<p>I've been accepted to Emory and to Oxford of Emory. I haven't received my Wake Decision yet but I'm pretty confident about it. My main concern about Emory is the lack of school spirit. I've been really involved in high school with sports and activities and I think I'll miss going to football games and all that kind of stuff, especially listening to my friends at UF and FSU talk about how much fun they have at school. My reservation about Wake is its purpoted lack of diversity, racially, geographically, and economically. I'm planning on being Pre-med, So I know that academics are going to be the most important. Is there really a big difference between academics at Emory and Wake? I have not visited Wake yet, but I know its a beautiful campus. I've been to Emory but it was during fall break so it was kind of slow.</p>
<p>Wake is NOT a bunch of yuppy clones. It is diverse. Kids from the south, southwest, midwest, atlantic states, northeast predominate, but its diverse. There are kids of all backgrounds. Wake has HUGE school spirit and its the ACC! Premed is a very rigorous program at Wake and their placement is outstanding (and prestigious). </p>
<p>Emory is higher ranking, but that is just one angle to examine. If you want school spirit (and a chance to chill from the rigors of premed) then Wake is your choice, it seems to me.</p>
<p>Emory outperforms Wake in almost every single angle… prestige, ranking, academics, facilities, professors etc. Wake, however, does beat Emory in sports and school spirit.</p>
<p>Emory for sure…!
I agree with alam1…Emory outperforms Wake in every single angle!
So why would you pick Wake Forest??
Also, Wake Forest’s nickname is WORK FOREST!
If you want to stress out for 4 years, pick Wake. If not, pick Emory.</p>
<p>thatiscool- Since Emory is more academically prestigious, wouldn’t it involve at least the same amount of work, if not more work?</p>
<p>Lack of diversity at Wake is not a problem, especially geographically. Outside of NC students, there are more kids from the NE than the South.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about rankings differences between Wake and Emory because in your case those small differences are probably outweighed by having top tier sports programs.</p>
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<p>While that is true about Wake’s nickname, you have to put everything into context. The amount of “work” one needs to do to earn an A depends more on the competition.</p>
<p>According to the respective common data sets:</p>
<p>64% Wake’s incoming class was in the top 10% of their HS</p>
<p>At Emory it is 90%!</p>
<p>Think about “work” in that context. (And the fact that the vast majority of entering Emory frosh are premed or pre-biz – gpa grubbers?.)</p>
<p>These are two schools that I like a lot, but I doubt that they get much overlap in applications as they mostly appeal to different types of students. I would hope that all readers would agree that each provides an excellent undergraduate experience and either can get any student nearly anywhere he/she wants to go. Picking between these two should be done based on individual fit.</p>
<p>An aside about Wake Forest. I don’t understand why its professors don’t get more acclaim. I understand why they don’t get much street cred within academia as Wake professors aren’t research-focused. But IMO that is a major positive as the professors almost universally are committed to undergrads and their classroom teaching responsibilities. This is so refreshing and sadly, so underappreciated by prospective students/families. </p>
<p>I should also add that Wake professors aren’t pushovers as they will stretch their charges and prepare them very well for life after college. The kids that come out of Wake are as grounded and as prepared as nearly any college in the USA. Hire some kids from Wake and compare them to what comes out of more ballyhooed places and you’ll see what I mean. Wake underpromises and overdelivers.</p>
<p>Hawkette, unfortunately commitment to quality undergraduate teaching is very hard to measure, but very easy for a school to claim without putting into practice.</p>
<p>Emory has the benefit of being in a large metro area, while Wake has the benefit of having great school spirit and athletic programs. I’ve never been to Emory, but did tour Wake when I was making my own college decisions and think very highly of it.</p>
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<p>Metro “area,” but the Emory setting, 10 miles from downtown, is decidedly sleepy-suburban. Its Atlanta mailing address is a technicality.</p>
<p>I think the OP has a handle on the obvious generalizations. Emory is very medically-focused and would be a great choice, though to me it feels more like a medical complex than a university campus. Wake is also outstanding for pre-med, and I would think, a lot more fun in a rah-rah, tailgating, and TPing the Quad after beating UNC kind of way. The student body at Wake is culturally more southern and that at Emory culturally more northern, though there’s significant geographic diversity in both places.</p>
<p>Emory vs. Wake is a close call with the medical predominance at Emory a plus. Oxford of Emory vs. Wake should clearly favor Wake. Oxford is the tiny, original campus of Emory, 35 miles east of Atlanta. Going there and then finishing at Emory is like a forced transfer, or perhaps, going to Penn State by putting in two years first at one of its branch campuses.</p>
<p>Disclaimer - I’m a Wake grad.</p>
<p>At Emory, you could probably find an internship at the CDC, which would be a huge plus.</p>
<p>Hawkette, even though I think the winner between these two school is Emory, I appreciate the fact that you give credit to schools that are underrated (which I think Wake is).</p>
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I agree 100%. Any supposed difference is by no means significant enough to be a deciding factor. I fell in love with Wake Forest when I visited several years ago, and I have long been a cheerleader for the school on these boards.</p>
<p>I was favorably impressed with the facilities at Wake, although the physical sciences seemed a bit lacking compared to those at smaller Davidson (granted, that was nearly 5 years ago). </p>
<p>I’ve attended 3 and visited roughly 20 colleges over the years, and Wake students remain by far the friendliest I’ve come across.</p>
<p>thank you for all your opinions! I really need to visit both schools again and then make my decision</p>