Hello, I got a campus tour date and time for emory college but couldn’t find one for oxford college . is it ok to just tour one college. My Son is interested in biomedical field possibly or engineering field … Do we need to tour both colleges to get a good idea of Emory?
It’s okay to tour just Emory if he has no interest in going to Oxford. You aren’t required to apply to or attend Oxford.
oxford has biology department as well I see. How does one know which college to apply to ? is oxford only for humanities?
@pearl0607 Undergrads can start at one of two choices: Emory College or Oxford College. For the most part, they both offer the same classes (with Emory College offering a noticeably higher selection due to more people). After their sophomore year, Emory College students have the choice of staying in the college or applying to the nursing or business school. Oxford College is a program that ends after sophomore year–in which students either automatically go to the College or apply to the nursing or business school (like those who started at Emory College). Choosing Emory vs. Oxford depends on whether you want a research university vs. liberal arts experience your first two years.
Page 3 of this PDF should explain it well:
https://apply.emory.edu/pdf/AdmissionProfile2015.pdf
@pearl0607 : If he is not interested in starting at Oxford then no. I would consider both if interested in STEM though. It just depends on the capacity of interest. It may be easier to start on main if he wants to use APs to accelerate to more advanced course work (because Emory offers more advanced courses. On the flipside, Oxford offers sequenced courses each semester whereas Emory main does not. For example, a person with general biology 1 credit from a 5 on AP can just take 142 in the fall at Oxford, but would have to sit wait until spring at Emory. Same with chemistry and physics), and it is also easier to land early research oppurtunities. Oxford could be better if he is more serious about his introductory STEM foundation and is not gung-ho on immediately getting into research and even if he goes there, you could be funneled into summer opps for research or even do on-campus or a serious course based research experience. The following is such an example:https://app.oxford.emory.edu/WebApps/Directories/EResources/Syllabi/2018-Fall/BIO%20340R%20Syllabus-FALL%202018_LTS.pdf
And this is a general biology syllabus from Oxford (Emory main instructors integrate lots of activities and stuff unlike most peer research universities, but Oxford can do even more because of its size. Like Emory cannot do primary literature discussion days/sections in intro. Some instructors do case studies and other things instead. On main, other than the lab you get primary lit. exposure in intermediate and higher courses when the enrollment is lower):
https://app.oxford.emory.edu/WebApps/Directories/EResources/Syllabi/2018-Fall/ID_142%20syllabus_%20F18-Final.pdf
Emory has a some but they are not necessarily accessible right after general biology
*Oxford actually has an amazing track record of training STEM majors(especially in biology, but also in math and physics), especially those who go on to consider PhD programs as opposed to just medical school. The smaller size allows certain STEM sequences to use a different type of rigor not as easy to implement at larger schools like Emory. In fact, in general, LAC and LAC like schools educate really well in STEM at the undergraduate level for a variety of reasons.
@pearl0607 If your son considers Oxford to be an option, then he should visit both. I don’t believe you really need an official tour to get a feel for Oxford or Emory. Since Oxford is small, you could get a decent feel for it just by walking around. I think it is very important to visit a school if you apply Early Decision and not important at all if you apply regular decision because you can always visit after admission. However, if you’r already making a trip to Atlanta to visit Emory and have a car, why not make the hour drive to Oxford? It seems like a great opportunity and I am pretty sure they do discuss Oxford at the Emory Information Sessions.
Oxford definitely offers tours; we just did one last spring, and I just googled “Oxford college visit” and the page to schedule one came right up; we were the only ones there on our tour day; we had lunch with some current students, a tour, and a short info session with admissions. You don’t need to tour both to get a good feel for Emory, but they’re very different campuses, so it’s a good idea to see Oxford to decide if he wants to apply to both.
Emory has a great location in Atlanta/Decatur area. Oxford is in Covington, Georgia (between Atlanta & Athens = where the University of Georgia is located). Oxford’s campus is small. Just drive out & visit on your own if unable to schedule a formal visit. Students should be friendly & welcoming.
In our case, my son was only interested in Emory so touring Oxford wouldn’t have been helpful. I think sometimes people don’t have a full understanding that they are really 2 separate colleges.
Not only are they two different colleges, they are in two different worlds.
@Publisher : Well, yeah this is often the difference between most private research universities (which are in close suburbs of cities or in the cities/anchor cities) and an LAC (often in remote areas or in suburbs that are still rural). The only difference is that these two are tied together.
I am very familiar with Emory University & Oxford College & their relationship.
Appreciate the inputs. Still confused a little as to how kid picks one school over other as there are subjects like biology and math common in both colleges.
Visit both. You will quickly realize that they are offering students two different worlds. Even a simple drive by will be revealing.
P.S. Emory is a university with a beautiful urban/suburban location. Oxford College is in a small town. The experience may be more like attending an excellent prep boarding school before moving over to Emory.
@pearl0607 I think once you see both schools you’ll understand why students prefer one over the other. Schools are so much more than the classes they offer. When my husband attended Emory in the 80’s Oxford was used as entry to Emory for those students who couldn’t get in immmediately. It’s changed a lot since then but for my son, Oxford wasn’t a school he even wanted to look at.
