Emerson College Top Questions

The classes are pretty much always small; lectures are no larger than eighty students, I'd imagine, and the rest are mainly from fifteen to forty students. You get to dive right into your major freshman year and you can get a lot of hands on experience in your first semester: all you have to do is go out there and try it. Professors are very helpful and give you detailed project critiques. I know personally I've learned a lot about how to research and write essays just from being in the Honors Program this year. Emerson makes sure that the students are well rounded and know how to present themselves orally and on paper.

Very specific and hands on. emerson is great when it comes to concentrations

I felt that I learned so much my last semester as a senior than I did my two years here. I wish that every semester was like this past semester. I know a lot of professors who have outside friendships with students here and continue to help them after graduation.

Once you get past your stupid core ed shit, its not bad. Your major classes are going to be intense but really awesome and informative, and the stupid bullshit ones are treated as such, which is nice when you have some real work to get done.

there are no academics. but there are lots of opportunities outside of classes.

Academics are fairly easy. They don't often, in my experience, require a ton of work outside of the classroom. However, despite the feeling that you're not doing any work, you do get noticeably smarter. I experienced this most in terms of my articulation. The most unique class I have taken is Science and Psychology of Survival, where we examine what happens to the mind/body in near death situations. Essentially everything at Emerson is geared towards what happens after graduation, and producing work and connections to be able to get a job right after we leave here.

Essays... what essays? Emerson generally doesn't require a lot of intensive term papers. Instead, expect to spend your time on a film shoot, or working on a stage show.

HA HA HA. RATEMYPROFESSORS. USE IT. And talk to upperclassmen. The academics are great if you do your research and find the best classes and teachers.

Professors know my name. The amount that students study really just depends on the student, but a lot of academics at Emerson relate to people's majors. So if there's a conception that we don't study, it's really just because we're working on a film or a play that's half our grade. Students are definitely competitive artistically, but I like that edge. There are complaints that the academic requirements aren't too stringent, but I think it's nice of Emerson to acknowledge that we probably suck at math and science. Personally, I've had great experiences with the gen ed requirements, with those teachers often being more competent than my film teachers because something like science or literature is easier to find a competent professor for. I've taken courses as diverse as American Sign Language, Abnormal Psychology, Acting, Post-WWII Literature, Post-WWII art, and more, many of these just for fun. I have found them all to be pretty rewarding. Certain departments, like history and science, are definitely lacking however, but sometimes you can fill that craving through things like film history, interdisciplinary classes, or psychology. This isn't a class I've taken, but I had some friends in a history of burlesque class where they got to take pole-dancing classes. The classes are fairly career-oriented, but it's pretty easy to take classes outside of your major just for fun and education.

There are a lot of workshop-style and discussion-based classes, so the quality of hte class can really depend on who you're taking it with. I've had mostly good experiences with my professors, and once you get past the entry-level required classes, the class size is small enough that you really get to know the professor and the class size. The nice thing is that the usually other students really get into the class, so you could start a conversation during a discussion and carry it on outside of class, unlike the school I transferred from, where once you leave the classroom you also leave your brain.