I got waitlisted from Emory University. What should I do now?

Emory's admissions process is more complex than it appears, and its waitlist is more active than most applicants realize. Emory received 37,855 applications for the Class of 2029 and admitted 5,658 across all rounds, an overall acceptance rate of approximately 15%. The ED1 rate was 31%, the ED2 rate was roughly 10 to 11%, and the Regular Decision rate was significantly lower. These numbers obscure an important structural feature: Emory has two undergraduate entry points, Emory College of Arts and Sciences on the Atlanta campus and Oxford College of Emory University on the original Oxford, Georgia campus. Students can apply to one or both.

Emory's waitlist is among the most active in this series. The admissions office has turned to its waitlist in most recent years, and the numbers are substantial. For the Class of 2029, the admissions blog disclosed that Emory College anticipated enrolling approximately 95 students from the waitlist in May alone, with additional smaller waves in June. Oxford College enrolled 30 waitlist students across on-campus and London-start options. At the time of the first waitlist update, 4,042 students remained active on the Emory College waitlist. The six-year historical average is approximately 170 students admitted from the waitlist per year, with a waitlist acceptance rate averaging about 5.33%. The range is wide: 477 for the Class of 2024 (pandemic-inflated gap year requests), zero for the Class of 2022, and 21 for the Class of 2025. But in most years the list moves meaningfully, often in multiple waves.

Confirm your interest in remaining on the waitlist promptly and respond to every communication from the admissions office. Emory contacts waitlisted students via email on a case-by-case basis as spots open. If your email address is incorrect or you are not checking it regularly, you may miss an offer. Make sure your contact information is accurate and check your email daily.

Commit to another school before May 1. Emory's waitlist activity typically does not begin until early May. If Emory later admits you from the waitlist and you choose to enroll, you forfeit the deposit at the other school.

Write a letter of continued interest and upload it through your Emory applicant portal or email it to admission@emory.edu. Write up to 650 words. Make it a love letter to Emory. Not a brag sheet. Not a resume update. Not a list of other schools that admitted you. A letter that makes the reader understand exactly who you will be in the Emory community and why this specific university, with its specific structure and resources, is where you belong.

One nuance worth understanding: Emory states that demonstrated interest is not a factor in their application review process. This means they do not track campus visits or email opens as part of evaluation. But a LOCI from a waitlisted student is not demonstrated interest in the tracking sense. It is a communication of genuine intent to enroll, and it is welcomed.
Emory's identity is built on several distinctive pillars, and your letter should engage with them directly. The first and most structurally distinctive is the two-campus undergraduate system. Emory College of Arts and Sciences is a mid-sized liberal arts college embedded within a major research university on the Atlanta campus. Oxford College, located 36 miles east of Atlanta on Emory's original 1836 campus, is a small liberal arts college of approximately 1,000 first-year and sophomore students. Oxford students complete their first two years at Oxford and then continue to the Atlanta campus to finish their degrees in Emory College, the Goizueta Business School, or the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. The two campuses offer genuinely different first-year experiences: Emory College places you immediately in a research university environment adjacent to graduate and professional schools, while Oxford provides an intimate liberal arts community with small classes and intensive faculty mentorship before you transition to the larger campus. Your LOCI should be anchored in whichever campus you applied to and should articulate why that specific first-year experience appeals to you.

The second is the Atlanta setting. Emory's Atlanta campus sits in the Druid Hills neighborhood, minutes from downtown Atlanta, which is the economic and cultural capital of the American Southeast. Atlanta provides career pipelines in healthcare (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is adjacent to campus, and Emory Healthcare is one of the largest academic health systems in the country), business, technology, media, law, and public policy. The Carter Center, founded by former President Jimmy Carter, is affiliated with Emory and sits on the campus perimeter. If Atlanta-specific career, research, or cultural opportunities are part of what draws you, connect them to your specific plans rather than treating the city as a generic amenity.

The third is the research infrastructure. Emory is a top-20 research university and AAU member with over $800 million in annual sponsored research. The university's strengths in public health (the Rollins School of Public Health is ranked among the top three in the country), medicine, biomedical sciences, and law create an ecosystem where undergraduates can access opportunities that a standalone liberal arts college cannot provide. The proximity of the CDC, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, and Emory's own research hospitals creates a particularly powerful pipeline for students interested in health sciences, epidemiology, and biomedical research. If specific labs, research centers, faculty, or interdisciplinary programs draw you, name them.

The fourth is the academic culture and community. Emory enrolls approximately 7,000 undergraduates across both campuses and competes in NCAA Division III athletics as a member of the University Athletic Association. The campus culture combines academic intensity with a genuine sense of community. If the culture of a research university that feels smaller and more connected than its peers is part of your draw, say so.

The fifth is the Oxford Launch: London program. Emory now offers select students the opportunity to begin their Oxford College experience in London before arriving on the Oxford campus. For the Class of 2029, the admissions office admitted additional students from the waitlist specifically for this program. If you are open to starting your Emory journey in London, indicating interest in this program may expand the number of spots available to you.

Do not brag. Do not list your accomplishments in the body of the letter. Submit it promptly. The primacy effect matters.
After your letter is submitted, your guidance counselor should contact the admissions office to communicate that Emory is your top choice and that you will enroll if admitted. Third-party advocacy reinforces the signal that your interest is genuine. Keep your grades up. Emory is test-optional, and strong senior-year academic performance is the most reliable signal you can send that you remain a competitive candidate.