@pearl0607 : Just start with whether or not your son can see himself at a very small LAC, so that will give you an idea of potential social/intellectual “vibes”. If yes, then realize that the introductory and intermediate curricula overlap. It isn’t about the offerings (though for some majors it may matter), and so much how each is different in “feel” and how they deliver courses to early career undergraduates (this may not matter to many prospective students. They may just wanna be at a prestigious college bustling with activity/in a city bustling with activity that is kind of vaguely appraised for “good academics”). I recommend visiting as it may still be hard to envision the differences based on this.
I think that it would matter a great deal to a student whether they studied at Emory University in Atlanta/Decatur or at Oxford College in Covington.
I can understand a student who is obsessed with getting into Emory & only being offered admission via Oxford College, but they are drastically different environments.
@bernie12: Do you work for or recruit for these schools ?
No, don’t have to. Went to main, had tons of friends from Ox, interested in STEM education. There is enough information to make a judgement or distinction about the two. If I was a recruiter, I would be much more vague and talking about differences in stuff like “leadership”. Go read the material/blog where Emory admissions tries to discuss Oxford. It is truthful in some ways but very sappy in others. I am mainly interested in students, especially those in STEM knowing the academic differences. Also, trying to get less students to overlook LAC like environments for STEM. Depending on one’s plans, they should be considered (assuming that a smaller and remote environment isn’t too socially off-putting. For some it will be, but I think many don’t give it a thought and perhaps should. I wish I did) I think.
@Publisher : One can not mention the locations and it should be understood that they are completely different experiences for freshmen and sophomores. The emphasis on location may distract many from what I think are the most important differences that primarily come from the size difference as well as style of educating (which is also largely due to size difference), types of resources, and not the location. I know many students choose between private schools based upon perceived differences in “life style” (which could indeed be heavily influenced by location), but I usually wanna try to make prospective students and their parents think a little different, and more importantly, a bit deeper. This person expressed that the applicant would have an interest an engineering or the biomedical field, so I am trying to be nuanced in how I describe Oxford and whether or not it could potentially benefit the student to start there instead. As usual, it depends upon factors more than it being located in a different place IMHO. If it were NBB, chemistry business, as well as some other areas of interest, I would full-heartedly recommend main campus, but again, it depends on the values of the student and what they view as important for both the social and hopefully the academic aspects of the college experience (I really do worry that beyond fullfilling requirements and making grades, folks do not consider the latter anywhere near as deeply as the first. And if one is considering something like graduate school, the environment for the latter really matters. It may be for example, easier to get faculty mentoring at some schools. Courses may also be better at developing skills needed in research, etc)
I am a parent of a current Oxford sophomore. She applied to and was accepted at both Oxford and Emory. She chose Oxford for a variety of reasons, including financial (she is an Oxford Scholar). It has turned out to be a great decision for her. She started out as a pre-med likely chemistry major but by second semester freshman year she had changed her mind about medicine and her major. For those who know about this, she was not a fan of the new and improved chemistry curriculum. It reminded her of the flipped classrooms for math she had in high school. What she did like at Oxford was physics–her least favorite science class in high school–especially as taught by Prof. Seitaridou. She is now taking her 4th class with Seitaridou, and is planning on doing a PhD in physics. As a sophomore, she is tutoring and working as a lab assistant. Prof. Seitaridou has mentored many young female physics majors and they have all done really well when transitioning to the main campus.
She has gotten an excellent education at Oxford, and she has worked very hard. She loves the small classes and the close interactions with professors. Because the emphasis is on teaching, profs are generally very available. Those things make a big difference, especially early on. No matter how good of a student you are in high school, or how many AP classes you have taken, the jump is a big one.
Yes, the location and vibe is very different. There are fewer activities both on and off campus. But for students who are torn between a liberal arts college and a research university, with Oxford/Emory you don’t need to choose. Something else to consider.
@econmomto3 : Glad to hear she is enjoying/enjoyed her time there. Note that since she was at Oxford, chemistry was probably going to be close to flipped anyway. Only on main, which is much larger, is the flipped/hybrid classroom really a new feature. The main changes are the distribution of content. I don’t know how it bodes for pre-healths but from reading the publication on it, it does have a better content layout and distribution for those who will likely do undergraduate or graduate research (like myself) in the field.
Also, yes physics seems to be the stuff at Oxford and I am glad she found her home there, but don’t be so quick to give up on chemistry 
. She may be able to take a few advanced courses for fun when on main or take some good teachers for the other foundation classes if she didn’t go beyond semester 2 at Oxford. She could take Dr. Weinschenk for the next two two courses. And the 2nd of those two and the 5th if she took it will likely involve more physics related concepts and ideas. She may find that the two are/can be very integrated. And at least coming from Oxford, she is much more likely to have an amazing training in math and physics (I can’t say the same for ECAS. Those just are not its strong points teaching and learning wise for undergrads).