Emory or Boston College?

College Search & Selection
1

I recently was admitted to the Emory College of Arts and Sciences and the Carroll School of Management at BC. I’m having trouble picking between these two colleges. I never got to visit Emory because of the COVID-19 situation, and I just briefly saw BC in the summer, so any advice anyone has would be really helpful.

If I went to Emory, I’d plan on trying to get into the Goizueta Business School. At BC, I’d be doing the finance concentration at the CSOM.

Emory Pros:
-highly regarded in the South
-I’m interested in film as a secondary major and Atlanta has a good film scene (I eventually want to work in the business/finance side of the film industry if possible)

Emory Cons:
-heard there’s a lack of school spirit bc D3 sports
-greek life, which I’m not interested in doing

BC Pros:
-finance concentration is highly ranked
-In Boston, which is a really fun city
-lots of school spirit, D1 sports
-want to work in NYC after college and it seems like they have good connections there

BC Cons:
-heard students are more preppy
-heard there’s a lack of “artsy” students

I know Emory is ranked higher than BC, but I keep going back to BC because of its Boston location over Emory’s Atlanta location. Also, because they’re ranked relatively close I don’t know how much the rankings matter.

Sorry this was so long but if anyone has any info about these schools it would be really helpful! Thanks!

2

They are both terrific schools. Carroll finance is really, really good.

Don’t sweat the rankings, these change like the wind at the margins.

Below you’ll see Forbes recent 2019 Best Colleges rankings. It’s one that I like as it includes both LACs and research universities.

I wouldn’t choose either because of this at that level. Choose for fit. The “preppiness” factor is a little old school for either. I do think that artsy is ok at BC for sure. It’s a fairly big place but perhaps not as much as Emory. I’ve only known a few students who chose Emory recently and they were just all around terrific kids.

Also Emory has a great rep everywhere not just the south. It’s students are probably pretty diverse and liberal like most schools these days.

Any school in the top 50ish of this combined list is super elite. Can’t go wrong following your instincts assuming the finances work.

Good luck and congrats. You’ve earned a great opportunity. Enjoy.

36Middlebury College VT $26,075
37 Carnegie Mellon University
PA $31,102
38 University of California, Los Angeles CA $14,309
39 Bates College ME $25,192
40 Wesleyan University CT $29,956

41 Boston College MA $34,550

42 Washington and Lee University
VA $24,761
43 United States Air Force Academy
CO $0
44 Wellesley College MA $23,188
45 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill NC $14,163
46 Colgate University NY $23,310
47 College of William & Mary
VA $19,720
48 Davidson College NC $21,206
49 Haverford College PA $26,607
50 Barnard College NY $25,007
51 Santa Clara University CA
$33,738
52 Carleton College MN $27,898
53 United States Coast Guard Academy CT $0
54 Pitzer College CA $28,423
55 Emory University GA $26,760

3

Wow great choices, congrats!

How serious are you about the film industry (business side)? As you may know, Atlanta is quickly becoming the new Hollywood for movie making. Don’t know if that transcends to the business side but an enormous amount of actual movie making takes place on soundstages in Atlanta. I imagine there are networking opportunities within the industry.

If you’re thinking more general finance, or I should say the general path for finance majors (banking, asset mgmt, corp fin, etc.), CSOM is top notch.

Boston has a lot more personality (just my opinion and yes I’m from there, but have been to Atlanta - all parts - many, many times). That’s a fit issue only you can decide.

4

I agree that prestige and academic rankings should not guide this decision. I will also agree that the student bodies and vibes are not as cut and dry different as their stereotypes would lead one to believe. However, the stereotypes do have at least some kernel of truth. D1 vs D3 sports does make a difference. On the other hand, there is little to no greek life at BC whereas a sizeable percent (something like 30%?) of Emory students go greek. But I wouldn’t let that be a big factor- I don’t think Emory greek is your usual Southern variety.
On average, Emory will have more of the liberal and artsy types than BC. Will those types be at BC? sure, some. but not as many. both will have there share of pre-professional types. And I am pretty sure that Emory has more ethnic diversity in both students and faculty.