Easy Admit? Hard working students?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Elon University
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<p>My S is a Junior and we are beginning our college search. We have visited state schools in neighboring states (we are from MA), and although S likes them, we want to consider smaller schools too. Visited Elon because it seems to be the buzz in our area and we were in North Carolina for a family reason so we decided to tour the school. It goes without saying that the campus is beautiful - so of course our interest grew. The dorms we toured were so much better than any we have seen so far. </p>

<p>S is a B+ student in our very competitive public hs. No APs. Half honors classes, half regular. Average ECs. </p>

<p>The talk in our town is that Elon is an "easy" admit. The kids from our hs who have been admitted in the last 4 years are below B+, (I would say "C+ / B-" kids, 0-1 AP, minimal if any honors classes). On this thread I have read about Elon's holistic approach but if I was to be honest, the kids applying to Elon from our hs are not at all the most "involved students" - on average I would say that the typical kid does one activity, not really comitted to it just fun. The kids who are most involved in activities (student council, clubs, sports teams, theatre, etc.) are going to more competitve schools. It appears that the kids applying are not extremely hard workers or those who do not really care about school seem to be the Elon candidates. We have had a bunch of 'B and above' kids use Elon as a safety school, but then the kids have attended: UConn, UVM, UMass, UDel, BU, Muhlenberg, Penn State, Syracuse. So my concern is that Elon is below the academic level of even a 'B student'.</p>

<p>Please do not read this as me attempting to knock Elon. I think a smaller environment than a big state school would be a better atmosphere for my S. My S would probably get involved in campus life in a school this size, as opposed to getting lost in a bigger student body. Elon promotes engaged learning, but I'm not sure what this means in actuality, obviously in theory it sounds like a great approach, but I realize that the curriculum needs to be completed in the same 4 years as any other school... what actually happens that differentiates Elon? </p>

<p>Another thing that I will mention, (I apologize for my honesty) is that in our hs the reputation of Elon is that it is the college for spoiled northeast kids.</p>

<p>When I spoke to Elon (I called multiple times), it sounds like small class sizes, involved profs, good opportunity for study abroad (my S wants this!). These are three criteria that are most important to us - so I want Elon on our short list. My S needs prof. support and so far Elon is the only school on our list that seems to truly offer this, (assuming they practice what they preach). This alone could influence our decision.</p>

<p>Any current Elon parent have opinions to help? Would a B+ student be challenged? Are the students hard workers and really care about school? Are the classes small and the profs available? </p>

<p>Sorry for being so wordy. Didn't know who else to ask. Thank you.</p>

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<p>I can’t find the thread from last year but if you dig back and look at the stats of kids who were deferred and ultimately wait listed from Elon, you might be surprised. Kids with 2000 on SATs, AP classes, and strong GPAs were scratching their heads that they were waitlisted. Also, go to Elon’s Common Data Sets at [Office</a> of Insitutional Research - Common Data Sets](<a href=“Common Data Sets | Institutional Research | Elon University”>Common Data Sets | Institutional Research | Elon University) to see who is actually being admitted.</p>

<p>

I have a very hard time believing those kids would be getting into Elon. Are you sure about those stats? I can name you several kids who were wait listed or rejected from our area in MA with much better stats than those. (Frankly, Elon doesn’t reject a lot of kids - but they waitlist a TON of kids - nearly a third of their applicants.) </p>

<p>To answer your questions: </p>

<p>What actually happens that differentiates Elon? My D is a junior. Every professor she has had has known her by name, early in the semester. The professors are focused on teaching undergraduate students. She has taken a “service learning” class that required 30 hours of service at a non-profit as part of the workload. She has traveled abroad over winter term, to an exotic place she never would have gone otherwise, without giving up an entire semester on campus. When she applies to grad school, she will have a variety of professors to ask for recommendations, because in her words, “They KNOW me and they know my work.”</p>

