Any regrets or are you happy?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
1

<p>I think the name says it all:</p>

<p>I applied EDII and I was accepted (Thank the Lord ^^)
But everytime I read posts of current students at Emory, It doesn't seem like they are really passionate about their schools.
I heard some were not happy there, and that some consider transferring every school year. :P
At first, I thought it was because of the lack of DI football.
But now, I'm just really curious!</p>

<p>I don't mean to be SHALLOW at all.
But are you genuinely happy that you were accepted EDI/EDII or do you regret not applying to a "higher" ranked school or a school with great sports tradition?</p>

<p>*Sorry for sounding so shallow, but just gauging the mentality of the Class of 2015! :DD</p>

2

<p>I was actually wondering the same thing, as I too have noticed Emory students are critical of the school, on here and other places, like Emory Wheel Newspaper. But after some thought, I think it was just competitive students wanting the best for/from their school. I would assume a lot of us who are accepted can be critical of our performance, and the performance of our team/community, and are always striving to improve. That’s just my theory, but I’d love to hear input from a current student.</p>

3

<p>Between freshmen and sophomore year, about 4% transfer (which actually isn’t horrible). Like any top school, some will a) be disappointed or b) not feel as if they fit in or c) worry about finances (these schools do cost too much, and it’s difficult to feel out its worth as a freshmen because you’re in intro. courses and etc.). You just see less transfer from say Harvard or Stanford b/c well they are “Harvard” and “Stanford”. Even if one is unhappy, they just decide to stick it out. Either way, on this board, you’ll generally find those on the extremes, people like me who love the school despite its issues (luckily I’ve made the academics/intellectual scene work for me) or people who have come to hate it for whatever reasons. Every now and then you’ll see some neutral/people in the middle.</p>

<p>Unfortunately most people who absolutely hate it here simply don’t fit in or are perhaps not really here for academics. They chose it because it is a top 20 and they couldn’t get into or afford the rest (as opposed to coming merely because top 20 indicates that it is actually good. The number for them just functions as the first part of a resume builder). Many are generally disappointed with the lack of D-1 sports and school spirit. This is fine, but to be so disappointed to the point of hating the school indicates that such a person was not really here for a good education. They simply wanted “Emory/X prestigious school” on the diploma, a good GPA, and a great social life. The teaching quality or intellectual atmosphere matters less to such people. Whoever isn’t coming to Emory for academics is asking to be disappointed. You simply won’t find an overwhelming school spirit in the traditional sense. And for those that are here for academics and claim that there are no outlets for intellectual curiosity, they lie. There are so many events that it’s ridiculous, and there are many classes/professors that you can choose so that you are intellectually stimulated. Many people that hate Emory for such reasons are really not trying at all to like it. Many come in w/preconceptions and let those dominate their experience instead of trying to build their own experience that deviate from stereotypes/preconceptions. I have been successful at doing so.</p>

<p>Issues w/Emory: It isn’t but so fun unless you simply like to party. This problem could be solved w/o adding D-1 sports. I suppose there are many cool/awesome events that occur throughout the week, but I guess it would be nice if Emory had a student center like the one at say, Georgia Tech, where we can just chill. The DUC doesn’t serve that purpose. Emory has a habit of turning potential chill spaces into academically/study oriented places. They just recently did it to an empty space in the DUC. The next issue is that Emory students seem to create a pretty annoying bandwagon effect when it comes to attending events. Even when people know that an event will be good, and they have the time, they base their decision on whether or not everyone else is going. This causes many people to miss out and then complain that there is nothing to do when in reality, they chose not to do it.<br>
Academic issue: If you come here to actually learn instead of making a grade/getting by (many students feel entitled to certain grades and profs. normally cave), you may be in the minority, and the others will drag down the quality and rigor of the courses you take unless you take them with good prof. that isn’t willing to lower standards for some whiney students. This especially is the case for Science and Math oriented courses. The best way to avoid this type of atmosphere is to choose courses correctly. If you can do that, you’ll get the best academic/intellectual experience Emory has to offer. If you fall into the trap of many students and simply choose easy courses despite teaching quality and your level of interest, don’t expect a good experience. </p>

