<p>We are making plans be in the Atlanta area in the next week or so. D is a rising soph in HS but we are thinking about signing up for Emory's tour while we are there. I see that the 1st summer session ends June 27. If we come on or after that date, do you think the people/activity we will see on campus would be representative of Emory as a whole, and do you think it's ok to sign up even though D isn't a junior yet? You sign up online. I wonder how many people typically sign up for any given day. Sign up is for an info session and then followed by a campus tour.
If we do end up touring...or even just driving/walking around, what should we do and see, and where should we eat near campus?</p>
<p>Parent of a 2012 Emory grad and current faculty member, here. No, the summer session is not at all indicative of Emory as a whole. But if you are in Atlanta and can find the time to tour, go to the info session, etc. by ALL MEANS GO! The numbers of people that tour varies a lot in the summer but can be from 4 to 10 on a tour with a current Emory student. Emory admissions pays great attention to demonstrated interest. Coming in the summer, although not Atlanta’s best weather, will still give your D a feel for the campus. If this is a school she remains interested in and has the grades/scores to be competitive, then she can come back again later on. Whenever she can, she should demonstrate interest in Emory, e.g., when Emory reps come to the area, signing up on line for brochures, DVDs, etc. If she comes back again, even if she does not tour again, she should go to the admissions office and sign in to let them know she came back. </p>
<p>As far as what to see, take the tour and get a good feel for the campus. Try and see a dorm but this may be exceedingly difficult in the summer. Emory’s freshman dorms may be some of the nicest anywhere but seeing one can be tough in the summer since they are used by other programs and not Emory students. Tour the Carlos Museum and spend some time in Lullwater park, adjacent to the Emory campus. Go to the 10th floor of the Library where you can have a great view of the campus and Atlanta. It also houses Emory’s Manuscript and Rare Book Library (MARBL), which is impressive. </p>
<p>Atlanta has the usual tourist venues that I am sure you are aware of: High Museum, Cyclorama, Atlanta Zoo, MLK Memorial, Coke Museum and the Georgia Aquarium. The Aquarium is perhaps the most impressive of the tourist sites, IMO. But for a prospective student, it may be more important to get a feel for the neighborhoods that surround Emory where students go: Buckhead, Druid Hills, Little Five Points, Decatur. There is also Lennox/Phipps Malls in Buckhead that should interest most teenage girls. </p>
<p>Eating places: Cox Hall on campus is where students eat. Emory Village has a few restaurants but nothing amazing. Doc Chey’s is an Asian Noodle place that many like. There is a Starbucks in the Building opposite the Admissions office where the Emory Barnes and Noble bookstore is housed. And a good frozen yogurt place across the street from the Starbucks. The french restaurant in the Emory Inn, Le Giverny, is good and not overly expensive. There are few places near Emory’s campus that are good for a quick bite such as Willy’s Mexican (found all around town, too), Top Spice (Asian) in Toco Hills, Community BBQ and Bhojanic(Indian) near Emory’s Clairmont Road Campus, and Thai Chilli on Briarcliff Road.
Really good restaurants are in Buckhead and Decatur. Both areas are about a 10-15 minute drive from campus. Check your guide books for some of those. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>I can’t answer most of your questions because I really don’t remember the names of the places on campus. I will tell you a couple of things we did while we were there. First we took the bus around campus. We had to switch buses a couple of times to see everything but it was worth it and gave son a good idea of the real size of the campus. In our information session we had students that represented every year of high school. There is a place in the center of campus that has all the fast food places and that is where S ate. We spent two days at Emory. The first day we walked around on our own, talked to students, visited the libraries, and lots of student watching. The second day we did the official tour.</p>
<p>One thing we noticed was that during school hours that the students seemed to be “in their own world”. Not a lot of groups talking, libraries full of students, everyone seemed to be so focused. After about 4:30 or 5 the campus was very different. Groups everywhere talking, playing games, hanging out, etc. Very glad we were able to see both sides because otherwise I’m not sure S would have loved it and put it near the top of his list.</p>
<p>Thank you! We now have reservations to come for a tour. This will be our first official college tour! we are looking forward to it and to some of the other places suggested here. In what ways will summer session timing be different than a tour in the Fall/Winter (other than, obviously, the weather lol). Are the students that attend the summer sessions different than those who attend the Fall and winter sessions?</p>
<p>At a private school, there are simply much less students than the regular academic year which means you will not see the school anywhere near its most active so you may find it much more boring than normal (though observing some activities associated with the conferences and camps can be kind of fun). And yes, there could be more of a mixture of students (as many who do summer courses are do not necessarily attend it as a home institution). Another issue to consider for your upcoming visit is the fact that dining options are much weaker during summer due to more stringent hours and campus construction/renovation (Cox hall, a major fast food cafeteria, for example is closed because it is having its kitchen redone). The campus is also slightly more cumbersome to navigate in certain areas due to the construction. Campuses like Emory’s naturally love to ramp up on construction after commencement in May.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the other replies.</p>
<p>Most of the people on campus right now are graduate students and young kids on summer camp here. Most of us college kids here stay indoors because of the heat to be honest. Lots of construction, and Cox (food hall) is closed. You’ll have to eat at the village.</p>
<p>Visiting right now won’t give you a good idea of student life, but I would recommend it if you want to know what campus looks like. Also, campus tours are something you definitely want to do while you’re down here. Maybe even talk to some faculty if you’re child is specifically interested in something. Since teachers are our biggest strength.</p>