<p>Would a B+ student be challenged? Probably. As anywhere, some classes are more challenging than others. First semester/freshman year isn’t know for being terribly difficult, but as you continue on the expectations ramp up. It also depends on your major - the biochem majors are probably more “challenged” than the elementary education majors. Communications and Business are somewhere in between. </p>

<p>Are the students hard workers and really care about school? If you want a school where the kids spend all their time in the library, Elon is not for you. But if you want a school where kids actually go to class, participate in class discussions and do their homework, then Elon IS a place for you. Kids care, they work. But it’s not the nose-to-the-grindstone, stay-in-to-study-on-a-Saturday night kind of place. Students at Elon can have a balanced work/life ratio.</p>

<p>Class sizes are generally low 20’s or high teens, and yes the professors are available.</p>

<p>Do they practice what they preach? Yes. The place runs like a well oiled machine that actually cares about the students it serves. The professors know you, so you can’t hide in the back of a giant lecture hall.</p>

<p>Are there spoiled kids from the Northeast there? Show me a private college anywhere on the East Coast that doesn’t have spoiled kids from the Northeast. </p>

<p>I believe Elon’s 50% admit rate would be a lot lower if they joined the Common App and allowed “topic of your choice” for their essay. Since they don’t, it limits the number of kids who are just throwing another application out there, and thus lowers the total number of applications. Keep that in mind when considering how “selective” a school is.</p>

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<p>My D is going to be a freshman at Elon next year, so I don’t have the personal experience to answer your questions. But I was able to find a lot of that kind of information on websites that have lots of student reviews. (CC won’t let me link to them, or even name them, but if you want to message me I can send you and email with the names of some of the sites). Or just google “college reviews, students” or something like that.</p>

<p>Also, read some of the threads in the Elon forum here at CC. There’s a lot of information here about the credentials of who got in and who didn’t, and the student body. </p>

<p>We had a family friend who graduated from Elon about 4 years ago. She is a very down to earth, hard working, not-at-all-spoiled, non-partier Midwestern girl, who was an A-B student at a very rigorous high school. She loved Elon, found great friends who were also down to earth, involved, and hard-working, felt challenged and says that the engaged learning has given her a huge advantage in the working world because she knows how to apply knowledge and how to work with people. Her experience there was part of the reason we looked at it so seriously. She did say that yes, there were rich east-coast students there, and some Lily Pulitzer and pearls at football games, but that didn’t dominate and there is a variety of types of students from all over the country and a niche for everyone.</p>

<p>It kind of depends on what your S wants out of his college experience. He may want that big name school on his diploma, but if he likes being involved, he may not want the extreme rigor of a super-prestigious school that limits his time (a frustration for our S at Vandy though he loves the academic challenge there). And, if you read the U S News or P-ton Rev. rankings, you’ll see that Elon just keeps climbing in every category.</p>

<p>I think it’s good to do research, read other opinions, rankings etc. I did tons of that. But there is nothing like getting on campus and talking to students and professors, sitting in on a class, checking out the cafeteria etc. Usually a student just knows when something is a good fit and when it isn’t, and that’s the most important thing.</p>

<p>In the meantime, here’s a place to start.<br>
[Elon</a> University Rankings and Recognitions](<a href=“Elon University - America’s Top-Ranked Teaching University”>Elon University / About Elon / Rankings & Recognition)</p>

<p>Good luck with your search :)</p>

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<p>Hi, my son is a freshman at Elon and is having a wonderful time. He was a B/B+ high school student with 2 AP classes and a few honors level classes. What matters the most to me is how much he is enjoying his classes at Elon and how much he feels he is learning. He was not a terribly motivated hs student. I would go so far as to say he disliked most of his hs classes and teachers. Whatever Elon is doing, something has clicked, as he will talk at length about his classes, and I hear excitement in his voice. Some classes have been fairly easy, some more challenging, but I have heard no real complaints.</p>

