ASG Student, Sophia Xu, Accepted to Emory University

I applied to Emory because I wanted to study engineering at a college with the close-knit community of a liberal arts college and the research opportunities of a large public university.

I visited the university during my summer vacation after my junior and really loved the atmosphere. It had a warm and inviting community and I also liked the small class sizes.

I also learned that Emory shares a 5-year joint engineering program with Georgia Tech University. It enables students to graduate with both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Engineering from Emory and Georgia Tech. This is the best part because it allows me to get the best of both worlds.

Currently, I will be attending with an undeclared major because I am not certain about my major yet. However, I am very interested in pursuing majors in Chemical Engineering and Business.

My mom works in the chemical engineering industry and shared that it would also be good to also have a business background.  However, I developed these interests from the classes that I was most passionate about in high school and from participating in a mentorship program at UC Berkeley. Through the mentoring program, I had the chance to study at the UC Berkeley School of Chemistry where I did biochemical experiments on cell culturing and analysis. I learned a lot about the field and was very impressed with the technological capabilities.

I have always liked biology and chemistry, but I always wanted to enter a field with more immediate practical applications. Chemical engineering seems like the best option presently. I plan to do further research on cells and find applications that will benefit humans. One day, I hope to become a chemical engineer

I want to especially thank Ms. Policy, my AP Biology teacher at Cardinal Mooney. AP Biology was the first AP class I took. It was so challenging. I initially wanted to drop the class after my first test, but Ms. Policy encouraged me to stay on because she felt I had the ability. It ended up being one of the best decisions I made because it helped me grow my interests in biology and the sciences. She also pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and get in touch with my American classmates.

I think the most important thing is to have the courage to reach out to American students and develop relationships with people. Students should also explore many different activities because universities are not only assessing your grades but your social interests.

I also encourage you to visit your target schools because you can only learn so much from a school’s website. Visiting will help you understand if this is really the place you want to study at and get a feel for the environment because being at the school is more than academics.

Finally, you should start your application as early as possible. Many people wait until their senior year and that is too late. The earlier you start, the more opportunities will be available. Once you find your interests, you’ll have no problems applying the time and effort to make a success of it.