<p>I was wondering, how many of yall, parents and incoming freshmen, went on a tour of Emory. What was your initial impression of the school and why did you choose to come to Emory? (Or agree to pay for your son/daughter to come to Emory?)</p>
<p>What about the tours did you or didnt you like? What else did you want to see or hear about that you weren't albe to experience or hear more information about?</p>
<p>We live in northern New England and came down to Emory last fall over the long weekend in November. That weekend we also visited UPenn and Villanova. All three schools were very unprepared for the volume of visitors. At Emory, our tour guide did not have a very loud voice and given the large number in our group, and the fact there was a tour right behind us with a male tour guide with a very loud voice, we had trouble hearing. Maybe staggering the groups of sending them off in different directions would have helped. I liked what I heard of the actual tour. We saw everything we needed to see (library, dorm room, gym, DUC, etc.). Our tour was countered with very personal attention we received from a coach. Overall, after this visit we were very impressed with the campus. Our second visit for accepted students cemented it b/c D was able to attend a class and her questions were more pointed than when we toured.</p>
<p>We are from New England as well and found Emory to offer the most in terms of academic programs and opportunities for internships. Also, our son was firm on wanting to attend school in the south as he was looking for a new experience in a different area of the country. The campus was much more beautiful than we expected and we felt that it was just the right distance from downtown Atlanta. Our only visit was in April for accepted students at which time our son was also able to sit in on a couple of classes which he found very helpful. It rained during our tour but the tour guide was excellent and took the time to answer all our questions; no suggestions for improvement. The Clairmont Campus was also very impressive. In general, our son got a good feeling when visiting Emory as did we.</p>
<p>We came to the accepted student days in April. We had to visit the Clairmont campus on own. We ended up sneaking into the campus. I would have liked a better tour of this campus with the ability to ask questions along the way.</p>
<p>My tour was in July of 2005, amidst a two week campaign of visiting colleges. From the very beginning, I was very impressed by Emory's campus. The B. Jones center is really elaborate. The campus looked like it was maintained exceptionally well -- greenery and shrubs that reminded me of Disney Land. Our tour group was very personalized. There was one tour guide and about three families. My tour guide was friendly and helpful. We visited the library first, then Cox Hall and its food court, then to the area above the food cout (computer labs?), we proceeded to Alabama Hall (I think), after that was DUC, then woodPEC, and finally went to some building for the session discussion. I ended up choosing Emory over other colleges for many reasons, the good experience at the campus tour for one..but also the prestige, ideal location, general environment, detailed study of college books, solid business program, and the informative visit I had with an adcom at my own high school.</p>
<p>Basically, all my questions were answered on the tour and, I got a good feel for the campus. Honesty, I have no suggestions for improvement.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the best tour groups are the smallest ones. (3-5 parties)</p>
<p>Actually, tomorrow (Aug. 8) will be the one-year anniversary of our tour date at Emory. My daughter had already been in Atlanta for about 10 days, having been involved with an urban/community services endeavor, so she had been all over Atlanta, especially downtown and mid-town, working with different social agencies. I flew out from California to join her at the conclusion of her project.</p>
<p>Our tour was led by a rising junior at Emory, and we still have her e-mail address. She took us everywhere on our tour, except the Clairmont campus. I have to say that she was all business very pleasant and informative and didnt attempt to be a standup comedy act, which had been the case for a number of other campus tours we took not that she wasnt without humor, though! ;) The initial impression I had was that the landscaping was almost manicured. Not a leaf on the pavement, and the flowers were gorgeous. What sold me personally that this was a great school was the conferencing facility within Cox Computing Center, plus I loved the WoodPEC (who wouldnt?). Overall, I really liked the facilities a lot. The tour guide answered a myriad of questions, ranging from student/teacher ratio, to the fact that full professors taught most of the undergrad classes, and the Learnlink conferences, i.e., on classes/teachers. All of this made a good initial impression, and then all of our admissions questions were addressed in a candid way at the information session.</p>
<p>We had lunch at Cox food court, and we were content that there was sushi among the choices, so we were OK with the dining options. We further toured some of the buildings we had earlier glanced at, including the wonderful Pitts Theology Library at the Candler School of Theology -- a truly serene space. Serendipitously, we encountered some students who were NBB majors, all studying for their MCATs, and they invited my daughter to ask whatever questions she had. I think this was the singular moment that made a big impression on my daughter just encountering some very welcoming upper division students. Later, we met with the Assistant Dir. at the Office of Financial Aid to discuss our situation before heading over to the Schwartz Center to meet with a music professor, who helped my daughter map out a tentative 4-year plan for a double major in NBB and Music. This professor, Scott Stewart, was incredibly open and helpful. This was the beginning of an e-mail and telephone relationship we've had with him since. The Emory visit was terrific, and the only aspect we couldnt truly experience was what it would feel like if school was actually in session, but we had a sense for it.</p>
<p>Two weeks after our return home, my daughter changed her mind about applying ED to Pomona College and decided to apply ED to Emory.</p>
<p>i really liked my tours that i took at emory. my guides were all very knowledgable and were able to answer my questions. i enjoyed the view of a typical room. it gave me an idea of what a room would look like if a person actually lived there. i wish we could have gone further into the library since we just walked through the entrance and walked out but other than that i thought it was great. preview day was also really informative and helpfull.</p>
<p>thanks for all of yalls responses. Anyone else with insight, I'd appreciate it.</p>