<p>Basically, at Emory it is very easy to choose your own path. Expect mediocrity if you choose the wrong one (perhaps one based upon the “bandwagon”) or sit idly. Despite Emory’s flaws, I’d probably do it again. The problems I see here (except fun and school spirit I guess) are becoming common in higher education as a whole. Most top schools are not immune (only LACs and smaller ones like Princeton who have done very well with preserving a strong and rigorous liberal arts approach are fending off such trends a bit better than most places). If I went to a similar school, I’m pretty sure it would be really similar, except that making faculty connections would have been a lot harder for me elsewhere. For some reason, that was really easy here (I’m URM so it could have something to do with the relative diversity of the faculty/staff). </p>

<p>begood: I think you’re right. It’s actually kind of good to not pretend that the school is perfect of superior to others. Once that idea is established, it encourages complacency and stagnation. If the “administration” believes that all students are perfectly happy, things would not move forward (at least not in our favor). And as a younger institution (as in Atlanta campus), Emory always has room for improvement. As you can tell if you compare Emory now to Emory of the past, the criticism has more than likely payed off. Emory is way better off now than in the past (maybe except academics in some areas, that always pays the price when a school becomes more popular) for the most part. I would actually say it even better than when I came in (a little over 2 years ago).</p>

4

<p>how cliquey is Emory?</p>

5

<p>Internationals are more cliquey than everyone else. Overall, I would say that it is cliquey b/c many people went to the same HS somehow (especially those from up north who may have attended some private school, rather boarding or something else). However, I think the cliques are “flexible” moreso than impenetrable (except for the cliques w/Korean international students. That’s a whole nother ball game).</p>

6

<p>To answer the original question in one word: YES. I am very happy at Emory.</p>

<p>Of course, when I visit my friends at state schools, I think to myself, “this social scene or school spirit is incredible,” wishing briefly that I went to a state school. But this is honestly just the honeymoon effect of visiting a new setting. Students at state schools complain about just as many things as Emory students – they just complain about different things. There are advantages and disadvantages to every school; there is no “perfect” school. I think most of the people who complain about Emory are the “grass is always greener on the other side” type.</p>

7

<p>I can agree with that. My friend from Tech comes over sometimes is as impressed with Emory as I’m impressed with Tech. Needless to say, he still likes Tech a lot (despite his rough transition into it from another, much less rigorous, non-UGA state school). When we visit, we tend to be impressed with different aspects, mainly things that aren’t as prevalent at our respective institutions. For example, he would like the teaching and academic facilities here better whereas I like their spirit and recreational options.</p>

8

<p>I will answer from my impressions from my son ( a current sophomore). He LOVES the academic aspects of Emory. He is premed and has taken or is taking his pre req science requirements. His profs were outstanding in 3 as in seriously doubt he could have received better teaching any where (Mulford for gen chem, Weinschenk for orgo, Bing for physics) and above average for the other (Escobar for bio and to be fair, he could have taken Spell or Eisen whom he has heard are better teachers but he has felt Escobar has more than fine). His writing has improved through taking ENG 101 (topic was something to do with war short stories which he loved although he is not an English type student)and his electives have all been interesting. ALL the professors are easily accessible, interesting and truly desire for their students to succeed and learn the material. In the sciences, most of the intro courses are taught by profs whom are lecturers and their interests are more into teaching rather than research. I consider this a huge plus for any student. </p>

<p>As far as academic extracurriculars, my son is a supplemental instuctor for chem (Mulford) where he reviews problem sets with approximately 30 students every week. He has been active in research in the Liotta and Synder lab (Drug Design and Development Center which developed an HIV drug used by 85% of HIV patients in the US). He simply contacted Dr Liotta on his own, met with him several times and is now involved in independent research under his guidance. This is a common occurrence at Emory, it just requires initiative. He contacted a physician in the neurosurgery department whose specialty looked interesting and he has been shadowing this physician once a week. </p>

<p>I cannot emphasize enough, Emory will not hold your hand and spoon feed you, but all the opportunities ANYONE could want or dream of are awaiting them if the student will just take the smallest amount of initiative. Emory has been much more than he could ever have dreamed of academically, and he is extremely happy he chose to attend Emory.</p>

