<p>Why does more popularity mean less academic rigor? My complaint is that a lot of people I talk to have never heard of Emory unless their kids applied there or have friends who go there. People always ask if it’s an airplane school. I think that it’s a problem for a top 20 school if people haven’t heard of it. It takes away from the prestige.</p>
<p>If I can interject, I’d like to ask why citylife873 finds the administration bad when it comes to on campus housing. Is it because of the dorm quality? Because I’ve heard that Emory Freshmen dorms are amazing and their upper class housing like the Clairmont Campus is superb as well. So I’d just really like your opinion, citylife873 about this. Or are you referring to their helpfulness in finding you housing? 
And also, are there any other parts of the administration you dislike? Because I’ve actually read on some website that Emory’s administration is very uncooperative/difficult. So anything else, if you don’t mind mentioning what and why, they are terrible at?</p>
<p>I’m a prospective applicant so I’d just really like to know and conclude if Emory is my first choice, that’s why I ask. :)</p>
<p>The dorms are nice and they are getting better ones every year. Clairmont Campus isn’t that great compared to what’s available off campus. The administration just screws up with housing availability every year. They tell you they ran out of on campus housing and can’t guarantee you anything. Then in August they send you a million emails saying they have housing and to sign up. I’ve had friends that they forced to pay for housing they didn’t want in a moldy dorm. My friends though it was OK to live off campus but they were told that they had to live on campus after they had signed a contract with an off-campus landlord. The off campus housing is pretty good though. You can get stuff a lot cheaper in Atlanta than in other big cities and you can get better food than on a meal plan. The upper level administration is supposedly good but a lot of the lower level people are stupid and lazy and there is a bit of racial tension with the workers. A lot of wealthier students try to live off campus after freshman year to avoid dealing with them. Emails don’t get answered, they’re constantly late, they try and nickle and dime students (I have had friends who were fined for illegal parking, but they got the wrong license number). Student health services is pretty bad. I takes hours to see a doctor even if you have an appointment. A psychiatrist violated confidentiality and yelled at my friend who was depressed. He didn’t get in trouble as far as I know. Just a lot of little stuff like that. I think the school tries to hire nice people but a lot of them just grow bitter from having to deal with the pushy New York student population.</p>
<p>To vnd1994. Where are you from? What type of high school did you go to?</p>
<p>I really don’t care if it’s that prestigious, as long as people who matter know about the school (recruiters, those in academia, etc.). I expected quality education from here, and for the most part, I have gotten it. Oh, it’s just the idea that grade inflation can result from schools that have had sharp increase in popularity (yes, while Emory is still not prestigious enough for you, it has come a very long way) and tuition for that matter, to keep the students in so as to keep any potential money (keep students happy while keeping the rigor relatively moderate compared where it should be or used to be for that matter). Also, it keeps the graduation rate relatively high (which helps the rank). I think some faculty are willing to admit (in fact I some who have) that Emory was probably harder before it’s rise (for example, top LACs are known to be a good deal more rigorous than many/most top 20s). It could probably control the rigor/quality better when it was smaller. Also, when I say popular, I mean students/parents. And I don’t mean first choice, I mean those merely willing to put in an application (more than or comparable to many state schools). Despite the increase in the amount of facilities, the increasing enrollment is going to (and actually is ) taking a toll. Most of the gen. chem. labs are oversized for example. And this 141. Given that 141 hardly gives Fs, most will continue to 142, where you will have to add those pre-meds/science majors with AP credit/transfer. It won’t be fun, I’ll tell that. </p>
<p>I’m basically saying that Emory may be having a hard time adjusting to both the “new” economy and it’s relatively new position as a top research institution. It has to manage its money well and keep students relatively happy. As a school not as popular or well-respected as others due to it’s “newness”, it doesn’t want to acquire the reputation for rigor that places like Georgia Tech (which is engineering and public, so is supposed to be that way, but it gets the same response essentially asking "is it really worth it if I can just do engineering at xyz that are more well-known in this field, rank higher, and where one will work the same amount or less), UChicago, Princeton, or Johns Hopkins. If most of the student body ends up being pre-professional, you don’t want to be known for being extremely rigorous unless you have the reputation of the aforementioned, or else pre-professionals will avoid Emory simply b/c their GPA will suffer (and it technically does say compared many Ivies, but not compared to top public schools) Emory already has a lot going against it during app. season, and wouldn’t need something that lame holding it back.</p>
<p>I wanted to chime in and offer my thoughts on a few issues brought up in this thread:</p>
<p>Administration
