Prepared by: Daniel Teodorescu and Vincent Carter

Nearly 1,200 Emory first-time freshmen responded last fall to the national UCLA Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) survey of freshmen. Based on responses to the survey, the table below compares Emory freshmen to those at similar highly selective Private Universities. There is also a comparison to responses of Emory freshmen from ten years prior. The areas of comparison we chose to highlight are student background characteristics, college choice, college plans, career plans and political views. We also compared the activities noted during the last year of high school between female and male freshmen. The highly selective university group includes institutions such as Dartmouth, Northwestern, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.

Some of the more interesting comparisons reveal:

• Sixty five percent of Emory freshmen traveled more than 500 miles to attend this university. This number is significantly higher than that of other private highly selective universities (50 percent).
  
  
• Interesting findings came up when looking at how Emory freshmen spent their time during their senior year of high school. Seventy nine percent of Emory freshmen said they frequently socialized with different ethnic groups during their senior year, which is higher than other highly selective institutions (77 percent). Emory students were less likely than others to frequently attend religious services during their senior year (30 percent compared to 45 percent at other highly selective institutions). Freshmen at Emory were more likely than others to frequently use the Internet for Research/Homework during their senior year (76 percent compared to 74 percent).
  
  
• Disparities exist when considering parental income and parent's education. Compared to 26 percent of freshmen at other highly selective universities, 34 percent of Emory freshmen report their estimated parental income to be more than $200,000. Both mothers and fathers of Emory freshmen are more likely to have graduate degrees than the parents of their counterparts at peer institutions (fathers 60 percent vs. 56 percent and mothers 43 percent vs. 35 percent).
  
  
• Emory students are less likely to consider getting a job to help pay for college expenses than students at other highly selective private universities (58 percent compared to 64 percent). The percentage of Emory freshmen that have no concern about paying for their education has increased from 44 percent to 53 percent over the last decade.
  
  
• Compared to responses over the last ten years, there seems to be increasing stress among incoming college students. In 2000, 28 percent of the incoming freshmen reported feeling frequently 'overwhelmed by all I have to do' during their last year of high school. Ten years ago, the corresponding proportion was only 22 percent. This trend is also reflected in the nationwide population of incoming students. It is interesting to note that among freshmen, women are two times more likely to be stressed than men are. At Emory 37 percent of women compared to 17 percent of men reported a sense of being 'frequently' overwhelmed. One possible explanation for the gender difference in stress has to do with how men and women spend their time. Emory's data shows that women spend time on goal oriented and potentially stress-producing activities (studying, performing volunteer work, participating in student clubs, and working for pay), whereas men tend to participate more often in recreational activities (exercising or playing sports, watching television, partying, and playing video games).
  
  
• More freshmen are choosing Emory because of its perceived quality than was the case ten years ago. This year 86 percent of freshmen chose Emory because of its 'good academic reputation' compared to 79 percent ten years ago. Also, more freshmen are attending Emory because the 'graduates get good jobs' (72 percent compared to 54 percent ten years ago). Further, more of today's freshmen chose Emory because it's 'graduates go to top grad schools' (65 percent compared to 51 percent ten years ago). Lastly, Emory freshmen are more likely than their peers at other highly selective private universities (38 percent compared to 32 percent) to note college rankings in national magazines as very important in influencing their decision on which college to attend.
  
  
• Emory students now also have higher expectations for academic achievement than 10 years ago. For example, more Emory students foresee themselves 'making at least a "B" average' (71 percent compared to 54 percent ten years ago). In terms of extracurricular activities, Emory freshmen are more likely than their peers at other highly selective private universities to report that there is at least some chance that they will join a sorority/fraternity (59 percent compared to 55 percent).
  
  
• Another finding worth mentioning is that Emory tends to have more 'status strivers' among its freshmen than other peer institutions. Compared to the group of respondents at other highly selective private universities, at Emory, higher proportions of students desire to 'become successful in a business of their own' (42 percent compared to 33 percent), 'obtain recognition from colleagues for contributions in the field' (58 percent compared to 52 percent), 'be very well financially' (74 percent compared to 64 percent), or 'become an authority in own field' (69 percent compared to 66 percent). There are more freshmen at Emory that would like to become a physician (21 percent compared to 17 percent).
  
  
• One should also note that despite national concerns over students' disengagement, Emory freshmen are more likely than students at other selective private universities to keep up to date with political affairs. We see that more students at Emory espouse the long-term goal of 'influencing the political structure' (22 percent at Emory compared to 20 percent at other selective private institutions).
  
  
• In terms of political views shared, over the last decade we have witnessed a relatively steady increase in liberalism. The proportion of incoming freshmen characterizing their political views as 'liberal' raised from 33 percent in 1989 to 44 percent in 1999. Having a liberal perspective is evident in the following two areas. Forty eight percent of Emory freshmen believe that 'marijuana should be legalized', which is higher than at other highly selective institutions (34 percent). The other response that represents Emory's freshmen as 'liberal' is that 52 percent of Emory's freshmen strongly believe that abortion should be legal as opposed to 40 percent other highly selective institutions.