You need as much certainty as possible while you are sending your first off to college, with more children to follow. You can’t afford Elon and they are not accredited yet. ECU has what he needs. Time to buy the ECU hoodie!
Did he get into ECU Honors? If it’s by application he should apply asap.
Did he apply to ECU, NCSU, Elon and no other?
@MYOS1634 he was accepted to George Mason, Campbell, Elon, and ECU. George Mason was still way too expensive for us being OOS even with scholarships. He was not admitted to NCSU. Very tough anymore for students in our county and just tough to get in anymore period. 46% acceptance rate this go round and engineering even lower. He didn’t apply early enough for honors college at ECU and we found out today that you can be admitted later but no $$ later. (My 2nd born has been watching and learning and is such a go getter that she will go for honors college!) We toured both Elon and ECU this week, and Elon got their price down to within $10k for him. The engineering people at Elon were great and had high confidence that the program will be accredited soon. We were really impressed with both schools. Elon would probably be a better fit for him with class size early on and working so closely with professors. But on the hand, he and we got a great vibe from ECU overall. He sat in an engineering class at Elon and got to use the tools and programs they were using which he was already familiar with. It was just a good experience for him. All that said though, it looks like ECU is it. I just wanted to thank everyone who cared enough to help guide us! You don’t even know us, and you still took time to share valuable advice. Thank you very much!
I think you and your child made an excellent choice and are giving yourselves and your family breathing room! Really it makes the most sense to be sure you will have enough money to send all your kids to post HS education and sending the eldest to an affordable option is a key part of that solution.
As the parent of an EE, we know lots of kids who started out in engineering but ended up in other fields. Still, we only wanted Us that were already accredited.
Congrats on your choice! My dear friend who is an ECU Grad is giving you a thumbs up and hoping your son becomes an ECU alum. Many illustrious engineers in that group. More than there are from Elon. I think you did the right thing.
He can most likely get an on campus job through student employment. It might not be federal work study, but he might actually earn more per hour and they also work with students’ schedules.
He could maybe work as a tutor, or something else that interests him.
ECU is a good public option. And if engineering is ABET accredited, that’s all that matters. The rest is up to him, he can pursue research or other opportunities with his professors.
He was already talking to people in student recreation about lining up a job as a lifeguard. ? We did learn that tutors make the most money on campus. ?? He is definitely interested in that, too! One thing that stood out to us was how friendly students were at ECU. It’s not that the students at Elon were unfriendly, it was just easier to engage with students at ECU. That was helpful to our son as more of an introvert. (He was really drawn to the very small class size at Elon though. But in our case it couldn’t be the deciding factor.) Food, amenities, housing were equal in our eyes between both schools. We were impressed with how much money and investment are being poured into ECU. A couple of fun moments from our tour yesterday: 1) the new interim chancellor popped into our tour and chatted with us. He was just named interim chancellor late the night before and he was obviously excited and passionate about his new role and the school. And 2) Mr. Beast from YouTube was out with his crew doing his thing with videoing and interviewing students, and his assistant (I don’t know the name) was doing crazy antics on the greens near the cupola ?. My son got a pic with Mr. Beast just for his tween brother who is a big fan lol.
Meant to tag you in my post @mommdc
My D attends a big public university. Yes, the intro science lectures are big, but they have smaller recitations and labs. Her professors were very approachable.
I think a lot of professors are approachable…you just have to approach them first!
So happy for you and your son!! He will really like the friendly people and students at ECU. Best BBQ is just down the road it’s in the newest issue of southern living mag! When everyone is so friendly and helpful the classes just don’t seem that big. Inter-coastal waterways are just 16 miles away so you get the salty breezies. NCSU feels sooo much bigger. Again CONGRATS!!!
Congratulations! And if he can still apply for Honors College, he should do so right away, as it’ll provide him with the benefits of the small classes+ contact from professors that he wants from Elon.
Thank you again @katwkittens for the perspective! My daughter, a sophomore in high school, is getting excited about ECU, too, for the nursing program. This has been a year of enormous learning for us. I sent you a PM to say thanks. Not sure how CC works, but in case you don’t get alerts, it’s there. Again, thank you!
Remember, if your S stays in engineering, that college is also smaller and he will get to know the others in the college of engineering and that will be a smaller “home” where he can definitely feel anchored. Our kids attended a larger private U but their smaller colleges provided a smaller “home” where they got to know a lot of people in their field. Sounds like your S will be very happy in his chosen U. Congratulations!