Starting a new thread - wondering who is strongly considering Elon for Fall 2023 and why/why not? Trying to get a pulse on the class, the school and fit. My D will be a freshman with a focus on Biochemistry and Neuroscience minor. She wants a strong academic focus but also wants to rush, play club soccer, day trips and study abroad. She also sings and will participate in an acapella group. She loves theatre and will friend that group as well and will likely attend a lot of shows…she’s a big theatre fan. We are from the Northeast.
Please share and why you’re thinking Elon is the best fit (or not.)
Looking for the same type of info. D19 was accepted and it is on her short list with Miami Ohio, Delaware and Towson.
Trying to put together pro/con lists for each school.
My D was also accepted to UDel, Providence College, Marist, Fairfield U, and Furman all with very attractive merit scholarships; waitlisted at Wake, her 1st choice. It would be nice to hear pros/cons…I have some, but I want to hear from others…
Thanks for this thread.
@msw2023 it sounds as if Elon would be a perfect fit for your daughter! She has lots of interests and is looking to get involved and Elon has those opportunities for her. My daughter is a freshman this year and has had an amazing year. She is very academically focused but also gets involved in volunteer opportunities, television production, works on campus, and she is pledging a sorority. She has had an incredible experience in and out of the classroom. She has already declared a double major and has a four year plan mapped to accomplish it all. She also has been offered a surprise research opportunity outside of her majors which she is considering. She is a mover and shaker (as your daughter sounds like) and Elon is a great fit for that. My daughter also did theatre and singing in HS and I wish she continued in college but her plate is full with what she wanted to put on it and that is the way it should be.
Hi! I am wondering if Elon is a fit for my DS. I wouldn’t call him a mover and shaker! I would call him a slightly intellectual, easy to get along with guy who prefers a small number of activities and small groups of friends, likes to have a social life (movies, outings) but also likes his time home alone and isn’t into partying at all. We really liked Elon when we visited, location, academics, smaller size, the coffee with professors, but am not sure if it is the right fit socially or perhaps even academically. He’s an A/B student. Thoughts, anyone?
Very interested in this thread.
Elon is now my son’s top 2 or 3. However, we did not like it when we toured last year. Going back this week for another look. One of my concerns is what the students do on the weekend since the town is small.
They made a point to emphasize free movies when I was there last month.
@TS0104 In describing your son, you described mine better than I ever could, and we are looking at Elon too! Would you share any other schools he liked? My son seemed to like everyplace we went — Clemson, Wake (a huge reach), Elon, and Furman, though Furman a bit less, because the area around campus is not great and it is a hike to get to Greenville.
I am in the same boat TS0104 and 1stTimeThruMom. I would like my S to go away for school as I believe it is part of the learning experience. We have an option to go closer to home but think it is not the best overall decision. Elon has been portrayed as a party school but if you read enough comments, almost every school is being cast as a party school with access to drinking and in many cases drugs. My S is on the shy side, does not really like to party and would prefer to go to movies, study, take on projects, etc.
Touring schools does not give you all the information you need to make a decision. Many of the schools tell you the offer all of the things the student needs to be successful and now even the bigger schools are boasting small class sizes.
One of my concerns at this point is dorm life, especially if Elon is more of a party school. Example: Will he get coupled with a party student and have a tough time. I think they go through a matching process but not sure how well that works.
The joy of being a parent with little time to influence a final decision that impacts your kids’ life 
FWIW, one way to minimize a roommate mismatch is to sign up for a LLC, a living learning community. They all have a different focus, but are composed of kids with similar interests. My kid was in the community service one, and it was the best decision ever. Great kids, great activities, lots to do. Really bonded with all of them
The career-oriented groups are another source of more serious students with lots of fun social activities too. The business fraternity is coed and very helpful and fun.
Thanks @roycroftmom that’s helpful!
We are visiting Elon next weekend and working on getting answers to what I posted. I will post back our results!
I will say that, from everyone we have heard and read and talked to, it seems quite true that the students are having plenty to do despite the tiny town, and even though there is a robust party culture, non partiers are finding their people, have social lives and activities, and are happy.
@1stTimeThruMom , Furman, Elon and Wake were our only Southern schools. He ended up not applying to Wake, as it was a reach for him too, and he had enough reaches, and isn’t interested in Greek life nor is a work hard/party hard kid. We looked into Davidson, which seems a better fit but it still a reach academically.
He likes Loyola of Chicago, which in many ways is quite different from Elon (cold, urban, bigger), but I can see how it fits my son too. He liked University of Richmond (another academic reach, and he was waitlisted). I think he would have liked Rhodes a lot, but we never made it to visit. Hope that helps.
