Emerson: The Big Picture
Emerson has a wicked location in Boston, you can get to anything you want. There are many alumni active in their fields who are still connected with the school and therefore help with networking and finding internships and jobs. We actually do have sports, and our soccer teams are quite good along with basketball, softball, tennis, hockey, and lacrosse. Financial aid is basically non-existent. The castle program is the best thing you could ever do in your life and worth every penny (or euro that is).
Emerson Academic Life
Most professors I know not only by name but by their first name. I even have my film professor's phone number so that we could call him for help outside of class, and I have used that number often while filming. Most professors tend to be a little crazy but that is kind of necessary at this kind of a school. Best film professor is Peter Flynn, get him for any class if you can. Classes are small so you get to know most people in your class and end up participating in some way. The classes that you have to take make you well rounded and then your major classes are geared toward your field and getting a job. However in film, a lot of your vital education about filming is found on set and not in class. Class just serves as a base point, you have to go the extra step.
Emerson's Student Body
Emerson has a very diverse student body, but not in the most traditional sense of the term. Most people tend to only look at skin color to gage diversity. In that sense we are not incredibly diverse. However background-wise we are very diverse. There are people from all over the states as well as from all over the world. Everyone has a different view of the world because of how and where they grew up. There is also a huge population of gay, lesbian, and bi-sexual persons. Religion is not all that important to most students, many being agnostic, but there is still a representation of different christian religions, as well as many Jewish people, and some Hindus and Muslims. On a whole Emerson tends to be left wing, and even the few moderate to conservatives that you find tend to be very open minded and not hard core right wing. If students talk about how much we will earn someday it tends to be about how big or small the cardboard box will be that we will live in. The only students who actually talk about real salaries are the marketing students. Most students are very fashion-minded in whatever style they like. It's kind of rare to see the typical sweatshirt, sweatpants and flip-flops that rule most campuses.
Emerson Student Activities + Social Life
The film groups on campus are big, Frames Per Second being the biggest. There are also many comedy groups. There are dance groups ranging from tap, hip-hop, ballet, and modern. I am a part of Emerson Dance Company which is all student choreography and is lots of fun. If you live in the Little Building people leave their doors open and you get to know everyone on your floor. From my experience this is the better dorm because it is more home-y and you can actually go to the common room and hang out with people. The other dorm Piano Row is all suites and everyone stays in their suite. Therefore you never meet anyone. I didn't know the people who lived across from me until I went to the Castle with them. If you live on campus you will hang out in a floor common room or a suite common room. Or you will just roam the streets of Boston looking for food (NYP is a frequent for late night snacks). Athletics are not popular but they do exist. Theater is huge, go see all the performances. If you don't want to drink just roam Boston and Harvard Square, see lots of movies. There are lots of party on the weekends in Allston as well as in Brookline and the North End.
Emerson Naked Truth
Get involved, start networking, have fun, go to the Castle if you can.
