Furman vs Elon

We are from the Northeast and my daughter has been accepted EA to both Furman and Elon (she has also been accepted to several other schools including: Fairfield U & Providence College, all with fairly competitive scholarship offers. She has her heart set on Wake, but knows that if she does not get in, she has other options. In comparing Furman and Elon for a biochemistry major seeking either premed, PA or pharmacy for graduate school, does anyone have any personal experience or knowledge that would be helpful to her as we narrow her choices? We cannot attend the accepted students’ weekends but we will be going down the week of April 15th to look at both again but any advanced insight is much appreciated. She wants a small student faculty ratio, to be able to participate in/conduct scientific research (she has a summer internship working in a world reknown lab this summer), study abroad, a positive, engaging community and to actively play club soccer. Most of her current friends are in theatre so she has an affinity for the arts and sings acapella.

Congrats on two great options!

I have friend who works at Elon and my D’s good friend is first year at Furman.

Elon is more like a northeastern college with southern weather. It has strong performing arts programs. Known for good teaching with focus on experiential learning. They have a J term which I’ve always thought was cool. The town of Elon is tiny and there’s nothing much nearby unless you drive to Greensboro (20 min or so) or the Triangle (40 min)

Furman is particularly strong is sciences – especially computational science. Greenville is a really cool small city and the campus is near downtown / riverwalk. Not too far from Charlotte or Atlanta for summer internships, etc. Is one of 4 higher ed colleges supported by Duke Endowment so has some really nice resources.

Both have pretty big Greek scenes that play large roles in the social scene.

Hope this helps!

U.S. News recognizes both of these colleges in this area: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/undergrad-research-programs.

As @AlmostThere2018 mentioned, Furman is a powerhouse for the sciences, whereas Elon’s strengths lie primarily in communications/journalism and business. This seems a pretty easy decision to me.

Average R&D expenditures in Chemistry per year (2011-2017)
[ul][]Furman - $1,330,000
[
]Elon - $70,000[/ul]
PhDs in Chemistry (1980-present)
[ul][]Furman - 152
[
]Elon - 11[/ul]
PhDs in Biology (1980-present)
[ul][]Furman - 144
[
]Elon - 30[/ul]
Furman fares even better when one accounts for size; Furman and Elon have 2600 and 6000 undergraduates, respectively.

This doesn't assess undergraduate scientific research, but rather student projects in any/all academic disciplines, including "creative projects."

Furman

My son is also considering these two. I have a copy of 2018 Fiske guide and it painted Furman as rather insular, conservative and almost close-minded. Thoughts anyone? I know it has religious roots and that’s fine, but this description was not positive…contrary to everything else I have read about Furman so it came as a surprise to me. Would love to get some input, without going too far away from OP’s post…

My D’s friend who attends as first-year was surprised by the religiosity of many Furman students. The issue came up a lot when she was regularly facetiming my D the first few months of college last Fall.

We live in a very liberal bubble so it was not something she was used to. Now that she’s been there six months, she’s found her crew (they have an atheist club!) but it took a while. I’d say overall she’s happy. They gave her a good scholarship so I know her parents are happy!

I have personal experience with both of these schools.

Furman is generally best in terms of the sciences and research opportunities (over 80% of the students participate in research and internships). Furman’s acceptance rates into 1st choice postgraduate schools for premed, pharmacy, etc. are impressive. If doing well in biochemistry and getting into grad school is the most important piece, go to Furman. If the “feel and fit” is more important, it is not as clear cut. Elon has more than 6000 undergrads while Furman has less than 3000; student to professor ratio is a little lower at Furman. Elon has a stronger Northeast presence but both have students from all over.

Furman has a more conservative student body but rarely will you hear that a student doesn’t find a place to fit in. The Furman student body is pretty much live and let live. Elon probably has a wider social life. Furman is an enclosed campus but close to a fabulous small city (Greenville). Elon is a small college town but within driving distance to Greensboro.

Furman has a better academic reputation overall and almost ALL the students are really serious students. Elon has a more laid back feel.

Both schools are strong in the musical arts. Furman has an exceptional music program (voice and instumental) and Elon has a renowned musical theatre program.

Both Elon and Furman, make a concerted effort for students to study abroad so you won’t go wrong with either one on this.

Furman is more “like” Wake academically and Elon is more like Wake in terms of size and being a university rather than an LAC.

Both have Club soccer.

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@msw2023: You really need to visit both schools before deciding. Furman University is not for everyone–even if from The South. Coming from the Northeast might be a slight bit of culture shock.

I really do not think that Elon is a great choice for a biochem major.

Furman is definitely more Southern & conservative than Elon or WFU. Much less partying at Furman than at WFU.

Not much racial diversity at either school.

I have been to Furman’s campus hundreds of times, just not recently. I cannot imagine a person from the Northeast attending without visiting first.

Would your daughter be comfortable at Liberty University ? Furman is not quite that conservative, but, I suspect, that Liberty University might have been a choice for many Furman students–although I am speculating about this point.

Because I have not been to Furman University in the past 8 or 9 years, I googled Princeton Review. The description for Furman read “wealthy, white, conservative & preppy”. Just as I recall.

Elon University was described as “preppy, conservative, upper middle/upper class, white & likes to party”. Lots of Northern kids & lots of Greek life.

I love The South & I am comfortable on both liberal & conservative campuses. In my opinion, the transition to Elon should be easy, but the academics are better at Furman. Although Princeton Review describes both Elon & Furman as conservative, my impression is that Elon is moderate and Furman is conservative.

Only trying to stress that it is important to visit both schools before deciding.

Thanks All! I really do appreciate it. She has visited both initially, but as we approach decision time, she (and I) will be revisiting both schools again. She has been asked to participate in a highly regarded research project here at Yale in a world reknown lab, so I am thinking she would be better served at Furman than Elon, but hopefully a 2nd look will confirm. She has her heart set on Wake, but I am encouraging her to lean elsewhere and if she gets into Wake RD, great, if not, she will feel better about her other options. She’s also begun to network with accepted students from both schools…so that is helping her as well. She’s finding health science interested students for both.

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Where did she end up going and how did it go?