Emory University Top Questions

I love Emory. I transferred to Emory from The University of Vermont... a huge change. I really enjoyed UVM, but was looking for a place that better fit my academic interests and challenged me more. The best thing about Emory are the professors. You really get to work with incredibly-respected and accomplished individuals who care about you and are willing to go the extra mile to help you get a job, internship, etc. I think Emory's size is good - about 5,000 undergrads. The only thing I'd change about the size is that I'd decrease the amount of grad students on campus. Sometimes it's hard to know what year/status a student is. Whenever I tell people I go to this school, they are impressed. To be honest, it's a good feeling to brag that you go to Emory. It's very well-respected. You won't be disappointed with all of the resources available, like the Career Center. One of the best parts of Emory is its location. It's outside of Atlanta. If you're a city person, you'll like Emory, but there are also plenty of green spaces around. You really are in a suburb of Atlanta, so if you're expecting an NYC atmosphere, if definitely isn't like that. The negative to Emory's location is not having a car. If you don't have a car, you can hitch a ride with others, but many Emory students explore around Atlanta and surrounding areas a lot.

Though my school is highly diverse, this diversification is segregated. Majority of the people hang out with mostly people of their own ethnicity. Also, the pressure to have good grades can sometimes be overwhelming and we aren't really a sports school so there's not the same kind of school spirit for games.

Emory's best feature is the people. The student body ranges from students only concerned with what grade they receive to those who legitimately enjoy their classes, from bookworms who are always studying to people who party way too often. Despite their differences though, most people are friendly and accepting, and it's easy to make friends. The size helps make the campus close knit - even on the short walk to classes you're guaranteed to run into at least one person you know - but at the same time, is big enough to constantly be meeting new people. Atlanta is interesting as far as cities go. It has the typical attractions of big cities, from clubs and nightlife to museums and theaters, but the city is very widely spread out. It can take up to an hour to get from one area of the city to another (such as from Emory campus to the airport), and as a result, cab fare or gas money can add up for those who like to spend a lot of time off campus. Emory students have their typical hangouts near campus, and with Cliff shuttles (free transportation offered by the university) and the MARTA system (public transportation), most attractions are accessible. The campus itself is quite active, with things to do on any given night of the week. School pride is often considered non-existent at Emory, but that's only based on one definition of school pride: sports-centered. As a Division III school without a football team, most people ignore athletics. However, school events are widely attended and customs are well-loved, and most students will be willing to gush about the parts of the school they like the most. Food and housing are the most common complaints at Emory. The food is decent, and definitely edible, but gets very repetitive very quickly, and most second semester students try to find ways to avoid the main cafeterias. Housing for freshman, as of the 2010-2011 school year, will have the majority of the class living in one of the four brand new dorms, which are excellent. However, some of the older dorms remain in use for now, and upperclassmen don't have the same benefits. Juniors and seniors have the opportunity to live on Clairmont Campus, which is apartment style living with an outdoor pool, gyms, tennis courts, etc., and is considered very nice. However, Clairmont is about 15 minutes away from main campus by shuttle, and there is little housing offered on main campus past Freshman year. Sophomores have a few opportunities to live on campus, but most students have an extra 5-10 minutes added on to their walk to classes and are separated from the school by a main road.

Big Picture: Emory is great. I really, really love it here. I think coming here was the best decision I ever made. The best thing: The people I've met are really going to change the world, and inspire me. The size is also great; about 5500 undergrads but we're on a fairly small central campus area so it feels smaller. Emory's administration: The administration is great and approachable. James Wagner, our President, actually has student office hours every week so students can go and voice concerns and/or comments. On campus, where do you spend most of your time? I'm likely to be found on the quad, in the debate office, in the library (but more likely socializing than working) or in Emory Village. What's unusual? Our unofficial mascot, Dooley, is a skeleton. We have a week every spring to honor him, which culminates in Dooley's Ball (think Halloween). I think the biggest recent controversy was a big statue that went up of Dooley that cost $80,000. There was a lot of debate over whether the money should have been spent elsewhere.

