I just got into Emory, and I love almost everything about it. I love its creative writing program, dance opportunities, campus, location, etc… The only issue is that I’m kind of concerned about the social atmosphere/culture.
I know that Emory doesn’t have much school spirit, and i don’t mind if people don’t really go to sporting events but I would like to go to a school with a strong sense of community. I’ve heard mixed reviews on if Emory has that.
How accepted are LGBT students and is there a decent number? I’ve heard that Emory can be kinda conservative.
I also don’t really know how much I like Emory’s party scene. From what I’ve heard it seems super frat-oriented, and frat parties seem pretty unappealing to me, I’d much rather go to a club or a bar. Is that an option before you’re 21? I’m also not a huge party girl, I like to go out, but not all the time. Is the culture one that pressures people to go out like every single weekend? A lot of the time I’d rather hang out with a smaller group, because I can be kinda introverted.
How much does greek life affect social life? I’m not totally sure if I want to be in a sorority or not - will I be judged if I’m not in a sorority? Is the greek presence overwhelming to those who aren’t involved? I definitely have some preconceived notions about greek life that I’m trying to let go of, because I want to go into college with an open mind, but there are some things that worry me. The whole tier system seems really petty to me - does that play a huge role? Also will being gay be weird in a sorority, or will that be accepted? Also what I said before about being a little introverted sometimes , will that be weird in a sorority? I know these things all sound so judgmental and stereotypical
Basically I love almost everything about Emory, I’m just worried that I may not fit in and that I’ll have trouble finding friends. I didn’t really want to go to a stereotypical southern school (really greek life-y, conservative) and I see some things about Emory that are like that. What do you think? Do I have an exaggerated view of some of the negatives?
Emory kind of conservative? I feel as though Emory is very liberal (although of course there are conservatives) and, aside from that, they are very accepting of the LGBT community. Although from the recent Trump chalk incident, I am slightly concerned of the hypersensitivity among a few of the students as well as the concession of Wagner. Nonetheless, Emory is an amazing institution regardless of the individuals.
@ibcr98 : Most schools with Greeklife (of a solid size) will have a significant chunk of parties in the Greek houses. Emory is a less tame version of Duke and Vanderbilt for example. There is still some diversity in socializing on campus because other organizations, especially multi-cultural, actually have decent visibility and influence. At a truly Greek dominant school, that doesn’t really happen. It is partly because many Greek orgs at Emory are more diverse than they are at other schools with larger or comparably sized Greek populations so often even Greeks are not ONLY within the Greek bubble. At schools where that is the case, the social scene is “fun” but in a one dimensional way. Not very diverse. Any sports fervor tends to just reinforce the Greek scene or emulate it. You will be able to find dorm, house, and clairmont parties.
Conservative? Seriously, Emory, out of the top 4 southern privates, is likely the most liberal by a longshot.
@XAtlas@bernie12 I’ve just heard mixed things. Conservatives say that Emory is mostly liberal, and liberals say that Emory is pretty conservative. I guess it just depends on different people’s perceptions.
@bernie12 Is there any social stigma about not being involved in greek life? I know that the majority of people are non-greek, but 30% is still pretty sizable
@ibcr98 : That is honestly because the southern 4, in comparison to other elite private and publics are less tame when it comes to political activism, so a liberal who views liberalism in the light of demonstrations or outward expressions of it will view a southern private or public as conservative. I would suggest that Emory likely has more demonstrations or activism than the other 3 and honestly, a lot of it is even integrated into the curriculum (Some students, for example, attend because of its focus on sustainability which is definitely rare for a school without an engineering program that lets one focus on the technological aspect of it).
A social stigma about not being involved in Greek life? I don’t know where that exists other than maybe schools with 50% or something like that. Emory is essentially too ethnically and religiously diverse to have such a stigma. Again, if you are not in Greek org., there are many other VISIBLE orgs. that give you interesting things to do whether they be purely social or intellectual. I honestly think many of those in Greek life are students who would have perhaps have strongly preferred the social vibe they got at certain D-1 schools where sports were more important. Others can care much less and there isn’t much divisiveness on campus like you may see at schools where Greek orgs are almost taken too seriously.
would be unlikely as students on a friday or saturday would simply be unininterested in anything outside of the Greek associated party scene. It isn’t fully a matter of how “dominant” Greeks are but also how diverse people’s interests are especially when it comes to recreation. At all top schools, professional development interests will naturally be diverse (because that fills a resume), but the difference comes in how many people will say, only party at a Greek org. on the weekend vs. other the amount who are open to doing many things around campus. Emory having lots of international students helps get multi-cultural orgs and programs much more visibility than they would if they happened at schools with less international students and less ethnic/socioeconomic diversity.
(mind you, Emory has no engineering school. This even had a total of 5-700 plus the 300 undergraduates. Other than Penn, most schools that host these hack-a-thons that allow it open to the public and several other schools, often do not even surpass the amount of undergraduates we get)
While Emory doesn’t have huge tailgates or sports oriented spectatorship, it makes up for it by its students being interested and engaged in other things (often arts or intellectually oriented) at surprisingly high levels (when I went this wasn’t really the case, so new Dean of Admissions is doing a good job). The “culture” of Emory is going the right direction in my mind and the issue of conservative versus liberal is irrelevant. You won’t find many southern schools of any type more liberal if that is the only aspect of culture you are concerned about.
If you want something to do other than party at a Greek org. Emory or somewhere accessible in Atlanta has it.
