Is Emory the right choice?

<p>Hi!
I was admitted to Emory (2013) by early decision and now im really scared that i made the wrong choice. I know that Emory is ranked high on US news and all that but a lot of people that I talk to have never heard of it. Also, I have been reading a lot of discussion boards and blogs about Emory and I feel like a lot of people have a negative view about it saying that it is "clique-ish, snobby, and a waste of money" My ultimate goal is to go to a top notch law school so I'm worried about whether Emory will help me go to a top 5 law school. Also, I know that the academics are tough but are they too tough? Maybe I'm just freaking myself out but I just want to hear what everyone else thinks about it. I am really greatful that I am getting the opportunity to go to a good school. I just want to be sure that Im making the right choice.</p>

<p>actually, i am kinda wavering also. but i think Emory does a great job to provide a solid UNDERGRADUATE learning towards whatever profession: law, medicine, etc.
i also heard many negative comments about emory.</p>

<p>one thing i go by, though, is college experience is what YOU make of it. academics are hard wherever you go, otherwise it is not called COLLEGE, however it is not impossible to make straight A's if you are motivated, because there have been people who done it.
as far as quality of life at emory, i think since emory is diverse, anyone is able to find his/her cliche to fit in and have fun. and again since emory is DIVERSE, it should not be too clique-ish if that makes sense.
you've made a great choice. have confidence, congratulations :), and have fun at emory!!</p>

<p>Don't worry about it. Emory is great if you want it to be great. Emory sucks if you want it to suck. If you go in with a positive attitude, you will have a great time. If not, then you probably won't. Emory, like every school, is exactly what you make of it.</p>

<p>lenakalij,</p>

<p>Piggy-backing on dgebll's advice, "don't worry about it". </p>

<p>Congratulations on being admitted to Emory, and before you accept hearsay and unvalidated subjective experiences as gospel and relevant to you, consider that there are also countless stories out there ... some are relevant, and some are not.</p>

<p>My daughter is now a junior, and while she's still trying to find her true path, I don't see Emory as lacking in resources to support the choices she wants to make. For somebody choosing a pre-professional track in law, I think Emory offers a plethora of academic, research and volunteer opportunities to enhance discovery of interests that will give your life more meaningful purpose. For all the talk about cliques and snobbish students, I frankly haven't seen a lot of it myself on my visits. To be sure, I do think that many students at Emory have a level of "seriousness" that you might not find at say, a state college with more interest in the Saturday football game. One of my daughter's friends is a science major and pre-med. He studies ALL the time and volunteers at Emory Hospital on campus. (He even stayed on campus during Fall break, when everybody else made the trek to a friend's home in Tennessee for 4 days.) He appears very well-connected in everything and everybody that will help him enter into a prestigious medical school. As part of my daughter's circle of friends, I trust that he finds the friendship circle to be tight, supportive and fun. They rotate making dinners every week (they live in an apartment on the Clairmont Campus), play intramural football (not well) and go out when they have time. They volunteer (via Volunteer Emory), perform in the Emory Symphony orchestra, and hopefully, discover as much knowledge as they can.</p>

<p>In keeping with the theme of our new President, choose "hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord". There will always be nagging concerns, but know that you will be well-supported at Emory to meet and surmount these issues. Know that these concerns are not inevitable, and how they are dealt with begins with you. Good luck!</p>

<p>thank you all for responding! your comments really made me feel a lot better and im really excited about emory now. I just did a campus visit day before yesterday and I had a great time</p>

<p>I think you just got cold feet. It'll wear away.</p>

<p>Not heard of Emory? You must live up north. It is a very well respected school in the South and very well known. Congratulations on your acceptance, you made the right choice! Just don't get caught up in what others say in the next couple of months as you graduate high school. It is YOUR life, YOUR college, and YOUR future.</p>

<p>If you look at some of the other top 20 schools, you'll find that there are almost always a chunk of people saying they absolutely hated where they went. I've heard lots of people talk about JHU, Columbia, Rice, Duke like they were hellholes, when I'm sure they are perfectly respectable and friendly schools. Certain schools just have different cultures that certain students don't like. A lot of people who don't like Emory want something more like a giant state university in terms of parties, football, and spirit, people who don't like Hopkins say it's backstabbingly competitive, Duke is stuck up, Rice is full of ivy rejects, Harvard doesn't care about undergrads, etc.</p>

<p>It's good to get a feel of each school's student population, but don't fret over negative opinions so much. Most schools are diverse enough that you'll fit in.</p>

<p>I run into people all the time who do not know that Emory is a top 20 school. Recruiters and admissions people, on the other hand, know all about Emory. At the end of the day that's all that matters. </p>

<p>How hard Emory will be is largely based on how difficult your high school was. I know students who had 3.0s at tough highschools that have close to 4.0s here and I also know 4.0 hs students that curse Emory for being impossibly difficult.</p>

<p>I'm a sophomore at Emory. I think you should look at it this way. Emory is a fantastic school with a plethora of resources and contacts. I love it here. But that aside, just the fact that you're getting to go to college-and even, a school in the top 20 in the U.S.-makes you luckier than the vast percentage of people worldwide. Be happy that you got into a school that so many great, deserving people don't get into and look forward to your first year. (Maybe I'll be your RA! lol).</p>