<p>I have to contrast his experience with some of his hs friends, who are attending large universities, where every class is a lecture hall with 100s of kids. I am hearing more complaints from those parents, reinforcing my belief in a smaller school like Elon.</p>

<p>No reason to apologize for your honesty. You need to assess the pros and cons of every college. Between two sons we visited 20+ east coast colleges and Elon impressed us the most. I think there is an emphasis on creating a passion for learning, rather than a cut-throat grade-focused atmosphere. I see a lot of weight placed on the notion that learning takes place both in and out of the classroom, with their emphasis on internships, volunteering and study abroad.</p>

<p>Al I can say is that so far, Elon has exceeded our expectations.</p>

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<p>My daughter is a junior at Elon and loves it. She has been abroad twice- a winter term and a semester and plans on another winter term. She learns best through experience, and Elon has been really good for her in that way; she has chosen those courses. I know that there are more traditional courses as well. The career office seems to be excellent at helping students get internships.</p>

<p>On the negative side, the school is not very diverse- something I really hope they are working on. Another issue, and one that may speak to the original poster’s experience is that they take nearly any student who applies ED. I understand that it’s good to have students who want to attend, but it means that a lot of better students who apply EA or RD, and really like Elon don’t get in. I don’t understand this policy.</p>

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<p>My daughter is a freshman at Elon. She graduated from a difficult private high school, where she took all honors and AP classes and had an A-/B+ average. Her superscored SAT was 1990. </p>

<p>She found her first semester at Elon to be “easy” and was frankly shocked by how many kids were struggling in classes in which she was getting an “easy A.” The full disclosure is that many of my d’s high school classmates are also finding college to be “easy” and I think this speaks mostly to how well their high school prepared them for college, rather than how easy college is. Also, I have an older son, who went to the same high school, who also initially found college to be “easy”, but who went on to find that his later years of college were much more challenging.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, at this point, I don’t think my d would describe Elon as particularly academically challenging. What she is discovering is that while there are plenty of hard working, smart, academically oriented students at Elon, they are mostly concentrated in the fellows programs, the honors pavillion, or the learning communities. Having attended high school with lots of over-achievers, my d mistakenly assumed those groups would be too serious, too competitive, and too “driven” for her. As it turns out, those groups are really where she fits in best at Elon. She is currently making adjustments in her living situation and activities so that she can better find her “people.” She’s also chosen some classes for this semester that we hope will be more challenging. She’s mapped out an academic plan and a study abroad plan that she’s excited about and we think will provide her with a good education.</p>

<p>The really, really good thing about Elon is the small classes and engaged teachers. We visited during Family Weekend, just a few weeks into the semester last September and we had a chance to meet with all of my d’s professors. In every single case, as soon as we introduced ourselves to the professor (just told them our last name), the professor said “Oh, you must be xx’s parents!” They all KNEW her after a few weeks! It was amazing. As a second semester freshman, she needed a reference for an activity she is doing and she had three professors to choose from, who knew her well enough to write a recommendation. </p>

<p>She recently visited a friend at a larger university (many steps up the “prestige scale” from Elon) and attended some classes there. She was shocked and appalled by the large lecture hall classes, and came back raving about how glad she was to have Elon’s environment of small classes and opportunities.</p>

<p>So, I think there’s some truth to what the OP says. I think Elon is playing numbers games with their admissions statistics. They are trying to get their acceptance rate down and their yield up, so they accept almost everybody who applies early decision and then during the ed and rd rounds they put kids who are way more qualified (but whom they suspect are using Elon as a safety school) on the waiting list and then accept only those off the waiting list who show a commitment to attend Elon if accepted. I think the idea is that if it looks like it’s harder to get into Elon, the school will rise in prestige and more qualified kids will apply, and it will all become a virtuous circle of improvement. </p>

