Which school is the best fit for me- Emory, Tufts or Case?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
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<p>So far my top schools are Emory, Case Western and Tufts. I plan on major in biology. On paper, all three seem very similar to me with their programs, rank, etc. On less academics-based criteria, which do you think will be the best "fit" for me?
Things that I value are: safety, school spirit, sometime of sports participation/enthusiasm (intramurals or club), lots to do on and off campus, nearby hospitals/research, friendly student body, ability to focus on major (not too many GER) and some sort of nightlife.</p>

<p>Also any advice on any of these schools is great too! Thanks!
Sarah </p>

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<p>We’re good on safety; school spirit I’ll leave to someone else; we have intramural/club sports… I have been to one Emory sports game ever, which is not atypical for Emory students; I think there’s a good amount of things to do on and off campus; we have a hospital on our campus and are the largest provided of healthcare in the state of Georgia; I think the student body is friendly (particularly if you’re from NJ, NY, or China–where everyone else seems to be from–but, don’t worry, I’m not and have found my people); I don’t think are GERs are bad, particularly if you bring in AP credit.</p>

<p>A rant on pre-med, but a student who is not pre-med, but knows a lot of former pre-meds:</p>

<p>If you are pre-med, you are best served by going to a school where you are at least 50th percentile in terms of SAT/GPA (the higher the better). Unless you are independently wealthy, you should also consider the cost of undergraduate and medical school.</p>

<p>Emory is an excellent school for access to science and medical research in what I think is in a great environment. But, in the end, the name will not save you from a “low” GPA in medical school admissions–a sting that will particularly hurt if you’re paying full price. </p>

<p>A lot of pre-med students seem to take the “go to best school I got into and just work hard” approach, which may not be the wisest. If you’re an Emory scholar, you may find that the opportunities here outclass those you’d find at many other schools. But if you’re coming in at the bottom 25th percentile, don’t be surprised if your GPA is well below the average of about a 3.4. Maybe you’re somewhere in the middle. Then I’d particularly consider how strong your desire is to be a physician (on a scale of “my parents told me to” to “came down from the sky on stone tablets”), your financial circumstances, how good your science preparation is, and even whether there’s something you would be satisfied with if you decided against pre-med (note: business school doesn’t make a good back-up option because of its admissions/prerequisite structure and residency requirement).</p>

<p>Of course, there are exceptions: people who start at the bottom graduate in the top; people who start at the top graduate in the bottom. But there are trends that cannot be ignored by sticking your head in the sand and promising God and country that you’ll “work hard and everything will be okay.” Also know that there is absolutely no advantage to majoring in biology (or chemistry) over anything else in terms of medical school admissions, and neither field is particular employable at the undergraduate level.</p>

<p>I don’t know your stats, so none of this is aimed at you personally and does not take into account your particular situation. My point is that your choice of college is full of trade offs, particularly with the pre-med path. I don’t mean to scare you, but there’s often no clearly best choice. For instance, you might choose a less known regional state school in order to be risk-averse and later realize that you hate the idea of being a physician or that you really love something else and that that school neither has the name, major, or resources to serve that desire.</p>

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<p>We don’t have school spirit in the “I support the school” sense. We have school spirit in the “I support my classmates and friends” sense.</p>

<p>That premed rant is very similar to how I feel. But I should also add that Chemistry is more employable than Biology.</p>

<p>I think you should throw Case Western off your list if the money situation is okay. From what I know (not much) about it, it is a one-dimensional school. If you decide medicine isn’t for you, Emory or Tufts would give you a stronger education. </p>

<p>Tufts and Emory are way, way different. Tufts is nerdy and I’d compare it to Brown. Emory is pre-professional and I’d compare it more to UPenn. Generalizations but not bad ones.</p>

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<p>I think Emory is in between those two. Penn has way more undergraduate pre-professional programs and schools which creates an even more pre-prof. vibe than Emory in my opinion (however, it is indeed far more similar to us than is Tufts). The “liberal arts” have a bigger presence here than there in my opinion, even if many of the LA oriented majors tend to have a pre-prof. slant (you may, for example, have a history major participate in the public health case competition, which is awesome in my opinion)). </p>

<p>pre-med: even a person in the bottom 25% can do well at Emory if they cheat the system like many of the others. There are many science , excuse me…(not quite science in my opinion), science based pre-medical courses that are easy for everyone to do well in because they are at an underwhelmingly low level compared to what they should be (many top 20s are guilty for having courses like this I realize. It sort of comforts me to know that places like Brown, Vanderbilt, etc. have such pre-med courses, but still one always hopes that their own institution is above that sort of thing). So if you want a high GPA and poor preparation, just like every other school, Emory has a route for those students. You’ll just have study much harder for the MCAT (which will be much harder by time you take it. The new MCAT biochemistry section, for example, is not the biochemistry most schools teach medical students and undergrads. It’s more similar to what you teach those about to pursue graduate school oppurtunities or industry). The best route does require some determination and ability. Unless you’re 60%-75%, best to strike an intricate balance between the “best” route and the other that I mention. Take the best instructors for courses that are very important for MCAT success (in your case, biochemistry/thus organic, general chemistry, physics, and biology, and physiology based courses like H. Phys and Organismal form and function. This way, your MCAT prep is much easier and perhaps hardly existent for some sections). You can take the “best” instructors for the “pre-health” core/“this topic is on the MCAT” classes and then choose random biology and NBB courses taught by less rigorous or even less good instructors for fun/inflate the GPA. Many 50% students choose some route like this (though many still choose the “bad” one, they kind of get screwed in the end). A lot of the 75% folks do whatever the hell they want and take whatever science and math courses and instructors they please regardless of the level of challenge (like, they don’t forfeit AP credit to retake courses and make easy A’s, they go straight to intermediate/advanced and keep an upward trajectory). Just see where you stand. If bottom 25%-50%, strike a balance, if comfortable, have fun, take a few risks!</p>

