Hello all. I’m currently in the first year of a business degree in London and have the option to spend the next academic year studying abroad in a variety of destinations worldwide. Am only really interested in the States and the two destinations available are: Emory University (Goizueta Business School), Atlanta University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Now I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching said universities via their respective websites but you can only learn so much from them. Anything to help me get a better feel for each university would be awesome as I’m obviously not in a position to visit them before I decide. It’s great to get a view of the schools from those in the US. From my initial research, Emory seems to have a burgeoning reputation in the US and the business school seems particularly highly ranked. UIUC seems better socially and being a 'Big 10' school the Athletics looks very impressive. As a huge sports fan that appeals to me a fair bit. They also have the Illini who I’ve followed for a few years now. Not sure how good the business department is though. Both schools would cost the same amount, as they are partner institutions with my home university it would only cost me my UK fees of just over £3000. If anyone has any information or opinions about the schools (+ business departments), reputations, areas, weather etc; anything relevant at all really, it would be hugely appreciated.
Chicago, which is only a couple hours from UIUC is a far better city than Atlanta. Georgia went to McCain Illinois went to Obama U of I is a good school, and if you like sports, it's the place to be. You'll get to watch Juice Williams in his senior year. I'm willing to bet Emory has a prettier campus. U-C is a pretty stereotypical college town. I've known a lot of people from UIUC, as I live in Chicago... but the one person I knew who graduated from Emory was a complete schmuck. He was a French teacher who spoke absolutely no French. It was insane. When he did speak, it was with a horrendous southern drawl. I'd bet UIUC will be more diverse. That is all... unless I think of something else.
Emory occupies a strange place in American academia. It's one of a handful of institutions (along with BU, NYU, Tufts, and Wash U) whose reputations and endowments exploded in the 90's as a result of their ability to present an urban but safe environment that proved to be enormously popular among suburban high school kids and their Baby Boomer parents. As a result, some people question whether the reputations of these schools outpace the actual content.
I can affirm that NYU has earned its current reputation as a serious school in several programs. They have landed some incredible talent over the last decade and a half and are considered world class in several disciplines. Washington U in St. Louis has a really strong rep in many disciplines. I had a friend on the job market last year, and she was getting a tepid response from the Career Center's PhD Services adviser. When she said that she had landed an interview at Wash U, all of the sudden the adviser completely changed his tone and vibe. The start-up package for Wash U in humanities is double what hard-core science profs get at a state school. Tufts. What can I say. Tufts has a cross-discipliny (official word) job in my discipline and I don't know ONE PERSON on the market who is not altering their materials in an attempt to land that job. But I'd rank it below NYU and Wash U.
OP: I don't know that much about either, but I met a Visiting Assistant Professor at a conference last year in Santa Barbara, California. We were all raving about Santa Barbara -- the weather is divine there -- and all this guy could talk about was how much he missed UIUC. It has a large graduate student body, which means it has good music stores, cafes, and a bunch of activities. It's supposed to be very bohemian. Academically, it's top-notch. If you don't mind the cold, I'd say Urban-Champagne.
No doubt Chicago is better than Atlanta, but I'd take Atlanta over Urbana since Urbana is about 150 miles away from Chicago. No, it's not that far, but it's a whole lot different than living there and it'll get old traversing that distance after a while. On the state level yes, but Atlanta is quite different from the rest of the state. I have no idea for the stats on the campuses themselves, but there's no way the town of Urbana can compare to the diversity of Atlanta. No way. A town of 35,000 vs. a city with a metro area of over 5 million.