Emerson College

According to Emerson’s website, the WLP program is «focused on your individual voice and your particular talent.» However, this is false. Emerson offers classes in fiction, nonfiction, magazine writing, and poetry. Later advanced classes include screenwriting, travel writing (only if you study abroad – not if you stay in Boston), and sketch writing – all of which are only available some semesters.
Emerson does not offer courses in horror, thriller, YA, middle grade, picture books, romance, movie tie-​in licensed books, crime, manga, fantasy, sci-​fi, or anything else. And while your fiction professors are very good at critiquing literary fiction and are allegedly «open» to genre submissions, they are not experienced with it, and cannot teach them. As such, Emerson, you fail to provide a focus on students’ own individual voice, and you blatantly lie on your website in claiming that you do.
How is it that children’s and YA publishing keeps houses and bookstores afloat, but Emerson doesn’t think it’s important enough to have a curriculum for? The children’s genre is growing at a significantly higher pace than adult – in July, Publisher’s Weekly announced that it is eleven and a half percent up from last year. Therefore, your website’s WLP claim that the program provides students «knowledge needed to succeed in today’s evolving literary landscape» is also false, as you fail to provide students information on where the industry is growing.
The program is called Writing, Literature & Publishing. Yet your required degree’s coursework doesn’t come close to a three-​part split. The highest percentage of WLPs’ coursework is in the literature sector, followed by writing, followed by publishing – the very part that distinguishes your program from every other English and Creative Writing program in the United States.
I am not complaining about having literature courses; I am complaining that WLPs are required to have so many, and that it is therefore weighted as more important than knowledge of the «evolving literary landscape» you so claim to be part of. I personally prescribe to Stephen King’s philosophy that «If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.» But your coursework, Emerson, is excessive. There is already assigned reading in writing courses, and this assigned reading is more relevant to hone our individual crafts.
Truthfully, on every level, you fail, Emerson. Part of me thinks this is because the publishing industry is not in Boston but rather in New York. It is absurd that the college spent over $ 20 million on the formation of the Los Angeles campus, which is amazing for many students, but near useless for WLPs who will almost certainly end up working in the publishing industry that is headquartered in New York.
Please understand, I am in no way ragging on the Los Angeles program. For your other, non-​WLP students, it seems these programs are great. But yet again, these programs are a slap in the face to the WLP students who pay the same amount to attend Emerson College and do not reap the benefits.
WLP is admittedly a «cheaper» major for the college to provide than perhaps film, yet Emerson fails to provide materials needed for our classes. Students are given a five dollar print credit a semester. Five dollars. In a major that does not use any other equipment aside from printing, that’s a slap in the face. And it’s not just WLP students – every student at Emerson gets five dollars in print credits! So where is the WLP money going to, if not to hire teachers for genre classes, if not to provide the classes you seemingly promise, if not to fund the LA program we can’t fully immerse ourselves in, and if not to print our homework?
It’s laughable, honestly, but it’s also sad. And you know what’s also sad? I know for a fact this letter isn’t going to change a thing, because I went to every WLP town hall I was a student for, and I personally heard students (and was one of those students myself) tell department chair Jerald Walker that we need more publishing and more genre classes. Yet it is almost 2016, and this a fight I know has been going on for at minimum six years, and still, you, Emerson College, do nothing. The only updates I’ve heard in my time since graduating are that you closed emCaf in favor of Einstein Brothers and are now closing down Boston’s oldest theater for seemingly no reason at all.
The fact I am two years removed from this institution after receiving my degree and am still grieving the program I could have had elsewhere is sad. I am sad that the college I dreamed of attending throughout high school was lackluster at best. I am sad that you do not provide the program you advertise yourself to be, and I am heartbroken that you will continue to trick and swindle poor prospective WLPs into attending your school.
I’m afraid I can speak only for WLPs, but I feelposting this on Unilocal is necessary for those considering Emerson College.
— ’14, magna cum laude

Don’t go here. The campus is very small. It consists of a few buildings on a block near Chinatown, Boston. The facility is poor and not enought for students. The claims to have great filming equiment but these equipments are only reserved from Films and Theater majors. They did not let me know this fact on the campus tour and I only found out when I tried to rent an equipment.
The classrooms are small and gloomy. The table could barely fit a person. The lecture halls at large universities put Emerson’s classrooms to shame :)
The students are not open-​minded. They live in their bubbles because this school is too concentrated in specific fields. There is no exchange of knowledge at all between kids in different majors. In addition, the American students here view international students as aliens since they did not have the chance to interact with international students during high school year. Extremely terrible environment for international kids!
They offer career advisor but my advisor was aloof. I did not receive any career advise from the advisor during my time at Emerson.
The attendance policy is very strict and uncompromising. They won’t take sickness or traveling as an excuse and automatically give you an F if you miss 2 classes.
You are required to live in their dorms for 2 years. The dorm is overpriced and dirty. The management of these dorm is unprofessional. I once walked in a naked student laying on the floor with alcohols poison in the dorm’s restroom.
There are many better schools that you can go. If you have other choices, don’t go here. You will be disappointed, just like I am.

