@TS0104 , it is such a coincidence that your description of your son could fit my son, except my son will be a 2020 Freshman. Many colleges are on both lists. In addition to considering Elon, my son is aosl interested in Loyola Chicago, Wake and Davidson (huge reaches for my son, too) and Richmond.
We’ve visited Elon twice, both unofficial visits. However, on one visit the Director of Internships introduced herself to us as we walked through her building, took time to talk to us in her office, and had one of her student assistants walk us around a bit before she went to class. The student was a Sophomore and was as friendly and enthusiastic as anyone could be. That sequence sold my son on Elon. Really, he loved the entire feel of the campus and the students we saw. He felt the town (village?) of Elon was the only drawback. However, there is plenty of shopping in Burlington which is only 10 minutes away, and Greensboro and Durham are about a half hour away. I think the location is a great compromise.
We’ll visit Richmond in the next couple of weeks. This is our Summer of College Visits, so we’re packing a lot in.
Thanks @msw2023 for starting this thread!
@EconPop Were your visits over the summer? We are visiting next week and I am hoping my D20 likes it as I think it could be a great fit for her. If so, were there many people on campus? I’m just hoping she gets some sort of vibe from the tour. She is afraid of a southern school being too conservative and too “southern” (in her words). And I am trying to tell her that Elon is not like that. About 5-6 kids each year from our small town in the Northeast have gone there in the last few years and they all seem to love it.
Anyone know about the housing situation? Are you only guaranteed housing for 2 years? That could be a turnoff for my D as she thinks she wants a residential college. How far off is the off-campus housing? Thanks!
It is not southern at all, the majority of kids are from the Boston to DC corridor. Live on campus 2 years, then most move to cheaper off campus apartments which are either a walk to campus or on the student bus line. Pre-professional vibe. Top 3 cities for employment after are DC, NY and Atlanta
@mamom , we went both times during the spring. Ironically enough, my son and I had planned to go visit another college today, but we got a late start and don’t have time for the drive – so he asked could we go to Elon today, because it’s less than an hour for us. I’ll let you know how many students are there today.
I’m not an expert on Elon, but there are off campus apartments right beside campus. And there are houses that I assumed were rented at least in part by students right near campus. I’ll ask people on campus whether housing is guaranteed for 4 years or less.
@mamom , we were a little later than I wanted to be. Didn’t really matter. The Admissions office closes at 2 on Saturday, the campus was virtually deserted, and every building was locked. An unscheduled summer Saturday visit did not prove to be the best idea.
But we had fun anyway. Even deserted, the campus was beautiful. We walked around in the 90+ degree weather. My son again stated that Elon was high on his list, and we took time to walk the shops around campus, and drive around Elon a bit.
We’ll call and make an appointment to tour next week. It’s about time we “showed interest” formally.
@EconPop , glad to hear you are going to make an official visit. We found all of Elon’s speakers, programs, info sessions, etc. etc. to be extremely impressive, well thought out, strategized, and they seem to have a real vision (engaged learning) and put the work in to support that throughout.
After our first visit, the town of Elon was a concern for us, too. We did our usual “arrive at campus, drive around, find somewhere for lunch, then go to tour appt” and well let’s just say we barely found somewhere to eat! And the town seemed super, super tiny. This was still a concern later in the process when Elon was in the top few, but when we were able to talk to people who had been there or who knew students there, this never came up as a problem…they all LOVE LOVE LOVED it, we have never heard anything but a rave review from anyone in person.
Our second visit was admitted students weekend, and even though it was pouring, we realized that we undersold the town the first time around…there was a whole section that somehow we missed, including cute restaurants, cafes, the bookshop…the parts closest to campus instead of the center of the little town itself. This helped us feel a little better but really after going through the admitted students programs, the deal was sold to my son (and me!) and concerns about Elon town didn’t seem to matter any more. And yes, Burlington is super close and of course Raleigh, but it seems as if Elon U does a good job of keeping plenty to do on campus and keeping the students happy. Have a nice visit to Richmond, it is beautiful and different, but very impressive as well! And we never got that warmth factor from Loyola Chicago that we felt at Elon (and no I’m not talking about the weather), but LUC was his second choice…very different, but lots to offer! And I personally love Jesuit schools, my older D goes to one. @Empireapple , I do not believe that interviews are a part of the admission process. My son didn’t do one, and we visited twice and believe me I looked into that stuff pre-visit! @MAmom111 , it does seem as if Elon is getting more and more NE kids and is up and coming to students from that area. I personally think that NC in general isn’t quite as “southern” as other states, and also, I didn’t read about that southern university culture (usually paired with Greek) for Elon that I did about other schools (Wake, Furman, for example).
@TS0104
We made our official visit/tour several weeks ago. We ended up taking a neighbor who will also be a 2020 HS graduate, who wanted to experience the tour. It was very well done. A brief introductory introduction and video, and everyone was handed off to student guides.
Our guide was very engaging and enthusiastic, very knowledgeable about Elon, and took us through the entire campus. We were paired with a family from the NE who were very nice.
Elon invited us back for another official visit and to attend the football game this weekend. We’re attending the admissions visit, but may not stay for the game.
We’re making a belated official visit to Wake Forest in a couple of weeks. That’s more of a reach for him, but he’d like to check it out.