<p>Overall, our experience has been that Elon is a beautiful school, with a well run administration, small classes, engaged teachers, and plenty of opportunities for students who want to take advantage of them. On the down side, the social life is dominated by Greek life (much more so than we had been led to believe), there is very little diversity (white, upper middle class students from the northeast are the norm), and there are many average students who are much more interested in parties than classes.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for sharing your information. It is extremely valuable. What I am understanding is that Elon does deliver what it claims (engaged learning, committed faculty, small classes etc.). This is good news based on what I think would be good for my S.</p>

<p>However, I am still slightly concerned about the student body. I am reading that almost all ED students are admitted. This fact makes me believe that although the students want to be there (obviously a good thing in terms of campus life, morale, etc.), they are not necessarily hard workers/ high achievers. Yes, I realize this is not a “high” ranked competitive school - I’m trying to really gain an insight into the “level”.</p>

<p>My S is not the hardest worker, my dilemma is helping him determine where he belongs (I believe that if he is surrounded by hard-working, committed students he will follow suit, whereas in a more relaxed, less pressured environment, he is certainly one to enjoy the atmosphere and not push himself). My S is the kid that pulls off the A in the class with the hard teacher who sets the bar high, checks homework, gives killer tests and expects discipline in the class, whereas he’ll get a B with the more relaxed teacher, becuase he has no problem taking the easy way out. The teacher known as the toughest in his hs emailed him to offer him a letter for college.</p>

<p>If you don’t mind some questions…
Kierans - what made your D choose Elon?<br>
Kierans and rockvillemom - I appreciate your comparison to larger schools, and the larger class sizes. This fact alone is what is drawing me to Elon. A good friend’s daughter attends a large school and she once showed me a photo from the back of a large lecture hall. All you see are facebook pages up on all the kids’ laptops! I recall this photo as I am evaluating Elon, which is why, despite other things that concern me, I continue to be drawn to this school.</p>

<p>Lafalum and others - You have answered my questions honestly and I appreciate it. I do want to let you know that the kids I am referring to have been accepted with these stats. Some ED some not ED (to be honest those who did not apply ED I am not sure if it was EA or RD). When I mention that I visited Elon and that my S is considering it, the folks who know my S are very surprised, and are trying to talk me out of it - in most cases, their impression of Elon is based on kids from our town who have been accepted / have attended / are planning to attend. Honestly, based on this pool of kids it certainly makes Elon appear to be a “B-/C” school. From our hs, no A, A-, B+ or B kids are in this pool. As I mentioned no kids with APs (maybe 1 AP) or heavy honors loads. Granted we are in a competitive hs. </p>

<p>Thank you all. Again, my reason for trying to gather your knowledge is that for many of the positive reasons outlined above, I believe Elon has great things to offer. I think my S would benefit greatly. </p>

<p>To all above posters and anyone else who may want to chime in:
Do you think the Elon name carries weight for graduate school or employment? Anyone concerned about this? </p>

<p>Thanks for your help.</p>

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<p>Hi Welmont,
My daughter chose Elon because she was looking for a medium-sized school in a moderate climate, with an attractive campus, an excellent study abroad program, and small classes. Elon has delivered quite well in all of those areas.</p>

<p>As far as the caliber of the students there, you should probably look to Naviance or other sources where you can see the actual facts about who is accepted/rejected and what their stats are. Sometimes people can have misperceptions about what kind of student another kid is, if they don’t know the actual facts. There is obviously a big difference between earning a B in AP Physics and a B in most introductory, non-honors language classes. Lumping together students who earn a B in each of these classes as “B students” is misleading. </p>

<p>In any case, the Elon website reports that the middle 50% of their incoming freshman have a GPA between 3.5 and 4.0+ and the middle 50% of SAT scores are 1740-1960, so you can use that as a starting point to determine if the student body is strong enough for what you are looking for. I should note that even with her very good stats, my daughter did not qualify to be a Presidential Scholar, nor was she invited to apply for any Fellows programs, so she is not in the very top tier of Elon students.</p>

