Increase chances at Emory (sophomore)

bernie12
Sat, 13 Jan 2018 15:27:52 +0000

@ab2002 : It is a bit too early for all this to be honest, and other than “find a passion and develop it, and do the best you can academically”, there isn’t much to say. I imagine you should do whatever you think you need to do to get into Penn, which was apparently your top choice before you came on here . Why bother asking us? A lot of this is random. All I can say is that places like Emory and Penn (though Penn’s stats are higher than Emory’s, they are lower than more stats centric top tier privates) look like they have more preference for people with “spikes” or deep passion/talent in an area or two as opposed to super well-rounded students who “participate” or become president/vice president of something with ultra high stats (better to create something or do something that makes an impact or gets recognition). People who can demonstrate a passion or talent often have more predictable chances than do the latter (though there are a suite of schools that care more about stats than students with a spike) because “standard high achievers” are more common (and often seem as if they may be less receptive to the academic rigor of some schools. It is naturally better to get someone who may be excited and well developed in some academic areas as opposed to students who will view them more like a chore. The returns from someone with some type of passion are usually bigger, even if they were not perfect test takers in HS). Good luck getting into a prestigious school. That is obvious goal. However, I would not focus too much on it as your applications may come off as seeming contrived. Just do what you have a passion, do your best academically, and apply to places that you actually like/are a good fit. No, just because a place is prestigious and has a nice campus does not mean it = a fit