<p>Heres my story. I am currently a sophomore at Elon University double majoring in Psychology and Economics. I've wanted to transfer out of Elon since my first year and applied to FSU with plans to go there. I hated how the Elon was so greek oriented, conservative, slow and frankly, academically unchallenging (I have a 3.9!). However by the time I got accepted to FSU, FSU was out of on-campus housing and off-campus housing was unrealistically far away from campus and both my family and I had bad feelings about it. </p>
<p>So I went back to Elon the next year and in this time I have made strong friendships with a group of people and am on track to completing a double major. However, the same things about the school **** me off as before. So I applied and was accepted to UNC-CH (out of state) and now I don't know what to do:</p>
<p>On one hand I could stick with Elon and be "safe" and double major, have close friends and breeze through relatively unscathed through the next two years. Its the "easy" route. On the other hand I could go to UNC which is prestigious, challenging and has a strong sense of pride attached to it. However, I won't be able to double major there (because of credit transfer) and I will have to start over in terms of friends in a very large school environment.</p>
<p>Well I have to satisfy their Gen. Ed. requirements for graduation which are notably different than the ones an Elon so I’ll lose, say, a semester trying to fit those in(assuming I don’t have re-satisfy the foreign language credit at UNC). So i’ll have 3 semesters to complete a major and a minor. Which doesn’t leave much wiggle room.</p>
<p>If you meant price then it boils down to about the same.</p>
<p>finally someone on CC that has a negative impression of Elon; my daughter is entering in the fall and I was convinced that everyone had drank the “kool-aid”…she is absolutely 100% sure about it but I am so curious as you your impressions:</p>
<p>1) “so-greek oriented”- are you a guy or a girl? because just to let you know UNC is known to be as bad if not worse re: greek life etc…does greek life not allow you to socialize at Elon? is it inclusive of all?</p>
<p>2) conservative: how? politically or socially? again, UNC is only 40 minutes away…others would have to chime in on this, but given that UNC is 82% in-state, I would imagine it is very conservative socially as well…no idea politically.</p>
<p>3) academics: I’m sure UNC academics are more difficult; but there are HUGE class sizes there and have a completely different approach to teaching…it’s like comparing apples to oranges</p>
<p>4) You didn’t mention this, but it sounds like “prestige” in your post is making your decision difficult…</p>
<p>You don’t mention what you want to do after graduation; if grad school is in your future, that GPA is quite sweet…not sure you wanna play with that…</p>
<p>Rodney, I have a son at UNC and your points are pretty misleading. 1. Those that are not involved with greek life (over half) have a very active social life. 2. UNC is quite socially liberal and mostly politically liberal. Chapel Hill in general is liberal and the students at UNC tend to not be representative of the conservative state of NC. 3. Some classes are large, and a few huge. The larger classes have a “recitation” in which you meet in smaller groups. My son has had 1 huge class in his 4 semesters there. This may change due to budget cuts.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Elon, but many students from the general public NC college system transfer to UNC as the courses are much more challenging.</p>
<p>Rodney, here are answers to your questions:</p>
<p>I’m a guy. At Elon a HUGE portion of the student body is greek. And most brothers stick together no matter what so there are strong, designated niches. On top of that, frats have sister sororities so their circles are strongly greek. So a typical weekend night means walking around trying to find a frat house with party, asking to get in, and then begging a brother for a cup so I can drink. NOT WORTH IT! That means I have to go out of my way to find a social life outside of the greek system. I wouldn’t mind doing that if there were night clubs and other night life scenes to take advantage of, but there are only two whole in the wall joints in the sleepy elon town. Make non-greek social life more of a challenge than an experience.</p>
<p>As far as conservative I just mean socially. Everyone dresses and looks the same, no wants to stand out too much. Also, I’ve come across alot of confederate flags out there, but i knew what i signed up for when I chose to go school down south. (I’m black if that matters at all.)</p>
<p>My twin brother transferred from Elon to UNC a year ago and he said the class sizes didn’t bother him too much. His decision was a bit easier because he hadn’t settled into Elon before he moved. He did say they are more challenging simply because there is greater demand for performance on exams and the exams count for WAY more.</p>
<p>And yeah your right, the prestige has got me stuck. Is that petty? I kinda wanna tell people/employers/family/my kids that i went to a school like UNC, not get that “what the heck is that?” look when i tell them I went to Elon. Would a great GPA from Elon look better to grad schools than a decent one from UNC?</p>
<p>dragonblue: I hear ya…it sounds like you have a tough decision to make…the students I know at Elon so far do not seem to have a huge problem with the Greek system (even if they are not involved) but I see your point if that is what YOU are experiencing…</p>
<p>UNC is a great school and based on your Elon GPA, you would probably do very well there…</p>
<p>as far as the confederate flags, isn’t Elon 76% OOS (with a large majority from NJ, MD and Mass?)…we visited the area 3 times over the last two years and never saw a confederate flag on campus (or in Elon or Burlington for that matter)…</p>
