My D is a junior at Elon. Safety has honestly never been a concern for her. Most of the dorms are really nice. Freshman year she was in Historic neighborhood in a newly renovated dorm. It was suite style and very nice. Sophomore year she was in Global (really nice) and then in the Oak apartments which are older but still pretty nice. Junior & Sr year she’s in Millpoint which are on-campus (although actually slightly off-campus) apartments. They are gorgeous. 4 bedrooms, 4 bath, granite kitchen, outdoor pool, etc. Worst dorm is probably the all male dorm in Historic. Not renovated and has no amenities. Just don’t check single sex housing and he won’t be assigned there. Daniely flats & apartments (where a lot of the sophomores live) are not the best location and are not that great inside but they are not bad. Food is actually pretty good. First year was covid and very limited so my D didn’t like it but since then its gotten a lot better. D is very picky so sometimes she goes to multiple cafeterias until she finds something she likes. They also have Qdoba, Einstein Bagels and a new fried chicken chain on campus as well as a couple other places. Son is a freshman at another school and Elon food is definitely much better.
I am a freshman mom. Safety is good. I haven’t heard of any incidents last semester and the campus police are friendly and helpful but you can search crime statistics for any college due to the Clery Act. My D’s dorm (Colonnades) is lovely - rooms are significantly bigger, newer and nicer than my other college student in Boston. Global is also very nice. Historic neighborhood is older, but is mostly freshmen so it’s supposed to be good socially. To some extent your student can choose by picking a LLC (Living Learning community). For example the Business LLC is in Colonnades. Students can get a campus apartment starting in sophomore year, depending on lottery. Food - like any college there is a lot of repetition but it’s pretty good and has healthy options. We got the meal plan where she can sometimes eat at the campus marketplace restaurants and she likes those options.
Most of the dorms are really nice. I’ve heard of one that has problems (on Elon parents Facebook group). They can’t choose unless they apply to an LLC. My child is in an llc in the Global dorms and they’re newer with no issues.
Food is great. There are 3 dining halls with different menus. We ate at 2 and dinner was okay (nice salad options) but brunch was fantastic. It might have been slightly elevated for parents weekend but I get food pics all the time.
There are 2 groups on Facebook. “Elon Parent to Parent Page” for all students, and a new one for class of 2027 “Elon University Parents of the Class of 2027 run by parents”
They were done December 9 this year. The academic calendar is on the Elon website.
Do you have info on Elon’s financial stability? I was surprised Forbes gave a C grade in 2022, because I thought I read Elon was one of the best run private colleges in the country. I thought someone asked about this during an Elon info session, but now I’m fuzzy about it. As a current mom, have your heard any response to Forbes’ grade?
The Strongest And Weakest Colleges In America — Behind Forbes 2022 Financial Grades
I assume the drop in its financial grade was due to its substantial recent expansion into engineering and nursing. Both costly programs to run but a good investment, I think.
They are doing very well. Their Elon Leads campaign recently raised over $260 million, which exceeded their goal, and on Elon Day March 7, 2023 they raised more than $3.5 million in one day from alumni, parents, staff and students.
Awesome! That should get their grade up with Forbes!
Is this part of it?
Hi! Thanks for offering to answer questions! Do you happen to know the highest amount of discount/merit aid possible at Elon? Don’t we all want to know that for every school! We won’t qualify for need based due to our retirement assets (in investment acts, not classic retirement accts). Thanks!
Elon is pretty transparent about the merit opportunities: https://www.elon.edu/u/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-based-scholarships/
Elon moms! I think the only thing holding my son back from accepting is concern he will get bored quickly. I keep saying I think it’s highly unlikely, but he’s comparing it to Ohio State and the Columbus area. So far, I’ve said that Greensboro is not far away for concerts and Raleigh/Durham are not far either for a change of pace. He loves playing sports, so I said lots of intramurals he can participate in. He’s not into theater (sigh). What else can I highlight?
Why do you prefer Elon? It’s definitely not a city!
My daughter is a freshman at Elon and my son goes to NC State - I have to wonder how certain schools get on the same radar. My daughter never would have gone to a school like State (or Ohio State, etc) and my son would have never gone to Elon. They are nothing alike. If he wants a big rah rah football weekend D1 school he is going to end up transferring to that if he goes to Elon. Most kids are not going to G’boro or Raleigh on the weekends. They are hanging out around campus participating in the events that the Student Union Board puts on or they are involved in something that advances their resume. No, I’m not kidding. My FD is a CTA major and is on movie sets most weekends. My daughter likes that her professors know her and if she sees them around campus they will stop to chat. She likes to participate in class and a lecture hall of hundreds of students would be a HUGE turnoff to her. My son doesn’t care about those things. There are probably frat parties every weekend, and there are places to go out - she’s not into that so can’t speak to it.
I would let him make the decision of what he wants - he has to spend the four years there.
Elon moms - how is the course registration there? Are students getting into the courses they want / need for their majors? Especially if they are in STEM or other majors that require sequential courses? My son was just accepted as a transfer student for class of 2026. I know he’s going to be at a disadvantage as a transfer student in terms of getting classes. But just wondering how the overall experience has been for current students.
I prefer Elon for what I think it offers my son, but I’m not making the decision because I want to make sure it’s his decision and there’s no “buyer’s remorse” because his parents told him where to go. Ohio State matches what he’s looking for outside of school. Elon matches what he’s looking for in school. Completely different, and yet both at the top of his list. So the only thing holding him back on Elon is the concern of getting bored quickly.
We are not making the decision for him. It’s his decision.
Many of my D’s friends have cars and she rents a zipcar occasionally. She has gone to sporting events and concerts. She’s not bored. She is active in campus clubs and events, has met some interesting people as a tour guide, and has played club sports and gone on outdoor adventure trips. That said, she really did not want a big school or a city and didn’t even want to get out of the car when we looked at a college in NYC for a sibling.
I think the only trouble with getting a course was over J term. My D took Chinese because that was all she could get. She had no prior experience and found it challenging, but did well.
We did a recent tour and campus seemed very quiet. It was a regular school day on a Weds, nice weather, and we couldn’t quite figure out where all the people were. Is it just a large enough campus that people are all spread out? My son decided it wasn’t his vibe. Saw UNC and NCSU the same week (we are local) and he much preferred the hustle and bustle of a large busy school. I understand Elon has a fraction of the students, but it seemed very “sleepy”…is that typical? We asked our guide and he seemed to indicate it did seem very quiet, but offered up no explanation.