@cvlewis I have been accepted to Mercer for a nursing major. I am currently still awaiting my decision from Emory. In the medical fields, Emory is nationally renowned, whereas Mercer’s nursing program has yet to be ranked by the U.S. News, which leads to me questioning whether it is best to study nursing at Mercer. Mercer however, is a great option for me due to its comparatively lower tuition (Mercer had offered me a scholarship, though not full ride) and that even if Emory accepts me, I will not be offered any scholarships by Emory. Thus, I am severely conflicted. I believe Mercer is better for me due to its tuition, yet, if I do get accepted to Emory, I wish to attend Emory due to its prestige and due to its highly ranked nursing program. Can you offer me any advice on which college I should consider more? Also, I have seen in rankings that Georgia State University has a better nursing program than Mercer does. Is that true? Anyone who wants to comment, please do! Thank you and I apologize for the extremely large paragraph!
I appreciate anyone with great love for their school, so your comments are really welcome, @cvlewis. (I’m also someone who went from a lesser-known Georgia college - Spelman - to Columbia for graduate school!)
Just some thoughts on this, though:
-I’m not sure it’s quite accurate to say that only admits high-stats Asians to meet diversity standards. It’s quite common for elite universities to have an overrepresentation of Asian students for a variety of historical reasons. Emory’s actually more ethnically diverse than most elite schools of its status: 10% black/African American (almost at parity with the national proportion of 12%), 5% Latino/Hispanic, 6% mixed-race, 14% international students, and only 39% domestic white non-Hispanic students (and 29% Asian/Asian American). The class of 2018 did better with 9% Latino/Hispanic students. Whether or not it’s ethically responsible is subjective, I suppose.
-The bit about how Emory integrated is inaccurate. Emory voluntarily integrated in the 1960s, and in fact, they asked the state to change the state constitution to allow them to do so:
In 1962, in the midst of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, Emory embraced the initiative to end racial restrictions when it asked the courts to declare portions of the Georgia statutes unconstitutional. Previously, Georgia law denied tax-exempt status to private universities with racially integrated student bodies. The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled in Emory’s favor and Emory officially became racially integrated…Emory’s diversity and academic reputation flourished under the leadership of the university’s fifth president, James T. Laney. In addition to leading universities in the Southeastern United States in the promotion of racial equality, Laney and many of the school’s faculty and administrators were outspoken advocates of global human rights.
In fact, Emory has a pretty long history of being involved in civil rights - in 1880 the Emory president delivered a speech expressing gratitude for the end of slavery in the U.S. That speech was what kept Emory from disappearing from history: a New York businessman heard the speech and gave money so the university could repay its debts and build a new campus.
-Getting a large donation from a corporation isn’t “cheating.” Large universities get large gifts all the time, and Emory has had a long-standing relationship with Coca-Cola - the original land grand was from Asa Candler, the founder of Coca-Cola. (in HS we used to joke it should’ve been named Coca-Cola University, and many of its schools and buildings are named after prominent Coke executives). It is true that the large gift changed the history of the university, though.
They’re both really great schools. The decision is really just based upon what OP is looking for in the long run.