Anything about Emory that you wish you knew before deciding.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
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<p>“4. There is no overwhelming school spirit. Anyone who tells you otherwise is blissfully sheltered away within the JAP community or Greek community.”</p>

<p>If this is actually the case, then I find it unfortunate that Emory does not attract more students like those in the Greek system. As a member of a greek organization, I will agree that they make up the heart and soul of the traditions and undergraduate experience at Emory. It’s not so much that the greek system is the end-all-be-all of nonacademic life, it’s just that with only 36% of the undergraduate population, they make up more than 36% of the participants and leadership in most of the large nonacademic activities and groups (athletics, SGA, orientation leaders, student activities council, tour guides, college council, maybe even The Wheel). I don’t have any links for these numbers, but greeks seem to run many of these organizations and absolutely make up a large percentage of their participants. </p>

<p>Oh and on top of that, their grades are, on average, higher than non-greek students. </p>

<p>I don’t think it’s blissful unawareness; I think maybe some students bring some unnecessary negativity, which you might find less of in the greek system. It’s too bad so many perceive such a stigma associated with greeks. It’s really unfounded most of the time. Though sometimes it’s also pretty accurate.</p>

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<p>Something tells me the solution to the pride problem= D1 sports. Oh well, will never happen :(</p>

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<p>I wasn’t trying to knock on Emory’s Greeks. I’m just saying that the only people who think Emory has good school spirit are either in the JAP community or in Greek life, not that all JAPs and Greeks at Emory are “blissfully unaware”, although I admit my original comment was meant to be more cheeky than true. </p>

<p>Though your post I guess serves as another examples of the disconnect in Emory’s student body. I think a lot of very involved/Greek students (not trying to single you out btw!, I’m just talking general) tend to push the blame of Emory’s lack of spirit and unity onto the “complainers” who for some reason or other don’t get too involved with the community. </p>

<p>On the other side students complain that some of Emory’s student organizations are so run by Greeks that you HAVE to be a Greek to get in. One example would be the SPC, which generally holds the rule that you have to be in Greek life or know many Greeks to become a member. </p>

<p>In the end it’s stupid to put blame on either side, which leads to the general feeling of apathy felt by my Emory students. Which I would say is the biggest problem… Though, yes I have to agree with bernie2012 that the lack of D1 sports is another big factor :)</p>

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<p>Yeah, I’m sorry, but I think they need to let some parts of history go. The top 25 schools (according to USNW ) with such programs manage to maintain outstanding academic quality. However, I’d imagine it would be very costly to go back on the status quo mentality and establish such a program. It would be extremely difficult to defect the interest of a D1 caliber athlete with great academic credentials from the other highly ranked institutions with well-established programs. It’s a lost cause I’d imagine. I don’t know how a school would go about such a transformation of an athletic program.</p>

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<p>gkc,</p>

<p>I may have chose my words poorly or written unclearly when I spoke of a “liberal arts education.” In any case, I meant this to include all the factors, both inside and outside the classroom, that are apart of a liberal art’s major life at an university . This includes the quality of professors, but it also includes the curriculum, the quality of in-class discussions, the arts, events such as guest speakers, the students whom you live with and befriend, the academic club offerings, and any other such factors.</p>

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<p>Yes, and the students at UChicago, Princeton, Bowdoin, Reed, etc. make for a stronger, more intense liberal arts environment than the students at Emory do. How so? First of all, they’re better students than Emory students, having higher SAT scores and high school grades. If you’re surrounded by superior students, that means you’ll face more competition in classrooms, which probably will drive you to work harder and learn more. The quality of discussion within the classroom will be higher. Outside of the classroom, your peers will be more intellectually engaging. If you spend a couple of days at UChicago, you’ll hear or participate in plenty of intellectually engaging or quirky conversations. You’ll talk about what you are learning in class, whether the number zero actually exists, and things of that nature. By contrast, students at Emory are different. In my previous post, I talked at length about their pre-professionalism. In accordance with this, they are far less prone to talk about such “theoretical” or “impractical” things, perhaps talking instead about who the Falcons play next week or what your social plans are for the weekend. The quality of students is just one of many reasons why these places stand out and above from Emory in terms of a liberal arts education. </p>

