<p>I am really curious, as I was waitlisted at Emory.</p>
<p>I have a 33 ACT, 4.30 W GPA, and 4.00 UW-straight As. In addition I have great recs and essays and ECs. I’ve gotten into UCLA and WashU so far…</p>
<p>Any ideas why I was waitlisted? Many people at my High school got in last year with a 4.05W and 30 ACT.</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t.</p>
<p>Must be an issue of not showing enough interest.</p>
<p>It could also be a mediocre recommendation from your GC. Universities usually compare the GC recommendations for applicants from the same school. While generally positive, not all GC recommendations are created equal and through this comparison process the colleges get an idea of who the GC really thinks has the most promise.</p>
<p>I was also waitlisted and I have similar stats. And I applied for their scholars program and attended an information session, so I don’t think it’s an interest issue. I’m not too bummed because I also got into WashU and it was my first choice so that’s where I’ll be going 
Still, I’ll always be curious why Emory didn’t want me…</p>
<p>I agree with aluminum_boat. Correlation does not equal causation. Many top applicants show absolutely no interest/very little interest in schools not in the top ~15 and are surprised when they are hit in the face with a Waitlist from a school below that threshold. Too many top applicants unjustifiably assume they deserve a spot at “safety/match schools” (which Emory is not) and scream Tuft’s syndrome (which doesn’t really apply to Emory) when they get waitlisted.</p>
<p>Emory is ranked #20. There is no such thing as an over-qualified applicant.</p>
<p>I might be biased, as I was accepted, but I really don’t feel like they do. Especially this year. I sat in for an information session and was told by the admissions officer that this year they significantly over-enrolled ED applicants (something like 50% of the class). Therefore only 50% is left for us RD applicants. I’m sure this contributed to the extraordinary amount of waitlisted and rejected applicants.</p>
<p>It really is odd if you look at these boards and see some of the same people at all the top schools. Now, if someone made a chart showing accepted and waitlisted I am positive there would be no way to determine the whys.</p>
<p>I’m seeing incredible stats waitlisted at one school and accepted into another. Then another person is accepted into the school the other was waitlisted and so on and on. </p>
<p>I think it comes down to the people reading these applications. Most of these top schools send it through at least two people and then one of the deans. Somewhere one of those three sees something in an app that they like. Maybe a kid has tons of community service, or someone has a compelling essay. We don’t know what they are seeing.</p>
<p>It isn’t always the test scores they tell us, I laughed but maybe that’s true. I think the essay and the recs are huge to some schools. I remember at Emory they told us the recs were huge in their decision. It gave them insight into kids they didn’t have the opportunity to have themselves.</p>
<p>As someone who was accepted at Emory and waitlisted at Wash U with a 2320, 34, and 4.0,</p>
<p>I think it depends on where you are from. I’m sure Emory gets a lot of apps from the Atlanta area as well as the East Coast, so students there face a little harder standards. I knew way more people that applied to Wash than to Emory from WI, so that definitely increased my chances.</p>
<p>i think it’s very strange… i have an almost-perfect GPA and 2300 SAT. we’re not ranked, but i’m sure i’m up there because of straight A’s. i visited campus, attended an info session, participated in an interview, attended two presentations that admissions representatives gave at my school, and even met with them at the college fair. and i wasn’t even waitlisted. straight-up rejected. but maybe it is the abundance of apps from the east coast. darn.</p>
<p>Also, depending on past statistics is a slippery slope. I thought I had a pretty good shot at UChicago, then applications went up 42%</p>
<p>I don’t think so… I know too many kids accepted to Emory who also have a long list of acceptances to the most selective schools.</p>
<p>emory has to waitlist overqualified people…i got a likely letter from cornell engineering and got waitlisted lmao. emory has been infamous for having tufts syndrome in the past as well-according to guidance counselors and other people i know and their acceptances from last year. lol.</p>
<p>I was wondering the same thing. I have basically the same stats as the OP. Someone else from my school did get in but I have a higher rank, test scores, and overall grades. Plus I have some really good extracurriculars. I know my guidance counselor and teachers gave me pretty good recs because they showed them to me. I’ve visited emory as well. It was just an unpleasant surprise to see waitlist :(</p>