<p>Socially, it is not a large state school. The academics are quite challenging (depending upon if you take an excellent prof or an easier prof which are usually quite different), and thus the student body is quite different from a state school. Most people party (as in 99%) but academics are still the main priority for most students, especially the preprofessionals. My son feels there is a paucity of non-partying students, and this can make the weekends semi-boring for non-partiers, but I suspect this is the case at nearly every university in the US. At least there is always plenty to do in Atlanta.</p>

<p>He would definately choose Emory again. You have made a great choice in Emory as your future college. The sky is the limit!</p>

9

<p>Sweet, didn’t know they got into Liotta’s lab (I now SI for his class which could be so much better and rigorous if he had time for it and perhaps a little more faith in the students taking it). I thought about doing it (I’m really, really into drug design, and Jose Soria was going to help me get in, but I changed my mind), but then got set up w/a couple of independent projects having to do with it. Also, agreement w/English intro. courses. They are least likely to play w/the grades. In most cases, you will actually find out where your weak points are so you won’t leave thinking you are still the perfect writer that an HS class would have led to believe you are.</p>

10

<p>what do you mean by “they are less likely to play w/the grades” for the intro english? it is hard to get an A? is the final exams really hard?</p>

11

<p>There are no exams in most of the English( especially intro.) classes, there are only papers (perhaps several short essays of about 5-8 pages and one research paper on the course topic). And yes, most of those teaching intros. will not give you a solid A, you have to legit earn it These people, generally post-docs are generally really good teachers and are very passionate about the topic of literature they chose to teach. They are willing to put in the time to make you successful, so they expect you to use it and do it right. Most upper/moderate level profs. are perhaps excited about the topic and teach well, but don’t have enough excitement to grade for real. They rather not get stressed by whiney students’ complaints, so they tend to inflate. Post-docs are younger, and, though emphathetic, will not play games considering how much effort they put into the class, away from their research and all (and they also get payed less to be putting in that amount of time).
If you’re doing well, an A- or B+ is likely, but you’ll have to write well/work hard and put in extra effort to get a solid A from most. Those teaching the frosh writing requirement tend to be content with giving mostly B grades when upperlevels are less inclined to do so (though there will be a good share in those, nowhere near as many as in intro.) as explained. This is actually beneficial in the end. You don’t wanna leave thinking that you can write and then go to Continuing Writing Requirements and get your a** handed to you because you’re up against those majoring in the subject. Best to get a solid foundation with legit feedback. Yeah, but in general, you’ll get the least amount of grade inflation in freshmen classes. However, to benefit from the inflation in Continued Writing Requirements, you still have to do reasonably well, and normally compared w/the class. You can’t expect to write crap and get a B+/A in everyone’s class. Surprisingly, I’ve met my share of profs (and have heard of more from friends) who even grade special topics and upper-levels “for real”. Basically, even then, don’t bank on the grade inflation in “easy” classes. Just don’t slack off. In one of my special topics courses, the prof. was great, but straight up gave people C grades on papers (my friend was a victim) and did not end up inflating at the end. So if your short paper+research paper+quiz grades averaged to C-B-, that’s what you got. Basically, the inflation is not like many of the Ivy Leagues. It’s certainly present, but don’t expect a huge boost if you do crappy work and everyone else is doing at least decent (or less crappy) work.</p>

<p>Best to avoid writing as if you’re in HS, even AP. You may want to throw some of the HS writing customs (especially those in prep. for AP exams) away. You are no longer being prepared to write on predictable subjects or in a formulaic style. Creativity, argumentation, and active voice rule the day. You also aren’t being prepared for an exam(you don’t write in class, you sit there and discuss readings, and you generally formulate your own topic out of some broad theme), so you have plenty of time to write a very thought-out, well written essay. Given this, the standards are high and less predictable for the most part. Many take time to get used to this lack of predictability and formalisms (in terms of creating and tackling topics). They expect to have all of the criteria for papers spelled out to them. Essentially, they expect a very rigid essay prompt, where the kinds of approaches and issues to be covered are very limited (so that basically everyone has the same paper, but perhaps takes one or two sides). So Emory style (or any school w/a liberal arts approach to teaching/learning for that matter) courses can be a very rude awakening for some that just want the teacher to tell them exactly how they “can get an A” as opposed to writing well. For some, the writing center will be a friend.</p>