<p>Curriculum is another big one. Take again (for consistency) UChicago. There, there is a core, which forces all students to take specific classes, whereas Emory students choose from a list (often choosing a fluff class) to fulfill a required area of the liberal arts curriculum. Different books will be read in these classes. A lot more emphasis will be put on the “Great Books” and other original works. </p>

<p>And in the classroom at UChicago, you will be taught by more prominent professors, you will be expected to learn more, and your in-class discussions will be higher quality.</p>

<p>Whether or not Emory offers a weaker, less intense liberal arts experience on these fronts seems really clear to me. Clearly yes. </p>

<p>This isn’t to say that Emory’s professors suck, or that Emory liberal arts majors are stupid, or that the liberals arts aren’t alive and well at Emory, but perspective is important. For all its merits, Emory’s environment doesn’t match up with other places in terms of liberal arts. My intent was to communicate this to all potential Emory applicants who read this thread.</p>

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<p>I don’t agree that all students at Princeton, UChi, etc. are more intellectual and have higher stats than those at Emory. I was admitted to Duke, UChi an MIT but chose Emory because I felt I would obtain a more well-rounded education and was chosen as an Emory Scholar. I am highly motivated and intellectual. I love engaging in a good debate regarding origins of the universe. I also enjoy music and socializing. I am sure there are other Emory Scholars and Emory students in general who have chosen Emory over higher ranked schools.</p>

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<p>“I don’t agree that all students at Princeton, …”</p>

<p>Blaze didn’t say “all” so there’s no disagreement. Blaze addresses the combined student bodies of the various schools.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I was just gonna disagree. I’m involved in intellectual discussions and the like all of the time, and so are my peers. which are typically pre-bus or pre-med (and as said, I’m not). I was actually impressed by the discussion that occurred in my freshman seminar, English course, and Religion course. The interest does carry on outside of the classroom. While our scores may in general be lower (your still talking pretty high scores however, mid-50% starts in the 1300s) than the peers you use as comparison, I don’t believe it ruins the intellectual atmosphere. I’m just saying that I observe the opposite via my experience. I find no such problem. I also don’t know if I agree about the competition thing. Emory students seem to care a great deal about grades, but not to the point where it gets near cut-throat. In fact, the formation of study groups are quite common (trust me, I’ve seen hoards of them in almost all of my courses except English and my freshman seminar). It seems as if many of the students are very willing to help peers do well too which contributes to a more collaborative atmosphere, which in turn sparks the intellectual discussion you find to be less existent at Emory. Yeah, we will just have to agree to disagree on that. In fact, it actually is a reason I can’t wait to get back to Emory. Having been unemployed, thus bored over most of summer, I miss my peers and actually can’t wait get back to do such things as discuss some of the highlights of the summer such as the Iran election crisis (allusion to hostage crisis lol), Obama’s healthcare push, etc…, not to mention I may be part of the activities that involve discussing race at Emory (kind of like I was last year). I consider myself an intellectual person, and this part of my personality was never truly fostered prior to it (other than my grades and scores in high school, but never in discussion and the like), and I don’t think I would have such discovered such intellectual fervor at other schools I was considering. Despite the “pre-professionalism” of students overall, it doesn’t seem to detract from the intellectual atmosphere. In this case, pre-professionalism is not the antithesis of intellectualism. Sorry.</p>

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<p>Oh, one last thing. Blaze, it seems you would have been in favor of the old GERs which were admittedly eliminated because of the complaints of the likes of those attempting to get pre-bus/pre-med requirements out of the way. From what I can tell, Emory has extremely strong liberal arts offerings, but a good part of the student body will not take advantage of it, which is what makes the liberal arts “atmosphere” seem lacking. Many of the course offerings (especially those in history and polysci which have no pre-reqs) and their respective professors are amazing (by the way, I don’t think professors need to be really prominent to be amazing or stimulate a good atmosphere in and outside of the classroom, so I disagree there). However, this is their loss. I plan to take many of the said courses because I know how intellectually stimulating they are. </p>

