The white marble buildings and manicured lawns are the first clue when walking
onto Emory’s campus that it’s not a typical college. Aside from the gorgeous setting that’s
fifteen minutes northeast of downtown Atlanta, Emory’s combination of diversity and academic
excellence drives its students to work hard and play hard. Since its inception as a
small Methodist college in Oxford, Georgia, in 1836, Emory has become a nationally ranked
university. The school offers a broad liberal arts education and sets students on a track for
success in various fields and concentrations. Emory’s connections to highly accredited businesses and organizations in Atlanta, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Coca-Cola,
help the university attract applicants from more than fifty countries and rank among the
nation’s elite. Emory is known for its commitment to creating positive transformation in the
world— it expects its students to do well and also do good for the world.
Emory’s always changing and that’s directly seen by the constant construction on
campus. The University continues its commitment to providing students with state-of-theart
facilities, including compensation of a $14.8 million expansion/renovation of the Cox
Dining Hall, and a $20-million Sorority Housing Complex features ten townhouses on Eagle
Row. Additionally, new residence halls are under construction with nine freshman living
complexes being built in eight years. Three of the nine new residences halls are currently
open with the remaining six to be completed in the next five years. Cox Hall computer lab
lets students create interactive projects with SmartBoards and DVD production software,
and the new Math and Science Center helps students study constellations in the high-tech
planetarium. The forty-two-acre Clairmont Campus offers apartment-style housing to
juniors and seniors, equipped with a washer/dryer unit, full kitchen, and individual rooms
with full-size beds. The Student Activity and Academic Center on Clairmont Campus lets
students soak up rays beside the Olympic-size, heated outdoor pool, play sand volleyball, or
study on the plush leather couches. The 90,000-square-foot Schwartz Center for the
Performing Arts allows students to enjoy an orchestra concert, dance performance, or theater
reading. These additions combined with the pedestrian-friendly, auto-restricted zones
makes Emory accessible and unique for all its students.
Aside from the innovative buildings and designs, the students’ serious drive for excellence
sets Emory apart from other schools. All Emory undergraduates can choose from
more than seventy majors, fifty-six minors, nine combined bachelor’s/master’s degrees, ten
pre-professional programs, and two dual degree programs in engineering with Georgia Tech.
Fifty-two percent of Emory students have dual majors and/or minors. Many come to Emory
already sure that they want to pursue a terminal degree, and sixty-five percent of a recent
graduating class went on to a graduate program in medicine, law, business, sciences, or the
humanities within six months of graduation.
Students enjoy Emory outside of the classroom as well. There’s always an on-campus
lecture by a renowned writer, a unique sub-Saharan art exhibit, or a band concert featuring
popular artists, such as Common, The Roots, and Guster, that students can attend.
Undergrads can also step off campus to attend a Falcons game, visit the Atlanta Botanical
Gardens, or enjoy a meal at a trendy restaurant in smart Buckhead or the Virginia
Highlands. For weekends and breaks, Emory’s location makes it convenient for students to
take road trips to the coast of Georgia, the Panhandle of Florida, or the Louisiana bayou.
Whatever the event, Emory students are seldom bored and can always find the perfect mix
of academic, cultural, and entertaining events on or off campus.
During my four years at Emory, it always astonished me how people
reacted when they heard I attended this university. Whether it’s my father’s
coworker or a random person I met at an internship or in a doctor’s office, the
‘wow’ reply never ceased to amaze me. People were taken aback by Emory, and
recognized the institute as a respected, forward-thinking school. I am proud to
say I attended one of the top twenty schools in the nation. As a graduate now, I
constantly run into people through my new job who ask where I went to college
and still receive that ‘wow’ or ‘great school’ comment. There’s nothing better than
hearing a stranger be impressed by my collegiate choice.