Where do I begin with the endless list of things wrong with this school? I learned nothing, will most likely spend the rest of my life in debt. It isn’t a school that gives you «connections,» they’re just grasping at straws with that reputation. The EVVYs are the single most embarrassing thing this college «produces,» aside from EmChan, which is just as much of a joke. But it gives those who hold positions a lot of ego + perceived power, which is always fun to observe. The new ELA program is a cruel joke & it is only highly praised because it only accepts kids from like, Iowa who are just wowed by the city itself, not the program, which is ridiculous in itself as the building these kids live in could ostensibly have housed over 200 more rooms but instead houses a gigantic art structure that serves literally no purpose except to probably fuel some dumb film major’s idea for a backdrop in a really dumb project about «relationships» or «internal struggle» that no one will ever find impressive.
Tuition has now gone up 4% (roughly 10,000 $) because of that hellish mound of cement in LA that they now have to answer for in the form of charging incoming freshmen more $.

Great school if you know what you want to do. Classes are supplementary, you will get most of your education from extra-​carriculars. This is a communication school, if you’re shy, this probably isn’t the school for you. The majority of professors are great and want to see you succeed. Talk to your professors, they will help you immensely. Located in the heart of Boston, and you sure do pay for the location. This school is expensive, but if you want to go into anything related to communication, this is the school for you.

This is a school for rich white kids who think they are, «like so totally talented.» Either you envision your self as a future EGOT, a tortured artist who must use unorthodox punctuation to portray the meaning of life, or an incredibly hilarious blockbuster star/​stand up comedian. Otherwise going here is kind of pointless.
Also, yeah, no one here is going to gay bash you. But don’t expect to find a sea of available homo stud muffins. There will be a healthy smattering of theater queens, and maybe some bicurious creative writing types.
And it is NOT the only school in Boston, and no you don’t have to be directly on the Boston Common to be connected to the city. And no you don’t need the Emerson network to get an internship in Los Angeles.
Expect a lot of big egos and a lot of people with their parents’ credit cards. The education is not horrible, but it isn’t anything special — certainly not for what you will or would be paying.

I moved to Boston from the Midwest to attend Emerson, having attended a state school for undergrad because my blue collar parents were still raising three kids on practically nothing. Financial aid made it possible, along with working (egad!), so it is not true that you can’t attend Emerson if you have no money. Yes, I left school with a sizable debt, and I know when you first graduate, it feels like you will never be able to pay it off. However, the graduated payments were never more than I could afford.
I cannot speak to the undergraduate experience, but as a graduate student in the Health Communication program, I loved that my classmates were engaged and supportive, as everyone really wanted to be in the program. I felt I was challenged and well prepared for professional work. Fifteen years later, I still tell folks how much I loved my program at Emerson.

This review is for the Professional Studies program, which frankly is anything but professional. The course was fine (not as in depth as I’d expected or hoped), but I was shocked at the lack of responsiveness, helpfulness, and general professionalism of the administrative office.
The trouble began when I tried to register and pay for my course — their online payment system does not accept Visa, so I emailed the office to ask how else I could pay. I emailed again several days later, and finally called the office a week and a half later (just three days before the beginning of my class). They told me to come in and physically drop off a check — quite inconvenient — and when I came into the office I was greeted as «the girl who sends all the emails.» Really? Don’t you WANT my money for this class? They then gave me my Student ID card, which had to be activated in another building, and sent me on my way. It took almost two weeks for them to cash my check.
I took a Marketing course this fall. One tip for professionals — if you don’t have time to meet in project groups 2−3x/week or have to prepare for weekly mandatory progress reports on final projects, these courses are probably not for you. They are, or at least mine was, run quite like an undergraduate course. From what I heard from classmates who were further into the certificate program than I, this holds true with most professors teaching in the Prof Studies program.
Finally, despite my mostly negative experience last fall with the program, I still intended to sign up for another course this spring. I don’t know if they remembered me as «the girl who sends all the emails» or what, but I emailed the admin office to ask which professors would be teaching which courses and have still not heard back. (I wanted to know this so I could sign up for a course with fewer weekly assignments, due to how busy my job is in the springtime). I emailed them before the New Year, and the spring semester starts tomorrow. Guess I’m not taking any more classes.
Sorry, Emerson, I guess you just don’t want my money and business. I’ll just take it elsewhere.

