Increase chances at Emory (sophomore)

bernie12
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 02:57:42 +0000

@needtosucceed27 : I think the problem with the ECs is “being in some clubs” for the RD (yes, I believe they will be applying RD) round is just dull even for a polysci major. Also, this person is confused (as indicated by other threads) and thinks they have little use for math in political science. Not so at Emory which is really research heavy and has aligned its curriculum with the research goals of the department. You must take an actual statistical inference class plus an additional methods course where you use the analysis techniques. The way this person describes political science majors makes it seem as if they are thinking it is a joke major requiring very little analytical rigor when, especially at an elite school, they tend to focus on the way the field is studied and various empirical methods that are quantitative in nature. And from an admissions standpoint. Emory has a huge debate and model UN pull and can easily get students who are already deeply engaged and do well at areas congruent with political science. Many of these candidates may stick out better than someone who has a very rosy idea of what political science is like at the university level. I know many end up disappointed with history study because they loved how in high school it focused primarily on knowing “things” (like factoids and details you need to know for Jeopardy or quizbowl tournaments) whereas a good university will focus more on big ideas, overlap with philosophy, and research in the field, so more process than details. A person who likes learning historical details without a context or without having to explore different interpretations and implications of historical events may not like university level history.

I digress. I do think Emory already receives many applicants that stand out even they “only” claim to be interested in political science. Some have done what I said above, done research or a deep academic project in a similar area, or even helped with political campaigns or causes. If they can do something that genuinely shows an interest in the area or some other social science, it could help.

Oh and I never knew the percentile of a 1450 lol. Thanks. Kind of lends itself to the ideas I already have…that stats whoring schools are really just cherry picking for diminished returns (especially if they aren’t selecting spiky students). In a truly rigorous academic environment, it should be difficult to distinguish between students at (or even somewhat below) or above that level, so they cannot be doing it for academic reasons (unless the academics are easier than they would like to admit). The only thing that should be separating students in such ranges are academic work ethic (something many high achieving HS students develop less than we’d like to think) and previous exposure to whatever subject they are taking course work in.