Emory offers a unique, fantastic education to those who’re ready for a diverse and
demanding education. Although Emory is probably not for everyone, students who seem to
thrive on full schedules, big ambitions, and a work-hard, play-hard attitude will find themselves
at home here. Emory offers a challenging, but supportive environment with great
intellectual and cultural resources. Students learn a number of theories, but most important,
they learn how to think critically and for themselves.
But facts and figures can offer only so much information; it’s impossible to describe
the special atmosphere at Emory. Students find it difficult to quantify fond memories of
ordering Dominos pizza at three in the morning while procrastinating for studying for a
midterm, grabbing a drink with friends to celebrate a new job, or caravaning to the Coast
for a weekend getaway. Graduates will always have a soft spot for something—a cold Coke
or a burrito from Willy’s—that reminds them of their alma mater. Emory is more than a college
education; it’s a glimpse into the copious opportunities of the real world that are
framed by an outstanding network of professors, researchers, athletes, and artists. Whether
a student wants to become an archeologist, doctor, politician, or writer, a solid Emory education
will get him or her on the right track. The diversity of the school in the heart of
Atlanta produces the comfort and adventure of a quintessential college experience that
lucky students will have the chance to encounter.
I don’t think I could’ve landed such a good first job if it hadn’t been for
my experience at Emory. I learned how to think for myself and be aware of my
surroundings. After four years at Emory, I emerged as a confident and inquisitive
woman with a new vision of what I wanted to do in life and what mattered,
both professionally and personally. My only regret is not getting to spend more
time at Emory. During senior year, I wish I wasn’t so antsy to graduate and
begin working, because if I could, I’d be back there in a heartbeat.
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Emory University
Academics
At Emory, students take their academics seriously and professors expect a lot from
them. With a student-faculty ratio of seven to one, students have abundant access to their
professors, whether it occurs during office hours or individual appointments. Professors are
more than willing to work with students’ schedules and genuinely care about their pupils’
performances. Expert faculty who love to teach choose Emory for the opportunity to work
with intelligent and ambitious students. The academic environment is friendly, albeit competitive,
as students support and push one another to execute their best. Students can
always find a colleague to commiserate with regarding a sociology paper, or consult an
upperclassman or teaching aid about a math quagmire. With the recent technology additions,
Emory professors are implementing more group projects, allowing students to split up
work and present innovative projects that incorporate programs such as Powerpoint and
Dreamweaver. The university’s Writing Center continues to be a successful part of Emory’s
academic life and allows students to bring outlines or rough drafts to selected undergrads
and graduate students to help them sharpen their writing skills.
What’s more, Emory knows how much its students like to be connected, and have stationed
kiosks around campus to allow students to stop and check their e-mail or surf the
Web briefly between classes. The school’s computing services help students sift through
various computer quandaries and will make on-campus trips to your dorm room to personally
fix your computer glitch. The EPASS (Emory Pathways to Academic Success for
Students) program offers online study tips, individual academic consultation, and science
mentoring. Whatever a student needs academically, Emory offers a plethora of support that
is easily accessible and shows the university’s commitment to educating its students.
Advising Systems
Emory College of Arts and Sciences offers numerous advising resources with which students
connect to help them plan and achieve their academic goals. First-year students
are matched with faculty advisers, who work closely with them to select classes, develop their
schedules, and plan their academic goals. These relationships offer students insight and guidance
as they discuss ways to engage in the Emory curriculum and identify educational opportunities.
In conjunction with faculty, peer advisers provide student perspectives on academic
and campus life and help with the transition to college. Once students choose their academic
concentrations, they find one or two faculty members to advise them within their minors.
Faculty devote significant time to mentoring their advisees and often write recommendations
for internships, scholarships, and jobs.
The Academic Advising Program in the Office for Undergraduate Education (OUE) supplements
the faculty advising system. Academic advisers in OUE are available for individual
academic advising appointments and can explain and interpret academic policy, as
well as connect students to campus resources and services. The OUE Advising Program sponsors
many programs, including drop-in advising events, majors fairs, panels, and other events
that foster intellectual community among students, faculty, and staff. OUE also coordinates
and participates in other advising programming, including Second Year at Emory (SYE) and
programming for pre-health and science students.
