- Yes, not traditional sports and Greek oriented school spirit, very community and multi-cultural based. More intellectual than some near ranked schools. If you only define school spirit as rah rah, then stay away. Kind of not what the administration is pushing anyway (they are pushing more initiatives to create a sense of community while also increasing academic engagement outside of the classroom). “Traditional” is vague and bluntly, most schools have it (most top privates are not like big public schools though and many lean more “academic” and/or “busy with ECs”. Emory is one such place. It is a “work harder, play hard” type of school. I won’t pretend there is some perfect balance. Tons of students are academically engaged far beyond earning good grades and you’ll have to decide if that is a dampener or a plus for you. Many students’ ECs, for example, are actually more co-curricular in nature). If you are using “traditional” as code for “I want a party school”, there are some top privates and public that definitely have it or you should perhaps consider public school honors programs. You can have your cake and eat it too. But there is a lot to do and be involved in. If you are not anti-social or monotonous in terms of hobbies, you’ll likely be a very happy college student but in absence of the “rah rah”. View academic and social environment at Emory as like some median between a traditional “work hard play hard” school and more of a Chicago or Hopkins kind of feel. It used to be a teaching intensive institution relatively recently (up till the early 90s) and it is kind of obvious.
2)Probably depends on hall. Typically smaller ones have more tightness (though back in the dinosaur ages like 8 years ago, I lived in Complex and many of the halls were close and since it was separated by gender per unit, girl and guy hallways would interact and hold events in the bridging lounges. My year, we won Songfest, and apparently they won this year!). Alabama, Dobbs, and Turman for example. Alabama seems to constantly host and have bbqs (mainly because they have a decent courtyard area and so does Dobbs) and it seems Dobbs likes to go out as a group.
If you get a larger dorm, I would try to become part of the living learning community programs and initiatives they host (all dorms are themed halls. I think Raoul and Turman are among the best because they are LLCs that now have an academic or serious EC connection. The two that they rolled out are displayed here: http://college.emory.edu/newsletters/orientation/first-year-friday-2016/edition-kickoff.html towards the bottom. The IDEAS program for freshmen apparently funnels students into the ORDER( http://www.order.emory.edu/index.html) seminar and I took this (same guy still runs it), and in my opinion, if you are academically serious but like to have fun learning, it is one of the best freshman seminars (or classes period) as it has the “book learning” component but it can also facilitate awesome networking and other opportunities. Reslife and admins have also rolled out a cross reshall debate competition and that sort of thing so there are ways to gain an attachment to fellow reshall students and meet plenty from others. You just have to immerse yourself in the offerings and not ignore them and complain there isn’t anything to do.
- There are things called Uber, shuttles, and buses and Emory is surprisingly close to many of the major neighborhoods (whether it be Little 5, Decatur Downtown area, Virginia Highlands, Buckhead, or even Midtown). The part of Dekalb County that Emory is in is in a relatively fortunate sweetspot. And yes, “events” happen away from frat row or else freshmen would be unable to party and trust me, they find a way.