Emerson College

Emerson is not the right school for everyone.
I found it was not worth what it cost. I found many of my professors were professionals in their industry (actors, editors etc) that did not know how to "teach". Many of the 100 levels courses are taught by grad school students that don't even have masters. Emerson is a hipster school, a lot of people are very arrogant and full of themselves. I did meet some good people there I had to look for them. Overall it is a terrible school don't waste your money.

1st Year Female -- Class 2010

Surrounding City: A-, Faculty Accessibility: F

Emerson is an extremely expensive private school for very specialized students. There isn't much room to explore different career options. You have to know that you want to be the next Scorsese from birth in order to enjoy the cirriculum and find it intriguing.

I was an Out-of-State student on financial aid. Most of my peers were very wealthy individuals from either the Boston Area or other major cities. I didn't find many small town people like myself, which made relating to my fellow students very hard.

The student body is very competitive with each other, convinced they are wayyyy more creative or driven than the next person. The snobbery at Emerson is unparralleled, fostered by the reputation is has in the arts industry. The professors love to try to scare their students into dropping out and saving them from a fate of failed film carreer.

Boston is an amazing city fortuntately, and I found many more interesting things to do outside of Emerson. My classes were easy and did not require college-level critical thinking, which provided me with a lot of free time for social activities and city exploration.

I did find an awesome LGTB community at Emerson, and many of my friends told me they came to the school EXACTLY for that kind of support. I become the token straight girl among my gay friends and LOVED being a part of that group.

Emerson's sports are almost non-existant. I joined the basketball team my Junior year and found another group of fabulous people who flew under the bright, shiny Emerson radar. No one every came to our games but we had fun none-the-less.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2004

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Faculty Accessibility: F

It's not necessary to go to grad school in media arts. Though... the access to programs and equipment and having a solid internship got me my first 2 jobs, which lead to other jobs.

For undergrad, I wish I took a year off first - interning, working, volunteering and/or travelling. I wasn't sure of what I wanted and majored in something close to what I ended up doing. Had I known I was going into production, I would've gone straight to a school like Emerson. It's a much better place for undergrads than grad students. Much more at your disposal. So... advice for Media Arts undergrads: get involved in as much as you can outside of class. And don't take the classes too seriously.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000