<p>Alright...I know Elon has better academics, and is a better known school (for now), but i wanna know some differences about the students, the professors, the social life, the eating, etc. They are my two top schools, and im planning on majoring on communications. Just some thoughts about which one you think I'd have the best balance of fun, education, eating, and life long friendships. </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Have you visited? Maybe you should wait, see where you are accepted and then visitâŠsee for yourself.</p>
<p>That answer doesnât help me muchâŠ</p>
<p>My D is a freshman at ElonâŠI can answer specific questions about that school but have no idea about High PointâŠ</p>
<p>Sorry cant be of more helpâŠthere are others on CC who have visited both schools and who have siblings at one or the other</p>
<p>Knowing that Elon has better academics and reputation, especially in communications (you say for now, but thats the entire time you would be attending, when you will be looking for internships and afterwards when you are off looking for your first job or grad school admission) why or what else would you want to know? If admitted, pick Elon.</p>
<p>Elon has a really good communications program, but on the other hand High point is growing so quickly and makes a large effort to help every student do their best. I would still choose Elon due to its reputaion, but would go with Higpoint if you want to take a chance on the schools reputation becoming better. I applied to both too and Highpoint just didnt give me the college atmosphere that i was looking for with everything being so new. But another bonus about Higpoint is that i feel like their student body is more divers than Elons. Hope this helps a little!</p>
<p>Just some personal observations⊠my daughter & I visited High Point & Elon last summer. Prior to our trip, I talked to a friend whose daughter had graduated from Elon in 2009. She said when her daughter applied to Elon, it had just started to become semi-difficult to get into. Prior to that, it was the favorite safety school at her daughterâs private H.S. The popularity of Elon was achieved by an aggressive marketing campaign. We experienced the Elon marketing approach when our son was a senior (grad. h.s. 2009). We attended an Elon presentation in N. Va. & he applied. He was accepted E.A. at his 1st choice (a large state U.), so we never visited Elon with him & we had never even heard of HPU at that time. Today, HPU is rapidly outgrowing its reputation as a safety school or alternative to students not accepted to Elon by running their own aggressive marketing campaign. </p>
<p>Summer Road Trip 2011: I read the comparisons here on CC before our trip to N.C. so I was aware of the complaints about the âcreepyâ environment at HPU. I expected to find that HPU was âalmostâ as good as Elon across the board. We were surprised at how impressed we were at HPU. President Q. is obviously personally committed to the success of HPU & its students. I think he has donated a large amount of his own $ & has raised a huge amount of donor $. This demonstrates his personal commitment to HPU. Yes, this facilities at HPU are beautiful, but thatâs a silly reason to choose a school, but it is a nice bonus. As for quality of education, HPU has hired many professors w/degrees from top schools, but this does not guarantee a great education. I believe it is Dr. Qâs vision and personal desire to see HPU succeed that creates an atmosphere of excellence from the top down. </p>
<p>If you are planning to study Communications/Marketing/Business, I canât think of a better choice than HPU, given Dr. Q.'s hugely successful marketing campaign. The growth of applications for HPU is off the charts and the NY Times blog notes a drop in Elon applications. My guess is in 2 years, Elon & HPU will be equal in selectivity and reputation. BTW, we liked Elon, but were more impressed by HPU. We had a feeling that HPU was on a mission to improve in every way vs. at Elon, it felt a bit like they were coasting on previous success and reputation. My daughter was accepted EA at HPU, and we hope she will qualify for enough merit aid so that she can attend next fall. She decided not to apply to Elon, she just liked HPU better.</p>
<p>Everyone is entitled to their own opinion - but just to correct you on a factual misstatement - Early Decision applications at Elon were up 16% this year. They have not yet released Early Action numbers.</p>
<p>[The</a> Early Line on Early Applications for the Class of 2016 - NYTimes.com](<a href=âThe Early Line on Early Applications for the Class of 2016 - The New York Timesâ>The Early Line on Early Applications for the Class of 2016 - The New York Times)</p>
<p>I also would compare Elonâs freshman retention rate and graduation rates vs. HPU. Hereâs Elon:</p>
<p>4-year graduation rate: 77%
6-year graduation rate: 82%
Freshman retention rate: 90%</p>
<p>According to US News, the 4 year graduation rate at HPU is 45% - thatâs quite low - and the freshman retention rate is 79.8%.</p>
<p>Itâs also interesting to compare the freshman profile for each school. Hereâs HPU:</p>
<p>[High</a> Point University 2011 - Freshman Class Profile](<a href=âhttp://www2.highpoint.edu/admissions.php?id=2371&active_accordion=0]Highâ>http://www2.highpoint.edu/admissions.php?id=2371&active_accordion=0)</p>
<p>This sentence jumps out at me:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Nice to see their stats moving up, but look at Elon:</p>
<p>SAT, mid 50% range: 1720-1960 (Critical Reading, Math and Writing sections)</p>
<p>From Elonâs CDS - ACT mid-range is 25-28.
