigh - accepted
W & L - accepted
Vandy - rejected (Blair, then Arts & Science - that might have had something to do with it)
As it turns out, neither Emory nor Wash U went to their wait list last year - not one person. I know he's my son, and this may seem biased, but he was a teriffic match for those schools that rejected him. I will never understand what they were looking for - or not looking for. I especially thought he was a good match for Emory - a killer essay there too. Do I sound a little bitter? Well, I am - not that it's important now, because it really did all work out right in the end.</p>

<p>Wake was always his favorite and he's there now and very happy so it's true what they say about it all working out in the end. But I watched how hard he worked on those applications and I thought he had done a good job picking schools that were a good match for who he is.</p>

<p>The best part of the whole agonizing process was that he was truly able to say "I would be happy at any of these schools" - well, maybe except UConn which we just threw in because everyone here in CT applies to UConn. That was very important (I see even more now in hindsight) because the whole process is such a crapshoot! You can look at the stats, and do the research, and write the killer essay, and nail the SATS, and have a great interview, and make the requisite visit, and then in the end none of it makes sense anyway.</p>

<p>So my point in this very long reply is to give you some advice: just make sure that you too are able to say "I'd be happy at any of these schools" and leave yourself some really good choices. If Emory is your first choice and you end up there, great, but make sure you are happy with your other options too.</p>

<p>And by the way, as far as your original question; Why Emory? - Coming from one who loved it - all of it... here are two reasons:
The weather - better than any of the other schools you mentioned. College is hard enough...why deal with snowy winters?
The prestige - aside from Wash U, probably the most prestigious on your list.</p>

<p>But I can't finish without adding that I also love Wash U as well as Wake. Wake has been great. And now that he's there, I know if you asked my son, he'd tell you that Wake is the best place on your list by far!</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>lovemykids - you make me really nervous for my D. Did your S apply ED to any of those schools? My D has submitted her ED application to Emory and I hope to heck that she gets in. Her SAT's are not as good as your S's but her weighted GPA is 3.78. she has taken 5 AP's. She is an athlete and would enjoy playing either soccer or track at Emory but she needs to make more initiative with this. She had been all set to apply to Colgate ED (the track coach had suggested to her that this was the only way she would get in) but then visited Emory a couple of week-ends ago and she absolutely loved it. That next week (Nov. 1st) she stayed up to 1 a.m. writing the essay for "Why Emory?" after playing a league soccer play-off game that went onto penalty kicks. </p>

<p>She plans to apply to Colgate ED II if she doesn't get into Emory. You might ask why Colgate because it is very different from Emory. She really liked that school and could see herself at either place. She loves to snowboard so she would be near a ski mountain.</p>

<p>Her safeties are UVM and Bentley and her match is U of Miami. She also really likes Colorado College so she will apply there if she doesn't get into Emory or Colgate. Hopefully one of these schools will take her but life will be so much easier (esp. during indoor/outdoor track season) if Emory accepts her. I'm praying! </p>

<p>When she visited Emory, there were two Emory students who were at the soccer field wanting to see a game. They told my D that they had both applied ED to Emory. They told her that 80% of ED aplicants get in. The Princeton guide says 60%. I haven't seen a number on the website.</p>

7

<p>Living in Atlanta and knowing a lot of people at Emory, I can tell you that Emory is primarily a rich (and expensive), white school. Many of the students there are from the same high schools in very selective areas of Georgia. On the other hand, the reputation is great, and the campus is beautiful and very safe.
Peacemaker, it sounds like you daughter will get in--the soccer is huge and definately works in her favor; I really think she has a great shot at getting in with her APs and GPA, and Emory doesn't have a ton of kids from your region of the US.
Goodluck all!</p>

8

<p>i don't know if i agree with your assessment of emory. "white" would not be a good way to describe a school that is one of the most diverse in the country (i think in the top 3). also, due to emory's large endowment, there are less "rich" people at the school than you would think. emory scholars and the large financial aid draw a lot of middle class and poorer students. also, the only major atlanta high schools that i have heard of that have populations at emory are the inner city urban schools like grady, southside, (with only a few from schools like westminster and pace).</p>

9

<p>Peacemaker - sorry I did not respond sooner. I am busy with a new puppy (I know, I know, trying to replace my son?)
Anyway, I think the ED will be a huge advantage. All of the people we spoke with at Emory really seemed to like my son and what he could offer (including CT residency...though they apparently are swamped with NY/Long Islanders, CT is nowhere near as well represented ...yet.) But every person we spoke with told him to apply ED - it was like they were trying to give him a hint.</p>

<p>After telling them how much he liked it and hoped he could be accepted, it did seem strange even to us that he would then tell them he wasn't applying ED. (The truth was although he LOVED Emory, he LOVED other places too, and he really didn't want to limit his options when he wasn't 100% sure which he liked better.) He came up with a good excuse - he told them that he wasn't applying ED because he wanted them to be able to judge him with his first semester senior grades which would be much better than his younger years. But that strategy didn't really work, because then they advised him to go ED II (the application for that wasn't due until January I think.) But that was still binding and so he didn't want to do that. It was a hard choice... but he always really loved Wake.</p>

<p>Anyway, in retrospect (which is always a dangerous phrase) I think maybe applying ED I or II might have gotten him a yes instead of a wait list. Who knows? But it definitely felt like that's what the admissions counselors advised.</p>

<p>Good luck to your daughter and I know you've probably heard this a zillion times, and I also know it's impossible to believe when you are going through it, but it all really does work out correctly in the end. I can't imagine my son being any happier or doing any better than he is right now!</p>

10

<p>My son has already applied to Emory, but couldn't apply ED due to financial needs - how is that judged, I wonder?</p>