Emory vs Wash U in St. Louis

RegenMaedchen
Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:38:13 +0000

Emory and Wash-U are the two schools I ended up choosing between during spring of last year. I decided on Emory and couldn’t be happier. I’m sure I would also have had a good time at Wash-U, but I liked the Emory atmosphere more. A sibling of mine attends Wash-U and they are happy there, but I found Emory to be a better fit for me.

Regarding Chemistry and Business:
I’ve heard amazing things about the business school here and many of my friends are planning to go into the Emory b-school. I’m pretty sure you can’t go wrong with it.
Chemistry: I’m currently in Gen-Chem and having a great time in it. I’m not planning to major in Chem, so I can’t give you any info on that, but I can say that the science-class environment here is very friendly and supportive. You constantly see study groups and there are no attempts of sabotage, or anything like that. My chemistry professor does not grade on a curve, which reduces competition. I’ve heard bad things (not from my sibling at Wash-U, but from others) about the cut-throat nature of chem and bio classes at WashU. Many, many students at Emory and WashU are pre-med, so the levels of competition/support between the students is something to take into consideration when you’re planning to major in one of the sciences.

Stl vs Atl
Personally I prefer Atlanta over St. Louis. There is an abundance of things to do in Atlanta; you’ll never get bored. We have great restaurants, museums, zoo/aquarium, concert venues, and in general it’s just an amazing city. I’d say it’s also a prettier and “funner” city than St. Louis. There are also always things going on on campus at Emory (don’t know about WashU, but it’s probably similar).

Nightlife at Emory:
There is a strong greek-life presence on campus, but you are in no-way excluded from greek-parties (not including the Greek invitiation-only social events) if you’re not part of a fraternity or sorority.
“perception that the students are too serious and the kids do not have any fun”: This is definitely not true. In regards to both parties and non-alcoholic events, there are always things going on and Emory students know how to have a good time. There are also numerous concerts that happen at McDonaugh field throughout the year and we have Wonderful Wednesday’s every week (which WashU does NOT have!).

I suggest you apply at both schools, see where you’re accepted, and do an overnight visit. Both are schools with amazing reputations and great faculty. Though they are similar, they do have somewhat different feels to them. Me and my sibling are both happy at our respective schools.

Note: If you can only do a day visit to Emory, I suggest taking a tour either on Tuesday’s in the early afternoon or on Wednesday’s in the late morning/early afternoon. (We have a market set up every Tuesday and Wonderful Wednesdays’ on Wednesday’s, both of which are amazing)