No one can really tell you whether you’ll get in or not. It’s all speculation. I got ED1 into both Emory and Oxford’s Class of 2021 with a 28 ACT, though I had a 4.0 UW GPA (4.9 W) with mostly honors class and 7 AP classes. I’ll be moving in to Emory College this weekend.
-No hooks (unless you count a full-blooded Filipino who had only moved to the US from the Philippines in 2011 a hook?)
-No awards (didn’t even list NHS or valedictorian standing–which was for the better since I got bumped down to salutatorian cuz my friend who passed me took more AP classes senior year)
-No unique extra-curriculars (TA at an elementary school for 2 years, thrift store volunteer for 4 years, robotics for 3 years with minor awards that I didn’t include in my app, a 6 week internship at a state university relating to water supply, and a guitar player that played at a local music academy for four years)
-Not a first generation student (both of my parents have MDs)
-Neither of my parents are alumni
-Didn’t even take part in the interview that they offer (it’s optional)
And no, I didn’t pull the “immigrant card” and talk about the hardships I experienced in my native country and how living in the US presented me with all these opportunities. My personal statement was about milk (probably the best essay I’ve written), and the two short responses I wrote that are specific to Emory were about my favorite movie and what motivates me to learn.
Bottom line is, just apply to any school you are interested in (and you can afford); just throw in maybe one or two safeties and you’re good to go. People on this forum told me that I should consider going for test optional + my state schools over the ones (Tulane, Tufts, Emory, Vanderbilt) I wanted to apply because there was nothing unique about my application–not to mention my relatively low ACT score (I’d link you the post, but I forgot the password to my old account here)