Accepted new students visit Emerson LA

Accepted Emerson College undergraduate students from Southern California and their families gathered for a day of mingling at a welcome event at Emerson College Los Angeles on March 29.

About 65 accepted students and 175 total guests showed up for the informal event. High school senior Cameron De Matteis, from Studio City, was among them.

Newly accepted Emerson College students from Southern California got a recent tour of Emerson College Los Angeles in Hollywood. (Photo by Michelle Kwong '15)

“I really want to write for TV and film,” said De Matteis, who is still weighing her college options. “Emerson is great because it’s not too big and it’s not too small. It’s a good size for me and I like the atmosphere.”

High school senior Lydia Lou, from Los Angeles, also attended the event. She has not yet sent in her letter of acceptance, though she said she’s pretty set on attending Emerson College and plans to major in Marketing Communications. Lou said that she considered majoring in the arts but wasn’t interested in the technical aspects of art. 

“Being at Emerson, I’m still in an arts environment, so that’s great,” said Lou, who is a budding photographer.

Lou’s mother, Lu, said she wanted her daughter to stay in California because it’s what is familiar to her but is happy to see her go.

“Boston has a great college environment and Emerson College has a good background,” said Lu. “I’ll be nervous to let her go but excited too.”

Newly accepted Emerson College students get a tour of Emerson College Los Angeles. (Photo by Michelle Kwong '15)

Christopher Wright, director of Undergraduate Admission, said that having the event at the ELA building is helpful because it gives accepted undergraduates and their families a sense of one of the capstone experiences at Emerson College.

“It’s helpful to paint that picture of what students might be able to experience if they choose us,” said Wright.

Wright said the welcome event was deliberately kept low-key so that students and their families could get to know one another as well as ask questions of College employees and alumni.

Newly accepted students get a tour of Emerson College Los Angeles. (Photo by Michelle Kwong '15)

“We want to help families become as informed as possible so that if they’re weighing options, they understand what Emerson College has to offer,” said Wright.

Among the alumni present at the event to answer questions was Manny Jaquez ’13, a digital development assistant at Comedy Central.

“The connections that you make at Emerson are insane,” Jaquez told students. “Both of my current interns are Emersonians.”

High school senior Daven McQueen, from Torrence, said she attended the event because she wanted to get a feel for Emerson College. Though she’s still weighing her options, McQueen said she’s excited about the future.

Newly accepted students and their parents get a tour of Emerson College Los Angeles. (Photo by Michelle Kwong '15)

“I’ve heard great things about Emerson’s creative writing program,” said McQueen, who toured the College’s Boston campus last year and would major in Writing, Literature and Publishing.

McQueen’s mother, Gina, joked that she was planning to move to the East Coast with her daughter.

“I’m excited for her,” Gina said. “She’ll have to do her own laundry.”