Emory University

Yes. Emory is highly selective, admitting about 10.3% of applicants in the most recent cycle — roughly 3,869 offers out of more than 37,500 applications, with about 1,443 students enrolling. Admitted first-years cluster near the top of their high school class, averaging about a 3.80 GPA with middle-50% SAT scores of 1480–1540.

Enrolled first-years at Emory average about a 3.80 high school GPA, and the class skews heavily toward the top of its cohort — among the 17% who reported a class rank, roughly 76% were in the top tenth of their graduating class. There is no hard cutoff, but academic GPA and the rigor of your course load are both weighed as very important admission factors.

No — Emory is test-optional, so you can apply without submitting scores and choose whether they're considered. Among enrolled students who did submit, the middle 50% scored 1480–1540 on the SAT and 33–35 on the ACT, and standardized test scores are weighed as a very important factor when you do send them.

A 1490 is competitive but sits near the lower end of Emory's admitted range — the middle 50% of enrolled first-years scored 1480–1540 on the SAT (33–35 ACT), with a median around 1510. Because Emory is test-optional, a score at the bottom of that band is best supported by strong grades, essays, and activities, all of which are weighed heavily in the review.

Emory offers two binding Early Decision rounds (ED I and ED II), and the early pool admits at a higher rate than the overall 10.3%: about 1,049 admits from 4,728 Early Decision applications, or roughly 22%. ED is binding, so apply only if Emory is your clear first choice — the stronger admit rate reflects both demonstrated commitment and a self-selecting applicant pool.

Tuition and required fees run about $71,448 per year, with food and housing adding roughly $22,406 on top. Emory meets 100% of demonstrated financial need; about 32% of first-years receive need-based scholarship or grant aid, with an average need-based package near $68,253.

Business is the single most popular field at about 19% of degrees, followed by the biological sciences (15%) and the social sciences (13%). Mathematics and statistics, the health professions, and psychology round out the most-conferred fields, reflecting Emory's strong pre-business and pre-health pipelines.

Yes. Emory rates the application essay as an important factor in its holistic review, alongside recommendations and volunteer work, while character, talent, extracurriculars, GPA, and rigor are weighed as very important. With admission this selective and a test-optional policy in place, a specific, well-revised essay is one of the clearest places a strong applicant can stand out.

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