I will preface this with I am old and graduated from Emory 30 plus years ago. I am from the era when the Indigo Girls were playing free concerts on the quad and the upper classmen recounted REM playing at fraternity parties. I do have friends whose kids currently attend and are very happy there. Both of my children looked at it and weren’t interested even though they are double legacies and my husband and I both stayed for grad school (I attended Emory law back before they tanked in the rankings lol and my husband attended Emory med.) We live in Atlanta and my kids were looking at engineering and physics so Emory wasn’t a great fit for their areas of interest. I also think they just wanted to have the experience of going away to college … or maybe they just wanted to get away from me. 
I would say Emory leans very pre professional. Just about everyone is pre med, pre law or business. I was a history major/ art history minor and really enjoyed the small classes and the accessibility of the professors. Atlanta is a great city and there are so many opportunities for students -a lot of students intern at the Carter Center, the Carlos museum and the CDC.
I spent all 4 years on the Atlanta campus so I can’t really speak to the Oxford experience other than to say that they all transfer in together and tended to be a very tight knit group.
In general, the students are very collaborative. Pre meds are probably a little more intense but that shouldn’t impact you. I would also say that although Emory is in the South, it is not really a Southern school culturally. There have always been a lot of students from NY/NJ and California
Yes, there are parties. It’s not SEC level partying and Greek life, but it’s there. It seems like Greek life is not as dominant as it was back in my day but still plays a role on campus. Emory students take their studies seriously but there was always something going on Thursday thru Saturday nights. You also have pretty easy access to Atlanta for live music or sporting events and such.
As far as the negatives I would say there is a lack of school spirit. There is no football team or tailgating. The focus is on a academics rather than sports. That’s a plus for some people and maybe a bit of a negative for others. There also is a contingent of Ivy rejects who are a bit salty about landing at Emory.
Hopefully, some current parents or students can give you a little more insight. I loved my time at Emory. Wish I could go back and do it all over again!