<p>As for GERs, get over this one. Technically all selective private schools except Chicago and Columbia have gone super soft on this. It is ridiculously easy to fulfill these. Seriously, many people use these courses to inflate their GPAs or to jump off a second major in certain cases. Having a decent amount of GERs is honestly more good than bad. Sometimes you need to step outside of your comfort zone (even if science) and try and learn new things (I basically did a chem. biology double major, had time for 2-3 graduate levels in chemistry and still enjoyed several social science and humanities GERs for the sake of my own intellect). The way you focus on your major if you are a science major is called: A research project or some sort of fellowship. Although NBB and anthropology (I will concede) have tons of courses for undergraduates who do want to use the coursework as a vehicle to “focus upon their major” (although oddly enough, it is much more common for chemistry, math, and physics majors to do this than biology, NBB, or anthropology majors. It’s more typical for these 3 to take graduate level courses before senior year. Those in the other 3 tend to only do it as part of the honors thesis requirement and even then, they’ll do something like choose a 2 credit hour course that is perhaps less demanding than UG courses. Many strong PCM majors tend to just exhaust the course offerings and thus end up in Laney or finding courses to take in another science/math field). </p>

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<p>Both Tufts and Emory have a lot to do on campus and probably have similar school spirit for sports since they’re both Division III schools. Tufts is easier to get into Boston because of the MBTA subway; Atlanta is a bit harder to get into for nightlife unless you have a car. There are more hospitals in the Boston Medical area but they’re across the river; the CDC is right on Emory’s campus. Lullwater Park is a nice diversion at Emory; Tufts doesn’t have a similar green space nearby. I don’t think you could go wrong with either one; my D loves Emory and we live 5 mins. away from Tufts. I don’t know anything about Case Western. </p>

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<p>Emory has its own Healthcare system right on campus. I’m just saying…You may literally end up living right next to a healthcare or research facility.</p>

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<p>I think the quality of life is significantly higher at Emory compared with Tufts. I am sure the education is similar enough. I do think they attract a different type of student. Tufts is more “local” and Emory draws more from outside of Atlanta. I think the diversity at Emory is more real than Tufts and contributes wonderfully to the education there. </p>

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<p>Pretty broad generalization there, peacefulmom, to say quality of life is higher at Emory than at Tufts. No one can really say that unless they have personal experience with both schools.</p>

<p>For my part, my D is a freshman at Tufts and has never been happier. Quality of life is probably BETTER than she’d expected. A broad range of student types, but everyone friendly and approachable and down-to-earth. Diversity is at least at prevalent as at Emory, I would imagine, with students from all countries and parts of the globe. Tufts is hardly “local”. Perhaps regional, but not noticeably so. Preppy mix with artsy, jock-y with boho, and everyone’s love for the school shows in its non-competitive culture. </p>

<p>She finds she hasn’t enough time to do everything she’d like, there’s so much on offer on campus, in hip-and-happening Davis Square up the street, and in Boston, which is a quick T-ride away. Really, there’s something to do every night.</p>

<p>School sports culture is just right (go Jumbo Women’s Basketball, which just won NESCAC championship, I think.). D is a bio major and finds the academics rigorous but not overwhelming. Professors/ TAs very approachable and helpful.</p>

<p>Hope this helps in your decision-making. You can’t go wrong with any of these schools, but it’s hard to beat going to school in the Boston area, with all the opportunities it affords. </p>

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<p>I was going to respond in a similar way as you gondaline. I always view Atlanta as a southern, less intense version of Boston (many compare it to something like a small NYC, but I don’t think so. The concentration of highered institutions also makes it similar). Some small advantages of Atlanta are that there are similar opportunities with less competition I suppose (as Tech and Emory hold a lot of weight in metro Atlanta whereas Tufts students are in competition with lots of other very high caliber institutions, whether they be other reseach U’s or LACs). </p>

<p>Atlanta is odd in that it has an awful lot of character for a southern city in the New South so to speak (seems different from Charlotte, Houston, and Dallas in that respect. The cities with lots of character are Nashville, Atlanta, and Miami and I am not sure I would consider Miami the new south because all of Florida seems to be its own sort of vibe that is different from other southern states). </p>

<p>As for quality of life: Normally that is judged by the way a campus looks, state of its facilities, and its amenities and Emory scores really well there, but as you may know, I really caution against placing to heavy an emphasis on this when choosing a school. It should not supersede characteristics such as academic structural differences and differences in intellectual and academic orientation of the student body. For example, with my sort of thinking, I am one of the rare people, who if admitted to Vanderbilt, ND, Brown, JHU and Chicago, I would choose JHU or Chicago despite the supposed higher quality of life at Vandy, ND, and Brown because I favor a more intense environment with a student body that is more life of the mind in orientation. Many people probably would not do this unless Chicago or JHU was truly excellent in an area where the others don’t excel but my values don’t place quality of life once it’s beyond a certain threshold, that high on the list. Most selective privates all are pretty solid on this, it’s just a matter of how much a student values that over other things.</p>

<p>For example, the OP is not interested in probing the academic differences and assumes the 3 are the same (they aren’t), and then moves on to other values rather quickly. In my above scenario, the OP would probably end up at Vandy, ND, or Brown (more relaxed, but stressful enough environments that have stereotypical school spirit, etc) based upon the values they listed. I would have been probing the hell out of the academics with my mindset. </p>