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Hello,

I realize how stressful a time this can be for high school seniors as well as transfer students. I am a freshman majoring in Writing, Literature, and Publishing. Having recently completed my first semester there, I can say with great confidence that Emerson is an excellent school and I completely love it there. That being said, I would like to alleviate some of the stress by offering to answer any questions people may have about Emerson.

By Emzy (Emzy) on Friday, January 16, 2004 - 07:41 pm: Edit

Thank you so much!

I have applied to several schools but I *really* want to go to Emerson. I applied for marketing communications, and have heard a lot of wonderful things about the school and their communications/arts programs.

I would like to know...do you think the admissions process is driven more by numbers, or by things like activities/strong essays/writing samples? I have really crappy math grades but standout grades in English. My verbal score was very high, math not high at all. I participated in an Emerson chat the other day with admissions staff for prospective students, and a lot of us prospective students were saying the same "bad in math" spiel. I thought that was sort of funny.

What do you think helped you in the admissions process?

And how is the social life at Emerson? Cliques? Do people hang out together in the dorms or go off and explore Boston? What do y'all do on the weekends?

I really appreciate your help.

By Writerchick (Writerchick) on Tuesday, March 09, 2004 - 03:08 pm: Edit

Hello,

I deeply apologize for not replying to this message sooner, but nevertheless I hope my answer will still be of relevance to you.

From my point of view, Emerson is more interested in a strong overall academic background as well as having a variety of extracurricular activities. Take me, for example. I, like many others was not at all a math student. I did fine in all other areas however, so I think that when accepting students Emerson really focuses on an overall consistent and exemplarary academic high school career. It all depends of course on what major you are trying to pursue. I can only give you insight from my point of view, being a writing, literature and publishing major. Now for me, I wrote a strong essay, and included a graded writing sample from my Advanced Techniques of Writing Class that I felt to be my best work from that class, as well as excellent recommendations from my teachers and my guidance counselors. Additionally, in high school I took a variety of writing and literature courses, as well as taking Advanced Placement English. I would say that if you showed a consistent interest in your planned major of study, either through extracurricular activities or through courses taken in high school, the chances of you getting admitted are that much higher.


As for the social life at Emerson, well it all of course depends on the type of person that you are. During the first semester, since we were all getting used to the place, it was commonplace to hang out with people from the dorm simply because they were the people we knew the best and were always around. In the beginning I hung out with the people from my dorm for that very reason, but as time went on we all met more friends from classes and hung out with them more often. That is not to say that we don't still hang out in the common room together on school nights. We do not have cliques persay, but of course most people find a group of friends that they prefer to hang out with. Everyone here overall is very friendly though so the term "clique" really can't be used.

My friends and I like to explore Boston on the weekends when we get a chance, but bear in mind that there is usually lots of homework to do so our excursions are kind of limited in terms of time. Since we are in the middle of the theater district there are always plays to go see, and sometimes you can get student discounts. Emerson always has events on the weekend to attend, like comedy shows and student productions that are generally free as well. It all depends on what you like to do. There are bands to go see, lectures to attend, the possibilities are endless.

I hope my answer has been helpful to you, and please if you have any more questions feel free to ask me and I promise I will reply sooner =) Best of luck in your college admissions process.