Emory University accepted 345 Early Decision II (ED2) applicants to the Class of 2028 on Feb. 7, with Emory College of Arts and Sciences (ECAS) admitting 267 students at a 12% acceptance rate and Oxford College admitting 139 students at an 11% acceptance rate, according to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Additionally, ECAS accepted 22 more ED2 applicants this cycle compared to last year.
In total, 2,147 prospective students applied to ECAS, which is the largest ED2 applicant pool Emory has seen, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Enrollment and Dean of Admission John Latting said. The ED2 applicant pool grew by about 2.83%, up from 2,088 applicants last year. According to Assistant Vice Provost of Emory and Dean of Enrollment Services at Oxford College Kelley Lips, 1,299 prospective students applied ED2 to Oxford. The Oxford ED2 applicant pool increased by 23% compared to 1,056 prospective students who applied last year.
This “broadly diversified” admitted class had 62 students who went to high school outside of the United States, Latting said.
Latting added that the gender identification of this year’s ED2 class is more balanced. He said that the admitted class was 51% female, which is lower than typical averages of 55% to 60%.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action affected college admissions. In both Early Decision I (ED1) and ED2 rounds, Latting said that Emory was unaware of applicants’ race and ethnicity.
Latting noted that the means of communicating with potential applicants are growing. He described social media and admissions platforms as “new frontiers” for connecting with students. In particular, Latting hopes to move from less text-based content to more interactive video content.
Sykee Truong, who is from Evans, Ga. and will join the Emory community as a member of the Oxford College Class of 2026, initially heard about Emory through college acceptance videos on social media. Her decision to apply ED2 was due to its convenience, as decisions are binding and released earlier than in the regular decision round.
“That was the main reason but also because I felt confident that this was the school I want to go to and that I didn’t want to have to wait even longer to get other decisions back,” Truong said.
This year, Emory continued its test-optional policy and did not require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores. According to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, 29% of ECAS applicants and 33% of Oxford applicants did not submit test scores. Emory will also remain test-optional for the Class of 2029, but has not settled on a long-term policy.
“We’re all hoping to arrive at a more of a standing, if not a permanent, policy position, but we just didn’t feel like we were in a position to do that quite yet,” Latting said.
Emory admitted the first members of the Class of 2028 on Dec. 1, 2023 after matching with 85 students through the QuestBridge National Match program, with 77 to begin at ECAS and eight to begin at Oxford.
Of 2,704 Early Decision I (ED1) applicants, ECAS admitted 705 students and Oxford admitted 364 students on Dec. 13, 2023, with 205 of those students being admitted to both campuses.
Latting noted that for Early Decision rounds, the admissions office faces an “interesting challenge” as they have to use “good forecasting tools” to determine whether to offer admission to students.
“In the end, it doesn’t really matter how students come into the class,” Latting said. “It’s one class for every college, so we want it to be the best it can be.”
Looking ahead, Latting anticipates that students in the upcoming Regular Decision round will stand out in terms of their academic preparation and potential inside and outside the classroom. Regular Decision applicants will receive their decisions by April 1.
“It’s going to be our strongest admitted class ever and we’ll have intense competition to enroll those students because we’re not going to be the only university that sees the excellence there,” Latting said.
Updated (3/3/2024 at 8:30 p.m.): This article was updated to include comments from Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Enrollment and Dean of Admission John Latting, Assistant Vice Provost of Emory and Dean of Enrollment Services at Oxford College Kelley Lips and admitted student Sykee Truong.