Oxford College of Emory is wonderful. The town is small and there's not much to do after 10pm, but you'll never find a better atmosphere. The classes are small (no impersonal auditoriums with hundreds of other students) and the other students are friendly and interesting.

Emory is a great size (approx. 5000 undergrads). You can walk around campus and not know everyone, but still within a few minutes you are bound to say hi to someone to whom you are friendly. The class sizes are really nice. As a chemistry major, I have experienced the large lectures, but the teachers make them seem intimate. Office hours are a great way to meet your professor and develop a relationship. Emory has some issues with school spirit, namely that it doesn't have any. But several groups on campus have focused particularly on this problem in order to make Emory more alive. Housing is kind of a crap shoot. There are really AMAZING dorms, but there are also really old, out-dated dorms. However, Emory is in the process of building a whole new freshmen quad (to be completed in Fall 2008), so that all Freshmen can live in a central location. They will be tearing down most of the old buildings in the next few years as these new buildings are completed. Emory is close enough to the Atlanta to get there on the weekends, but far enough away that you feel safe walking through the campus at night. There are rarely incidents that make students feel uncomfortable on campus. Emory has a big reputation down south for being a great school, but it also tends to have the reputation of being "country club"-esque. We have top notch tennis and swimming teams, our landscaping is perfectly manicured, and many of our students fall into the "prep" category.

The school is just the right size, its big enough for the students to engage in hundreds of activities with many, many different professors and faculty, but at the same time it is small enough for the students to know most people in their classes and make friends with many people on campus. Atlanta is not necessarily a college town, but the area around the Emory campus really caters to college students. There are many restaurants in the area that serve a variety of cuisines that Emory students enjoy. Most of these are very inexpensive, and this helps students stay on a college budget. We are also very close to Lenox Mall, Little Five Points, Georgia Tech, and the airport, which are all very big places in the Atlanta area. This helps students get to experience life off campus as well.

Size is just right. A place where a person can get a liberal arts eduction, though not as emphasized: lots here for pre-med, pre-business, professions-orientated, etc. There are unfortunately required "graduation education requirements" which detract from the liberal arts education, because while it is a type of core...it is highly imbalanced and impedes a person from truly learning for the sake of learning (University of Chicago has a much better traditional core as opposed to Emory's more modern politcally correct one). You can only double major, but I have joined two majors together and have another independent major, so technically, you can triple. If you wish to skip grad. req., come to Emory with a lot of AP credit courses. You are restricted your first semester to 4 main course (+ 3-4 minor 1/2-credit classes), though after the first semester, you can take 5 main courses. Changes...the destruction of a poor core cirriculum. If you don't have a lot of APs, prepare to be jaded with forced courses that are more geared towards modern fluff as opposed to the true liberal arts (history, music, latin, greek, physics etc.). Instead a person must delve into fields that, while interesting, detract from the traditional liberal arts (seminars on economics, political science, public health, etc.) which take away from your ability to take other courses. Instead of learning for the sake of learning, these compelled seemed to be required for the sake of adapting to a more globalized...though while important, is not the purpose of a liberal arts education. People are friendly at Emory and it is very easy to find social outlets and make friends. People hang out everywhere from downtown (only 8-10 minutes away) to a nice communal area on campus. Opinions about administration are mixed...some are very helpful, others are not. Though if you have attended public school it is drastically better (you are forking over $50k/year anyways...). The biggest flaw about administration is that even though they are large, they are still very busy and sometimes seem fatigued. There's school spirit, but not sure how great it is. Complaints are failure to get required or popular classes, poor housing assignments, wireless internet outages, continual increase in tuition yet scholarship amount remains the same, politics involved in the required course (ie...a sociology teacher will support so-and-so's course if that other person supports his/hers), and cafeteria food is decent but not the best.

I like the small size of the school. I don't think Emory is for the student that just wants to blend in. By the end of freshman year, you can go outside and see at least 10 people that you know fairly well or have had class with.

Absolutely fantastic. I love my classes, my professors, my fellow students, everything. It is a beautiful campus in a little suburb right outside of a major city, so there is lots to do without feeling overwhelmed. Emory has incredible resources that, I think, are under-utilized. Everyone is very helpful and kind. I feel at home here.