<p>My son is in love with High Point University but also was accepted to Elon which was his first choice until he visited HPU and was taken with all the new buildings, the charismatic President and the warmth of the campus. We too were impressed. I worry that once the President moves onto new ventures in about 4 years, the school will not thrive. Elon has an established reputation. What are other parents' thoughts? Both schools offer him strong academics but HPU seems to have the amenities he likes.</p>
<p>My Daughter is a Jr. at High Point and she is very happy. Her first choice was to go to school in Florida but the minute we stepped foot on HPU, she felt she was home.
Nido, the president is Alumni of HP and I do not think he will leave anytime soon.
He has a vision and I believe he can do whatever he wants to. The changes at HP over the past 3 years is unbelievable. Every time I hear Nido speak at the school he makes me cry. I truly believe he believes in all his students and he really cares. I have found the student body to be a great group of promising adults for our future.</p>
<p>Where does your S plan to work when he graduates? Elon is much better known here in the Northeast. That said, your S has two good schools to choose between. Good luck to him!</p>
<p>Elon is considerably stronger academically than HP, and Elon is more well known in the northeast - - but not so much that northeastern name recognition should be a factor.</p>
<p>Is HP located in an area with a dying furniture industry? What is the immediate are outside campus like?</p>
<p>Elon has much stronger students. They don't seem to have much to do immediately off campus, but I only did a "drive by".</p>
<p>Elon has much stronger students. </p>
<p>I think that HP gaps quite a bit in FA, but I forgot. I looked it up a while ago.</p>
<p>Right now Elon has a stronger reputation. However, HP is increasing their reputation every year. Elon is also much more difficult to gain admission and merit money. Our thought is that by the time our son graduates (if he attends HP), the value of his diploma will be more valuable as the school's reputation and status will have increased. The president has a son who is a freshman at High Point now; therefore, I would assume he will be there at least 3 more years until he graduates.</p>
<p>Something I pay attention to is graduation rate. The 5 year graduation is 72% at Elon and it is 54% at High Point.</p>
<p>Could someone tell me what the surrounding area at High Point is like?</p>
<p>We visited Elon three times and High Point twice. Our D was invited for Presidential Scholars weekend but declined. She ended up NOT applying to Elon. Here is what we found: Elon wins on graduation rate and higher scores. BUT.....HPU cannot be judged by who it was three years ago because this is a NEW school with a new iniative and new directions. I expect big things to continue happening. The difference for our daughter was the calibre and quality of students. HPU students were warm, friendly, engaging, clean cut, outgoing, enthused about their school and their President. Elon kids did not portray that same enthusiasm, and we ran into two different incidences on our second tour that turned us both off. Both were by students who thought it would be funny to "dog" the tour with negative comments. One was in a group of girls who were sitting outside as we walked by and they shouted out "Did you tell them about the drinking problem, Matt?" to our tour guide (not sure that was his name) and the other was a guy who walked by and pretended (we presume) to do a drug deal on his cell phone in a voice loud enough that our entire tour stopped in our tracks. I thought to myself, what kind of students would want to ruin a tour for a group of high school seniors? The kids we ran into mostly looked down at the ground as they walked by, and we found little enthusiasm. There were LOTS of kids smoking on campus, which really struck us. In any event, this is just OUR experience, but because of it, it went from a top school of interest to one she did not even apply to. It is just that feeling one gets when visiting. I couldn't be more impressed with HPU. She did not accept the Pres. Scholarship weekend because she was accepted to a few schools which are much more highly ranked and is waiting on her stretch school.....so that is our story, if indeed our insights help. Good luck. Oh, High Point is High Point......furniture capital of the world! But with Greensboro just down the road, it's not so bad! Elon has Burlington nearby, which is an ok city with a Walmart and such!</p>
<p>I have to agree with the above comments about the student population. We toured both Elon and High Point. My son thought the kids at High Point were much friendlier and down-to-earth (and not just the tour guides - we talked to students attending the school).</p>
<p>NEmom, I believe Iderochi knows about Elon; you might want to send him a PM or post your question on the Elon board.</p>
<p>fp, thank you. Actually, my son is not interested in Elon. He doesn't know anything about HP. I know a tiny bit about HP. I would like to learn more about what the area surrounding the HP is like.</p>
<p>My bad - - but I think Iderochi may also have visited HPU. I've read the "dying furniture industry" several times; unfortunately, there's no HP board on which to post.</p>
<p>I have heard the president of High Point speak and found him to be extremely dynamic. The changes he's making at HP are all positive and the academics seem to be strong. A young lady I've known as very scholarly attends. I recently spoke with her and she's extremely happy with her choice. We didn't visit as my son wanted to be closer to home, but I've been impressed by all I've heard.</p>
<p>We've got HP and Elon on Son's list. HP falls in his safety bucket, while Elon is match. </p>
<p>Both schools really look great to us and we'll visit them in June. I wish we could be there when classes are in session, but it just won't work out for us. I would really have liked to be on the look-out for attitudes like 25252 describes. </p>
<p>On a separate note, am I the only that gets a kick out of accidentally using hpu.edu instead of highpoint.edu? It's a cruel tease in the middle of winter. ;)</p>
<p>I am certainly biased, but Elon.</p>
<p>We visited Elon with my D last spring and did not experience any of the attitude found by 252525. The students were all very enthusiastic and everyone we talked to loved the university. Easily the friendliest place of the 6 or so schools we toured. Several times through the day students started talking to us, just asking where we were from or if we needed any help. We saw a lot of Elon sweatshirts and greek letters, people seemed very happy to be there. My D attended a class and loved the discussions. She will be starting in the fall. We have since heard from many people in the Boston area that go to Elon and every one loves it there. I don't doubt 252525's experience, but it was very different from ours.</p>
<p>
[quote]
NEmom, I believe Iderochi knows about Elon; you might want to send him a PM or post your question on the Elon board.
