Emory vs Wash U

Hi everyone, I’m a senior in high school and I was accepted to both Emory and Wash U. I’m aware that these two schools are very similar, so I need help figuring out which one is the best for me.

In terms of major, I’m undecided, but I have an interest in science. Possibly business? A broad education would be very helpful. I’ve heard that Emory is more geared towards pre-professional and Wash U is very flexible with majoring across schools. A comparison of the STEM and business programs and academic environment at the two schools would be helpful.

For social life, I want a balance between studying and partying. I’m not too nerdy, but I take schoolwork seriously, don’t go too crazy at parties, but I like to let loose once in a while. I’m not one to get bored easily, but I still want lots of options of things to do. Comparison on student vibe, social life, and surrounding city too please.

Won’t be a huge deciding factor, but is there a difference between the two in terms of prestige?

Thanks so much!! (also posted in WashU thread)

@asiagocheese : Naw, they are both very geared toward pre-professional (look at how, for example, WUSTL has almost completely tailored its biology programs to pre-healths and has specific credit bearing programs specifically geared toward them. Emory has Human Health which is separate from actual STEM depts) That is a major part of their similarities. If anything, humanities and non-preprofs have more of a presence at Emory (Fulbright numbers don’t lie and many of them are social sciences and humanities at either).

Social-similar, maybe folks prefer Atlanta’s vibe if you talk about the cities they are located outside of? I would describe each as mild in basically everything (party scene, quirkiness/nerdiness, and of course both student bodies are super “busy” and academically serious.

WUSTL is more prestigious if only because it has been a research university for much longer (it was an institute at one time and got to rack up some Nobel prizes and affiliates). Emory is very much a newb (it decided to join AAU in 1995, WUSTL 1950). WUSTL has a pretty big headstart. It is quite amazing that Emory has come up to the point where WUSTL can be regarded as a peer. However, despite this difference, Emory and WUSTL apparently have similar levels of success placing students into top graduate and professional programs and in fact, at one point in the mid 2000s (maybe 2008) when this was measured, Emory had an edge. Basically, placement has not been affected by these.

Sciences: Chemistry (warning: Emory’s curriculum is changing) and neuroscience are both excellent tracks at both (and very rigorous), but neuro is done very differently. WUSTL has tracks (and some are accessible only by application) whereas Emory basically has a very large interdisciplinary umbrella program. WUSTL is going to perhaps be better in math and physics due to the fact they serve the engineering entities which Emory does not have. Biology is very different at each as Emory is more traditional and WUSTL focuses more on specialization so if you look at their course atlas, they have many more courses that sound like special topics and seminars. Emory has been learning more toward adding courses that are computational and quantitatively oriented (I think establishment of the QSS major and the QuantTM institute has facilitated this) and also has a lot of pedagogical strengths going for it whether you be science or pre-health. Like many of the intermediate and upper-division courses now have true discussion sections and unlike most schools (including WUSTL as far as I can tell), these are NOT recitations where they just go back over material or problem sets. They are actually to discuss primary (often contemporary) literature in the field which is great for those who plan to pursue graduate studies AND great for those who will take an MCAT (which is research heavy. Being able to read literature is apparently really helpful and lowers the barrier for being able to handle those passages which are chock full of data tables and figures).

*IMHO opinion, among privates in the 15-25 tier, Emory and WUSTL try much harder to have solid STEM rigor and pedagogy. They both had/have significant centers for Science Education and get lots of HHMI and other funding just for updating elements of their STEM curricula in different fields. They both seem to do a lot more experimentation here. I don’t know who does it on a larger scale, but I am just glad that they do.

Business schools: Very similar reputation and success level at the UG level.

These schools are excellent and you will just have to go visit and feel them out and sit in some of the cooler classes, meet some faculty and feel them out.

I personally will not sell on one vs. the other (but would not be surprised if our friends over in the WUSTL forum go out of their way to lol),

Also, some of them like to claim that Emory is “easier” for STEM…and that is why some choose Emory over WUSTL that is BS. It really depends on the department and varies so much by professor. The only way this is possible is because Emory tends to have smaller sections in lower division STEM courses and there are many more instructors teaching it (so Emory will naturally have more variation, but if you do choose a more challenging and what is typically a better instructor, you get a more cozy environment and more support). One could in theory dodge rigorous instruction but those folks just end up hurting themselves in the end. I have looked at some of the medium and higher tier instructors for courses in departments (found course materials) that I consider of a similar caliber and neither has any particular edge over the either. Usually I find that Emory struggles in the lower division course rigor (take general biology for example, I give them an edge, which I would not have years ago), then it did just as well or better with many upper division and intermediate course instructors. And even then, it seems that often teaching methods and pedagogy just differed at the two in certain spots.

A pleasant aspect of Emory is that the most rigorous instructors in and out of STEM are often great teachers and are extremely well respected(some teachers have achieved a positive pop culture status despite being really difficult). If you go to RMP for example, you will notice a surprising amount of instructors with high difficulty (let is say 3.8 or higher) that have great reviews (again like 3.8 and higher) quality wise. You can kind of tell it used to be a teaching institution and not a research university in the relatively recent past. You are in a good learning and teaching environment when the instructors can push the students and the students actually accept or appreciate it. You rarely see people on here whining about the difficulty or grade deflation for example. People just do the work (also these instructors I refer to are super personable so make great mentors).

Basically, I am saying seriously give Emory a serious consideration even if others tell you not to mainly because of prestige. Do your best to give each a fair evaluation to figure out which learning and social environment is right for YOU.

Wow thanks so much, that was very helpful!

For future responders, please add Vanderbilt into the comparison. thanks!

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@asiagocheese Congratulations are in order because you’ve worked your way to some excellent options.