WOW from reading all of these posts it seems like just about all of our kids are in the same boat. So I would love to get geographical info on where all of you are located and also what major your kids are thinking of? I think I have spoken to some of you on other sites but for all involved I will give my feedback on what I have found on some of the schools my daughter and my son( last year) looked at and what they thought. Please bear with me as this may be lengthy but I hope it helps some of you on not only Elon but other schools too.
We are from outside of Boston MA and my daughter is interested in Health Sciences/PreProfessional Health program.
- Elon: Beautiful campus and my daughter had visited now 3 times. once with my son( got deffered to second semester and chose to go to Roger Williams instead). Acedemically it is pretty well known in the northeast which is a good thing since all you ever hear about in New England are all the bigger names most of the time in New England itself. Very good Sciences programs and also Business programs. My daughter was chosen to be part of the Fellows program so that was a big plus for her. The kids here from what I have been told have a Northern feel but all the benefits of being in the south. They work hard but also play just as hard. Nice thing is if you think you are going to party all the time and skate by I am told you will not last long. I hear Greek life is a big part of campus life BUT the sororities and Fraternities are not "douchy" if that make any sense... Definatley more girls than guys so advantage is to the boys there. The accepted students weekend is the SAME weekend as another big social event for the school itself. In fact, I have some friends of mine who are going down for their upper classman. I hope to have my daughter get a really good experience of what the school will be like since she will have activities for accepted students day but also will get to out for a few hours at night with these kids and be introduced to some sorority/fraternty party life as well as normal dorm time with some current freshmen these kids are friends with. By no means to I condone a party life, BUT lets be realistic people, they are going to be exposed to it and my daughter has a certain threshold for the craziness kind of like the 3 bears. So at least she will get an honest look and that is all I want. Yes the town of Greensboro and ELON are small but they are all about the University, and that is why it is such a campus based atmosphere.Very good study abroad program and from what I have seen with graduates in my area, good job opportunities and grad school opportunities coming out of there. Raleigh Durham is about a 40 min drive to Elon so your best bet if you are flying in.
- Furman: Beautiful campus and very good academics as well. Greensville is an awesome town(if your an adult) Yes Greensville is beautiful and a great place to hang out but it is not built for College kids, it is built for adults. Nice streets shops and restaurants. The Campus felt waay too big for the amount of students that were there. We went to an accepted students day there on a Friday and the campus was dead. So classes were going on but I did not see much activity at all on campus. Again, the campus is spread out but not many students there so maybe that is why it felt empty. My daughter did an overnight there and did not feel in sync with the person she hung with. She also said that the only place people go to is a place called "the barn" but that only freshmen go there and that fades quickly. The parties that are run there are few and far between and are run by Frats and Sororities. The parties are highly regulated, end early, they need to be documented with sign in and sign out sheets that are checked by campus security. I heard a sorority lost their right to go to a semi formal because they did not file the proper paperwork in for a party on time or were missing paperwork... Again it is still a consideration for my daughter but is slipping away.
- Fairfield U. Not on my daughters list but someone here mentioned it so I wanted to give my kids experience. Very expensive but a good school. Jesuit run and there is that catholic vibe there(good thing or bad thing depending on how you look at it) They are putting a TON of money into the school, new dining hall, parking, business school and the nursing school just opened up there. It is in a nice town area and about 1:30 from NYC. I liked it a lot and so did my son. It was part of his top 3 at the end. The one thing that turned me off to it and to my son as well was the accepted students day. When we go to these we always try and talk to the parents and students, have you decided, where else are you looking etc... We try to sit with jocks, or students that may look shy, or that may be different in one way or another, it is a good way to get to know what you will be seeing there. Just about all of the kids, and parents were a bit standoffish and snobby. NY/NJ uptown snobby(sorry if your from NY/NJ if you are you know the people Im talking about and also know that this probably is NOT you. lol). Also, not much to do around there and all of the parties are thrown by upperclassmen. If you are not an upperclassmen you are not getting in, unless you are a pretty underclassmen girl. I know of several boys who said they could not get into parties until they were Juniors or part of a sports team. Its a vicious circle and again just what Ive heard and my opinion.
- Marist Not a school on my daughters list but was no my sons. I loved Marist, they have a GREAT affiliation with IBM and IBM updates their entire campus every 2 years with tech. Networking for communication, business and computer science in places like NYC, BOSTON, PHILI are very big. It sits on the a beautiful river and has a boat house that is very famous. The campus is the birthplace of the rigatta. I think it is a hidden gem academically. It separates the freshman and sophmores from the juniors and seniors via a good distance or walk but I think that is a good thing. Again I really liked it but both of my kids hated one part of it.. POUGHKEEPSIE. No other way to say it, it is a pit... there is really NO good part of this town except the campus. Healthy rivalry with Sienna.