<p>It sounds like you’ll have to try to find a balance between a school where your son will be happy, and a school where he’ll be surrounded by serious students who lead him by example to study hard and do well. I think Elon could work in your situation, but as you’ve pointed out, there are lots of things to consider.</p>

<p>Oh, and I should add that when we tell people my daughter is at Elon, they have either never heard of the school, or they say something like “Oh, I’ve heard that’s a great school. Our niece/neighbor/friend’s kid went there and loved it.” The reputation among people who know of the school seems to be solid.</p>

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<p>Here’s the most recent common data set:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/administration/institutional_research/CDS/CDS2012-2013.xls[/url]”>http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/administration/institutional_research/CDS/CDS2012-2013.xls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Yes, the ED admit rate is unusually high, 342/399 = 86% for the class that entered fall 2012. It has been over 80% for at least the past 5 years that I have been following it. But with an entering class of 1400+, ED admits are actually a lower percentage of the total class that you will find at other schools, where as much as half of the freshman class slots are filled by ED admits.</p>

<p>Elon is not for everyone. A very strong student from a very strong hs might not find it challenging enough, might not find it prestigious enough, might not find the student body as serious academically as desired. No one is confusing Elon with University of Chicago! </p>

<p>As far as diversity goes, constantly improving. Let me share a little from my perspective. We are Jewish, and finding a college with vibrant Jewish life was important to us. Elon admissions staff showed us numbers indicating a strong upward trend of Jewish students at Elon, as well as plans for a Hillel House and a Jewish fraternity. Both of those have come to fruition this year. So, I do see a commitment to improve campus diversity that goes beyond words.</p>

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<p>“My daughter chose Elon because she was looking for a medium-sized school in a moderate climate, with an attractive campus, an excellent study abroad program, and small classes. Elon has delivered quite well in all of those areas.”</p>

<p>This is exactly why my D is going to attend Elon in the fall…we are from the Northeast and to be honest, the COA at Elon is very attractive compared to the private universities in New England which average $50-$60K. Because there are so many privates in NE, states have not invested in the Public Uni so they are just OK…and the COA is running between $25-30K per year. I do think that many kids in this area are looking towards southern schools where the COA tends to be lower and admission rates higher. Many New England schools are now in the “most selective” category and are taking students from outside New England in an effort to diversify…the A-/B+ student from New England is at a disadvantage…but is very welcome in other parts of the country and usually with some type of merit. Elon is a very attractive option for these kids and I believe that within the next few years that you will find the B/B- student will find Elon to be more of a reach as the word gets out.</p>

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<p>Again, thank you for your thoughts.</p>

<p>I think Elon must like my S’s hs, because looking at Naviance, the stats of admit are below the common data set. As I mentioned, B and above students are not considering Elon, but maybe they are applying there as a safety school. And the B- kids are choosing the schools I mentioned above. I thought schools like Syracuse, U Delaware, UMaryland, BU, etc. (see my post above) accepted comparable students to Elon, however it still appears that Elon is not quite there - perhaps it will be in the near future? These schools are where B students from my S’s hs seem to choose for prestige over Elon, when accepted to both. </p>

<p>kierans - yes, I agree that a B in an AP is certainly harder to achieve than in an Honors class or below. However I am saying that the students who are B students who are not choosing Elon are earning Bs (they are not taking APs). The kids from S’s hs with B’sor B+'s in AP classes are attending higher ranked schools. </p>

<p>One more thing - I see kierans mentioned the active greek life. My S is on the fence regarding his interest in greek life. Would you say that the kids who do participate in greek life are at a disadvantage socially? </p>

<p>Any comments regarding grad school or employment with an Elon degree?</p>

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<p>Hi, in your last paragraph, did you mean to ask if the kids who DO NOT participate in Greek life are at a disadvantage socially?</p>

<p>From what my son tells me, it’s a bigger deal for girls. More drama surrounding the process, which just took place a few weeks ago. Seems more mellow for the guys. My impression is that there is a lot to do on campus, besides frat parties. My son is joining a fraternity, but frat parties have not dominated his weekend social life.</p>

