intensity at Oxford /Emory?

Woohoo! D got in! Now come the questions! lol My D fell in love with Emory when we visited, but I think she was afraid to research it too much, fall in love more, and not get in…but now we want the details!
She got accepted to both campuses, but with merit for Oxford, so that seems the likely choice. We did visit both and will go back soon.

D has wanted a place filled with academically engaged students, but doesn’t want to be completely surrounded by type A students who are all about competing for a grade. She won’t be premed/prelaw, so, from what I hear, that may help (anywhere, not just Emory). Her planned major is Anthropology. She is looking for classes where there will be active discussion and debate, doesn’t mind working hard, but doesn’t want to be so swamped with work that there is no down time without getting behind.
She really wants to know about both campuses, since even choosing Oxford, the 2nd 2 years would be at the Atlanta campus.
How are professors at working with students, helping them if they aren’t sure what is expected of them…on a paper, etc?
Do students help one another? (supportive / competitive)
Does starting at Oxford reduce access to research opportunities?

Oxford is a really great environment where students help each other and professor help students! The relationships that students and professors build is awesome! Most of the classes I am taking at Oxford are smaller than my high school classes so I really know my professors well and they love seeing their students succeed! It’s a great place and I say that with confidence.

Thank you @damonroutzhan. I appreciate the info! I was looking online at some of the syllabi for classes at Oxford, and noticed on some that the grading scale looked pretty tough…with an A- starting at 94. It made me wonder how hard it might be to maintain the GPAs required for merit aid. I’d love to hear more about your (and your friends’) experience with that.

I feel like they give those cut-offs when they believe that the course is easy or that most people make between B+ and A- or if they have many “fluff” grades and extra opportunities. In addition to that, one must also note that science courses that have difficult exams (exam averages below 75%) and little contribution of other components to the grade will often have cut-offs lowered. Those cut-offs typically only represent the ideal standard. A difficult course will give exams and assignments that yield a B-/B average or they will simply curve it. The most challenging courses will have a solid B- average and that is kind of rare except in maybe physics and chemistry.