I know your question was not directed at me, but I am going to put in my two cents anyway. I read the comments by the poster you are referring to. I believe this person knows nothing about Furman and has obviously never visited the campus. ( As an aside we know many families who have students at Berry College and none of them are religious zealots or supporters of Marjorie Taylor Greene 
) We are from the Atlanta area and my (Jewish) child applied to Furman last year. This school is what I would consider a bit of a hidden gem. We found the campus setting and vibe to be quite similar to University of Richmond. The notable difference is that Richmond draws a lot more students from the Northeast. The vast majority of the out of state students at Furman are from neighboring Southern states. The student body is majority white, Christian, Southern and a bit preppy. At my son’s private school, there are a lot of students that cross apply to Furman and Davidson College. We found Furman to be a very warm and welcoming community. I also believe that they are making bonafide efforts to increase diversity on campus. My son was accepted at his early decision school last year, and ultimately turned down Furman (and the very generous scholarship he was offered). Furman was near the top of his list - and not just because he wanted to walk around in a sweat shirt that says “FU”.
Furman doesn’t have a “religious vibe” (I’m understanding the question as asking if it is sectarian in curriculum, narrow/non-inclusive, or if there is pressure from administration or social pressure from students to be religious) - it is welcoming and inclusive to a spectrum of faiths and those that don’t practice one alike. I wouldn’t characterize it as a religious school other than it’s founding roots - in that sense much like Wake Forest, Duke, or a bazillion other schools. Not hostile to religion but not pushed.
Like the other poster above, if it has a “vibe”, it’s warm, southern, and low-key. Because it draws a decent chunk of the students from states in the Southeast, it probably indexes higher on students that come from a traditional Christian background than schools with a different population, but that isn’t something pushed by the administration.
The only thing that I can think of that might generate that perception (trying to read the mind of a message board poster not connected to the school in the thread others mentioned) is that the administration keeps a fairly tight lid on policing the greek organizations. Off-campus fraternity and sorority houses are not permitted, and the pan-hellenic organizations get assigned floors in the residence halls. This, combined with a requirement to live on campus all four years (first two in traditional dorms, last two in on-campus suite-style apartments) tamps down some of the crazy.
Thanks for your first hand observations.
It sounds like Furman would be a great fit for your student based on this description. Last year, most EA decisions were released in January. And lots of scholarship money accompanied those. I wouldn’t stress about him not hearing anything yet even if they send out some early acceptances this year, too.
Looks like early decision acceptances are out!
Just saw that on Instagram…hopefully some EA’s roll out by mid December…fingers crossed!
I just wanted to find out besides the fact ED is a binding decision, is there a specific con?
Also are merit scholarships released on decision day or financial aid day?
My son was EA, but considered changing to ED after visiting Furman. After reading, “some” stated that ED accepted students may get less in merit because ED shows that you’re willing to basically pay full price to go there, regardless of merit or needed aid. This very well may not be true for Furman, but after discussing it, we decided to stay EA anyway so we have more time to figure out the financial side of things should he get accepted.
Regarding the scholarship stuff… I’ve seen most get immediate offers, and some with invitations to interview for even higher merit based awards like the Duke scholarship.
My child received a nice merit scholarship with the ED acceptance.
Congrats to your child and their hard work! Many of us are jealous! What a great holiday gift. Fingers crossed that many of us will have kids attending with yours next fall.
Great news to hear!
Thanks! We are very excited. Best of luck to your child.
Do the EA decisions all come out on the same day in January or in waves? My son also applied EA but right before Thanksgiving, so it wasn’t like he’d be in the early EA release pool.
I appreciate your observations – we are from California & have not (yet) been able to visit Furman. But it came on our radar as a potentially good fit for our son because he really liked Richmond, Wake Forest, Davidson & Wofford. His brother is at Davidson, and that vibes a little less preppy than Richmond & less “Southern” than Wofford, & probably as geographically diverse as Wake. My main concern would be how a Californian would fit in – is the school “insular” in that many kids already have a connected friend group upon arrival?
My wife’s best friend was a 96 Furman grad, and she didn’t know anyone when she got there. That same friend has one at Clemson (Junior), and her Daughter is a current Freshman at Furman. Her son at Clemson knows tons of kids from his school/area that attend Clemson, and they are in an apartment together, while her daughter at Furman didn’t know anyone at all, but she’s made some great friends in the last few months as a freshman. We personally only know of two people from our town of 130k people that attend Furman. I highly doubt new students run into anyone they know, so it’s a level playing field for making new friends.
Our observations as parents while spending a day at Furman were the kids were well-mannered, didn’t get rowdy at the football game, and they’re there for one purpose…to learn…and they have a beautiful setting in which to do so. Most have intent to attend graduate school, so it changes the dynamic compared to most schools and students that want to do their 4 years and be done.
I agree with NoogMan’s post above in regard to your concern about Furman being insular. We did not get the sense that many kids arrive on campus with an established friend group. My son ended up at William & Mary, so this was actually a much bigger concern for me there as it is a public school and only a third of the students are from out of state. I worried needlessly, seems that most college freshman are really excited to make new friends 
If your California kid likes the other schools you mentioned, I think Furman could be a great fit. My son applied to all the schools you listed with the exception of Wofford. He actually debated applying early decision to Davidson. Like Davidson, Furman is known for its rigorous academics. As far as the degree of “Southerness”, I would put Furman more toward the Wofford end of the spectrum. Feel free to pm me, I’d be happy to discuss our impressions of the schools your son is considering.
Thanks for the information! I’ll be sure to reach out once the dust settles & we know which schools are actually in the running.
If it’s helpful, my son didn’t know anyone before he got there - he’s from North Carolina and three of his better friends at school are from California, Delaware and Texas :-). Happy to answer more questions on the thread or via pm.
We live several states away from Furman, and my son did not know anyone prior to attending. He has made friends from all over the country and world. One thing that we really liked about Furman is that first year students can’t choose roommates or suite mates. They are all assigned based on a comparability survey. This results in everyone getting to know new people. My son and his suite mates are all very compatible, and they are some of his closest friends.
Ok, great! We applied ED1 and started to feel like we should have done EA but nonetheless it’s ok. My Daughter was accepted with a 29,000 bell tower scholarship so far which in my opinion isn’t too bad. It would be nice to get a competitive scholarship as well but we don’t know what to expect. She is a SC homeschooled student with a 3.9 UW GPA (no test scores considered), & with a lot of Extracurricular & Volunteer Experiences so just don’t know what lies ahead in these next two weeks.
Just curious, does FU mail acceptance letters or it is only in the application portal?