Majors
Emory students’ majors and minors run the gamut, as four of the university’s nine academic
divisions offer undergraduate degrees in almost any concentration. Emory
College is the largest with 5,000 students, offering liberal arts classes with popular majors
like biology, political science, and history. Students can attend Emory College freshman
through senior years. Oxford College has 700 students and is on Emory’s original campus in
Oxford, Georgia, about forty miles from Atlanta. Students go here for freshman and sophomore
years, and most continue on to Emory for junior and senior years. The Nell Hodgson
Woodruff School of Nursing has about 220 juniors and seniors pursuing a bachelor of business
administration degree; you can apply here from Oxford or Emory College after your
sophomore year. Emory is known for producing future doctors and lawyers, along with students
who pursue Ph.D.s in the humanities or start nonprofit organizations. The diversity
among majors and concentrations is indicative of the school’s variety and its study abroad
components further demonstrate students’ desires to explore global places. With the help
of CIPA (Center for International Programs Abroad), nearly 800 students had international
experiences abroad in a recent year, either for a year, a semester, or a summer. CIPA offers
comprehensive assistance in planning a student’s time abroad. Advisors help students
through all facets of the process from choosing the right program, through the application
process and predeparture preparations, to the transition back to campus upon their return.
Advisors are available to talk about issues like cultural adjustment, financing an experience
abroad, or the transfer of credits towards the Emory degree. Emory’s programs allow collegians
to spend a semester or year in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, or Australia, or
summers in locations like Beijing, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, or Vienna. Students can also
conduct research or services abroad. Wherever a student chooses, Emory can help make
studying abroad a life-altering experience.
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Most Popular Fields of Study
The top 5 fields of study completed at Emory University.
Emory’s admission process is fairly standard. Applications must include test scores
(SAT or ACT), an essay, and recommendations. Since little of the numeric information conveys
much about a student’s personal ambitions, passions, or interests, it’s vital for an applicant
to give the admissions committee some sense of his or her personal qualities in the
essay portion of the application. What sets an Emory student apart isn’t so much his or her
academic strengths, since all of Emory’s accepted applicants are strong students, but the
combination of talent, energy, and ambition that’s apparent in Emory’s student body. The
admissions committee often looks for advanced placement or honor courses, along with a
varied extracurricular portfolio, in a student’s application.
For the 2008–2009 year, 17,446 students applied and 26.5 percent were admitted. Of
those, 96 percent were in the top fifth of their class, 80 were National Merit finalists, 25 percent
scored above 30 on the ACT, and the SAT average was 686/verbal, 708/math.
Decision Programs
The Regular Admission deadline is January 15, but many students choose to apply
through Emory’s Early Decision program. In a recent year, thirty-four percent of all
enrolled students were admitted through Early Decision, and eleven percent of admitted
students were Early Decision. Early Decision applicants have two chances to apply: the first
deadline is November 1 and the second is January 1. This flexibility allows applicants to consider
all aspects of other schools before making their decision. Last year, 490 of the 4,644
students accepted were chosen through the Early Decision process. Applicants should mull
over their decision to apply early, because both Early Decision options are binding and
Emory expects accepted applicants to withdraw their remaining applications. Although the
Early Decision option is a big commitment, it’s also a good way for a student to demonstrate
his or her desire to attend Emory. Students will hear from the Admissions Office by
December 15 if they applied in November, and by February 15 if they applied during the second
Early Decision round. (Don’t forget that your financial aid forms must also be filed
early if you choose this path.)