Honestly, it really depends on who you are. Fro me, Emerson is awesome. They have great resources, they have millions of opportunities. Those who rated 1 star, or complain about bad professors, trust me, it was just becuase they sucked and were unable to engage to school and other stuff.
I admit that people in the administration might be bad, and I really hate that it’s fucking hard for internationals to get scholarship. But, as long as you really devote into Emerson, you have countless chances to get connections, to meet people, and to find jobs and internships.
For my freshman year, I literally attended every single event and audition and interview, even though for some specific thing such as dancing and singing, I sucked as hell. But I still went, and that was how I got to know which organization was worthy going and which were shitty. In my sophomore year, I focused on several different orgs and projects, which were awesome. I met people with great skills and backgrounds.
I also took advantage of school opportunities such as the mentor programs.
Don’t say the school is bad. Every school has its charm. It’s just some people failed to find the correct way of surviving and they just go ahead and complain.
So, Emerson is a very concentrated school. If you can’t truly get into it, go ahead and transfer cuz you will hate this school. However, if you really find your way of surviving, trust me, Emerson is one of the best colleges.

Emerson college is terrible.
You go there for a tour and are presented with all these great facilities — except they don’t tell you that only film majors get to use most of them. Don’t even think about trying to transfer into film once you get there — they will pretend to allow you to attempt it, and then will deny you, even if your GPA is above the ridiculous 3.5 (of 4.0) requirement. Oh, and you can’t take ANY film classes if you are not a film major, which they also don’t tell you beforehand.
My son attended there 2 years and finally decided to leave on his own, transferring to another school. While he got good grades, and his dorm had a nice view of Boston Common, he didn’t get much out of his very high priced education at Emerson. His professors were, for the most part, just plain bad. When he started there he was an aspiring writer, full of energy and his outlook was cheerful. When he left, he had stopped writing almost entirely. The teachers tried to crush the life out of him with almost nonstop withering, useless criticisms because they despise what they call «genre fiction» — pretty much anything one would write in today’s world. One example was when one of his professors said, «This is the kind of writing someone would pick up in a Starbucks and leave on the table, forgetting it when their bus arrived.» This was typical of the professors’ attitudes, rather than providing any encouragement, coaching, or help.
He’s been away from there almost a year and is finally recovering and writing again, so there is hope. My advice to anyone with any spark of creativity who wants to write — STAY AWAY FROM EMERSON COLLEGE. There’s nothing good for you there.

Went to community college for 3 semesters and then transferred to Emerson. Big mistake. I did well at Emerson, so, I am not giving a bad review because I got bad grades and want to blame them. I graduated with a 3.6 and went to grad school.
Ok.
For double the price (or more) of community college, I had worse teachers by far, worse advisors by far, and although I am a friendly person who usually has no problem fitting in, ended up with one friend out of almost 3 years there.
Yes, it has a good rep if you’re in the arts. People know it. Famous people have gone to Emerson and come back to visit. I even met a couple. But, is that worth being $ 60,000 in debt? No! I transferred there with almost no debt! And the administration is so horrible. My advisor had me in the wrong major, twice! I kept going back to sign up for classes and she’d put me in classes that didn’t make sense to me, so I figured out she had me in a different major. She switched it and the next semester, same thing!
And I have to say, I found the classes at community college and grad school (Lasell — cheaper and better!) more engaging and I learned more.
The only good thing I got from Emerson is that I met Scorsese for about 10 seconds. Not worth the debt.

Extraordinary college in a great location. Amazing facilities.

I came all the way out here specifically for Emerson College from Hawaii, that in itself should say something.
What I’ve learned over my four years here is that you’re an Emerson student or you’re not. I’ve made a lot of friends and lost a lot of friends because they weren’t suited for Emerson. But it was Emerson that brought us together.
Most people are open minded. Everyone is pretty opinionated. And everyone is dedicated to what they want to study. They’re not well known in certain circles, but within the communities they excel in, like Marketing or Film. The school provides a lot of career services for when you are a student and when you graduate.
I’m really close to graduating right now and while I don’t know what I’m going to do I know that I’ve had a great college experience.

Great communications college with an emphasis in the arts. When people say they go school in Boston, Emerson students truly mean it. Emerson is literally at the corner of Boylston & Tremont, can’t get more in the center of Boston than that. You will able to experience college life in one of the most vital cities in the world if you attend here.

