I just thought I should let you all know ahead of time that Emory does offer some really great things for those of you who are interested and this is no surprise because many students at Emory are very mission driven (Let’s be real: there are peer institutions with engineering schools that still do not have school wide hack-a-thons, yet Emory has a fairly large one already) as Emory is a very mission driven place that is at least trying to hold on to its liberal arts vibes (hence all of the interdisciplinary experiential offerings). Emory offers many opps to fully immerse yourself socially if you want (a sizeable Greek scene and many other organizations), but I believe you get the most out of it if you also fully immerse yourself academically and intellectually because Emory is actually much more known for the latter. It is not a true “work hard play hard” school in my opinion. If you sell yourself short on the academics and opps to further engage your mind, you may have well just went somewhere else where the social and academic life was more “traditional” (yes, this could be code for vibrant/pride oriented). Getting the most out of Emory probably involves an active effort to fuse a decent chunk of your intellectual interests with your social as opposed to just keeping them separate as is the culture at many other schools (particularly those with social scenes driven by D-1 sports AND huge Greek scenes like many state schools and some privates). Emory is more about “blending” than “balancing” the social and academic to be very blunt. Those with the most positive experiences tend to “blend” to a significant degree. The things above are a good starting point for those who believe the same and I encourage you to look around and find more if interested.
In the meantime: if you have any questions about any of this (great opps) or choosing truly good courses or instructors, let me know and I can try to help