On the 1600 point scale - their SAT mid-range is 1120 - 1310.</p>
<p>I have to add that Elon makes their CDS easy to find - as do most reputable schools. Just Google it. High Point does not do so. It is not posted on their website and is apparently not available to viewing by the public - which I find odd and worrisome. What are they trying to hide?</p>
<p>Finally - as a parent - I would have some concern about the larger than life presence of Dr. Quebain at HPU. What happens when he leaves? Is it a good idea to have one man so intertwined with the success of a university?</p>
<p>Anyone considering High Point might also want to skim this 2010 thread from the Parents Forum:</p>
<p><a href=âhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/893590-whats-real-story-high-point-university.html[/url]â>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/893590-whats-real-story-high-point-university.html</a></p>
<p>Itâs interesting to note that High Point gets more love/hate reactions than pretty much any college I have ever seen. Lots of opinions here - some facts - worth a skim.</p>
<p>We didnât visit HPU. The information looks and sounds good, but they donât have a football team as far as I can tell and thatâs one thing my daughter is looking for as a transfer student. It all depends on what youâre looking for I guess.</p>
<p>
Everyoneâs entitled to their own opinion but I rather doubt this prediction. Elonâs stats are rising too. This yearâs EA stats were significantly higher than when my D was accepted two years ago.</p>
<p>Last year Elon eliminated the âtopic of your choiceâ essay and added new essays, and their applications dropped 15%. This year their applications are back up to previous levels (and theyâre still requiring the different essays). </p>
<p>The problem with High Point is that it is viewed as style over substance. Whether this is true or not, I canât say - but it definitely has that reputation, which may take a long time to change.</p>
<p>I randomly found this post haha! Go to Elon or Grace will kill you!
And compared to Elon, High point is considered more of a safety school based on their acceptance rate and average GPA of applicants
And Elon has one of the best communications programs, and if you look on their website, you can see all the reputable awards the department has won in the past few years</p>
Just what was looking for this comparison.
Important to note when comparing # of applications - High Point accepts the Common App. Elon does not. That means it takes extra effort to apply to Elon. If Elon were to move to the Common App their numbers would surely increase, but with applications from students who might be less committed (itâs much easier to check a box than fill out a completely separate application).
To anyone looking at this post now when deciding between the 2 schools for 2016, I have some insight Iâd like to add. Elon is the obvious choice for several reasons. Taking a look at HPU-ignore for a second their: far lower admissions standards, lack of presence on most national rankings list, lack of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter (national standard of excellence for colleges), or lack of accreditations. These are facts, not opinions. The HPU president has a past of highly successful public speaking, making him a great salesman. High Point then followed Elonâs lead of building a beautiful campus (and took it a huge step further). HPU then for a while (not sure if they still do) would send admitted students Godiva Chocolates in their acceptance package. Does this seem like a school putting academics first? Or trying to sell an image of Utopia, where kids can bathe in the hottubs before spending their evening at the student arcade? (yes, both are real on campus)
5 years later after âavgmomâ predicted HPU and EU would be on the same level nationally, Iâd argue the distance between the 2 has only increased. So much so, in fact, that Elon does not consider HPU one of their âpeer universitiesâ. Those schools Elon compares themselves to are: Richmond, Lehigh, JMU, Villanova, Bucknell, Davidson, Loyola MD, and a few others. This is from Elonâs office of institutional research page online, if youâre interested. And, for example, URichmond, a top liberal arts school, has Elon listed as one of their peers, and not HPU. So even other administrations have recognized and publicly demonstrated that Elon and HPU are competing on 2 different tiers.
I understand why some are drawn to HPU, the country club campus makes even Elonâs world class facilities feel a little drab and boring. But, if youâre focus is on getting the best education for your money, job placement, study abroad, and having the more well rounded college experience? I would do Elon 10 times out of 10 and never look back.
Ummmm, my son got into Elon with all Câs and two Bâs (school doesnât rank). I believe early decision, and a private school background (Elon assumes full pay) contributed, but for real, Elon was not a reach. He did not apply to HP, but a classmate didâŠShot down at HP, accepted at Elon, waitlisted at Furman but eventually got in. I would be careful about making an assumption about HPU giving out Godiva Chocolates, that has zero reflection on academics - Harvard churns out some serious swag. Elon is a good school for a certain kid, but the constant âweâre better than themâ just cheapens things.