I believe it was Horace who first wrote of Emerson College: «I attended, I hated, I transferred» (or something to that degree, right?)
In 2006, I went in with high expectations for my experience at Emerson. I was sure that I’d graduate as some of my fellow Unilocalers have, giving the college a 5-​star review. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the school for me.
The student organizations are cool and I like the hands-​on learning, but without the West Side (@ Beacon and Arlington), the Emerson lost a lot of its charm. All administrations tend to be bullshit, but I hated the procedures at Emerson (registering for classes was a nightmare). I couldn’t find a place in the cliquey community and ended up a mega-​loner.
I’m at Northeastern now and I don’t LOVE it, but it’s better than Emerson. I think I just hate college in general.

I worked here for 2 years and it was the best job I’ve had so far in my 26 years of living. It’s like the Columbia College Chicago of the East Coast, except they actually have admissions standards beyond being able to pay tuition.

«The air in Boston smells better than New York.»
That’s what I put in my college application. and I guess they appreciated the quirkiness (I also listed smiling as one of my main hobbies and included Marge Simpson and Joel Stein as some of my heroes) because I got in. I also ended up working at Emerson but that was a couple years after I graduated.
When I went to Emerson. we had buildings on Beacon, Brimmer, and Arlington Street as well as the «main buildings» on Boylston and Tremont Street. When people asked me where my campus was. I pointed to the Boston Common and the public gardens. I’m not trashing other schools but Emerson is IN Boston. Now that’s some hot sh*t.
For those of you that don’t really know about Emerson. it’s the only 4 year college in the country dedicated exclusively to communication studies and the performing arts (hence the motto of «bringing innovation to communication and the arts»). A lot of alums/​students talked/​talk smack about Emerson. but to be honest. if you hated everything about the place. why didn’t you transfer? Why didn’t you DJ for the radio station that «played sucky music» so that you could play some of your own tracks? Or write for the newspaper «that published crap» so that people could see things from your perspective? If you didn’t contribute anything to the betterment of the college or the world around you (not just the Emerson bubble), then you should definitely shut yo trap.
It’s frustrating when I think about it. because the amount of opportunity at the college is ridiculous. My first semester I worked on a campus TV show. I had no experience with any equipment and boom. here’s a tv camera that’s worth more than your life. just don’t point it into the lights. I had no experience in a radio station. and boom. here’s your own radio show, just try not to curse on air. Emerson is of the learning by doing sect. and yes there are some theory/​history classes, but the best thing about the school is the loads of hands on activities.
But not everything is as easy as joining. All of the fundraising I had to do was up to me. From contacting the organizations, to getting approvals from every place I needed to, to making posters, to sitting tables, to paperwork paperwork paperwork. I did have some great help from the service learning office and other student leaders. but when I wanted to start a project, I had to run with it and as fast as I could.
So Emerson’s definitely known for its co-​curriculars, but I guess I should talk about the classes as well. I love that the classes are small (word up to writing classes with 6 people in them) and the faculty are really dedicated working professionals (which I realized more when I worked for the college). My teachers knew me. by name. sometimes even seeking out my roommates to make sure I was okay when I missed a class. They pushed and inspired me. They brought in guest speakers that pushed and inspired me (IE — Regie Cabico. the first successful Filipino performer I had ever met that wasn’t making money off acting as a ninja or terrorist on TV). Not to mention the array of Emerson grads that are actually using their degree in industry jobs. When I was working out in LA, dropping the Emerson name was like a golden ticket. I succeeded an Emerson grad at my job and when I left, they hired another Emerson student.
And yes. there are tons of politics that go around the school. but after working at another higher ed institution, it’s not like Emerson is the only one struggling with some of those issues. I mean, I’d like for there to be more performing space. and yes I’d love for it to be more diverse. but in a country that’s cutting arts programs and in an entertainment industry that’s sometimes still scared of showing things/​people that are «different». what do you expect?
Well take those expectations and throw them out the window. What you can expect is that Emerson grads (me included) are going to shake things up like so many have before me. ;) So there you go. Number 600 goes out to the reason why I’m here in Boston. :)
PS —
Financial aid stinks everywhere (doesn’t mean it’s okay for that to happen at Emerson)…
Teachers are underpaid everywhere (ditto above).
Not everyone at Emerson has their mommies and daddies to rely on (even though it seems like it).