<p>To everyone: Thanks for all of your responses. However, I still have a similar theory: They waitlist well-qualified kids who don’t show a lot of interest. I attended the meeting at my high school, but did not put a lot of work into my “why Emory essay”.</p>
<p>To takashisaito: I am from Southern California, where I was told it’s a big advantage to apply to Emory from. I am one of few who applied from a very large high school. Out of 30 applicants in the past four years, I have been the highest GPA/Test score. Nevertheless, I was waitlisted, while around 50% of the other applicants from my school were accepted in previous years.</p>
<p>I have to say a combination of high stats and low interest is definitely looked down upon by Emory, and very likely why I was waitlisted.</p>
<p>I also got wait-listed at Emory… but got into their Oxford college… weird.</p>
<p>I also sat through an informational meeting at school where they said expressing interest was a factor. </p>
<p>With that said, I’m not really surprised because I really didn’t want to go to Emory due to its location and applied just because it seemed to be a good school. I didn’t do the optional essay, copy-pasted my essays from other schools into my Emory app, and really just BSed my app the day of–not to mention the fact that there was a communication error and they asked me to re-send my transcripts and I didn’t have my counselor clear up the situation until weeks later.</p>
<p>With that being said, I really wouldn’t be surprised if Emory waitlisted these types of applicants (high stats + low interest) in order to protect their yield rate. Nothing really wrong with that because as you can probably tell, I really didn’t care that I got wait-listed. I’d rather that I get wait-listed and someone else who wanted to go got in than me get in and not go while someone else who really wants to go is denied.</p>
<p>Btw, my stats are:
2270 SAT
4.23 GPA
760 chem, 720 bio-m, 710 math 2c
7 APs including senior year</p>
<p>I think it’s ridiculously hilarious that some of you guys pull the “I didn’t wanna go here, anyway”.</p>
<p>I’m not saying you’re lying… But obviously the admissions officers saw that you didn’t wanna be here. And if you don’t want to be here, we don’t want you here. </p>
<p>Simple as that. You didn’t get rejected because you were overqualified. You got rejected because you didn’t want to come.</p>
<p>And, yes, that leads to a better yield. But the yield rate is a result of us accepting people who want to come. Not a result of us accepting dumb kids who couldn’t get into anywhere else.</p>
<p>We’re not a safety school. As some people seem to be thinking lately. To the best of our ability, we take the people who show genuine interest AND fit our academic demands.</p>
<p>And maybe they didn’t take you 3.9-4.0 kids because the others who had come from your school in previous years hadn’t been able to handle the coursework… For whatever reason. And so the office thinks your school has ridiculous grade inflation. Once again, that’s a guess. All I’m saying is there are a million reasons you might not get in. And feeling you were overqualified for an elite level school is probably the most arrogant one possible.</p>
<p>ndude154- That wasn’t directed at you, by the way. just a general rant at the sentiment I’m seeing in the boards tonight. I think you said yourself that you didn’t put much work into your essay. But I wish you luck with school! You have terrific choices already. (I might’vegone to WashU if I had liked the city of St. Louis, and same for my old roommate at Emory. It’s a pretty cool school.).</p>
<p>Emory does waitlist some overqualified applicants in my opinion (after all, it’s safety school or ivy-reject school for lots of qualified students). Emory wants to get overqualified students who didn’t get into any ivy or their peer schools such as duke chicago top3 lac etc and also want to protect their yield. . but act 33 (and 4.0 gpa… so what’s your rank?) is not considered as “overqualified”. you just didn’t qualify for it. But even if you are one of the “overqualified students”, if you BS your why emory essay, they will probably waitlist or reject your application</p>
<p>It’s not a safety school.</p>
<p>Maybe an ivy-reject school. I know of plenty of ivy rejects (and ivy admits). It’s probably split 70/30 here… Lots of people pass up on Cornell and Dartmouth. Not many people pass up on the others. But to be honest, every school is an ivy reject school other than 4 or 5.</p>
<p>Which school is better for Biology/Pre-Med, Emory or Tulane?</p>