Best colleges in Georgia: Emory University rankings, Emory campus life

Students of Atlanta's Emory University just can't stop raving about their school.

That's according to a new college ranking from The Princeton Review, which named Emory the victor for best quality of life in its 2019 "Best 384 Colleges" collection, an annual book featuring survey data from more than 138,000 students at 384 U.S. schools.

The Princeton Review's "Best 384" collection contains 62 different rankings, including best quality of life, most LGBTQ-friendly, most politically conservative and most beautiful campus.

For the best quality of life list, students were asked to rate the beauty, safety and location of their campus; quality of campus food and dorms; accessibility around campus and with administration officials; friendliness on campus; diversity and overall happiness.

Emory came out on top for a variety of reasons, according to the Princeton Review analysis, which ranked Emory among the best for college campus, campus dorms and classroom experience. For students of the Atlanta institution, the Emory experience is all about taking advantage of the multitude of opportunities available on campus, whether that's volunteering, hiking Emory's massive nature preserve, participating in Greek life, the arts or intramural sports.

Administrators at the highly-ranked research university are known to encourage students to pursue their interests both in and out of the classroom, boosting an atmosphere of “bold, courageous inquiry facilitated by world renowned professors, state-of-the-art facilities, and an omnipresent desire to learn,” according to student surveys.

The diverse student body is also a significant draw. Emory students aren’t just from all over the country — they’re from all around the globe, students said. And that brings in diverse perspectives that are “truly astounding.”

Emory's campus was also recognized in the Princeton Review's 20 most beautiful college campuses in America, also part of the "Best 384," along with Berry College in Rome.

Nestled in the suburbs of Atlanta, Emory University is close to the heart of the city, downtown Decatur and Buckhead. Its idyllic Lullwater Preserve, which features the ruins of a 1920s powerhouse, is a popular 154-acre oasis many students consider the school’s best-kept hidden gem.

Rice University in Houston and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, followed Emory on the list of colleges with the best quality of life.