<p>Hey! I'm a high school senior and am 97% sure that I am going to apply early decision to Elon University! Any other seniors or parents of seniors who are doing/considering early deision to Elon? And if so, why Elon?</p>
<p>I am! At first glace Elon had everything I wanted: great academics, sports, and an undeniably beautiful campus. When I learned about the emphasis on service learning and the Kernodle Center I was absolutely sold. Elon was the only school that truly emphasized community engagement and I love that about the school!</p>
<p>hi xbuddyx3! I agree, a big reason for why I love elon so much is the amount of student activites and student involvment on campus. The students themselves are another reason. They all seem really friendly and fun, but do volunteer work and have great academics as well.
the only thing I am not complety happy with is Elon greek’s system. I’m planning to go greek, but I’ve heard that it can get pretty cliquey and high-schoooly (if you get what I mean) at times. Input?</p>
<p>If I attend Elon I will defiantly be going greek as well :), but I completely understand what you’re saying about greek getting cliquey. I know a few girls from my school who have gone greek at Elon and I haven’t heard many complaints…they all love it but of course have had some drama (I guess that’s what comes with joining a house full of girls!)</p>
<p>I’m a parent, not a student, and no arguments here about Elon being a great school. But I am curious: Why early decision? Are you 97% sure you will be admitted ED, and 97% (or better) sure you can afford Elon if you have little or no financial aid? You may have these things well covered, but ED severely limits your options.</p>
<p>“… and 97% (or better) sure you can afford Elon if you have little or no financial aid?”</p>
<p>Elon uses the Common Application; the ED FA agreement says:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>
<p>If it happens, you say thanks but no thanks, and apply RD elsewhere.</p>
<p>^ vossron </p>
<p>Yes-But you may not know the final FA numbers till RD is just about over, and as I remember (from 2 years ago) you are required to withdraw your applications at other schools once you have accepter ED at any school. Thats why people are advised never to apply ED if you REQUIRE a certain amount of FA to attend. EA at Elon is non-binding, and if you need FA it’s a much safer choice. (but it does have a lower acceptance rate).</p>
<p>PS: I agree Elon is a great school… And there are lots of options for finding the right greek for you… If your into that…</p>
<p>“Thats why people are advised never to apply ED if you REQUIRE a certain amount of FA to attend.”</p>
<p>I’ve never heard that; every FA applicant requires a certain minimum amount. This seems like part of the myth that scares away ED FA applicants. Final FA numbers don’t seem to pose a problem; who has reports that it actually has somewhere? Our LAC has *never<a href=“in%20the%20current%20staff’s%20memory”>/i</a> had a case of attendance prevented because of of a change; can anyone confirm such a case?</p>
<p>Elon has both EA (non-binding) and ED (binding, except for insufficient FA).</p>
<p>Vossron - Elon does NOT use the Common App.</p>
<p>Elon states that Early Decision is BINDING, and makes no reference to Financial Aid. Here’s what the ED section on the application says:
</p>
<p>It does NOT say that it is only binding if you receive sufficient Financial Aid. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/admissions/webapp2011.pdf[/url]”>http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/admissions/webapp2011.pdf</a></p>
<p>Elon does not have a large FA budget and does not promise to meet 100% of need of accepted students. If you think you may need FA, then ED at Elon is probably not for you.</p>
<p>Elon is attempting to grow their FA budget, but their endowment is VERY small compared to other schools their size. Elon’s attempt to maintain affordability comes through in its sticker price - $35k, compared to $50k at many comparable universities. Bottom line - students won’t need nearly as much FA at Elon as they will at more expensive colleges. But if you know that $20k is all you can afford, don’t assume that if you apply ED and are accepted that Elon will be able to come up with $15k for you. </p>
<p>Elon does offer to do an “early read” for ED students - that early read is NOT binding but does give you an idea if you would qualify and for how much. Again, Elon does NOT guarantee to meet everyone’s need, so even if your EFC says you need a certain amount of FA, that’s no guarantee that Elon can provide that to you.</p>
<p>Our daughter was ED at Elon - but we knew we could pay the full price if we needed to. She is now a freshman there and loves the school. The ED acceptance rate is much higher than the EA or RD rate, so IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT and are sure it’s your #1, then ED is great.</p>
<p>“Elon does NOT use the Common App.”</p>
<p>[Elon</a> University Academic Catalog](<a href=“http://www.elon.edu/academics/catalog/chap7.asp]Elon”>http://www.elon.edu/academics/catalog/chap7.asp) says (I looked before I posted!):
“It does NOT say that it is only binding if you receive sufficient Financial Aid.”</p>
<p>Do you know what happens if sufficient FA is not received by an ED applicant? Is attendance somehow compelled, or is the applicant released from the ED agreement?</p>
<p>Vossron, I went to the Common App and searched for member colleges, Elon does not come up. </p>
<p>Elon’s Admissions pages have no link to the Common App. I believe the page you referenced in the Academic Catalog is out of date, in the bottom right hand corner it says, “Last modified 9/10/01.” It also lists expenses for the 2001-2002 academic year. Perhaps someone ought to let Elon know that page needs to be updated or taken down!</p>
<p>I don’t know what would happen if an ED applicant did not receive sufficient FinAid. I’m sure Elon would do their best to avoid that situation. But if I needed FinAid and I wanted to apply ED, I’d call Elon’s Admissions office and get the answer to that question before applying.</p>
<p>^ Fair enough; I just did what came naturally, searching for “common application” using Elon’s own search function, bingo. :(</p>
<p>I emailed their webmaster - a school that “runs like butter” needs to keep their links updated - or remove outdates ones. 
