Inside Emory Admission

Greetings from a hectic Admission office. We hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday. After the much needed (yet still too short) holiday break, the Admission staff is back to the grind. The Counseling team has begun committee discussion of our Early Decision I applicant pool,  the Operations team continues to process a record number of application materials, and the Communications team prepares for ED1 notification release. It is never a dull moment in the world of admission this time of year.

Since we know those of you who applied Early Decision are eager to learn any new information, we thought we would share with you an internal report on the status of the Early Decision application pool for Emory and Oxford Colleges. Check back over the next two weeks for further updates including details on how the release of ED1 notifications will work.

December 4, 2013 — The admission cycle for the class of 2018 is off to a solid start for both of Emory University’s undergraduate colleges: Emory College of Arts and Sciences and Oxford College. Emory College has received 1,151 Early Decision applicants for Fall 2014 admittance, a 20% uptick since last year’s admission cycle. Oxford College’s 363 Early Decision applicants is also a record total, a 36% increase over last year’s numbers.

Early Decision application numbers for Emory College continue a significant rise over the past three years. The 20% gain this year is on the heels of 10% and 23% increases over the previous two admission cycles. Increases are seen in predictable markets, like New York and Georgia, while western and northeastern states like California and Massachusetts, both geographic areas of focus, boast increases of 31% and 36% respectively. Another significant area of increase in this years ED applicant pool is from international students, a robust 41% increase.

The 36% increase in the Oxford College Early Decision applicant pool is even more significant in that this is just the third year that Oxford has offered an early option for applicants. The rise from 159 ED applicants in 2011, 266 ED applicants in 2012, and 363 ED applicants this year, reaffirms that more applicants are excited about the Oxford College experience as their entry point into Emory. This year there are increases in the Southwestern applicant pool for Oxford as well as targeted geographic areas like New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

“Our multi-faceted recruitment efforts are working,” says Director of Communications Daniel Creasy of this year’s gains in the Early Decision applicant pool. “In the last year we have refined our off-campus recruitment efforts coupled with a redirection of our messaging about the distinct qualities of both an Emory College and Oxford College undergraduate education. More prospective students are visiting our campuses and engaging with our communities, and we are providing stronger resources to assist these students in making informed decisions about their educational futures, especially our new Admission website. And the results are clear; more applicants are  stating clearly their preference for Emory and Oxford.”

A further snapshot of the Early Decision I applicant pool for Emory College and Oxford College as of the end of November:

Assistant Vice Provost and Emory College Dean of Admission John Latting is also encouraged by these results, saying, “Early decision is an application that allows a student to raise his hand, figuratively speaking, and tell us, ‘I’ve done my research and I’ve thought about my college decision, and Emory is my clear first choice. It’s a chance to get your hat in the ring early.”

Early Decision notifications will be released by December 15.  Both Emory College and Oxford College offer a second Early Decision round with a January 1, 2014 deadline. Early indicators show application increases for Early Decision II as well as Regular Decision which has a January 15, 2014 deadline. In addition, applications to the Emory University Scholars Program are up significantly. Following trends of the previous years, we are proud to say there continues to be increased interest across the globe in Emory College and Oxford College.