After reading several other sites, students seem to be dissatisfied with the on campus activities and events. Can someone comment on what Freshman and Sophomores who live on campus do on the weekend if they don’t drink and go to parties? thanks
@sandandsun : It’s actually fine (I think something can be done to make the housing system more cohesive or interesting, but reslife tries. It is ultimately up to the students to want it or actually participate in the sponsored events). The people who complain the loudest and most frequently are those who really wanted the D-1 scene (they mostly likely applied to other D-1 schools and were really just looking to land at any top ranking school so didn’t give social and academic differences a second thought and then they land at Emory and are like: “oh, really wish we had football or basketball fervor”). If you remove those desires, Emory is definitely not bad and is pretty stereotypical socially but those who complain benchmark it versus D-1 schools which is kind of ridiculous (they should have just gone to a D-1 school if they valued that type of social life versus a more a academic scene) and borderline stupid. Always consider the raters. Either way, even if there are not large or decent sized events happening on a weekend, Emory makes it easy to get out into Atlanta via Emory Experience and Lennox shuttles. Unless you really want the party and rah rah scene (which sadly, a good portion of Emory’s students wanted despite knowing what they were signing up for…I hope at least) that comes with a lot of D-1 or party schools, you should be fine as quality of life is pretty high and students are happy overall (as they are at most “new Ivy” and up and coming schools). If you really want the other stuff, I wouldn’t come to Emory. I would even recommend attending a lower (even if significantly) tiered or ranked school if that is what you are looking for. Better to come to Emory if you seriously want to engage the academics, like/are ok with Atlanta, and can live without the sports scene. Those who come expecting the latter often end up disappointed with both the social scene and the academics (because ultimately, they choose their courses based on their social lives and how much they plan to party. In such a case, you are less likely to get good instructors and certainly are less likely to be challenged by your own design. I just get mad when these students blame Emory…they did it on purpose!)
Emory is more similar to a Chicago (definitely not as intellectual), WUSTL (but in a better town), or JHU (more like this one. Lots of serious pre-professionals, but a decent intellectual and multi-cultural feel that isn’t overwhelming for those who value that but don’t want a “stuffy” or “snooty” school), or even some LACs to some extent. You should be aware of that. It doesn’t have a D-1 feel (I would argue many D-1 schools that are topped ranked don’t either. But when I say D-1, I allude to a strong SEC or Big 10 feel)/ People are just very involved in other things besides partying (though they make time for it when they want to) and those who consider that as the ideal social scene probably don’t like that aspect of Emory or perhaps join something like Greeklife to be closer to that scene. Be honest without yourself in figuring out if you want a bigger party or sports scene and also check out what you want academically. It can be a real dampener if you come here and wanted a very vibrant party scene AND the academic program of choice is not particularly strong.
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I didn’t give a damn about Atlanta and I still went to Emory anyway. Didn’t bother me. As for D-1, well, I turned down University of Florida (in-state), so you know how much I care. As for weekends, I played video games or read books on whatever if there was nothing I found interesting going on. Or study, that’s cool too, and fill the bottomless pit of “there is always more to learn”. Also, play video games to %%## off your girlfriend on the weekends when you get bored (you will stop being bored, guaranteed, but you might not like the consequences). Okay, okay, so I didn’t care at all about girls at Emory (and, consequentially, they didn’t care at all about me either) nor did I drink and party, but I’m someone who would rather argue over intellectual nonsense than to party–haha, I stole your office hours with your professors; sue me–so if you’re that kind of person then Emory is good enough for you.
My son just finished his sophomore year at Emory.
When he was applying to college, one criteria was that it just HAD to be a school with D1 sports, where he could go to football and basketball games. He ended up with a couple of options that met that criteria, but when he went to an admitted students day at Emory he found his ‘people’. He’s never been happier socially.
On weekends he and his friends hang out and play video games, watch NFL and NBA games on the TV in his dorm/house room, go out for dinner and sometimes a movie. He occasionally goes to party and occasionally drinks, but it’s in no way a focus of his. He also has played some intramural sports. There are all sorts of clubs, etc. of which he doesn’t take advantage, but you might.
There’s no control to this experiment – I don’t know how he’d like the social scene at any other school, but he has a group of guys with whom he has a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. Occasionally he even does some homework.
@AsleepAtTheWheel : “I don’t know how he’d like the social scene at any other school, but he has a group of guys with whom he has a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. Occasionally he even does some homework.”
A brutally honest description of college life lol. Though I’m sure your son works hard (it was tongue in cheek, I know). Pretty much sounds like my social life minus the sports. Many of my closest friends were either involved with or were huge fans of visual and performing arts, so we would often make time to go to concerts or performances. I’d say I had a cluster of friends who were into sports (as was I, spectator wise, but by time I got to college, it was less important).