I don’t know that much about Vanderbilt or Washington U/St. Louis so I’ll focus this post on some things about Emory that are often not highlighted.

In terms of research opportunities for undergraduates, Emory benefits by being directly adjacent to the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”). The CDC is the primary federal agency that’s in charge of preventing and controlling disease outbreaks in the United States. It does public health/prevention research, as well as basic science research into the most noteworthy infectious diseases (HIV, Zika, etc.).

https://www.cdc.gov/zika/about/whatcdcisdoing.html
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/research/index.html

The CDC is also involved in international health policy issues, such as those involving Ebola.
https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/

The CDC has job openings for research opportunities during the school year, including work study opportunities.
https://jobs.cdc.gov/students

Emory biology majors can do research at the CDC for credit:
http://www.biology.emory.edu/multimedia/pdf/biol499/getting_started.pdf

The Yerkes Primate Research Center, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory Medical School, various science departments and Winship Cancer Institute are Emory institutions where Emory undergrads can do undergraduate research.

Yerkes is heavily involved in neurobiological research as well as research into a HIV vaccine.
http://www.yerkes.emory.edu/research/topics/hiv_aids.html

To follow up on a point that @bernie12 made, Emory has lots of faculty doing research into computational biology or biophysics (essentially quantitative biology), which are both up and coming fields.

http://www.physics.emory.edu/home/research/index.html
http://www.biology.emory.edu/computational-biology

Emory undergrads have a chance to get involved in this research.

According to Bloomberg News, Emory’s undergrad business program is ranked #15 (one ahead of U Penn’s undergrad business program), Washington U’s is ranked #25 and Vanderbilt doesn’t appear on the survey. Does Vanderbilt have an undergrad business program?
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-best-undergrad-business-schools/

Some humanities departments where Emory is well known include:
** creative writing (ranked #10)
http://www.collegemagazine.com/top-10-schools-for-aspiring-writers/

** English (ranked #4)
http://www.collegemagazine.com/top-10-best-schools-for-english-majors/

** interdisciplinary studies (ranked #1)
http://www.bestcolleges.com/features/top-integrative-studies-programs/

Emory seems to admit more than its fair share of entrepreneurially minded students. To get a sense of this, you can read up on recent recipients of Fulbrights, Marshalls, Rhodes, Gates-Cambridge, Goldwater Scholarships:
http://college.emory.edu/national-awards/alumni/profiles/index.html

Atlanta (population 5.7 million) is a large, cosmopolitan city.
Compare St. Louis (2.9 million) and Nashville (1.8 million).

Atlanta is also more of a college town. Georgia Tech is a short and free shuttle bus ride away. Some Emory students do research at Georgia Tech through the Petit Scholarship program.

http://petitinstitute.gatech.edu/petit-scholars

Atlanta is also home to Georgia State University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College, among other places.

As undergrad institutions overall, Emory is ranked #20 overall, Wash U is ranked #19 overall and Vanderbilt is ranked #15 overall by USNWR.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities

@asiagocheese

For another perspective on Vandy v. Wash U
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19441640#Comment_19441640
03-05-2016 at 6:05 pm
Rice dad, here. My freshman daughter’s final two choices last year were WashU (where she won a very competitive half-tuition scholarship) and Rice (where she only had financial aid). She initially opted for WashU, but then changed her mind and decided on Rice . . . for reasons that I do not entirely understand. Here’s my take on things:

Rice: My daughter is a history/polisci/econ sort of major, but she knows lots of pre-meds. Rice students work hard, but I get the impression that they strive more to fulfill their own potentials than simply to “do better” than their fellows. Overall, the school has reputation for being friendly and collaborative, as jfking01 (above) correctly notes. The presence of the massive Texas Medical Center right across the street from campus is a boon to those seeking internships in the medical field. As far as social life, the residential college system at Rice offers a way of living that combines the camaraderie and built-in partying network of a frat with the non-exclusionary vibe of a frat-free campus. It seems to provide opportunities for students to party as much or as little as they want to.

Duke: I graduated from Tobacco U back in the day. I hated the place for its anti-intellectualism and “pre-Wall-Street bro culture” (to use contemporary lingo). Social life was very frat-centric. There were reports that pre-meds would sabotage other students’ labs in O-Chem in order to gain a competitive advantage. Whether this was true or not, I can’t say . . . but–given the general atmosphere–it was easy to believe. Of course, many people loved Duke then, and many still do, so my experience might have been an anomaly.

Vanderbilt: This school, which seems to emphasize standardized test scores in admissions decisions more than some comparable schools (hence its rise in the all-important US News sweepstakes), attracts students from around the country but immerses them in a classic Southern-preppy-elite environment. From what I’ve read, campus social life revolves around Greek organizations, and there seems to be a strong divide between those who belong and those who don’t. My daughter visited but wasn’t really attracted. I would say that Vandy is much closer in spirit to Duke than to either Rice or WashU.

WashU: Known for its rigorous pre-med program, WashU is in many ways very, very similar to Rice. (See comparison threads for an enumeration of those similarities.) Like Rice, it has a reputation for collaboration, though the challenge of the pre-med curriculum probably makes competitiveness more common there than in other programs. WashU has frats, but they are much less central to social life than at Duke and Vandy. Like Rice, WashU is consistently near the top of various undergraduate quality-of-life rankings.

All four schools would provide you with an excellent education and solid preparation for the MCATs. Their geographic and urban environments differ, so you need to factor that into your equation as well. For what it’s worth, I think my daughter would have been happy at either WashU or Rice. I do not think she would have liked Vanderbilt, and she didn’t even bother to apply to Duke, despite the slight advantage that her legacy status might have provided. That should tell you something . . .
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