- Providence College: Well I will say this. It is UBER CATHOLIC(again good or bad). The area around it is NOT GOOD. Do not step off the outskirts of campus at night. Especially off of the upper classman housing row. I know this area VERY WELL so trust me, I dont care what anyone tells you just dont do it. Providence itself has some really cool bars and places to go to for college students though and there are plenty of shuttles so if your student goes there always travel in pairs at least. Bryant, URI, Roger Williams, Salve Regina all close proximity so there are other schools to go to as well and Newport beach is AWESOME for college kids with bars, beaches and fun during the warmer months. The Campus itself is very nice, good sports(Hockey and Basketball are the biggest draws there) and the academics are well known. I will say that it is better known for their Liberal Arts and holistic educational approach and they make that very well known there. Sciences are extremely weak there and a Health Science program is pretty much non existent. They also are very heavily based on NEED BASED. So if your FASFA shows you can afford to go there, you WILL NOT get any MERIT aid or Financial Aid.
OK So back to Elon, very excited to see what is in store for this weekend. If anyone can add to the ELON experience and can start saying where they are from and what their son or daughter is potentially going to major in that would be great.
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FWIW, Elon publishes a list somewhere of where students are from. Something like 40% are tri-state, and maybe another 15% each from Massachusetts and the DC area. Business and Communications, together, make up half the majors.
Elon is a 50 minute drive from RDU airport. Less than an hours from UNC, Duke, Wake Forest and UNCG.
It is a great school and a beautiful campus.
@OFF2COLLEGE2 , that is interesting to note that there will be a big social event next weekend for existing students. When you say your D will go out at night with these kids…how do you know? Is that part of the organized weekend (I didn’t see it on the emailed agenda)? Or are you assuming that your D will be invited to something, by someone? Please elaborate if you can, or PM, cause I think this would be great for my son but not sure how it’s going to happen as he doesn’t have any connections on his own (doesn’t know any current or prospective students). Thanks!
@OFF2COLLEGE2 I find the exact opposite at Fairfield. I’m in the parents group with over 400 parents and everyone is very nice. My son has made wonderful friends and their families are also great. The town of Fairfield is beautiful with plenty of stores, restaurants and movies to keep you busy. School organizes so many activities no need to try to sneak into parties. My son Is a freshman and him and his friends always have something to do. Now that the weather is nice there’s nothing like spending a day at the beach playing football or frisbee or just relaxing. It’s an amazing school and sure it must have it’s snobs and super elitists but no more than any other school. I have not come across anyone I haven’t liked there.
@jcd716 I am sure I may have hit an odd day. Like I said, I like what Fairfield has done and they are putting a ton of money into the school. I also like the town and the beach that most go to there that is nice and calm due to long island sound blocking it from the wide open ocean. Just was not a fit for my son in the end compared to Roger Williams. I am very glad to hear your son is having a wonderful experience there. I also have two friends of mine whos daughter and son both go there and they love it as well. Again just my experience.
@TS0104 no what I was referring to was something totally different. So let me explain further. This weekend is ACCEPTED STUDENTS weekend as you know already. It also is the same weekend that there is a huge fundraiser going on that current students, fraternities and sororities take part in with their families. There are off campus events and on campus events that will be going on for that which is totally separate from the Accepted students day. Friends of mine are going down the same weekend from Thursday night to Sunday. One has a son who is a sophomore who is part of a fraternity and another has a daughter that is part of a sorority. Both have offered to have my daughter join them on a couple of these events at night so she can be introduced to a joint fraternity/sorority party meet freshmen, and upper classmen that are part of their daughters sorority and also meet some friends of theirs that are freshmen that are not in a sorority as well as a few friends of theirs that are part of the fellows program as well. I realize that this is not something everyone gets to do but we want to take advantage of letting her experience the real social scene, have a down to earth conversation with students in the fellows program as well as get a gauge and meet people in her potential incoming class and possibly make some connections with incoming students so she can stay in touch before orientation and maybe settle in on a roommate.
I will definately report back with the good the bad and hopefully not the ugly either way. Would love to hear back from all of you who are attending as well. Accepted students days can be wonderful but as you may already know, sometimes they can be sheltered as well to the real scene. I am excited to take a last look as well, and hope she has a clearer view either way.