Elizabethtown College

Parents Forum
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<p>I couldn't find anywhere else to start this thread, so I decided to do it here.</p>

<p>My D and I visited Etown on Thurs. It was not on her original list of visits e.g. Wooster, Grinnell, Allegheny, Kenyon, Carleton and so on. Out of all these she liked Wooster. But the Etown visit was great for her.</p>

<p>Etown is in a town of 20,000 people between Harrisburg and Lancaster, PA. The campus of almost 200 acres is in a residential neighborhood.</p>

<p>They have some older bldgs, but most are new or are being renovated. The campus center was the best I have seen. Almost like a small mall or town center. Students were interacting all over the place. My D is interested in music. The music dept had some of the best facilities we have seen for a small college. The dorms were in good shape and had decent space. They are just finishing a bio bldg expansion renovation and will be doing another science bldg renovation/expansion as soon as this one is done this summer. </p>

<p>The food was some of the best we have had (after 15 visits to schools). </p>

<p>The atmosphere we very good. Academics came across as strong. My D talked with three of the music faculty and they were very engaging and helpful in asking about her and explaining their programs.</p>

<p>Etown has a high percentage of international students and is very connected with study abroad and on campus programs that interact with the wider world through service and change. We really appreciated this. Some schools that reflect this kind of culture came across to my daughter with students who were focused on the wider world, but didn't connect much with the culture of present day US teens. She felt Etown would allow her to be involved in change for better life in the wider world and to be a "normal" US teenager/young adult.</p>

<p>They also have good opportunties for those who want to be involved in their faith tradition. It is not specifically dominant about being a Church of the Brethren/Christian school, but the mood was supportive of those youth who wanted to share and growth in their faith expression...again without being considered weird.</p>

<p>It was easy to reach with 4 lane controlled access right up to the city. Good access to Harrisbrug (11 miles away) and Baltimore (little over an hour). </p>

<p>Etown is not considered one of the "big kids on the block" like some of the other schools my D has interest in (Grinnell, Beloit, Dickinson, Wooster). However, it came across as the most inviting and engaging for her. I felt the same as a parent. I think Elizabethtown is one of those lschools that many people are missing out on.</p>

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<p>My son graduated from Etown 2 years ago. It was a school that we, too, found by accident. After a visit, it became #1 on his list. The campus is beautiful and everyone there is so friendly. He found the academics to be challenging in his major (computer engineering), and got a great internship senior year which turned into a full time job after graduation. It's a school rarely mentioned on these boards, but a real gem in my opinion. It has consistently been ranked as a top comprehensive college by USNWR.</p>

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<p>I visited Elizabethtown with my first son, for whom it would have been too selective.</p>

<p>I am looking forward to a visit with my second son, as I liked it a lot.
This past week, we visited Washington College and Gettysburg College.</p>

<p>Although his stats make him a match for Gettysburg, he felt that the atmosphere there was a bit more intense than he liked. Although he is an excellent student, he felt he may be out of his league in the area of ambitiousness and aggressiveness at a school like Gettysburg. </p>

<p>He liked the feel of Washington better, and I think Elizabethtown may give him some of the same "vibe". I know that the school does not have any Greek organizations, I think due to its religious/quaker-like origins. It's a bit girl-heavy, which is a concern. I felt that the campus culture leaned a bit to the left, which may be a problem for my libertarian son. Another close-by school to consider, which is heavy into music, is Lebanon Valley, a short distance north.</p>

<p>We're going to do E'town and Franklin and Marshall the same day. I wonder if F&M will give him the same feel as Gettysburg!</p>

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<p>jaybee, it should! I hear that F&M is intense.</p>

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<p>My nephew was accepted to E-town (and Washington) but has decided to go elsewhere. I visited with him last summer and as I have a son who attends Grinnell can definitely see how someone who felt comfortable at one might not feel as connected at the other. I didn't realize they had a big international population. The schools I felt were more E-town like that we had looked at were Earlham and Lawrence.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
It's a bit girl-heavy, which is a concern.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Wouldn't this be an asset for a guy? ;)</p>

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<p>Northeastmom</p>

<p>I suspect the same. I read somewhere about lots of grad-school prep, and grade deflation.</p>

<p>This is just a kid with straight A's and a 1400 SAT that at this point wants to go to a small school and become a math teacher. I think that to get the feel he wants he's going to have to actually aim lower than his stats, strange as it sounds. At least we'll get some money :)</p>

