Hello, my son’s top two schools are Elon and Goucher. Our primary criteria when searching for schools was engaging professors, small discussion based classes, manageable workload, and warm community of students. My son is super smart, but lacks motivation to apply himself. He gets As and Bs without studying and has put, in my estimation, about 5% of his effort into school so far. I’m hoping college will inspire a bit more academic interest. He’s interested in computer science and political science. My concerns about Goucher are that it is too small for him to find a niche of people like him (introverted, video gamer, quirky, funny) and that it’s too small to have an array of offerings (clubs, campus events) to get him off of his computer. My concerns about Elon are that it’s going to be mostly mainstream “high school cool” people and too big that he could get lost in the shuffle and retreat to his room too much. Thoughts on my specific concerns or anything else you know about either school would be appreciated. thanks!!!
Hi–I don’t know a whole bunch about either school, but I want to alert you to the issue of Goucher’s lack of a math major. They decided to get rid of several majors a few years back and math was on that list. Maybe they added it back? CS is mathy–I’m not sure if lacking an actual math major is important or not. I’m raising this so that you can look at this issue yourself to make a decision.
Elon feels smaller than it is, b/c it is a particularly friendly place- it is not easy to get lost in the shuffle! The students that I know who have gone there are solid, really nice - more wholesome than ‘cool’ kids. The two I know best are bright enough, but weren’t super motivated in HS. They found their feet at Elon and thrived.
I know little about Goucher, but a college w/o a Math dept seems problematic for a CS student.
There are still plenty of Math classes at Goucher, just no dedicated Math major.
That’s partially because kids who wanted to do research and advanced pure Math majors, weren’t targeting Goucher as a destination.
Instead they’ve created the interdisciplinary - Center for Data, Mathematical & Computational Sciences, which provides strong supports to students with those specific interests and career goals within context of an LAC.
I would recommend that your son check out the departmental pages at BOTH schools and see what their respective graduation requirements are.
Are these classes that he’s interested in? Will they support his future goals?
The other thing to look at at both schools are the internship ‘learn by doing’ opportunities available, as well as the outcomes for his major.
Good luck.
thanks for everyone’s helpful comments!
My son is another who was smart and didn’t fully apply himself in HS, although that did change as he progressed through. So I too wanted a smaller school where he would be pushed and challenged and not coast. So far so good (at Elon). He is engaged and putting in effort at a comfortable level.
Would your son want to check out the student clubs and activities at each school online? I kind of feel like every college has a myriad of clubs, but maybe looking at the specific offerings would help. Elon’s are listed in “Phoenix Connect” which is available to anyone online. They do a lot during orientation and at the beginning of the year to really kid gets involved in a couple of activities. (I suspect that all schools do this though). He will be enrolled in Elon 101 class which would be around 12 students and one of the direct purposes of that class is to make sure that kids are introduced to activities and engage in some way.
Wish I knew more about Goucher, we took a brief look (online) in our search and I came away thinking that it would also be a good fit for a student who would benefit from more individualized attention.
Nice to know your son is doing well. I hope the independence spurs a bit more engagement in my son as well. Only time will tell! ugh!! I did check out Elon’s activities and they have martial arts as a club sport which I think my son would love. That is a huge “pro” for Elon. I’m pretty sure I’ve chosen Elon, but I’ll have to see what my son chooses. 