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<p>I have to admit that I’m a little confused about the Greek life thing at Elon. On the one hand, the Elon website says that only 25% of Elon students are members of Greek organization and several more experienced parents and students on this site have mentioned that Greek life isn’t that big and it is no big deal not to rush. This was our understanding when my daughter chose Elon.</p>

<p>But on the other hand, after one semester on campus, my daughter reports that frat parties and sorority life dominate the social scene at Elon. Yes, there are other things to do, but the main weekend events revolve around Greek life, according to her. It might be a freshman-girl thing, but the rush process that happened a few weeks ago sounded like it was huge and dramatic and full of tears. Although maybe most of life for 18-year-old girls seems huge and dramatic and full of tears:) If you didn’t participate, as my d did not, it seemed like you were pretty left out of things. Her impression was that 90% of the girls were rushing, but obviously that must have been mistaken or exaggerated. I don’t know what to think; she’s been living among students who are very much into the party scene, so her view might be a bit warped at this point.</p>

<p>I’ll leave it to others to give a more balanced assessment.</p>

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<p>Hi. I am a first year student at Elon. I went to a public high school, which was not very challenging. I did well, but I was never an A student because I didn’t always put the effort in. I ususally got B’s and the occasional C. I got a 1700 on my SAT’s and I got into Elon and am now a student here. I do not think it is very hard to get in and it always baffles me when people tell me that they think it is. I havent met any particularly brilliant people while I have been here. Everyone seems to be an average, pretty smart kid, but no one I have met strikes me as seeming like they were at the top of their class in high school at all…Everything you said about the school being filled with spoiled kids from the northeast is 100% true. If youre looking to go to North Carolina to get the southern atmosphere, Elon is not for you. If youre looking to be challenged in your classes, Elon is also not for you. I am an average student and I think Elon is a cake walk. I am in the process of trying to transfer, and so are MANY other people I know. The small class sizes is nice if you like that and the study abroad program is also great. However, if you ask me, the bad weighs out the good. Everyone at Elon is exactly the same. There is ZERO diversity. I heard this about Elon before arriving here and I thought everyone was exaggerating. Its NO exaggeration. Everyone at Elon is a rich snob from the northeast and they define themselves by what sorority/fraternity they get into. The school definitely attracts a “type” of person. Its not the type of school where everyone gets along and is willing to make friends with each other. There were established cliques in the first week of school and now that sorority/fraternity rush has just ended it is 10000 times worse. I consider myself a very normal nice, easy going person and I get along with everybody. I was friends with everyone in high school. I have never felt so out of my element before. Dont ignore what people tell you about Elon, because I did and it was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made.</p>

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<p>I was choosing between Elon and Michigan State and that is exactly why he did not choose Elon. I went to visit a kid from my high school that I know there and I experienced all of the nonsense with the greek life and everyone being an entitled snob. Not to mention, the school isnt THAT GREAT academically. I know a bunch of less than average students that got in there, including the kid I went to visit. I think it is a very hard to school to fit in to if you are not a carbon copy of everyone else at the school. I think at Michigan I will get the college experience, meet tons of new people, going out and have fun on the weekends, theres diversity, and I wont feel pressure to join a fraternity just because everyone does. No one at Elon seemed very friendly. Everyone had their little group of friends and had no interest in meeting me. It just wasnt a welcoming, fun atmosphere like most other colleges I have visited are. The weeekends are lame. Since the campus is so spread out, you have to walk like a mile and a half to get to every party , and once you get there it isnt even fun. Elon is in a league of its own when it comes to snobiness and it seems to be so prestigious, but Im not sure where all of that arrogance is coming from… Its an alright school, but when you go there they treat you like youre at Harvard. My friend that goes there is also transferring due to the atmosphere at Elon. Also, the food SUCKS and the portions are tiny. Elon is a school for gay guys. And when I visited, it was obvious there were A TON of them, which is fine. But I didnt meet any other cool fun athletic guys that like to drink and have a good time. Thats another reason why I chose Michigan State. Id rather be surrounded by tons of different people, including down to earth people like myself, than 5000 of the exact same person.</p>

