Hello, I’m currently a high school senior interested in applying to Emory 2016. I have a couple questions, targeted mainly at students interested in Medicine or something along those lines. 1) Why did you choose Emory? 2) What is the campus life like currently? 3) What do you enjoy the most about Emory? 4) What science courses have you taken thus far? 5) Would you say that the courses prepare you well for the MCAT? 6) What is the Emory community like? Friendly? Diverse?
Sorry if I have to many questions but just just want to have an insight into what Emory has to offer.
1)-4) Others can answer
5) Pick the right instructors, and it’ll be fine. If you only take the easy ones (“easy” science instructors here can be more at the level of a non-selective state school which is no use if you’re paying 6k. The main exception is if it is a random filler course or elective), be prepared to take a prep class and feel like you’re relearning everything from scratch. Those who took good classes will feel more comfortable with the prep classes or books. Among science majors, I think NBB and chemistry offer a notable advantage. The former has classes that focus on case studies, experimental analysis of phenomenon, primary literature, or integration of physics w/biology (which is basically what neuro is). The latter stresses problem solving regardless of teaching methods. Outside of those 2, many non-science majors may be more advantageous as they stress reading more.
Reading is very important for the MCAT. If your science courses don’t have you reading primary research articles or solving more difficult problems than normal (as in has problem sets in the first place and also has exams that go beyond regurgitation of powerpoint slides), it will prep you or at least make prepping easier (remember that science courses don’t specifically aim for MCAT prep). If you go the road commonly travelled by pre-meds the biology major, it makes sense to take the intermediate courses with discussion sections (even if you aren’t exactly interested in the topic area) because it will get you used to reading the science literature, which is the basis of MCAT passages. There are also classes like those offered by Eisen and Beck (I had a friend who said one of her MCAT passages was nearly identical to a short answer prompt given on a midterm in his class) that stress only research articles in lecture or focus on learning concepts in terms of data sets. Emory has many ways of getting you prepped, you just have to choose to pursue it and not wuss out. When people wuss out too much, they shouldn’t blame Emory’s science courses is all I have to say. They choose that route and often pay the price.
6) Others more current can answer these though I am sure it hasn’t changed.
- The professors.
The above is true. What amazes me is that there are a decent amount of professors with star power who can actually teach undergraduates really well (Lipstadt, Trethewey for example).