The leadership at Emory is phenomenal, especially President Wagner (known to students as “J-Wag” or “P-Wag”). President Wagner is well liked among students and faculty and plays an active role in the Emory community. He’ll toss a frisbee on the quad with you if you schedule it with his receptionist and he helps students move in. I think what citylife873 is referring to is more the bureaucracy of Emory rather than the administration. Just like any other university, Emory operates like a bureaucracy. People are constantly frustrated by the bureaucracies because policies are enforced rigidly, rules can’t be changed easily, and communication can be difficult. These are some of the negative side effects of bureaucracy, that you will encounter at any large organization, be it the government, a company, or a university. Emory being the parent of the largest healthcare provider in Georgia, Emory Healthcare, also increases the size of Emory’s bureaucracy. This sucks, but Emory is much more receptive to feedback than a large state school, for example. To characterize people who work in Emory’s bureaucracy as “stupid and lazy” is unfair. Most of the people who work at Emory are committed to their work and committed to Emory. I believe the “racial tension” comment is baseless.</p>
<p>The quality of the DUC food
The quality of the DUC food is average for college all-you-can-eat cafeterias. It’s not great, but it is getting better. Sometimes the DUC can be quite good, but it’s very hit or miss. The DUC meal plan is a terrible value and the food is too expensive. This is my biggest complaint about the DUC food.</p>
<p>Food variety on campus
There are a lot of food options other than the DUC that are available on campus and the meal plan can be used with. After your freshman year, you can have a lot more meal variety because you can pick a meal plan that has more dining dollars (“Dooley Dollars”) and fewer meal swipes. Zaya is a popular Mediterranean restaurant which your meal plan’s “Dooley Dollars” can be used at. The food is a bit pricey, but the food is quite good and it’s a decent value. The grill in Woodruff Residential Center (sophomore dorms) and the cafe at the SAAC (Student center at Clairemont) have pretty good food and you can use your meal swipes there. The only downside is there isn’t as much variety as the DUC or other restaurants– it’s basically pizza, salads, subs, pancakes/waffles, chicken strips, fruit, yogurt, chips, quesadillas, and drinks. Dooley Dollars can also be used at Cox (which has Chic-fil-A, a burrito/tex-mex place, a burger/wings place, a smooth/fro-yo place, and a deli) and the two Einstein’s.</p>
<p>Location: Urban vs. Suburban
One of my friends from high school recently visited and they remarked: “I didn’t realize that Emory would be so pastoral when it was literally only 5 miles from downtown Atlanta. It is a beautiful campus.”</p>
<p>Emory is very close to downtown Atlanta, but it’s feel is very suburban/residential. Some students complain that it’s a bit hard to get around Atlanta as an Emory student. As a freshman, I had no problem. MARTA (the mass transit) is slow, but if you’ve got time, it’s easy to get downtown. As a freshman, my upperclassman friends drove me around. As a sophomore, many of my friends have cars, which makes it easy to go anywhere in Atlanta.</p>
<p>Housing
On-campus housing is expensive compared to off-campus housing (i.e. apartments), but not expensive compared to other universities. Two-thirds of all freshman are in dorms three years older or less, and Emory has plans to build more new dorms. Sophomore housing is the worst, but it’s still pretty good. Emory recently spent $10 million renovating Complex, which used to be freshman dorms, but is now sophomore dorms. Woodruff is an extra 3-4 minute walk to the center of campus, but the rooms are suite-style and it has a lot of amenities including a restaurant that meal swipes can be used at. Housing can be a bit inflexible, but it’s been their experience that they do their best to make people happy. Clairemont is really nice upperclassman apartment-style housing, but you have to take a shuttle or bike to get to main campus quickly (it’s about a 15 minute walk through Lullwater park), and it’s not a particularly good value compared to off-campus apartments.</p>
<p>Reputation
While Emory is old (founded in 1836, shortly before Duke and 50 years before Vandy), it was ravaged during the civil war, and moved to its current location around 1910. Emory’s rise to prominence happened relatively recently (over the past 40 years), and Emory is continuing to rise very quickly. More and more people know about Emory. Every recruiter and everyone in academia knows about Emory. President Wagner said a few months ago that Emory has only had a marketing department for five years or so- and the addition of which should continue to help boost Emory.</p>
<p>The marketing department isn’t boosting Emory. I believe applications fell for the last 2 years, while they increased up to 30% at other top schools.</p>
<p>I said “should” not “has.” Clearly they can be doing a better job.</p>
<p>Regardless, you’re just looking at 2 data points. And Yale’s applications decreased last year as well…
[Bucking</a> trend, Yale’s applications dip | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/jan/21/bucking-trend-yales-applications-dip/]Bucking”>http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2010/jan/21/bucking-trend-yales-applications-dip/)</p>
<p>Part of the app. decline has to do with the vendor we used (almost all of the other top schools use them to process/forward apps), which would also forward incomplete apps, which would be counted. There were over a 1000(maybe 1500+ish is what Wagner said) of these per year. Emory dropped the vendor, and went toward the ethical route. You pay the price for being ethical when it comes to these stupid rankings. Besides, I don’t think we need millions of apps. to prove that the school is solid. While apps. are steady/in slight decline, the enrollment is still increasing. Plus the app numbers aren’t stopping Emory from trying to improve itself. I’m here now, and as long as my academic experience doesn’t suffer from app. numbers, I’m fine. Screw getting more apps. and accepting the same amount. How about simply admitting less w/the numbers we have so as not to increase the enrollment too rapidly and thus straining resources and the experience in the classroom. Emory needs to be careful in this area.</p>