Campus Visit
The Admissions Committee and most Emory students agree that a visit to Emory’s campus
is essential for prospective students, as it gives them a chance to get a sense of the
school before making a decision. The Admissions Office can help those interested in visiting
by arranging class visits or meetings with specific professors or program directors. For
those who want to just tour the campus, the admissions staff prefers to schedule visits
between Sunday and Thursday, so that students can get a sense of a collegian’s weekday
schedule. If applicants can’t actually visit Emory, the Admissions Office can send those
interested a “Video Visit,” or students can take a virtual campus tour on the Web. Be sure
to check out the new Schwartz Center and Clairmont Campus while online. For a virtual
tour visit www.emory.edu/WELCOME/VirtualEmory.
I remember getting a slip of paper during an art history class in
February of senior year, saying my mother had called regarding Emory. I
returned her call, my heart beating, while I dialed the number. When she
answered, she sounded excited. ‘You got in; you know where you’re going,’ she
said. I shouted with joy and ran to tell my friends. I still remember how relieved
I felt, knowing I had an excellent college to attend in the fall. When the rest of my
friends worried in April, I was able to sit back and await their decisions, without
worrying myself.
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Financial Aid
Emory is committed to helping its students find a way to finance their education.
Last year, sixty percent of freshmen and sixty percent of continuing students received some
sort of financial aid. Through on-campus jobs, grants, loans, or scholarships, the Emory
administration works with students to help them finance their education with as little
stress as possible. If you hope to receive financial aid, be sure to fill out the CSS/Profile or
FAFSA forms by the appropriate deadline. Early Decision applicants must turn in their
forms with their applications. The average freshman financial aid awarded last year was
$27,284. Of that amount, $24,957 was need-based aid. Emory encourages its applicants to
spend the time to apply for financial assistance and devotes a portion of its sizable
resources to student support in the financial realm.
One of Emory’s financial aid strengths is the plethora of merit scholarships it makes
available to students each year. The most prominent of these is the Emory Scholars
program, which students must be nominated for, and includes the most prestigious award,
the Woodruff Scholarship. The Woodruff Scholarship offers selected students full tuition,
room, and board for their four collegiate years. Emory scholars receive extremely generous
awards and the university program currently has 326 students in the Scholars program. The
Admissions Office receives more than 2,800 nominations for the scholarships that are
renewed each year for students’ four-year stints at Emory. Scholars have access to a number
of special academic and cultural opportunities, ranging from research grants and funding
for study abroad programs to small “coffee talk” discussions with speakers invited to
Emory. They frequently attend events in Atlanta, such as the Atlanta Symphony and Ballet,
as well as sporting events, concerts, and funded group dinners.
For those not initially selected as Scholars, there’s also the possibility of becoming an
Emory Scholar after one’s freshman or sophomore year by receiving the Dean’s Acheivement
Scholarship. Around sixty of these scholarships are available each year, and recipients usually
have a college G.P.A. of 3.9 or higher.
One of the other unique programs available at Emory is the Community Building and
Social Change Fellows Program. Emory alum and world-renowned fashion designer
Kenneth Cole built the program with social consciousness in mind to give undergraduates
the opportunity to help build communities and spur social change in the Atlanta area. The
twelve-month program gives students the opportunity to work with professors and community
partners to rebuild inner-city neighborhoods and promote community initiatives.
Aside from Emory scholarships and programs, the school acknowledges National
Merit Scholarships, the HOPE Scholarship for Georgia residents, and funding for summer
and study abroad programs. For seniors, the Robert T. Jones Scholarship enables recipients
to live and study in St. Andrews, Scotland, for one year. In addition to this internal award,
Emory works hard to help students win outside scholarships, such as Fulbright fellowships,
Luce scholarships, and James Madison scholarships.
In addition to offering scholarships, Emory holds copious meetings throughout the
year to coach interested students in the scholarship/award application process. Emory students
can engage in mock interviews, essay workshops, and hear from scholarship recipients
on how to strengthen their applications. Emory’s administrators, professors, and
career counselors are more than willing to help students throughout the processes and students
are encouraged to apply for these awards. Those interested in learning more about
these programs and others can visit www.college.emory.edu/current/achievement/careers.
