Emerson College Top Questions

I've been pretty impressed with how challenging the CSD department is (Communication Sciences and Disorders). If you look in the right places, everyone can find a class that challenges them intellectually.

The professors at Emerson vary a lot. Some professors will never know your name and never care, and then there will be some who would give you their job in order to help you. Students are very competitive when it comes to film and writing. Two areas where one's future relies on your talent. But the ability to hold your own in that environment is very apparent in Emerson's students. We are not the kind of kids who back down from a challenge, we fight, even if it is just for dark room time. Emerson's academics are all hands on, which is very beneficial for students. We do not use a lot of text books, but group work is highly encouraged. The school defiantly gears you up for a potential job.

For Film and TV majors, which, let's be honest, is probably most of you, you'll fall into one of two opinions about the Visual/Media Arts department. The first opinion says that the teacher are capable, if boring, the classwork is fine, if boring, and you are learning, if bored while doing so. The second option says that you think your teachers are idiots, the classwork beneath you, and the only things you're learning come from your co-curriculars, like Frames Per Second or The Emerson Channel. Both of these opinions have been known to be true. Again, for film and TV majors, your gen-ed requirements will make you crazy. They will make you crazy because they are irrelevant to anything you want to do with your career. Figure out what the best way is to get credits you can bring to Emerson, either in AP courses or community college classes. Avoid the temptation to "try to get them out of the way" and pack three or four of them in a single semester - your attention span will not last like you hope it will. Journalism majors, if you can tough out taking Newsgathering, you'll be in amazing shape. This is no easy task - at least three of my friends either dropped out or changed their major in response to this class. Should you survive it, however, the rest of your in-major classes are supposedly excellent. Writing, Literature, and Publishing students - Your major basically exists to be taken as a double-major. Figure out what else you can major in before you get here, and I mean that.

Academics at Emerson are incredibly informal. The teachers usually go by their first names and communication is easy and honest. Students at Emerson are usually very focused on their major so any general requirement classes are ignored and not taken seriously. The school doesn't try very hard to make them any more interesting either. The main nightmares are Expository and Research writing, you can get out of Expository with credits from highschool but you've got to take a semester of Research writing unless you're in the honors program. I've hear tons of complaints about research writing, but I think it all depends on the teacher and the class topic, the topics range from Technology (gross) to Travel Writing, which i've heard is great. I'm in the honors program so my classes are very different. My first semester honors class was focused on literary analysis. We read tons of articles by psychoanalysts like Freud and Melanie Klein and also a lot of historical pieces. We read about 6 novels and used to articles to analyze the texts. Ok that sounds really daunting but it wasn't bad at all, in fact from what I heard it was a lot easier than the Expository and Research writing classes as far as the amount of work. Second semester you do the same thing plus a writing class which focuses on a 20 page paper about anything you want which you have all semester to write. I've been really happy with the honors program. I feel like it's a good addition to my acting major, because my brain would have probably shriveled up if i'd just done vocal warmups and yoga poses. The acting teachers are amazing, they are honest and encourage honesty from students. They know what they're talking about, all of the teachers have amazing backgrounds and credentials. Amelia Broome is a goddess, get her if you can. You go through phases with the acting program here, I get burnt out easily on some of the more abstract techniques and it can be hard because you don't feel like you're ever "acting" in class. The good thing about that is all of the acting opportunities outside of class. Their are hundreds and hundreds but you have to take the initiative to find out about them and go to auditions, no one is holding your hand, it's the real world.

Because of the small class size, most professors get to know the students fairly well. I have a lot of professors from over the years who recognize me around town, and make a point to stop and say hello or check up on me. My favorite classes have been those that are based in discussion. Professors encourage students to state their opinions, and almost demand debate. It's a great opportunity to hear all possible sides of an argument, and work on public speaking. The most unique class I've taken would be American Women in Theater: Burlesque. It was a fantastic little Interdisciplinary Studies class I took the second half of my freshman year. Sure I learned about women in theatre, but the best part was the final project: putting on a burlesque show, and/or creating a pin-up calendar. Within my department (Performing Arts) and my major (BFA: Stage Management) there have been many opportunities, as well as a fair share of issues. For example, the larger class sizes in the past few years have made it difficult for students to meet the required three shows for production credits. However, having an adviser that also works as a member of Emerson Stage makes it difficult to track her down to talk about my schedule or any personal issues. As a theatre major, it's very difficult to justify going to the Castle or to LA, as one misses an entire semester of either preproduction or production while away. Because the season spans both semesters, any time spent away from the Boston campus can be detrimental. On the whole, my education at Emerson in my department has been geared towards hands-on learning. The other courses have been for the sake of filling out my requirements, not towards job placement. For Stage Managers, until this year there was only one class specifically geared towards the major: an introductory class freshman year that was open to all majors. This year they added SMII: Practicum, but the course content hasn't been fleshed out yet. The '08 SM class has been the guinea pig test group. Hopefully, there will be more classes added in coming years.

Professors in general range from amazing to okay. A lot of teachers with have really interesting discussions in class, whether they relate to the class or not. There are plenty of opportunities to take good classes, even in general education requirements, and they prepare you well for what you need to know in the future.

Class sizes at Emerson are usually very small--I have only had one or two lecture classes that were larger than 20. The great thing about Emerson's academics is that there are so many extracurricular activities for students to participate in that sometimes give the student more experience than any classroom ever would. Combining the extracurricular experience with the classroom experience is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to learn. The Theater department is a friendly, fun place to be. You'll find people that share the same interests (theater, of course), and you'll find people who disagree with you on most things. People in the theater department can get pretty cliquey, though, if you know what I mean--the stage management majors stick together, the BFA acting majors stick together, etc.

The teachers are usually on first-name basis with the students, and my favorite class involves a lot of discussion with the class as a whole, and the class i like the least is a strict research writing class that is mandatory for all students. I think there are a lot of really intellectual conversations outside of class, but there isn't a very competitive atmosphere. Spending time outside of class with a professor is not commonplace, and to do so would be seen as kind of weird. The academic requirements at Emerson are a little much. I am a creative writing major and yet I have to take a math class, a psychology class, a science, two kinds of history, and more. It seems more like they want you to learn for its own sake. However, if you are in a film or acting major then of course the classes related to that field would help you get a job. Some of the majors offered are just so wide spread that you won't get a lot of "job" help until senior year.

At Emerson, in my experience, students like to have fun, a lot of fun. But they also want that summa cum laude mentioned at graduation so schedules are pretty much packed with a balance of class, homework, and down time for whatever you want to do. If you want to go out and party and have fun than students just plan carefully when they will get everything else done. Also, most of the people I've met are really involved and not in just one organization, usually at least two. It is competitive but it prepares you for the real world. In class professors know who you are after the first week. Of course than this doesn't allow for skipping class like it does at bigger schools. But the relationship you have with your professors, who tend to be really chill in my experience, is worth it and they tend to be really responsive. If you want help and ask for it, they help you. The classes focus on real world skills and getting ready for that dream job you want after graduation. But the general education requirements provide you get some deep thinking in. But when studying in your major every class is pretty informative and you will learn a lot about whatever the course is on.

The academics are challenging but the teachers help a lot. They really seem to care about how you are doing in the class and take the time to help you if you need it. Students work together to get projects done or study for tests, it is really amazing. I needed someone to help me with an in class performance and someone I did not even know volunteered to help me.