Senior Spotlight: Katherine Harvey '20, Emory University

May 22, 2020

As the Student Government Secretary, a member of the Model United Nations Club, and the Volunteer Club, a Léman Student Ambassador, a member of the Varsity Volleyball and Varsity Squash Team, and a full IB Diploma Candidate, Katherine Harvey is setting herself up for success in university and beyond.

Those leadership roles and activities prepared Katherine for admission to Emory University, rated #21 in National Universities by U.S. News and World Report. “I chose Emory because Atlanta is an amazing hub for bustling businesses and an endless amount of opportunities, which is perfect for my future endeavors. It’s is a liberal arts college and for the first two years I’ll be able to explore diverse classes and then focus on my major at Emory's Goizueta Business School. Roberto C. Goizueta was CEO at Coke and represents an iconic company in Atlanta,” she said. Those resources will be important to Katherine, who plans to major in business and minor in Chinese. “I have traveled all around the world and have studied Chinese for a very long time. I have been inspired by both my parents in the business world and grew up watching how successful they are. I want to combine my passion for business with learning Chinese to be able to use both in future job opportunities,” she said.

Katherine feels she’ll be prepared for Emory because of her experience as an IB Diploma candidate, “The IB program is very rigorous and has led me to gain time management skills and study skills I will use in college. I have also learned a critical way of thinking and gained research skills that will help me be successful in college classes,” she said. 

Katherine was thrilled to get accepted to Emory early decision, and she credits some of that to her college counselor, Lindsay Gottfried, “Ms. Gottfried gave me great advice on where I should apply and when I should apply to each school. She advised me on when I should apply to my top schools to give me the maximum chance of getting into that college. She recommended I apply Early Decision 2 to Emory University to increase my chances of getting accepted,” she said, “I was surprised at how challenging the applications were. I also didn’t anticipate the stress I would have in waiting to see if I got accepted and could attend my dream school.”

As a world traveler who has lived in Colorado, Shanghai and New York City, Katherine is excited to move back to Atlanta, where she was born and lived until she was 5 years old, but she’s also feeling nostalgic about Léman, “I will miss the people and community at Léman. I have spent 6 years at this school and have met many diverse people and built many friendships that will last a lifetime,” she said. 

Reflecting back on her time at Léman, Katherine has some advice for students enrolling in high school next year, “Explore and go out of your comfort zone and do things like joining a club or participating a sport you never planned on doing, and you could end up becoming passionate about new things. I would also say to focus on your schoolwork through 9th and 10th grade because you will need it to prepare and be successful in the IB program.”

Congratulations, Katherine! We know you’ll be successful at Emory and beyond!