wow, quad crawl + river run is a lot! i hear the swing + overflow housing is pretty nice and that the dining hall is excellent, so that’s very exciting 
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went poking around scoir (trying to look at something except the very tempting “view status” button for vassar…i have my brother’s login but i’m going to be patient until morning (even though he has no interest in actually attending 
)) and noticed they now have admission predictions using AI? has there been a thread about this already? i poked around the predictions it gives me (even though my outcomes are all already determined) and found them to be reasonable, if conservative, and they’ve been similar for B25 as well.
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it’s been an eventful few days! rejected at northwestern and rice, waitlisted at vassar and nyu, and most excitingly, admitted to oxford campus of emory + waitlisted for main campus! he’s visiting case tomorrow, but i would be shocked if emory is not where he ends up (unless harvard comes through tomorrow). my mom is quite pleased about the liberal arts experience at oxford, and you can’t do much better than the bio program there, so unless he visits and absolutely hates it, i have a suspicion that’s where he’ll favor!
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Congratulations, but I’m always a little confused by the Oxford/Emory relationship. My understanding is that it’s the same as a junior college and that you’re awarded an Associate’s degree after two years. Did your brother apply to Oxford or was that where Emory placed him?
Awesome! My S24 has a good friend at the Oxford campus, and it is going quite well reportedly.
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Emory has a 2+2 program where you do a couple years at Oxford and then a couple years at the main campus which leads to a four-year degree. I think you may also get an associate’s degree from Oxford.
Edi: some information for the curious:
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he applied to both and was waitlisted from emory’s main campus but admitted to the oxford program–he would spend two years on the oxford campus, earn an associate’s degree, and then finish his bachelor’s at emory proper. i believe the diploma will be from emory, etc. i think it’s similar to NEU oakland type programs?
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It’s not complicated. You start at Oxford for 2 years and then go on to Emory’s main campus. It is not like a junior college, students do not enter planning or expecting to only be in college for 2 years.
I have posted many times that one of my sons had a really excellent experience at the Oxford campus. It suited him perfectly. It will not suit everyone perfectly though, as it is very small, and very quiet.
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Is there a graduation ceremony before they go to the main campus?
There may be, but covid happened during my son’s sophomore year so everything in person was halted. It doesn’t change the fact that Oxford students don’t stop their education after Oxford, or that their eventual degree is issued by Emory.
From https://blog.emoryadmission.com/2023/08/pathways-through-emory/
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That’s good to know.
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waitlisted at harvard! we’re all thrilled!
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Congratulations! Also, my daughter was admitted off the waitlist. Please feel free to reach out by DM if you would like to discuss her post-waitlisting approach to strengthening her application.
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brainstorming for the LOCI now…he hasn’t had any new awards and the senior awards night won’t be for another two months. we can definitely emphasize interest, but i was wondering if y’all think asking one of the LOR writers to reach out to admissions and emphasize her support for his candidacy/his interest would be a good idea. she is harvard faculty in the natural/health sciences (non tenure-track though) who is also the mother of one of his close friends and the research he did was partially supervised by her, so she can speak to his strengths both academically and as a community member, friend, teammate, etc. i know generally recommender interactions with AOs aren’t necessarily a good thing, but was wondering if it could be different in this scenario as a higher-level (not time capped; can dm the specific title) but non-tenure track faculty at the school. obviously would not ask her to reach out to nyu or emory, haha.
we ended up deciding to ask her to make the advocacy call. i was wondering if i could get y’all’s advice on potentially trying to get an extra LOR to send in? he’s taking a lot of semesterly classes, so most of his senior year teachers either don’t know him well or would probably not be able to write him an especially strong letter (the one exception has already written for him).
the options are :
- (academic) the advisor of tai ji club, which he did quit this semester, who taught him calc bc in his sophomore year and did really like him. i get the impression he writes strong rec letters, but i’m not sure if what he would highlight is what would go the furthest distance for him. i’m not sure if it will be as strongly advocating for him as the other options’, but he’s also more objective/“qualified”
- (personal perspective) a joint LOR from his friend’s parents who are harvard grads + MDs and really like him and have talked bio with him on occasion. can write about him as a friend to their son and community member (i.e. member of a soccer team) and also about their conversations with him about bio
- i wrote him a peer letter of rec for dartmouth, but it seems like letters from a family member, even if they are current affiliates, are frowned upon. i think i could make a strong case for him, but i don’t know if they would be willing to consider my opinion?
he has gotten advice once or twice from a paid consultant who was formerly a senior AO at harvard (although 20+ years ago). he said a letter from the alumni parents would be too “harvard-forward” and would hurt his case, but i wanted to get a second opinion because to be frank, he has significantly underestimated my brother’s chances at several other schools (wasn’t sure he’d get into baylor → he got a 120k scholarship, told him to ED2 rochester → he got in RD with a small merit scholarship) and told us outright he thinks the WL was essentially throwing me/his recommender who works at the school a bone rather than anything to do with his actual application. we didn’t ask about me writing him a letter, but honestly i don’t think he likes my involvement in working with my brother and would be more critical of that suggestion because he expects it came from me (it didn’t). on the one hand, he was an AO so i feel like i should trust him, but on the other he has sometimes been way off-target and so i am wondering if it’s worth a shot.
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I lost track of the thread, but what happened with Dartmouth?
Personally, I think the advocacy call is a nice add and I would stop after that - unless there really is a significant academic update - if allowed, that should come from your brother.
There is an ongoing saying in the competitive day/boarding school community - the thicker the file the “thicker” the applicant - so I would proceed with caution with too much extra padding.
Your brother has amazing options - and you are an amazing and supportive sister.
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This one is a hard no… vs. the other options which are wishy-washy no’s. No adcom wants to hear about “conversations with him about bio”. These are busy and stressed out professionals at this time of year- ask yourself “would I want to be reading about what a good friend he is to someone’s son, the fact that he’s on a soccer team, and can have a conversation about bio with a Harvard alum?”
You have no idea who else is on the waitlist, but these kinds of letters do NOT advance someone’s candidacy.
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full rejected, but honestly it was a terrible fit and i don’t know why he applied, and we told him that haha
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Well, that’s kind of the problem with this thread: we don’t know a thing about your brother. 