It’s a solid top 3 for my daughter too. I’ve been super impressed with their communications and responsiveness. The AO even emailed her to ask how her AP tests went.
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Freshman move in is today so there are probably photos on their social media or will be soon. Might be fun to check out!
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Same for D23. And we’re hoping that S25 likes it too. I thought Elon was lovely.
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My D23 moved in on Friday. Unbelievably smooth move in process, with fun and informative activities throughout the weekend. We are beyond impressed, and my D is loving her first few days! I’m sure there will be ups and downs, but she is my first child, and it feels great leaving her in such a warm, supportive environment. She is a good student and was admitted to higher ranked schools, but this is a great match for her in so many ways.
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We had a chance to visit and tour NC schools this weekend coming from NY. This was such a study in how important it is to go see for yourself. Elon was such a great surprise. My senior looked at Chapel Hill, Duke, Wake and Elon. Reading through descriptions and opinions on here, I realize how outdated and biased some opinions can be. Elon’s campus was objectively lovely. The original campus was decimated in a fire decades ago so much of it was rebuilt. The facilities were impressive, well maintained and impressive. The engineering building (brand new) and Communications buildings were world class for undergrads. We visited UNC-CH earlier and the campus just seemed so depressed and run down, low energy even though there was a game going on. Duke was phenomenal and had an exciting energy. Wake Forest was also lovely with many signs indicating a campus culture of caring about students and their well being. My daughter was impressed with their performing arts center and that Wake Forest undergrad theater students were already staging their first production of the season this weekend. Going into this visit, I would not have thought that Elon would emerge as a favorite for all of us. The promise of getting exactly the experience and educational opportunities she would need to pursue her interests was very compelling.
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I fully agree that visiting can make a big impact. I have been to all of the colleges you mentioned and have a very different impression. We can see the same thing and feel very differently about it and some of our kids will see it differently than we do ))
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UNC-CH also seemed run down to us, especially after Duke.
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Mine didn’t love chapel hill’s campus either. Seemed pieced together and not cohesive. Great school, but didn’t feel right. Loved Elon, Wake and William and Mary.
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Duke’s campus is very nice. We were a bit turned off by the presentation from the admissions office though. The admissions officer was a Duke Alum that was an athlete and he bragged about the collaborative nature mentioning there was no way he would have made it through if he was not carried by his classmates…also the presentation was too basketball focused for DS who is big into sports.
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Reminder that this thread is specifically about Elon.
This thread is about why Elon is suddenly popular, and comparisons to top colleges in NC within a short drive seem relevant. They’re not random schools, but ones that you might tour within the same trip.
I can add to my chapel hill comment that Elon is lovely. Definitely less tired than the state flagship. Elon has architectural guidelines to ensure a consistent look and feel to its buildings and it shows, for what it’s worth.
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My comment wasn’t directed at you specifically but there are a few posts now with no mention of Elon.
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Let’s mentally bookmark this thread the next time someone starts up with “Why is college so expensive, can’t someone create a barebones facility with solid educational offerings?”
Yes, the state flagships are going to look “tired” in comparison with private U’s who compete for every student and every dollar. Many colleges DO look like country clubs. But the public U’s were created to educate the citizens of their state, and in some parts of the country (not all, some flagships are NICER than country clubs) that means the money goes to faculty, maintenance of an aging physical plant, and maintaining labs and libraries-- NOT to landscaping and the other bells and whistles.
Here’s our answer.
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Also, Elon (& Duke, Wake) has a significantly smaller student body than UNC, so it’s hard to compare campuses, as far as cohesiveness. They’ve got to have the infrastructure to accommodate 21,000+ students.
I understand the mission of public universities. It was just surprising to me, because it was early in our college tours, before we really knew much, and of course we’d heard so many good things about it. And as I said, we’d just come from Duke.
If you read through the posts here about Elon, it’s not the nice campus and fancy dorms that made it popular. They’re nice to have but the class size, caring professors, and educational opportunities are what sold us.
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Exactly. My D was admitted to excellent state universities but Elon’s small class sizes, excellent professors and fellows opportunities and scholarships won her over. She is in the Business school and I am very impressed with how they are taught to market themselves. She has an internship for 2025 lined up and is close to getting one for 2024. And that new engineering building is beautiful, so they are growing their programs in smart ways.
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I’m not suggesting that fancy ANYTHING is what makes Elon popular. I’m pointing out that many of us live in states where the flagship looks “tired”-- because after years of funding cuts from the state’s budget, there’s only so high you can take tuition at a public institution (and many families cannot afford their state flagship- even with Pell and the Federal loans- which is such a sad state of affairs). But something’s got to give in public education- and if that means architectural guidelines, a consistent look and feel to the buildings, etc-- then so be it.
It is just hard to compare apples to kiwi fruit…
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Ranking number 1 in undergrad teaching likely helps too.
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I think you mean subjectively. That is your personal opinion. Objectively means it is a fact that can’t be argued or denied, which is absolutely not the case here. You liked Elon’s campus. To me it’s fine, but nothing to write home about. I live in NC and there are a ton of red brick buildings around here, so Elon’s is just a fine/ok/boring campus to me. By contrast, I think UNC Chapel Hill is one of the most beautiful campuses in the state and I’d go as far as the country (of course I have not seen all the campuses in the country). I really do not like Duke’s faux olde campus. But that’s my subjective opinion, and your subjective opinion is that Elon’s campus is lovely and is a bonus point for the school for you and yours.
To me the most impressive thing about Elon is the way they help their students with job and internship placement. Campus would actually be a slight negative for me. Too samey, too much red brick. But how they nurture their students and help the on their journeys is impressive to me.
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That, and UNC was founded in 1789 as the nation’s first public university. So, yeah, some diversity in architecture was sure to be a part of the picture. I, too, tire of too much sameness on a college campus. There have been exceptions in my travels, but I can normally appreciate a campus with several examples of classic campus architecture.
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