</p>
<p>is Elon’s ED applicant pool more competitive than the others (EA/RD)?</p>
<p>^^most competitive pool is EA according to Elon admissions…</p>
<p>Read the Elon Admissions Dean blog from last year regarding Early Decision</p>
<p>"You should not apply ED if your decision to attend Elon is contingent on something else. For example, students seeking admission to a BFA program requiring an audition or portfilio review should not apply ED. If attending Elon is dependent on whether or not you make one of our athletics teams, you should not apply ED. Finally, if your financial aid package will determine your ability to attend Elon, then ED is not your best option.</p>
<p>The spirit of ED is that you will attend Elon if admitted. It is binding. You and your parents/guardians sign an agreement stating that if accepted, you will withdraw applications from other schools, pay your $500 non refundable deposit and enroll."</p>
<p>Read the full blog at
[From</a> the Dean’s Desk](<a href=“http://elonadmissionsdean.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/page/2/]From”>The VP's Perspective | Page 2)</p>
<p>There is also the Deans Blog regarding Early Action at [From</a> the Dean’s Desk](<a href=“http://elonadmissionsdean.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]From”>http://elonadmissionsdean.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/)</p>
<p>If the Links don’t work these blogs can be found by going to the Elon Admissions page. In the lower left hand corner of the page click on the blog “From the Deans Desk”
Read the blogs from the past year. They might contain useful insights to the admission process at Elon.</p>
<p>hey everyone,
I am confident that I will be able to afford Elon, even if I don’t get amazing financial aid. Worse comes to worse, I have heard stories of people applying ED somewhere and then having to pull out for money reasons. This seems to support what vossron was saying, but still do not know how much this is true.
As for applying ED, I love love love Elon. I really got that gut feeling when I was on the campus, I think their academics are perfect for me, the students seem great, I could go on forever. I put 97% and not 100% however, because of course there are a few small things about the school that are not perfect. But thats choosing a college right? Choosing a school with the most things you are looking for, and accepting any bad stuff. But trust me when I say I know that Elon seems like the right school for me.
I do have other really great schools on my list, but I am still applying to Elon ED because I REALLY like Elon, and as rodney said, I believe their EA pool is extremely competitive, and the ED pool has a much higher admission rate.</p>
<p>Good for you, mlp2011! My daughter felt the same way, and Elon has not let her down. No college is perfect - but she feels like Elon comes pretty close! She has found her professors to be very caring, interested in their students, and good teachers. Her classmates are engaged, interesting, friendly people who are always DOING things. The weather and campus are gorgeous. </p>
<p>Another link to what admissions is looking for, from Elon’s campus newspaper:
[The</a> Pendulum - Admissions gears up for Class of 2015 applications](<a href=“Informasi Seputar Pendidikan Dan Ilmu Pengetahuan”>Informasi Seputar Pendidikan Dan Ilmu Pengetahuan)</p>
<p>^ Vossron</p>
<p>"“Thats why people are advised never to apply ED if you REQUIRE a certain amount of FA to attend.”</p>
<p>I’ve never heard that; every FA applicant requires a certain minimum amount. This seems like part of the myth that scares away ED"</p>
<p>Not an Elon story, but every year here on this very board you will see a certain amount of panicked applicants who applied ED and thought they would get enough FA, only to realize that they could not afford the only school they had an acceptance to (because under ED they withdrew all the other applications)… And what we see here is, I’m sure, a very small percentage of the applicants who end up hurting themselves by applying ED instead of EA and comparing FA offers. Just do a search…</p>
<p>To be fair I think Elon does a good job of providing what limited FA they can on top of a very reasonable tuition. (They view their low tuition as across the board FA for all applicants).</p>
<p>“because under ED they withdrew all the other applications”</p>
<p>They’re required to withdraw other apps after they decide that the ED FA offered is enough.</p>