Emerson College Top Questions

I'm only a freshman so my classes have been requirements but they're still pretty awesome. Don't let people tell you that speech sucks because it's the best class I've taken so far and I'm a writer, I don't want to give speeches but you learn a lot about how you present yourself and how you interact with others.

A bit one-sided, similiar to what I said above. Even the gen eds usually cater to particular interests related to a major (for example, a lot of gen eds have to do with film, and a lot of film majors take them, a lot of electives have to do with theater, so a lot of theater majors take them, etc.) If you want to really branch out, probably not an ideal school, but the coursework itself is challenging.

Most students have real relationships with their professors, and it's very rare to get in a class when they don't know your name, let alone your personal life. Most of my teachers know who I'm dating, who my friends our, and a decent amount about my working style and personality. I've talked with Emerson professors on their home phone, sent emails, met with them in their office, talked about personal things, stayed after class, when to breakfast, coffee, and lunch with them...and even seen them at cast parties and special events. The acting professors are pretty personal. I can't speak for others, other than they always knew my name. I only had one who didn't. In my four years here. Students are often artistically competitive and can be either passive aggressive or aggressive about it. It's not about grades. It's about ideas, and who has better ones. It's about talent and who has more of it in order to "make it." Things become a little bit political for that reason...bu that pressure forces you to work harder to do better. Be sure to meet with the advising center, if you're a BFA major. BFAs get faculty advisors who know nothing about working with credits to graduate. They guide your career, not plans to graduating. Emerson thinks that's the same thing apparently. The teaching here seems to be geared toward getting a job, and getting a good one, if you play your cards right. Students don't study so much here....they work on their projects... for EVER. Projects here are big and important, and students don't mess around. They put in hours, in addition to their extra-curriculars and personal life.

The professors at Emerson are fantastic. For the lower level courses, some of them are a bit iffy, but the professors that teach your major classes love the field and know what they're talking about. Most of them are still involved in the current buisiness and can get you on the right track for a career. I would say that most of the classes are easy as long as you give them the time they deserve, as is true with any school. Because we're a small school, we have a strict attendance policy, so make sure you can get up for your 8am every day before you register for one. I've taken several unique classes at Emerson - the best so far was one titled "Life and Death - the Science and Psychology of Survival." We discussed what it takes to survive when you're stranded out at sea or in the desert, and it was a great experience!

I've been in classes of ten students, less than twenty is the usual average. Teachers not only know your name, but your interests and personality. The absolute biggest class anyone at Emerson will ever have is forty-five students. For a school central in the city, this is amazing. Sadly the languages program is severely lacking, and often there aren't enough sessions of a class for the number of students who want/need to take it. Gen-eds for this school are extremely lax, I think the school wants you to spend as much time learning about the subjects you care about as possible.

Professors are okay.

Some profs dont care who you are, especially in freshman gen eds. But as early as your sophomore year you can make some GREAT relationships and even better business connections with some of your professors. None of the classes get too big which is awesome. biggest ive been in was abt 60. and that was only once. discussions are always fun, can get too liberal sometimes but thats emerson. students arent really competitive that ive ever noticed, everyone kinda jus makes sure they get done what they need to get done. if you want, spending time with teachers outside of class is very possible and usually easy. making relationships with your professors is key, and not just for your grade. i feel like emerson charges too much money for the majority of classes(some feel like high school) but alot of classes after gen eds dont require much work until finals or midterms. emerson is very much so geared towards getting a job but the professors LOVE to talk about things just to know them if you ask them.

My largest class ever was 45, but most of my classes are 12-20 people. I've only had a couple of teachers not know my name. Small classes are great. Classes do a great job of preparing us for our jobs because most professors have worked in the industry.

Professors are INCREDIBLE! Best professors in the world, however administration needs to prioritize where it spends it's money and buy more studios and equipment to accomodate the over whelming need for much more hands on work. Does not provide the best transition skills wise to a job. However, the Emerson connection in the media world is a big plus.

Gen. Ed. classes are kind of a joke, but we come here for the media production classes anyway.

Most of the classes are small, which is nice if you like the teacher to know who you are and if you like making friends in class. The General Education requirements, or "perspectives," can be a hassle especially since most kids know what they want to do and don't care about taking history or science if they want to make films. However, the professors teaching these classes tend to know their audience. 8AM classes are also terrible, and if you get out of here without one, you're lucky. I've only been in one class where the teacher didn't know my name and/or face, which is really good for grading. I've been told we have the least number of classroom hours required for a private college, which means they have a pretty strict attendance policy, but we do start late and get out early in the school year.