Interestingly enough,
I had friends who were much bigger fans of sports and were from different metropolitan areas so took advantage of the cheaper Hawks and Falcons ticket prices to see their favorite teams play.
However, I came to Emory primarily because of the diversity and range of things folks were into, so my personal social scene was quite varied (even involved anime and cosplay). By time of college, I was a social butterfly who was also happily nerdy in many respects as were many of my friends there and none of us attempted to hide it and appear “mainstream smart”. We had our quirks and Emory/Atlanta allowed us to enjoy it.
My D will be a senior next year and she’s not into drinking, wild parties or Greek life. Her first two years she was able to find similar-minded friends by joining some campus organizations and orchestra. Like AsleepATheWheel said, they often order takeout or cook dinner and hang out in someone’s suite watching movies if they don’t feel like going out. She and her friends have headed into Atlanta occasionally via MARTA or by various shuttles Emory provides (some of her friends have a car.) The Schwartz Center hosts many concerts and the Atlanta Symphony has $10 tickets which they go as groups to. She’s been to Latino or Asian culture and dance events, charity races/walks at Centennial Park, etc. Her volunteer service organization often has regular Sunday activities.
Rising senior here. Freshman year, almost everyone’s weekend plans consisted of some frat party + Maggie’s (a local bar). I wasn’t into that scene then and didn’t really branch out so that wasn’t a good year, socially. Sophomore year I found an organization with a lot of nerdier/quirkier people, and since then it’s been a lot better. Watching movies/drinking/shooting the shit at friends’ places has been the main thing, but we also do nerdy strategy games (Settlers of Catan and the like), go see live music, and explore Atlanta sometimes. The organization puts on plenty of its own events too, I’ve been to a Thai tea night and a retro arcade with them.
The thing about Emory’s social life is that there are plenty of opportunities for people who don’t really do parties, you just have to seek them out. Some clubs have a community behind them that makes it easy to engage in whatever you’re interested in outside of meetings (like the video/role-playing game club, a couple of club sports, and some of the political groups). Others don’t.
Exploring Atlanta also adds to the experience (definitely recommend it). It isn’t easy to get around if you don’t have a car or friends with cars, but Emory shuttles, MARTA rail, and yes even MARTA buses will get you to a lot of places. Lenox Mall. Decatur. The Dekalb Farmer’s Market. Concert venues in Midtown. The museums at Centennial Olympic Park. The MLK memorial. Hawks games. That’s seven cool things you can get to in less than an hour using transit.
Emory/Atlanta have a lot for people who aren’t seeking traditional college entertainment, it’s all a matter of being on the prowl for new things, new experiences. It doesn’t have the tech scene of Tech or the liberal arts nerd vibe of UChicago, but you can probably find whatever it is you’re looking for.
@esimpnoxin : I think Emory is more like a Hopkins (w/o engineering). It has somewhat of a nerd/quirk vibe but it really isn’t because of the academic offerings more so than the students that come (though the entrepreneurial thing is catching which gives the student body a different feel…I want to say Stanfordesque, but the entrepreneurial-ism is not mostly tech related and maybe instead resembles some of the Ivies that it is catching fire at). Freshman year is like that simply because Emory is in the south and has Greeklife. If a huge share of students plan to rush, so no surprise people view Greek row as the archetype of social experiences. Me and my friends (I came in when the INSPIRE program existed, and had the fortune of being in it…so my initial social and academic peer group was on the nerdier and more intellectual side not interested in the Greek party scene) personally started exploiting MARTA and the shuttle system as early as spring freshman year because, though my courses were hard (I had Soria, biology, and other fairly intensive writing or research based courses in the same semester), I had learned how to manage time pretty well, so would even explore on some weekdays and then come back and do any work needed. I imagine the freshman year trend may eventually become more balanced as certain special academic programs targeting freshmen become more popular. When I came in (before the recession), there were simply a lot more and you can kind of tell the difference in the students and how serious many were about academics (not grades, but academics. For example, some instructor’s courses filled or even overloaded that would never do so today if there was competition from easier sections). If they made things like the voluntary core and freshman SURE more popular and actually market such programs, Emory could successfully start to attract (again) a greater share of students who aren’t just interested in the traditional party scene. The IDEAS program by the ILA will start integrating freshman into its fellowship cohorts who will have a shared academic experience (I think they all take certain freshman seminars if they express interest), so if this grows or has impact in the future, Emory may become more interesting socially again.
I think I see what you mean though…to some degree, Emory had begun feeling as if it were the D-3 school full of students only wanting the D-1 type of social experience for some reason. Kind of suggests that it did not market itself in a way that made it distinct enough to yield a greater share of students more appreciative of its culture and offerings.
What organization did you join your sophomore year?@esimpnoxin
yes please elaborate on clubs and activities that provided something to do on weekends. my son does not drink and party but is very social.