Emerson College Top Questions

Most of your professors will know your name. Because of the nature of the school, "studying" is more often going to take the form of directing a play or film or creating a marketing strategy. But students work hard. The professors are very acessible. I took a class on Sex Comedy. We studied films like Animal House! Students are extremely competitive. Whether it's more practical or intellectual is kind of up to you - there are both ends of the spectrum. The math, science, and language requirements are slack to nonexistent, but you do have a well-balanced plate of liberal arts, which is nice. A lot of the arts schools I looked at seemed to dispense with that altogether, but I managed to minor in psychology.

Great

Small classes and interesting topics go a ways, but the academics aren't that challanging. Don't expect a "college education" because you'll get an "Emerson College Education". Common themes of study: Media in Culture, Postmodern Art, Gender Politics, Environment Ethics, Emerson and their lack of Diversity. Fostered creative and analytical thinking, but not the best preparation for future, higher education.

The classes are pretty good. Like any school, you have your bad professors and your good professors, and while the bad professors are just terrible, the good professors are amazing! The biggest class I had was MAYBE 70 students, and that was a LECTURE class; most of my classes were about 20 people, tops.

Does anybody go to Emerson to learn? I thought it was just to meet cool people who just happen to be teachers that sort of recommend books by way of assignments... A lot of the courses won't transfer as credits to another institution of either higher or lower learning (ie, Caribbean Imagination.. I mean, come on...)

I'm a grad. student at Emerson now and I wish I would have done my undergraduate work here. My area of study is creative writing and there are so many great writers who teach here that I wish I would have had four more years as an undergrad. to get to know them. I hear people who are in communication and publishing get excellent jobs. I meam, I'm trying to be a writer so it's obviously going to be more difficult. Emerson does have a good reputation all the way around though, and I'm hoping my masters degree will help me land a good teaching job while I try to write.

If you're a theater major, a film major, or a radio major, you're in good shape. If you're anything else, forget about it--you're second tier.

Academics are tough to classify at Emerson. At a creative school, a lot of work done is subjective. It is great place to pool creativity though. It helps to be around other creative people pushing and collecting ideas.

The classes are always relatively small (you'll never be in a huge lecture class or feel like you're lost among the masses). Also, we have a lot of very interesting electives, one of the most popular being Burlesque. Participation, depending on the type of class, is usually high because the students here really like to get involved in what they're learning. Professors are usually very knowledgeable, understanding, and willing to reach out to their students. Of course there are general educations requirements, so not every class you take will be something you're absolutely in love with or will relate to your career, but they're essential and usually not too bad. I suggest looking at ratemyprofessors.com ahead of time always before you sign up for a class, just to get an idea of the course and the professor. Also, ask former students, because we're always willing to give good feedback. The things you learn in your classes are very essential to the skills you need in your specific field and while you get experience from this, it's also very important to supplement this learning with outside work in organizations.

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.