The Atlanta Ballet, a Counting Crows concert, the NCAA Elite Eight
games, and stimulating conversation at the Atlanta Fish Market with other
scholars are just a few of the occasions I enjoyed while participating in the
Emory Scholars program. Emory Scholars have an impeccable academic background
and drive, which the program supports through an array of academic,
research, and study abroad opportunities. I received supplementary scholarship
money to study abroad the summer before my senior year, and I applied this
toward linguistic studies in Spain. The program allows Scholars to leave an
individual, lasting mark; by the time I graduated, I had sat on the advisory
board, created new Emory Scholars events, and interviewed potential incoming
scholars. These qualities make the Emory Scholars program truly unique among
the merit based scholarship programs offered at the country’s top schools.” —Rachel Loftspring, Emory Scholar and 2004 Graduate, B.A.
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Student Financial Aid Details
How many students use Financial Aid, and how much do they use?
Emory University 1715th for the average student loan amount.
Secrets to getting the best Georgia scholarships and financial aid
There are plenty of activities to keep Emory students entertained, both on and off
campus. Collegians have been known to work and play hard and numerous organizations
help them maintain a good balance of academics and amusement. Students perform
through Theater Emory, write opinions for The Emory Wheel, and read books to inner-city
children through Volunteer Emory. Off campus, students can intern at the Carter Center or
CNN or spend an autumn afternoon at Six Flags Over Georgia. Well-known guests are
invited to speak year-round; Maya Angelou, Naomi Wolf, and Kenneth Cole have made
recent appearances on campus. One of the special events specifically orchestrated for
freshmen is the annual Carter Town Hall Meeting, in which former president Jimmy Carter
addresses questions asked by the new students about foreign policy, national issues, and
local politics in a relaxed environment. He’s also been known to lecture to certain political
science classes and offers many internships to Emory students through the Carter Center,
located a few miles from campus.
Greeks
Another aspect of Emory’s activities is the Greek system. Thirty-three percent of undergrads
pledge one of the sixteen fraternities or thirteen sororities. Emory’s Greek life is
known to be laid back, fun, and productive, as Greeks often are seen organizing a run for
cancer, cooking dinners for ill children, and raising money for various charities. Students
go through Greek recruitment second semester, which gives collegians the chance to make
plenty of friends outside of an organized social group when they first arrive on campus. The
unique thing about Emory’s Greek life is that it’s not exclusive; many students who pledge
an organization say their best friends aren’t in a fraternity or sorority.
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Student Enrollment Demographics
How many students are enrolled at Emory University?
There’s a long-standing joke among Emory students that the football team is still undefeated.
That’s because Emory, a Division III school in the NCAA, doesn’t have a football
team. But that doesn’t stop students from gearing up for sporting events. There are eighteen
intercollegiate sports at Emory, including basketball, soccer, swimming, and diving. Emory’s
varsity athletic successes have proved that the college is both an academic and athletic powerhouse.
Consistently ranked one of the top Division III athletic programs in the country,
Emory students continue to excel both inside the classroom and on the playing field. In
2007–2008, Emory’s athletic program posted a seventh-place finish out of over 424 Division
III athletic programs in the 2007–2008 Directors’ Cup standings. The Directors’ Cup ranks the
best overall athletic programs in the nation. The Eagles had seven overall top-10 finishes in
the 2007–2008 Directors’ Cup standings: men’s tennis (second), men’s swimming and diving
(fourth), women’s swimming and diving (fourth), volleyball (fifth), women’s tennis (fifth),
men’s outdoor track and field (seventh), and women’s soccer (ninth).
For those not on varsity teams, Emory has over forty intramural or club sports for students
to engage in. The competitive intramurals can make any student think he or she is at
a championship game, as fraternities, sororities, and other organizations go head to head
in flag football, soccer, and softball. Sometimes these are the most exciting games to watch!