<p>Anyway, I think many underestimate Emory and it’s student body. Just give it a chance I guess. It’s probably having growing pains right now lol (relatively new to the research university category which I guess took its toll). The university seems to be taking a step forward in the right direction with its seemingly newly found emphasis on interdisciplinary learning and initiatives such as the Emory-Tibet program. Many such initiatives encourage students to delve further into both the liberal arts and sciences. So Emory’s trying.</p>

<p>I guess I just see some things in the school that others don’t and “can’t” without actually being a part of the community.</p>

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<p>Bernie, what is it you disagree about? Are you saying that the schools Blaze mentions all provide the same combined student body intellectual level? What’s the likelihood that they’re all the same? Or is Emory’s higher?</p>

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<p>I’m not ranking. I think I was going to say that when I attempted to edit the first post (but it was too late, so I got ****ed and didn’t wanna write the same thing again). You are right, they are not the same. I don’t think they can necessarily be ranked however. I’m basically trying to say that an actual intellectual community exists at Emory even though people don’t see it I guess. I was going to say in the edit, that I can’t really compare the Universities mentioned by Blaze because I haven’t been to any of them unfortunately. I’m basically saying that I think Emory is being underestimated on those grounds. To say that a true intellectual community doesn’t really exist is an underestimation from my experiences. But to play it safe, I’ll say it may “different” (would say less to not offend people, but…). I just don’t know if such a thing could be ranked, but you are correct with your implication that none of them are the same.</p>

<p>I guess I’m attempting to simply discredit the idea that an intellectual community fails to thrive in a predominantly pre-professional community. However, I think I will agree with Blaze on the liberal arts “atmosphere” front. I will admit that it does seem as if many students want to dodge the humanities altogether by using things such as AP credit to fulfill GERs. In fact, one of my friends cited one reason for his transferring from Emory to Cornell because of the fact that Cornell isn’t a liberal arts institution (so he said, hopefully someone can clarify), and he could basically take whatever he wants. Emory probably substantially relaxed its GERs because of the abundance of such sentiments. However, this relaxation still wasn’t good enough for my friend. It’s kind of sad that many others feel the same way :frowning: .</p>

<p>On the opposite end of this example, I’m wondering why the hell my roommate this year transferred from Northwestern. Kind of weird in my opinion lol.</p>

<p>I am attempting to render an opinion based on “my” experiences. So many will disagree and see it differently I guess. Maybe I was lucky enough to be stuck in a large “bubble” of peers that are exceptions to the rule. :)</p>

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<p>I agree.</p>

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<p>I find it so tiring that you bring up GPA/SAT scores. Also since when did UChicago = Princeton? You have not been a student at Emory, UChicago, Princeton, Bowdoin, and Reed. Maybe one of them, not all of them. </p>

<p>Everyone knows that UChicago students have the reputation of being intellectually driven and very academic, but since when did Princeton obtain that? I know many very smart students who got into Ivies but decide to float by with a mediocre GPA knowing that the name of their school will give them a boost in life. There are variations within any student body.</p>

<p>My point is every school has its share of academic, intelligent, and driven students. Like you said, it’s who you surround yourself that defines your education. To any prospective Emory students reading this: if you want to challenge yourself Emory offers all of the chances. Take the hard but academically stimulating GERs and prereqs, choose to hang out with student concerned with learning more than getting rich, choose to participate in the ECs that interest you, choose to get to know the professors at Emory. Do these things and the education you want will come to you. </p>

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<p>There is truth in the above quoted section, but it’s not absolute. I find that my previous paragraph neatly sums up the point of my post, so I’m not really going to go back to it. </p>

<p>You said your point was to communicate that Emory’s environment wasn’t as conducive to a liberal arts education. Point taken. </p>

<p>This is my point to prospective Emory students: by going to Emory because you didn’t get into UChicago it doesn’t mean your life is ruined and your education is going to be comparatively so inferior that you will fail in life or something. Emory is a great school, so take advantage of it. Don’t sit around moping that the students here “aren’t intellectual enough for me” and “I wish it wasn’t so pre-professional”. Transfer or make the best of it. Don’t let the school you go to define your life.</p>

<p>If you’re a smart, driven person, it ultimately doesn’t matter what school you go to. I think that’s what a lot of people on this forum forgets when we begin to argue about the superiority/inferiority of different colleges.</p>