<p>I need help!!! D has been accepted at Elon. Can't get a handle on this school. She is not a drinker ( could change but isn't interested now), towards the left but not a hippie, not into designer clothes, does a lot of volunteering. Will she fit? Elon is located in not much of a college town. What is the big draw? Any info would be helpful.</p>
<p>post this in the Elon thread and I am sure you will get lots of info.</p>
<p>I am taking my son to Elon on Thursday. If I learn anything that can help you, I’ll let you know.</p>
<p>Elon is a beautiful, somewhat rural college campus in NC. It has very very nice facilities and good LAC programs. The climate is terrific. The school attracts a lot of students from many other states…many from the northeast have made this a “go to” school. As you noted, the town is VERY small…very. We’ve known several students who graduated from there. All had cars after their freshman year so they could get to “something”. However all also said there are many on campus activities and events too. </p>
<p>What is it that made your child apply to this school? Were there some characteristics she heard about? If so, post those and maybe folks here can tell you if these are true!</p>
<p>Our daughter did not choose to apply there because she wanted more accessibility to a city.</p>
<p>No it’s not much of a college town but Elon is 30 min from Chapel Hill which is a big draw for Elon, Duke and NC State students in addition to UNC Chapel Hill. Transportation is available from the school to Raleigh/Durham Airport. Elon is considered more reasonably priced than most comparable schools further north. The weather, proximity to the beach and the mountains are other draws. It’s a beautiful campus also and a safe area. Most of the students are not from the south I believe. It is on the preppy side, frats and sororitys are very big and many of the students are affluent but they volunteer a lot. A few of my friends children opted to go to Elon as a second choice when they could not get into UNC Chapel Hill. They all thought they would attempt to transfer to UNC Chapel Hill and all changed their minds, refusing to leave Elon.</p>
<p>A young lady I work with graduated from Elon several years ago. What she has told me is in line with thecheckbook’s description. She is from the south. To her surprise, it was heavily populated with northerners and a lot of affluent students. She also described it as very preppy and very Greek.</p>
<p>A neighbor’s D is a freshman at Elon. It was not her first choice. She is not preppy, Greek or a big partier unless she has changed a lot since she went last August. My friend says her D is doing well and likes it. She is already planning her semester abroad. She does come home fairly often but it’s because she left a longtime boyfriend here. We live in NC. Her roommate is from FL.</p>
<p>My D was accepted ED to Elon, we were down there last weekend. I disagree with a few posts above:</p>
<p>1) Elon is in no way a “rural” campus. The town of Elon pretty much consists of the Univ, but it’s directly adjacent to Burlington, which has 50,000 people. Burlington has both nice and run-down sections, but it has several large new shopping centers/malls and every chain restaurant you can think of, along with movie theaters, bowling alleys, etc. It’s 1/2 hour to Greensboro, and 45 minutes to Raleigh/Durham and Chapel Hill. </p>
<p>If your D does a lot of volunteering, Elon is the place for her. Elon was chosen for the 4th year in a row by a Presidential commission as being one of the top schools in the country for student community service (<a href=“http://www.elon.edu/e-net/Note.aspx?id=943547[/url]”>Elon University earns fourth consecutive presidential honor roll for service | Today at Elon | Elon University), 87% of last year’s graduates took part in community service over their 4 years. Elon’s emphasis on Engaged Learning requires students to do “Experiential Learning” to graduate. Experiential learning can be 5 things (don’t have to do 5, I think you only have to do one): Service, Leadership, Study Abroad, Internships or Undergrad Research. There are academic classes are actually designated as Service Learning classes and have a service component to them - we heard from an English Professor who taught a freshman composition class that included 1 hour per week volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club. Another English Class worked with Habitat for Humanity. Also, Elon’s 4-1-4 calendar allows for many Winter Term study abroad groups, several of which are Service Learning in places like Costa Rica and South Africa. All freshmen have to take a class that’s designed to give them a Global perspective (can’t remember the name of it, sorry). As we were told in a Parent Session at Spring Orientation, Elon wants to teach students to do things right, but also to do the right thing.</p>
<p>As for designer clothes, Elon did seem to be pretty stylish. They do have a significant Greek presence but it’s less than 50% of the students, and the actual frat/sorority houses are small, only a dozen or so kids from each frat/sorority can live in them which means the Greeks aren’t all that segregated from the rest of the population.</p>
<p>Only about 30% of Elon’s students are from NC. It is indeed heavily populated with Northerners - we are from Mass and my D felt like everyone she met at orientation was from Mass. Also a lot of Maryland, VA - in general, a lot of Mid-Atlantic.</p>
<p>I’d suggest you check out Elon’s website and the Elon thread on CC (under Alphabetical list of colleges).</p>
<p>Elon is NOT rural … there’s actually a coffee shop in town, and the Bed, Bath & Beyond is just six miles distant! </p>
<p>The campus is beautiful, and the staff welcoming. But students will need transportation. That latter point dissuaded my D, who was looking for a considerably larger surrounding community. YMMV.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the information. We are so confused and will probavly go back April 8th.My d applied because she was looking for a small school above 2,500 that has elem education, strong interaction between the professors and students, some Jewish presence, was more to the left than right, and had a mix of student types. She didn’t apply to Syracuse or other east coast schools because she didn’t feel a fit with strong east coast personalities. It has been a journey and she said she surprised herself but she feels more southern. She is a pescatarian ( eats fish but no meat). Does any of that sound like a fit for Elon? Her 3 choice are University of Texas is back up ( I know great school!), College of Charleston and Elon. She ruled out Chapman and Loyola Marymount in Ca.</p>
<p>My s applied to Chap, LMU, TCU, Elon. He fell in love with Elon last fall and was very happy to be accepted a couple of weeks ago. He is very social but doesn’t drink. We found Elon to be very different than the other southern colleges we looked at. I have never heard of someone going to Elon and not being incredibly happy. If you looked at Chapman, you are familiar with the 4-1-4 system. I think it offers an amazing opportunity for travel and fun courses.</p>
<p>TExasmother: I’m sending you a PM…</p>
<p>The 4-1-4 system has been very good for my D, who’s trying to complete a double major (both in the sciences) plus study abroad … and still graduate in four years. She’s used the Winter Sessions for travel to Ecuador, Spain, Ghana and Morocco.</p>
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<p>Elem education = yes (strong program)
Strong interaction between the professors and students = YES
Some Jewish presence = yes (lots of northeastern kids, not to stereotype but we in the northeast are more likely to be Catholic or Jewish than kids from the south/Texas.) Hillel had a presence at the Religious Programs table at the March spring orientation)
Mix of student types = not sure about that one</p>