For my 100^th review I am going to review my lovely Emerson College.
I will admit, my first semester at Emerson I thought I was going to transfer to NYU. Then my sophomore year I thought I might transfer to school in London and actually I am sure I had lots of other plans to escape in the works, but each time I was convinced to stay — and now I look back at Emerson and don’t wish I had spent my undergrad anywhere else.
I love Emerson because the students are PASSIONATE about what they want to do in life! If you enter as a freshman at Emerson as Undeclared you are an an outcast. This sounds strange but I LOVED that everyone knew what they wanted to do and was driven towards getting there. As a freshman you can dive right in and start working on films, writing for one of the school magazines or preforming in a comedy troupe. Then by your senior year you have tons of expereince for your resume. Emerson kids like to be involved ²⁴⁄₇.
Then Emerson kids actually get a job in the field they studied! I went to Emerson for Marketing and Publishing and minored in Entrepreneurship, Photography and Management. Now I started my own publishing company and do all the marketing :) All my friends who majored in Film or TV are out in LA working as PA’s or editors, my marketing friends are account managers etc. etc.
It can be tricky to make friends at Emerson, because it is a campus in the city and everyone is involved in projects all the time. But get involved with a project and all of a sudden you have 10 new friends.
The location is great because its right in the middle of downtown on the park which is perfect in the spring and fall. Its so nice to be in the middle of the city but have lots of green near by :) Its also easily accessible to Chinatown, Downtown, Financial District, Theater District, South End, Beacon Hill, North End etc.
*I must admit that I know go back and sit on those Almuni panels that talk about how great Emerson is, I just liked it that much :)
On a side note I love how Emersonians are fashionable people and dress for class! This is not one of those campuses where you go to class in a sweatshirt and pj pants. Since most Emersonians are style mavens or heading to their internship after class, its like a walking fashion show of hipster attire down Boylston. In fact, Boston magazine named the corner of Boylston and Tremont one of the most fashionable and attractive corners in Boston thanks to Emerson students!

I attended Emerson from 1999 – 2003. I received my BA… and about $ 100,000 of debt… and that’s about it. In fact, Emerson was so great I had to go back and get a second BA at a different institution.
You can’t beat the location, and the school still has a decent reputation, but honestly I kind of wish I had saved my time and money because my Emerson diploma hasn’t gotten me any further than a diploma from a lesser known school would have.
And Emerson sucks for selling off the back bay/​beacon hill campus! 100 Beacon 4 eva!

Oh my beloved alma matter with the worst song ever.
I’m sad that the college has scrapped all the Beacon St. properties, though I’m sure that the new buildings are nice too, but they’ve got to be lacking the personality and history that the old brownstones had.
When I went there, there was a ton of drama between the faculty and board of directors about the lack of tenured professors.
Also, the administration was generally a mess, which schedules being messed up, financial aid taking forever to clear, just certain administrative elements of the college made me often want to run screaming for BU or something. I’ve taken classes at larger institutions like UMass Boston and Harvard Extension and have not run into ¹⁄₂₀₃^th of the bizarre administrative disasters I ran into during my tenure as an Emerson student.
The student body is interesting, seemingly either being insanely wealthy or there on either awesome financial aid or scholarship (I sat in the latter category, though I once got to hear two suitemates of mine discussing heading to Paris for the weekend on the Lear.)
Really what it comes down to with Emerson is that they won’t coddle you, and they won’t hold your hand. You can get involved in all the clubs and organizations (which was difficult since I lived off campus) and network the hell out of the place, or you can coast by just focusing on classes. I think if I had it to do over again, I would’ve stayed on campus and gotten more involved, though my degree has proven to be very useful.
If you are thinking of going here, be sure you want to study arts/​communications as there isn’t a ton of room when it comes to changing majors. If you think you might suddenly want to study psych instead of marketing, look at a larger college/​university since you will have more room for movement.
As for the teachers, I’ve had some brilliant ones who obviously cared about the students and what they were doing, and others who were obviously phoning it in, which is extra surprising considering how small the classes were.
Pretty much everyone I know who went there, especially those who took advantage of the internship programs, ended up working in the field they studied in after graduation, which obviously speaks pretty highly of the school. It’s almost trade schoolish in that you learn the mechanics of marketing, whether it be ad buying, survey and research, or building a proposal, all very hands on and often times involving local organizations, as opposed to sitting through countless theory classes.
So yeah, it has its flaws, as all schools do, but in general I found my time there to be at the least interesting, and at the most fulfilling.

Oh my sweet alma mater. What does that mean again? Anyhow…
Thank you, Emerson College. You held up your end of the bargain. I have a job in my chosen field.
That’s not to say that you still don’t owe me for the shitty food.