Which to choose: Brown (Ivy League!!) OR Emory (my dream school!!)

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hello CCers,</p>

<p>I am extremely (EXTREMELY) torn between my two incredible choices. I got into other schools but I narrowed it down to these two: Brown and Emory. I really, really need some help.</p>

<p>Emory has been my dream school for 3 years! My dad went there and loved everything about it. As weird as it sounds, I want to follow in his footsteps! When I got in, I was almost sure that I would go there. When I visited the Emory campus, I loved it... the people were very welcoming, the campus was beautiful but most importantly, the campus felt like home! </p>

<p>Then I got into Brown and now I am completely unsure about which one to attend. I did visit Brown and I did like it quite a bit. The campus is nice and people seemed very happy. However, I did not quite feel the same connection that I seemed to feel when I visited Emory.... However, I still liked it.. just not as much as Emory BUT Brown is an Ivy League school and that seems really hard to pass up. </p>

<p>Can anyone please help me figure this out? Would I be compromising academically if I go to Emory? Is it crazy to pass up an opportunity to attend an Ivy League school? I have so many questions and very few answers! What do you think I should so? Please keep in mind that finances are not a factor for me. Also, I will be majoring in biology!</p>

<p>I would really, really appreciate some help! Thank you so much!</p>

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<p>Which major are you considering?</p>

<p>I personally LOVE brown…it’s got a really nice LAC-ish vibe for a university, and the laid back feel and open curriculum felt really perfect. + THEY GOT EMMA WATSON. any kid wants to go to the school that feels most like hogwarts ;D</p>

<p>I suggest you do a bit more in depth research about both schools, not just about the general vibe that you saw during ur visits, but also include the strength of the program/departments, the professors you would be studying under, dorm/food quality, the future internship/study abroad/extra curricular opportunities each school can provide etc.</p>

<p>In terms of prestige, brown is SLIGHTLY better. but both are great schools, and in the end when you apply for grad school it won’t make a difference. therefore, after your research, if you still like emory better, go there. you can’t go wrong here. congrats.</p>

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<p>First of all, both are great schools and I believe the differences in academic quality is negligible… In fact, USnews ranks Brown 16th and Emory 17th… that pretty much means they are academic peers. Yes, Brown is in the Ivy league… but Emory is in the unofficial Southern Ivy League! Don’t be attracted to a school simply because its in the Ivy League. To me that means very little. </p>

<p>If Emory has been your dream school for three whole years, I strongly suggest you go there. People often underestimate the importance of “fit”… what struck out for me from your post is that you said Emory felt like home… for me, that is the most important thing. </p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong… Brown is, in its own right, a great university. I just don’t think you should be torn here simply because its in the Ivy League. Both are comparable in terms of education and you seem to like Emory better! I say, go for Emory!</p>

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<p>If cost is no issue, then I agree, follow your heart.</p>

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<p>

USNWR isn’t exactly an accurate indicator.</p>

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<p>The Ivy League does not have a monopoly on good education. In fact, if you give any credence to USNWR, Emory and Brown are neck and neck. Assuming both offer you a strong program in your prospective major and are otherwise fits for you on paper, I’d pick the one that you can see yourself succeeding at. If that’s Emory, so be it.</p>

1 Like
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<p>^ finally someone who makes sense. Is USnews perfect? Ofcourse not but its much better than other rankings… The quality of education at Emory and Brown are similar… IMO, one is not better than the other. With that being said, the rest comes down to fit! and Emory wins out!</p>

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<p>I concur with alam1 here. If you prefer Emory, go there. You are splitting hairs in terms of academic quality. Further, if you think you will be happier at Emory, you are likely to do better academically, and this will be the most critical factor in determining future opportunities.</p>

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<p>Thank you for all the opinions… Can I please get some more thoughts on the differences/similarities between the two schools? Will both schools be looked at similarly by grad schools?</p>

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<p>I’d go to Brown and make my own footsteps (as great at Dad is :-)</p>