The primary gym boasts an Olympic-size swimming pool, a 3,000-seat gymnasium
with four basketball courts, an indoor and outdoor track, rock climbing wall, and an impressive
array of exercise equipment. Students can take yoga, step aerobics, kick boxing, and
spinning classes, as well as dance and weight training through the university’s physical education
system. On the Clairmont Campus, basketball courts, outdoor tennis courts, sand
volleyball courts, and a weight room equipped with cardiovascular machines, that’s open
until midnight, let students sweat a bit at any hour they need a break.
Unofficial Mascot
To spur school spirit, Emory’s students flock to Dooley, the unofficial mascot. Though the
Emory Eagle is the official mascot, Dooley illuminates students’ enthusiasm through his
unexpected and impromptu visits all over campus. Dooley is a skeleton that is always accompanied
by black-clad, white-gloved bodyguards who relay his messages to the student body.
The saga says that Dooley was adopted in the early years of the university when some Emory
students developed an unusual attachment to a lab skeleton in one of their classrooms. Ever
since, Dooley has been the spirit of students and he always dons a skeleton-painted shirt,
dapper top hat, and long black cape. His identity is a strictly kept secret and students never
know when or where he’ll appear. He’s present at major student events, leaning on his cane
while crossing the floor, and will show up unannounced in any classroom during the school’s
annual Dooley’s Week. During his week, he’s given license to release any class he chooses
with a slow wave of his arm and a message from one of his escorts. He always departs with
the same motto: “Students may come and students may go, professors may come and professors
may go, presidents may come and presidents may go, but Dooley lives on forever.”
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Emory University
Traditions
Don’t Drink a Pepsi on Campus
Emory’s large endowment can be credited
to the Candler and Woodruff families,
the early owners of the Atlanta-based
Coca-Cola Company. The university has
been associated with the families and the
company ever since Atlanta pharmacist
Asa Griggs Candler sent a keg of Coca-Cola
syrup to his son at Emory in 1895. Today,
several buildings on campus are named
after members of the Candler and Woodruff
families and Emory doesn’t serve any
beverages that aren’t Coke-produced on
campus. An urban legend still circulates
among students that a couple of seniors
placed a Pepsi vending machine on the
quadrangle one year, sending the administration
into a frenzy, and they immediately
ordered the removal of it. Resident
Advisors even joke that they’ll make periodic
dorm raids to make sure that students
are drinking the “right” cola.
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Alumni
Emory graduates are among some of the most
successful alumni nationwide. Many graduates go on
to become doctors and lawyers, while others pursue
Ph.D.s in the humanities, join the Peace Corps, or
work on political campaigns. Emory’s Career Center
is very active and can assist students by hosting
career fairs, to critiquing personal resumes, to helping
Emory’s graduates attend the school or land the
job of their dreams. The Center also helps students find summer or semester internships
that can lead to potential full-time jobs. Whatever the desire, the Center helps undergraduates
and alumni get in touch with the staff and make use of their resources. More than 250
companies recruited on campus each year, and motivated students can usually find a postgraduation
position in Atlanta or beyond. Or, if a career isn’t the initial desire of grads, the
Center helps student hone in on postcollegiate study. Of the 2008 graduating class, sixtyfive
percent were enrolled in graduate school within six months of graduation. Whether it
is medical school or graduate school for art history, the Center will keep students’ recommendations on file and send them out when requested to help ease the application process.
For more information on these services, visit the Career Center’s Web site.
Prominent Grads
The Indigo Girls—Amy Ray and Emily
Saliers, musicians
Kenneth Cole, Fashion Designer
Sam Nunn, Former U.S. Senator
Reverend Bernice King, Daughter of
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Newt Gingrich, former U.S.
Representative
Ashley Puleo, Miss USA 2004
Pageant Second Runner-up
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Campus Crime Statistics
Ranks 31st in Georgia and
552nd overall
on StateUniversity.com‘s Safe School Index
This website and associated pages are not associated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Emory University. StateUniversity.com has no official or unofficial affiliation with Emory University.
Only one of the Indigo Girls graduated from Emory-the other from Agnes Scott College,another excellent school.