2015 Freshman Experience

Colleges and Universities A-Z Elon University
1

I just dropped off my D to Elon. I thought it would be nice to hear what we have experienced. First off, my D is at the campus as a URM. Never has she been pointed out or singled out by the school. She was invited to participate in the SMART program. Since she declined, she has never been harassed, nor have there been any signs on her door denoting her status.

As for Elon the school runs like clockwork. This is not my first child off to college and the orientation weekend and move in was seamless. In addition, all students must attend mandatory meetings and seminars all weekend long. These seminars covers topics like tolerance, drinking, drugs, activities and programs on campus, to banking options. Its insane how far this university goes to inform the students of all there is to offer and how they expect the students to behavior themselves.

In addition, they are programs for parents, siblings and grandparents during orientation weekend. No stone goes uncovered.
On top of that everyone is super friendly and welcoming. If someone comes on this campus feeling unwelcomed, then its that person not the school. They bend over backwards to exude southern charm on all.

Every student meets with their academic adviser, as does the parent/guardian. That advisor is someone that is completely prepared to engage your student on all levels, from academics to social issues to emotional issues. It was very comforting to know that there was a surrogate parent there for me child. You leave feeling like your child/young adult is in good company.

At night the school always has fun events for the students. The first night their was a block party, then there was a hypnotist, a BBQ party, yesterday there was Sports Fest. As for the parties that people are always concerned about, so far they cops have been out in full force. According to my D they are out closing down any and all illegal drinking. There are no parties allowed on Frat/Sorority row.

So the threads that put Elon down for mistreating URM students are definitely not the case and the partying atmosphere is not quite what people have depicted either.

Perhaps the school is getting stricter, I’m not sure but this is what Elon is like now.

As for academics. Its even more than what I could have hoped for. All of my D’s teachers have made it a point to reach out to their students. They offer extra credit points if you ask them out for tea or coffee. Or they make it mandatory that you visit them at some point. Its no wonder Elon is number 1 in the nation for student/teacher engagement. It starts from the second they get on the campus. My D is taking 17 credits and in the first week has met with all her professors except one.
The classes range from 11 students to 25. The teachers are amazing and truly engaging.

If you are thinking about applying to Elon, definitely visit and see for yourself. This school is phenomenal!!!

2

Thank you for sharing you and your daughter’s experiences after week 1. My D is a freshman as well, and while we don’t have a URM perspective, I do concur with everything you said. D has had an amazing first week, made friends easily, loves her classes and professors, and has taken advantage of many of the activities that have been promoted to freshman including College Coffee and Sportsfest. She is our second child to attend Elon, and we have found that the stereotypes that people like to use to condemn Elon are not the norm at all (not to say they don’t exist, they just don’t define campus life to the degree that perspective students and their parents may be lead to believe if they read the negative threads.) Elon is indeed a special place, a wonderful school for students who want to be fully engaged and take advantage of the opportunities it has to offer.

3

*oops, meant prospective students, not perspective! Typing this too late on Sunday eve! :slight_smile:

4

I’m so glad to hear this! It really does continue that way - son is a senior and we are extremely pleased. Today he had a lengthy meeting with his internship advisor - the personal attention and feedback - truly exceptional.

5

Wait! Rockvillemom, can you please elaborate on the “internship advisor” statement. Whats that all about?
Elon has advisors for everything. My D was notified of her own personal librarian, the other day. She can go to this person for any and all help when it comes to resourcing material at the library. My husband and I thought that was amazing, but now there are internship advisors.

6

If the major requires an internship - they are assigned an internship advisor. My son’s major had a 6 credit internship - 400 hours over the summer - which we did have to pay for as a 6 credit class. He was in contact with his internship advisor over the summer - turning in weekly reports of his hours and what he did. Once he was back at Elon - his supervisor from the actual internship sent an evaluation to the Elon advisor - and they met to go over it and my son’s final report.

The final test for me is to see how the job search goes this year and how much support he gets from Elon in that regard. He has a good relationship with his academic advisor and I am hoping she guides him.

7

I’m glad it went so well for her! That was our experience as well. We are just as in love with Elon now as we were then (D is a junior).

Yes, there are internship advisors. Encourage your daughter to take advantage of that early. They are so helpful. Our daughter thought she could do it on her own. After a few months of disappointments, she finally contacted an internship advisor and learned what she had been doing wrong, and some proven methods for getting good internships.

8

Can you tell me what majors your kids are?

Thanks so much!

9

My son is SEM - sport and event mgmt.

10

Thanks so much for the information. I really appreciate it.

11

Dungareedoll, I am so happy to hear about the improvements made to the SMART program since my kid (also an URM at Elon) enrolled there in the fall of 2013. My daughter knew nothing about it when she arrived on campus to find the sign on her door, and on the door of the one other person of color in her dorm (historic neighborhood). (She did make a joke initially about how it would be easy for her to find other people of color by walking down the halls and looking for that special sign …)

I think it is wonderful that the school responded by making that change, and I give them a lot of credit for that. In fact, I give Elon administration a lot of credit for the efforts that they made/are making in terms of making the college community there more accepting and creating a more diverse environment. Best of all, it sounds to me from what I read in the news online that when incidents of bias happen at Elon, students seem to be taking the reins and saying that they won’t stand for anything less than acceptance and tolerance of every student on campus. That is what we need to have happen on campuses everywhere, because the truth is, these types of incidents sadly are widespread.

I hope your daughter continues to thrive and enjoy Elon! Mine chose to finish her freshman year there, but is now a student at another, larger, public university. Her new school is a better fit for her not only in that it has a higher degree of racial and economic diversity, but it also has a very strong department in her area of study, which Elon did not. She also left the school with extremely positive feelings about the people in the diversity and inclusion office, who were wonderful to her.