Emory University

emory.md

Emory University

Admissions (Class of 2029 / Fall 2025)

• Total applicants: 33,500
• Overall acceptance rate: 10.3%
• Early round: Early Decision — 20.0% vs 7.5% RD
• Class size: 1,400
• Yield: 25%

Academics

• SAT middle 50%: 1480–1540
• ACT middle 50%: 33–35
• Avg unweighted GPA: 3.88
• Top 10% of HS class: 90%
• Testing policy: Test-optional

Demographics

• Women: 56.5%, Asian: 15.4%, Black: 10.0%, Hispanic: 5.9%, White: 44.9%, International: 16.0%

Financial Aid / Net Cost

Athletics

NCAA Division III — no athletic scholarships.

Notable

Strong pre-med with Emory Hospital adjacent. Two campuses: Emory College (Atlanta) and Oxford College. Low yield (25%) — used as safety/backup.

Community Insights (Reddit/Forums)

Admissions Strategy

• ED I is strongly favored: 31% ED I vs 10% ED II vs ~7% RD. Emory fills ~60% of its class through ED rounds. Forum consensus: "ED I is basically required if Emory is a top choice."
• ED II acceptance rate (10%) is barely better than RD — forums warn against treating ED II as a meaningful boost.
• Emory is among the schools most commonly accused of yield protection on forums (alongside Tufts, WashU, Northeastern). With only 25% yield, it's heavily used as a backup by Ivy applicants.
• Does NOT consider demonstrated interest per CDS — but ED commitment is the de facto interest signal.
• College Confidential thread documents past controversy: Emory admitted to reporting accepted students' stats rather than enrolled students' stats in 2012, inflating published score ranges.

Campus Culture & Fit

• Strong pre-med reputation due to Emory Hospital adjacency. Pre-med culture is intense and widely discussed on forums.
• Two campuses: Emory College (Atlanta) and Oxford College (Oxford, GA — smaller, liberal-arts-focused first two years). Oxford admits sometimes feel "second-tier" per forum discussions.
• CC thread "Several Concerns About Emory" raised: low med school acceptance rate (54% vs 86% at Bowdoin), high freshman transfer-out rate, and low yield as evidence students view Emory as backup.
• Atlanta location praised for internship access, food scene, and affordability. Druid Hills campus is suburban and self-contained.
• D3 athletics mean limited sports culture. Greek life is moderate but present.

Financial Aid Reputation

• Meets 100% of demonstrated need, but net cost data shows it's less generous than top peers: $14.6K for families under $30K (vs $4–8K at HYPSM/Vandy/Rice).
• No merit scholarships tied to general admissions. Emory Scholars Program is highly competitive (separate application).
• Forums describe aid as "adequate but not generous" — middle-income families face high net costs.

Simulation-Relevant Takeaways

• Model ED I multiplier as very high (~4.4x based on 31% vs 7% RD). ED II provides minimal advantage over RD.
• Very low yield (25%) is the strongest indicator of yield protection behavior — model should significantly penalize overqualified RD applicants.
• Heavy pre-med self-selection creates distinct applicant profile. Oxford College pathway creates a two-tier perception.

Sources

• Emory University Common Data Set 2024–2025
• research_colleges.json simulation data
• College Confidential: Several Concerns About Emory (talk.collegeconfidential.com)
• College Confidential: Emory ED for Fall 2025 (talk.collegeconfidential.com)
• Emory Admissions Blog: To ED or Not to ED (blog.emoryadmission.com, Sep 2025)
• AdmissionSight: Yield Protection — Why Colleges Reject Overqualified Students
• Wikipedia: Yield protection — Emory cited as frequent example