<p>one other question: Elon is supposedly 30% (fraternity)Greek/40% sorority…is that a low number? is the number really higher?</p>
<p>That number is way higher! They even built new greek houses to accommodate the growing greek population. Yeah the confederate flag is a non factor, I have seen a few but the point is the exclusivity and cliquish nature of it all.</p>
<p>Elon is a small environment. This entails you will stand out more and subsequently have more of a chance of connecting on an individual basis to your professors. Elon is also known for its internships and study abroad programs, and with a double major there you will have more of a chance of finding something related to those fields of study. The smaller campus and population also leaves a greater availability for on-campus employment if you choose to pursue that avenue.</p>
<p>Can you say the same of UNC? UNC is undoubtedly prestigious and as you mentioned, your twin brother goes there. However… your twin brother will always be a part of life. Will you be able to maintain those same strong links with those you leave behind at Elon if you spend your last two college years at UNC?</p>
<p>Ultimately UNC provides a large atmosphere with a greater sense of prestige, but with the downside of reducing your possibilities of standing out and connecting to professors on a personal level. There is the risk there of becoming just another face in the crowd.</p>
<p>VerySmart, you seem to be very pro Elon. Which is totally fine because you’ve highlighted some key perspectives to consider and I thank you for that. I especially appreciate your solid, concrete answer. </p>
<p>You must consider the real reason that I’m split between the two. Elon is…Elon. It’s identity is somewhat questionable and the prestige weighs heavily on my decision. Is Elon prestigious? Maybe, but the point is…its ambiguous, we don’t really know.</p>
<p>UNC has offered me admission to their school and it seems like I may regret closing a door thats been opened for me. I’m simply playing devil’s advocate to see which decision stands up strongest to criticism.</p>
<p>Any others want to weigh in on the dilemma?</p>
<p>How important is the double major? Do you know what you want to do after you graduate? I cannot think of a job or a grad school program where your double major would provide a significant advantage over a major + minor combination.</p>
<p>From what you’ve said, if it were my kid, I’d say to transfer to Chapel Hill. You’ve had 2 years and if it doesn’t seem to be a good fit, I don’t see a lot of advantage of “sticking it out”. A question I’ve always used over the years is…will I always wonder “what if”? If I can make a decision and be comfortable that it’s the right one, it’s a good thing. If there’s a doubt, I usually jump right on in. Having your brother there will help initially introduce you to people, which could be challenging for a transfer student. However, you’re your own person, and I’m sure that you’ll find the people you feel comfortable with. I’m in the “go for it” category!</p>
<p>DragonBlue - interesting choice. I think your twin brother holds the key. Have you spent time with him at UNC? Met some of his friends? Seen how his social life at UNC differs from yours at Elon? I’m not saying you have to copy whatever he does - but you have an unusual advantage in making this decision in that your twin has already gone through the same decison and chosen UNC.</p>
<p>From what you have described, you are very unhappy with the social opportunities at Elon and feel that UNC is more prestigious. As far as the double major issue - many students take summer classes to achieve this goal - perhaps that is an option for you as well. </p>
<p>My vote is to transfer. You seem too unhappy at Elon to stay. There are other times later in life when you have the responsibilities of a family that you have to “play it safe” - this is not one of those times.</p>
<p>Fit is very important in selecting a college. It sounds like you think you will fit better at UNC than at Elon. </p>
<p>The key negative for the transfer that you mention is not being able to double major. I don’t see that a huge negative, especially since you will be moving to a more prestigious school.</p>
<p>UNC and Chapel Hill have a long history of being very liberal. It was the first predominately white city to elect a black mayor (1960s) and the city and county overwhelmingly voted for Obama in the 2008 elections (over 75%).</p>
<p>As far as Greek life goes, only 15% of the campus is Greek. Rodney is wrong. Greek life does not dominate the social landscape of UNC. </p>
<p>(btw, I’ve only had two classes with more than 30 people)</p>
<p>Id say go to UNC. Beyond prestige its also one of the most welcoming and friendly schools in the country. I’ve never experienced any close mindedness there, and the frat scene is a very minor part of campus life. UNC frats tend to separate themselves socially as well so if you aren’t part of the scene you barely notice them. Also, Elon is close by and you can always visit your friends there. I’d take the risk and transfer.</p>
<p>There are great reasons to stay at Elon and it takes courage to transfer, but I would say go for it. Sounds like you want the big college sports experience too. Don’t live your life in fear of taking a chance. Continue to make lists of the pros & cons. </p>
<p>You already know that you will be losing something in the academic arena of Elon’s personal attention, high GPA (& maybe finding a job out of school) so when the time comes you will have to work very hard in that department - even with a prestigeous diploma. But it’s hard no matter where you are graduating. It’s a big plus that you have a twin already at UNC. Someone to take you into the social scene. Go Tar Heels!</p>