The political communication department is really available. I am really close with several professors after only a few months at the school, and they do a lot to help you get involved on campus. Its the kind of comfort where I can sit on the floor of my professors office, researching a project, and another professor will come in an say hello to me. The general education classes are really pathetic. If you can take them elsewhere do so, they are not worth the money. Most classes are small(15-20), though I am mostly in major classes which you will almost definately not experience as a freshman, and the gen-eds are typically bigger(maybe 30-40). Because of this there is a lot of class participation typically. One thing that I think is a positive thing about Emerson is that most students are passionate about their major, they know what they want to do, which can be intimidating, but also encouraging. It really depends on your major on how competitive the atmosphere is. There is a lot of competition for actors, musical theater, film, but a multitude of oppornities for Political Comm majors.

Academics at Emerson are very different than at a large University and this is due to the size of classes. I have never had a class with more than 50 people in it and due to this almost all of my professors know and remember my name. Also Emerson is extremely unique in terms of classes offered.

Academics at Emerson are taken quite seriously. Since the majority of the classes are small (under 20 students per class), you create a relationship with your professors. They are always available to meet outside of class and some will even meet you at Starbucks, rather than the library, if you prefer. Students always participate in class, because most of the classes are discussion based.

I've seen my professors outside of class no more than a few times. I've had a few, though, I would kill to have lunch with. They are very knowledgeable, and when it's on a topic I have chosen to pursue with my lifetime, it creates a great learning environment. This is in the Writing, Literature, Publishing department. Mainly literature professors. I have had good writing professors, but also some bad ones. Some of them use my name often, others know it, one or two I know did not know my name, and a couple knew it a year later. There's often a cluster of students designated to being the ones who participate. They bring it upon themselves, and I do my best to balance being among them and being apart from them. I don't sense much competition in terms of the classroom, though that is probably different for film kids. I run into plenty of intellectual conversations outside of class, though I only am participating in so many. There are probably more conversations about South Park. The most unique class I took was either Oral Presentation of Literature, or Epic Genres: Reniassance to Modern, where we began at Homer, Virgil, and Dante, went through Milton and Pound, and ended at Phillip Pullman. One giant epic poem per week. And I got a very nice sense of the big picture from it. They could loosen up on the general education requirements. I didn't benefit as much from having both an expository writing class and a research writing class, though in their defense I was turned off from their purpose to the point of applying myself only so much. Mostly every program is geared toward being a filmmaker or a musical theater performer or a magazine editor or a marketing consultant. But that's what we signed up for.

One thing I was worried about, from a few reviews I had read about online, was that Emerson professors were stand off-ish and removed from their students. In all of my classes, however, I've had professors who know my name, remember details I've shared about myself in previous classes or personal introductions at the beginning of the year, and who are very willing to help with a project, answer questions, and advise their students. I am a marketing major, with an emphasis on Public Relations, and so far those classes have been the ordinary introduction to how a business works that all students should be familiar with. Although these introductory classes are not alway challenging, they ensure that all students have the basic, common knowledge necessary to take the more specified higher lever courses. The professors in the Marketing Department are all very skilled and experienced. They have worked in business and applied the principles they teach in class to their own professional lives. Everything at Emerson, within the major departments, is about being practical. What will we need to know to do the jobs we want after college? How does all this theory actually apply to the real world? What can we, both as students and human beings, help to use our education to create a better world?

About half the professors I have had knew my name. Luckily the professors who taught classes involved with my major knew my name because those classes are smaller. My favorite classes have been the creative writing workshops and modern art history class. Least favorites have been history and science lectures. Every class involves class participation and it is often graded. Students constantly have intellectual conversations outside of class. I am a Writing, Literature and Publishing major. So far the only class pertaining to it has been a creative writing workshop. But next year I have more workshops, magazine writing and two literature classes.

Academics here are not your normal "academics." Here that word means your major. Mine is design/tech where I am studying to work as a scenic artsits painting sets for theater. Not your average major. So if you mean "academics" those would be considered general education requirments. Those are your math, lit., science, world languages...ect.... Those however are the joke. They are not taken seriously. People don't do the work or the readings because they know that in 4 years their need for their knowledge on statistics isn't going to be the first thing they reach for when they pick their brains.

Due to classes and projects like film and theatre work that can really help someone's reputation and career, students are extremely competitive and professional. I love my major, which is actually a makeup specialty that falls under the costume design major. My mentor/advisor is also my boss in the costume shop where I work, as well as my academic advisor and a previous professor of mine for costume design. He's very well known in the costume field and I respect him, but he is intimidating. The education here, as he stresses, is geared towards making students understand how things work in the professional world and they strive to provide that experience while we're here so we are better equipped to land a job.

Emerson's academics are fantastic if you find the right teachers. The classes are small and very intimate and as a whole the teachers are great. I have had a few experiences with unqualified professors but I think that happens everywhere you go.