12

<p>which intro teachers would you recommend to take and which would you recommend to avoid?</p>

13

<p>What? For English? As said, these are post-docs. They change them every semester. They are all pretty good from what I hear (mines was and my friends gave pretty good reviews for the ones they had), just none were extremely easy. When you choose your freshmen writing requirement, choose based upon the topic of the course (they aren’t just general writing courses where everyone reads the same books, each section has a different topic of history/literature). For example, I chose TransAtlantic Romantism. Just choose something that may interest you and it shouldn’t go wrong.</p>

14

<p>To be honest, I’m a little put off by the condescending undertone in what bernie12 wrote. There IS a portion of people at any college who aren’t genuinely happy with their undergraduate experience, and to put it down simply as them being losers with no friends or spoiled brats who can’t adjust to college life is ignorant and insensitive.</p>

<p>As much as Emory tries to boast its diversity, that’s simply not true. Emory is an incredibly homogenous environment. Everyone is either white or Asian. Everyone dresses the same way, talks the same way, goes to the same places to hang out. There’s a lot of pressure to act mainstream, and if you stick your head out by being different, you make other people nervous, and you’re left in isolation. One of my friends, a girl, got a pixie cut last year because she was studying abroad in Europe and fell in love with the way it looked on many European girls, and after coming back, she reported being treated much differently by both friends and strangers at school, many of them immediately perceiving her to be a lesbian or just plain “weird”. I don’t know how valid her claim is, since I can’t read other people’s minds, but I can envision it happening at a place like Emory, where the norm for a girl is long brown hair + north face + leggings + uggs + a cup of starbucks.</p>

15

<p>My bad, sorry about that. There are indeed always those who are/will be disappointed for reasons rather difficult to understand (very personal). I apologize for that. In fact, I have even said the same thing as you in the past. I’m just going off of what I see at Emory. It seems that many people don’t like the school for what I generally consider trivial reasons, not simply because “it isn’t a good fit or they don’t fit in as well as they thought” (I certainly have had this issue and still do to some extent) or “I just feel depressed”. It’s often, I don’t like it because “I’m spoiled” and “all of these other top schools have X, Y, and Z”. That’s just what I see here too often. These whiners seem to be the most vocal/well-heard and are perhaps too influential on the sense of school pride that others would otherwise have (some students even go out of their way to convince their friends that we’re way worse off than places like NU, Vandy, or WashU for reasons such as: “the girls are so much hotter”). Essentially, I notice students simply not liking Emory b/c it isn’t like something else more so than disliking or liking it for what it is. It is always in comparison w/some other school (often top school at that), and that’s what puts me off. It would be nice if people recognized intrinsic/absolute weaknesses/strengths as opposed to relative weakness. Meaningful critique could lead to some strides in the right direction. For example, if one is to make statements that X top 20 has “way better” academics, it would help to provide a comparison of work/approach to teaching/learning (all this stuff available online if they are serious) between the two that they would find beneficial to the Emory community instead of simply shouting out blanket, often uninformed statements simply b/c they may have had a bad prof./class that semester.<br>
Many people seem not to recognize that they are actually very well-off by being at Emory, and that is my concern. </p>

<p>Here, I am indeed intentionally being condescending towards those who think in the aforementioned way because the phenomenon is so darned prevalent. Maybe Emory should just get a d**mned football team. I wonder if that would actually improve things at this rate. </p>

<p>Also, I’ll agree about the diversity, but in general, higher education somewhat lacks it, especially most top private schools. Most people at very high performing schools are white and Asian and do fit certain stereotypes that you might expect from whichever top 20 (also, simply having diverse demographics does not=difference in personalities as you indicated. Emory does indeed attract certain types of students which despite color, are often very much alike). Seems as if each top 20-25 does have some sort of character which is subsequently reflected in the student body and one everyone won’t enjoy this aspect. It would be nice if students understood, that just because Emory may have been the only 1-3 top 20s they were admitted to, does not mean they have to or should come. There are plenty of non-top 20s or even public schools that could be a better fit and are indeed as good (and perhaps better in many areas) as Emory or w/e top 20.</p>