<p>Deloar, is the same thing going on with you?</p>

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<p>jaybee is that 1400- Verbal / Math ?
If that is combined score- Muhlenberg might be worth seeing. </p>

<p>We walked Etown campus a couple of years ago during D's search, a quiet Summer day, so we didn't get a feel for the school, and didn't take an official tour. We just strolled around, and it seemed like a school often overlooked, and I wondered why.</p>

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<p>Good to hear such nice comments about another great Pennsylvania LAC!</p>

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<p>SouthJersey-
Yes, that's old scale.
The same feelings that make some of these colleges seem too intense have also led my son to want to be within 1-1 1/2 hours from home. (but not TOO close, Mom!--leaving out Goucher & Loyola--and not in a city)</p>

<p>That leaves out Muhlenberg, Dickinson, Susquehanna and St. Mary's of Maryland. It's a good thing this kid doesn't need too many choices! McDaniel would be an easy decision, but if he likes them, I think that E'town and Washington are a bit more selective.</p>

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<p>If you are looking at Gettysburg, Mt St Mary's is 10-15 minutes down the road. LOTS of merit aid.</p>

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<p>Deloar--</p>

<p>I had heard that E-town had a bit of a housing crunch--did you see any evidence of that?</p>

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<p>re the housing crunch...didn't see any of that. Heard that some students live off campus and that a new dorm is in the works. They seem to have a number of fairly new living units that are not typical dorm style e.g. townhouses, apts, quads, and "dorms" that are in small squared living units with about 8 rooms in the unit. We heard from a close friend of my D who is a sophomore that her freshman room was huge. </p>

<p>re my D's interests etc, she is a jr with a 4.1 gpa in honors, has one AP Am Hist with a 4, is taking two more AP tests in May for Euro Hist and Music Theory and will be taking 3 more AP classes next year. Just took the ACT yesterday and taking the SAT in May. She was 96% on the PSAT. She has looked for academically challenging settings. The other two essentials are a good music dept/choral music group and a feel that her kind of style as a person has some norm on the campus, yet it also is accepting of diversity. I didn't get the feel that Etown was radical, but it seemed to come across as more liberal. Groups concerned with social and world issues and acceptance of a variety of folks were evident. My daughter is very involved faith wise in her spiritual journey and working for social change so it was important that she find a place that accepted that. Too many schools seemed to be "non-faith" oriented and thus those who were overt in their faith seemed to be over the top. A few even seemed to come across as open to a variety of world relligions, BUT NOT to Christianity. Etown felt to be accepting of all and encouraging to grow more in the spiritual journey.</p>

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<p>We had a tour and passed through a female dorm space and saw row after row of drying racks in the hallway. This might be more typical for the female dorms than male (they probably dry more clothes on their backs not rack). This might be typical of all dorms too, we usually had tours during open houses. Ours liked the place, but is aiming at Ursinus or Moravian, two weeks left to decide.</p>

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<p>ZingBat, I sent you a pm.</p>

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<p>We know a young man who is a freshman at Etown and LOVES it. It's been a completely positive experience for him, academically, socially, and athletically. So chalk up one more happy Etowner on the tally.</p>

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<p>Our guide was a soph male. He told us that the girls dorms have the drying racks out. He took us in his dorm which is coed and we saw one. It seems to be part of the culture there.</p>

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<p>I'd like to see Etown listed in the college forum and college visits list. If you think it should be, I encourage you to email the administrators at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/member.php?u=19053%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/member.php?u=19053&lt;/a> college forum
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/member.php?u=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/member.php?u=1&lt;/a> college visits</p>

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<p>Esquette-</p>

<p>The young man you know-has he any reaction to the imbalance of males/females?</p>

<p>As Marian said earlier on the thread, this is usually NOT a problem for a guy :)</p>

<p>However, I know of other schools (most of them former girls schools, however) that could be seen as a bit too girly or artsy for a very mainstream guy.</p>

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<p>My son is at a college with a 60:40 girl:guy ratio and has not found it to be a problem. Works especially well with kinda shy guys like him. My daughters college is also 60:40 but I don't think she minds too much either. She has as many guy friends as girl friends.</p>

<p>I think most colleges without a football team or an engineering major are mostly female.</p>