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<p>The Ivy League is an athletic conference. You dont make life decisions based on an athletic affiliation with other schools. Pick or reject Brown on its own merits. Who they play in football is not important.</p>

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<p>Go to Emory. It seems as if they only thing that’s stopping you from jumping at Emory is Brown’s slightly greater prestige.</p>

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<p>As far as I know, brown is extremely liberal, but Emory extremely conservative. What is your character?</p>

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<p>Emory is diverse and liberal.</p>

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<p>I don’t think you can go wrong. If you have always wanted to go to Emory than go.</p>

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<p>Just it being Ivy League shouldn’t make you choose there. The Ivy League is an athletic conference of schools - really great schools - in the same geographic region that decided to make a league to compete within so their academically talented students wouldn’t have to focus on sports as much as kids in very athletically oriented conferences. Nothing more, nothing less. If Emory had been founded in New Jersey instead of Georgia, it could’ve possibly been a part of the Ivy League.</p>

<p>If your connection is really with Emory, then you should go to Emory. And as for graduate schools - well, where you went to undergrad doesn’t really matter that much to graduate schools, but yes, Emory and Brown will probably be looked at relatively similarly by the kinds of programs that care.</p>

<p>Emory is not extremely conservative. It is more conservative than Brown, but not extremely so. The students are diverse and come from all over the country, and elite colleges tend to be fairly liberal places to begin with. People tend to have the perception that Emory is conservative because it’s located in the South, but it’s really not.</p>

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<p>College is all about fit. If you got into both Brown and Harvard, and you loved Brown, but only sorta liked Harvard, I’d say go to Brown. Likewise, if you loved Emory, if you felt that you truly belong there, whereas Brown is nice and liveable, go to Emory. You’ll find that the difference in prestige at this level is minimal, and won’t really affect your opportunities post graduation.</p>

<p>It sounds like Emory is the place you want to be: always choose your top choice when possible.</p>

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<p>Brown’s got the Open Curriculum, which allows for complete intellectual freedom, and a body made up of RISD and PLME kids (and rich dumbs from abroad and affirmative action babies, of course). An hour and a half from New York City, and Providence isn’t that bad.</p>

<p>The Ivy League label doesn’t do much for it, in the same way that it doesn’t save Cornell from the scorn it often gets.</p>

<p>Me, I still recommend Brown. Your love for a school may quickly fade, but with Brown, you have a bigger safety net to fall back on.</p>

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<p>Emory is in a better location, in Atlanta, a thriving city. Providence to NYC is at least three hours by car.</p>

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<p>There are many differences between the two universities
1- social life
at brown there are no fraternities and you have to establish your own life. Brown is not trying to please you because they assume the students who got in will all be compatible with eachother (maybe true)</p>

<p>at emory social life revolves around the fraternity parties (or so i hear at least, though everyone can still have fun without them)
emory’s roommate survey is over 50 questions, while browns is 5. The student body at emory tends to be more cliquey (from what i hear) even though it is very diverse</p>

<p>2-location
brown is in providence, a cute little city not too far from new york, but still only a weekend trip, maybe doable once every couple of months
it is cold in providence</p>

<p>emory is in atlanta, a thriving southern city filled with diversity and interesting things to do
it is warm</p>

<p>3- brown has the open curriculum, and emory has a core curriculum, but in reality what that wont make much of a difference
what is different is that brown has many more self motivated students because of the open curriculum. Thus, there are not many advisors trying to help every student at every possible opportunity (or so i hear). At emory, because they feel they must overcompensate for not being an ivy-league (which is dumb) they really can baby some students (not all of course)</p>

<p>also, just one last thing to keep in mind- brown had a primarily undergraduate focus, while emory has a strong graduate program too, so brown may give more personal attention to some strong students at times </p>

<p>either way you are fine, but really try to understand the differences between the two, because though they may seem unimportant, they are still present</p>

<p>i would chose brown because it seems less snobby, but thats just me</p>