[/quote]
I'm here and have been lurking, just too darn busy to post much of a reply. Disappointed to hear of some people's experiences in taking tours. I suppose idiots who think they are clever can be everywhere, but it's disappointing. My son likes Elon, not a Valhalla by any means, but the good far outweighs the bad (and he had a rough first year)</p>
<p>I wish I knew more about HPU to contribute, but I don't. It sounds like they may be where Elon was 8-10 years ago -- reputation far more regional, but with leadership that is really determined to raise the quality and the reputation. If that's the case, you could do far worst than to jump on to the school now with the expectation that in 4 years the reputation will still be in a upward arc. </p>
<p>For now, I would have to agree that Elon's reputation is stronger, but it's certainly not like comparying Harvard and Podunk College. More like the kind of comparison where Elon still finds itself on the short end (e.g. against Wake Forest and to a lesser extent Richmond).</p>
<p>We visited both (HP 3 times) a couple of years ago. After one hour on the Elon campus D decided not to apply and Elon was all she had talked about for 2 years. She was admitted to HP (a safety) and received a very nice scholarship and was going until May 1 when the thought of being 6 hours from home changed her mind. We even went back last year but again she decided to stay close to home.</p>
<p>There is nothing she and us did not like about HP, she sat in on classes and we spoke to many students who did not work for admissions. The shopping mall near the school is dying, but they said there are trips to Charlotte on the weekends for those who want to go. The school does offer transportation (they have several buses) to movies, bowling, etc. Many of the students said the main social activity on the weekends is partying in the frat dorms and apts. That did not bother us because those parties are everywhere. A couple of girls told us last year that the school is taking a tougher stance on alcohol and the penalties have increased. I remember Qubein saying at one assembly that he has no problem at all sending students home for not following the rules (or something to that effect). </p>
<p>Academically Elon is ahead of HP at this time. I know an admission's counselor in PA with friends at both (at similar schools they probably all know each other). She told me that HP wants to be another Elon and will get there quickly. Qubein is a master at marketing and fund raising. The campus is fantastic looking, while the dorms shown at Elon were just awful (and they have much better ones than they showed us). Everything at HP is personalized, from your parking spot on visiting day to the follow up communication, and they give the visitors stuff so do not stop at the bookstore for a shirt first. At Elon there was a group info session, tour, a discount coupon and that was it. No personalization at all, after D signed in, no one in admissions even spoke to her. They do not have to, and soon HP may not need to either.</p>
<p>I have watched the numbers for HP for 4 years and the upward trend is there. Each class is bigger (much bigger) and has better numbers than the previous one. Every prof we met was interested in their students and D loved the classes she sat in on. She said each prof came out to meet her, introduced her to the class and asked her to participate if she chose to.</p>
<p>I could write a book about the things she liked at HP. I was shocked that Elon dropped off her list after only one hour. We went to NC to see Elon, added 3 other schools just for kicks. But for her I believe it was strictly the impersonal way she was treated there. It would not have been a safety but a match; but they would not have known that, it was summer before Senior year. To end fairly, D has a friend attending Elon and the girl just loves it. There is nothing she is not happy with and is thrilled she is there. She was a match according to the numbers and was deferred EA to RD.</p>
<p>This may not matter to the OP but the kids I know who applied to both schools are VERY different academically. The Elon applicants tend to be MUCH stronger students all around. The kids I know who applied/accepted to HP just kind of skated through high school (no honors, no APs, no ECs, etc) with mediocre grades and in some cases very low test scores. I would wonder about the academic standards in the classroom given the fact that some of these students just don't seem to care about intellectualism. I realize you can't judge a school based on a few kids - but these kids were admitted and are attending.</p>
<p>dwhite: I'm hoping you know these kids quite well to assume "that some of these students just don't seem to care about intellectualism."....as a parent of a "B" student in a rigorous college prep curriculum with no honors, no AP's permitted to her, she is extremely involved in her educational process and is probably more "intellectual" than her top 10%, amazing stats sister.....</p>
<p>not sure you can assess a college purely on grades/levels achieved in HS....unless you have visited the school and have seen this lack of "intellectualism" by the overall student body......</p>