16

<p>By the way, I don’t see (or perhaps I don’t feel) this pressure. Emory seems relatively liberal. Given this, I seem to observe that there are enough people that would be considered “weird” to the point that they would not be truly alienated. But then again, I’m URM from Ga (did not grow up in pre-dominantly white or even mixed neighborhood), so perhaps I am bound to feel less of this mainstream pressure, or I simply care less about because I find many of the preferences of those in “Emory mainstream” strange to the point where I can’t see myself participating. Guess I’m saying that I really don’t understand or care for it enough to feel the pressure. My various groups (all ethnicities and no, they aren’t true cliques b/c they overlap a lot, even if I have to make them overlap) seem less affected either. In fact, most of them I suppose would fall out of this “mainstream”, but we still are “socially” (intellectually/lackthereof, not sure) integrated just fine w/the rest of Emory without actually trying. Perhaps your friend has picked up on something that I should be noticing. While Emory is small compared to state Us, it seems a bit too large for the “HS phenomenon”, though admittedly, some here do seem to aspire to have that level of conformity and or that type of atmosphere.</p>

17

<p>I am just as much in love with Emory now as I was the day I applied. Emory was my dream school, is my dream school ,and will continue to be my dream school. I am a Hispanic student from the Mid-Atlantic and I hang with a diverse crowd. I’m not much of a partier but when I feel like going out it’s always easy and I end up having a good time. The academics are undoubtedly challenging but it’s worth it and not so intense that it is unbearable. People complain about Emory, sure, but those tend to be the people who would complain regardless of where they went. Some people don’t see Emory as the fit for them and they transfer and that’s fine, but if you love Emory enough to apply ED than don’t let others opinions make you think any less of the school. There will be people who don’t agree with you and have different opinions but quite frankly no one is forcing you to interact with those people. My friends and I were just talking about this the other day- how people complain about not “fitting in.” This is college. No one fits in, because there is not one huge group to fit in to. There are so many different types of people it’s really about creating your own niche and group of friends to hang out with.</p>

18

<p>Well said Melanie! What would you say is the level of diversity at Emory? An estimate of different groups, including international students?? I want to go to a school where I am not a minority but I am not the majority either…</p>

19

<p>My daughter is a Freshman this year. I would have to say that Emory’s greatest strength is the student body. Overall, she has met many extremely nice kids from around the country. She has had the great fortune of having an international roommate and the overall diversity of the school has been a huge asset. The negative of the school is the lack of guidance for non preprofessional students, as well as the lack of non traditional majors. Emory doesn’t even have a Communications major, which in this day and age is outdated. Another huge disadvantage is the lack of openings in the more interesting classes for students as freshman and sophomores. Also, many of the intro classes are very large and the classes do not have smaller break-out sessions. Professor and TA accessibility in these classes is often limited and assessments are 2 exams that are multiple choice. Very lazy teaching and assessing methods in my opinion. </p>

<p>On the positive side, the campus is gorgeous and the living is easy. I think the school is probably best suited to preprofessional students. They seem to have the premed, business school and other type majors and teaching down pat. The path is more challenging for the student that doesn’t really know what they want to study.</p>

<p>While the kids are smart, I think that Emory could do a better job of providing guidance and some more current majors for non preprofessional students. The school seems to try by always have varying programs, but all of it should be done on a more intimate level.</p>

<p>Also, Emory is very rigid about the timing of dropping classes and changing from grades to P/F. They hardly give you the time to go to classes before making these decisions. They could definitely use more flexibility and student friendly policies such as those offered at schools such as Brown and Rice. This would be helpful especially because Emory has a huge core curriculum. </p>

<p>I think that the school has so much potential, but someone needs to bring it into the 21st century. That being said, my daughter will continue and work hard to find her academic focus.</p>

20

<p>@africana94 here is the racial breakdown for the freshman class this year
* Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander 33%

* Black/African American 9%
* 
Latino, Hispanic 6%
* 
Multiracial 3%

* Native American <1%
* 
Did not Identify 8%
</p>

<p>With that being said I think there is ample diversity. There is a large influence of international student but I have never personally felt like that made me a minority in that sense. I am a Latina and I do wish there was a larger Latino influence on campus, but that’s not something Emory specific- we’re lacking numbers in colleges all across America unfortunately. Assuming by the name you’re black and here at Emory you’ll be what you want- by no means a majority but definitely not a minority.</p>