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<p>And by the way, frat parties are the ONLY thing to do on the weekends. Dont be mistaken by anyone that tells you any different.</p>

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<p>Wow Jessie, really sorry you are so unhappy at Elon, but I do think you are exaggerating just a bit. “ZERO” diversity?" and “Everyone at Elon is a rich snob from the northeast”? I’m really sorry if that has been your personal experience, but I just don’t think that is true.</p>

<p>Elon sometimes reminds me of the old parable about the elephant, where one blind folded person feels the elephant’s tusk, another blindfolded person feels the hide, another feels the trunk, and so forth, and they each come away with very different impressions of the same animal.</p>

<p>My son is very happy at Elon and I just don’t see anything that you wrote that mirrors his experience. He and a number of his friends spent fake break doing community service in Florida with Habitat for Humanity, does that sound like rich snobs?</p>

<p>I hope you find what you are looking for. Best of luck to you.</p>

<p>Just have to add that Jessie and Jackson both joined CC today, so, while their posts may be genuine, I always find it interesting to note when a brand new poster bashes a particular school.</p>

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<p>Thats good. Im glad your son likes it so much and I do think getting involved is a good way to feel more comfortable at a new school. I joined clubs and met lots of people too, but I know I would be happier somewhere else- actually anywhere else. I am just talking about my experience, but I have met dozens of other students here that feel the same way. Everywhere I turn I meet people who are in the process of transferring for the same reasons that I want to. Also, five people on my floor transferred out after first semester. Thats a lot. Another thing that bothered me about Elon is the total lack of school spirit. This is just my opinion, but I want to be at a school where football/basketball games are a big deal and everyone goes to support the teams and its exciting and fun. At Elon, no one seems to care. Its crazy. There just isn’t a passionate fan base. People here like Elon, but no one seems to LOVE it. Not to mention, like Jackson22 said, the food really is pretty bad. Maybe your son is an exception, but this school, for me, has been a complete disappointment.</p>

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<p>I find it interesting that Jackson22 is such an expert on Elon when he doesn’t go there- he goes to Michigan State. Not sure how he thinks there are no athletic guys who like to drink - he’s just described most of the boys in frats and virtually all of the guys D knows. </p>

<p>Greek life at Elon is much bigger for girls than for guys. My D tells me 600 girls chose to go thru recruitment this year, which is a very large proportion of the girls. There are currently 9 sororities at Elon, and each is required to accept 1/9 of the girls going thru rush, so in theory there is a place for everyone. In reality, some girls have their heart set on a particular sorority or two and if they get cut there they drop out of the process. It is very stressful and there is a lot of drama. Most girls end up in a sorority they are happy with, but not everyone. </p>

<p>My D has friends from Alabama, Texas, Florida, Chicago and a bunch from VA, but most are from NJ thru MA. </p>

<p>Elon is not for everyone, but neither is any college. Jessie, I hope you find a school where you will be happy.</p>

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<p>The drama associated with sororities seems to be the same across many schools (I hesitate to write “all”, but I bet it is). </p>

<p>rockvillemom - Yes, sorry I meant “disadvantage socially by not joining greek life.” </p>

<p>Kierans - when your D mentioned 90% of the girls participate, I would not be surprised if the actual number is much less, but it appears this high to her, given that the sample by which she came up with this number is she is her friends, floor-mates, etc., not actually the whole student-body. I assume this is a perceived number. Can I ask you if your D is happy at Elon, given that she has not chosen to participate in a sorority, yet she feels that greek life dominates the social scene?</p>

<p>jessie - Obviously Elon is not a good fit for you. And good luck with transfering.</p>