@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.