<p>Ashton, congrats on your three options. Mom of Duke grad here, and of a senior male at Vandy this year. Also lived in Atlanta four times and worked in a program affiliated with Emory Medical. I know Emory.<br>
Sorry you will not come to see Vanderbilt. Should you not feel comfortable for any reason at Duke and you change your mind…get to Nashville.<br>
Vanderbilt has pulled far ahead of Emory in terms of the caliber of students admitted from across the nation. Also Emory is recovering from confessing to admissions officers who deliberately turned in lies as stats for years. We had a very strange experience when Vandy son was admitted to Emory (Duke son works in Atlanta). I knew something was off in admissions. </p>
<p>Where you will be best served as a premed is where you are happiest and more fulfilled as a person. My Duke and Vandy sons have the advantages of having 1600 people in their classes who are all top students and interesting people to get peer learning from.</p>
<p>Emory advantages: They don’t have a lot of Lecture Halls so many classes are small. The Feds are in Atlanta and so are a LOT of research and internship opportunities.
I thought their science teachers were very accessible. But the Emory campus life is not as undergraduate cozy as it is at Duke and at Vanderbilt, and obviously the sports life is lackluster…where at Duke and Vandy you can root for your school for a lifetime. Duke has some great Alum Clubs…son very active in his in Atlanta. Vanderbilt’s national status will result in strong alum chapters…something that can really give you some aid as you enter the work force. </p>
<p>Emory would like to address their disjointed residential life but real estate is difficult to change in the Emory/CDC campus area. The Emory hospital I think is moving away from the undergrad campus. I really don’t like their upperclassman residence halls you get to by shuttle. Looks like a string of nice enough hotels with a swimming pool.<br>
The best residential college concept colleges in the USA include Yale and Rice. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt has constructed a world class all new freshman only campus that is a huge success, and Duke’s older former Trinity College not airconditioned (largely) all freshman residence hall campus is surprisingly loved by Dukies who recall that year fondly before moving to the Gothic campus. All freshman campuses help you bond before you all shake out into your own majors, clubs and frats and activities.</p>
<p>If for some reason, you are not thrilled on Blue Devil Day, I will come out and say…you should send in your deposit to Vanderbilt over Emory. Although Emory is indeed in Atlanta, it is not a neighborhood that is fun to be in without getting in your car and heading to Decatur or VA Highlands or Midtown. Vandy has an easy breezy open access to its edge of the city location more like Rice in Rice Village in Houston. </p>
<p>Do I think Atlanta is a great city for the young. You bet. Was young there four times. </p>
<p>Your chances at premed success have a lot to do with your own discipline and your Vision and MCAT scores. But Vandy and Duke are teaching students with all the same test scores basically. The hospital at Vanderbilt is a stroll away from the undergrad campus.</p>
<p>good luck on your good problem.</p>