No doubt Elon is a little better school overall, but High Point (HPU) isnât the âdogâ some people make it out to be.
U.S. News rankings for HPU:
Undergraduate Enrollment: 4,400 students
Accreditation: Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
http://www.highpoint.edu/visitorinformation/accreditations/
Campus Facilities: During the past decade, HPU has invested more than $1.6 billion in academics, facilities, student life, technology and scholarships. The original 92-acre campus has grown to 420 â with 90 new or recently renovated academic, residential and student-life buildings, two new athletic stadiums and a field house.
Diversity: Students come from more than 48 states and more than 37 countries. Eighty percent of students are from out of state.
Typical class size: 18 students per class. Student-to-faculty ratio (traditional undergraduate): 15-to-1.
Athletics: HPU Panthers compete in NCAA Division I athletics in the Big South Conference in 16 varsity sports â eight menâs and eight womenâs. Menâs sports: baseball, basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer and track (indoor & outdoor), lacrosse. Womenâs sports: basketball, cross-country, lacrosse, golf, soccer, track (indoor & outdoor) and volleyball. There are also 21 club sports and dozens of intramural opportunities to compete. Club-level sports include: Menâs and Womenâs Brazilian Jiujitsu, Menâs Ice Hockey, Menâs and Womenâs Golf, Equestrian, and Menâs & Womenâs Rowing.
Study Abroad: High Point University has 64 short term and full semester study abroad opportunities in nearly 30 countries and two dozen venues around the world including Oxford Brookes University in England; the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland, Bond University in Australia; The Sorbonne in Paris, France; and The Art Institute of Italy in Florence. Opportunities for study abroad in Canada, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Scotland, Spain, Wales and many more destinations are being added each year!
RE: USNWR Ranking as "#1 Best Regional College in the South (4th consecutive year) "
The category âRegional Collegesâ is for colleges that âfocus on undergraduate education but grant fewer than half their degrees in liberal arts disciplines; this category also includes schools that have small bachelorâs degree programs but primarily grant two-year associate degreesâ. The top 5 colleges in the category: are High Point, John Brown, Asbury, and Florida Southern and Meredith Colleges
As it happens, Elon isnât considered a âRegional Collegeâ by USNWR; it is tied (with Rollins) for #1 in the âBest Regional University in the Southâ Category. Rounding out the top 5 are the Citadel, Stamford and Belmont (the better known JMU comes in at #7).
Fwiw, the âmost innovativeâ accolade was new in 2015. On the annual survey from USNWR colleges were asked to name up to 10 colleges or universities in their category (ie, âRegional Collegesâ who are making âinnovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilitiesâ. So, this is the view of only other âRegional Colleges-Southâ colleges.
That is NOT to say that it doesnât count: I am happy to believe that High Point is the most innovative college in itâs category. Just know what the category is, and who else is in the category.
Some recent stats on the two schools:
High Point / Elon
Avg GP: 3.34 (UW) / 3.54 (UW)
Avg SAT 557/550/541 / 601/ 593 / 591
Avg ACT: 24 / 27
Acceptance rate: 80% / 54%
F / M: 60/40 / 60:40
White: 83% / 84%
International: 1.5% / 2%
4 year graduation: 59% / 75%
(Also, not to pick on High Pointâs study abroad program, but just to clarify that Oxford Brooks, while a perfectly decent university (rated ~35/126 in the UK, and seen as one of the better ânewâ colleges) is NOT anything to do with Oxford University*. Brooks is in Headington, which is basically a suburb of Oxford (though from some points on the Brooks campus you can see the Oxford spires).)
âElon is a good school for a certain kid, but the constant âweâre better than themâ just cheapens things.â ~ bosmama
Ainât it the truth!
HPUâs 2014 actual graduation rate (agr) of 63% may not look very impressive at first glance, but when you compare it to other regional colleges in the South, it turns out to be one of the top 5 highest graduation rates in the entire category. There are schools in that category with agrâs of less than 30%.
HPU offers 47 majors, 51 minors, and 12 pre-professional programs:
http://www.highpoint.edu/academics/
HPU has been selected as a âCollege of Distinctionâ for the 4th consecutive year, based on four major categories: engaged students, great teaching, vibrant community and successful outcomes:
http://collegesofdistinction.com/school/high-point-university/
Business Insider ranks HPU in the top 5 nationally for best residence halls, and in the top 20 nationally for best dining halls.
High Point doesnât rank up there with the high and mighty Elon, but it is a rising star in the South region, having made vast improvement in the last decade and getting better each year. As academic offerings continue to expand and improve, the graduation rate will rise.