My soon-to-be graduate is deciding between Ithaca and Elon.
Though undecided about majors right now, he is interested in business (marketing) or communications (sports/TV production or journalism).
Money he got from each school makes them comparable (except for flights to NC being more expensive than car ride to Ithaca from Southern NY where we live).
Would love input from anyone on this. Eager to hear more about student body and student satisfaction, reputation of school/academics, future job prospects/connections, supportive nature of profs and admin etc…
Have you visited either/both schools? I have never been to either one, so, don’t take my word as truth! I have read time and time again on CC that Elon tends toward Southern prep-style in personality, student presentation, etc., but with generally friendly, happy students. Elon’s campus is reputedly beautiful, practically a botanical park. I’m not so sure what is said about the overall “vibe” of Ithaca. I imagine each school has a range of diversity to some degree, but sometimes the dominant culture is important to a student. Is your son someone who would be happy to adapt anywhere, or would he feel more comfortable in a certain type of social environment? Anyone else comment on these schools?
I don’t know how to compare the academic strengths and weaknesses.
My understanding is that many of Elon’s students are from the Northeast. Same goes for Ithaca, but my sense is that Elon is more preppy. I think Greek life is big at Elon and I don’t think it really exists at Ithaca. That’s all I really know. I wish others would answer. Good luck.
In the exact same boat. Ithaca vc. Elon. Both of us (parent and student) liked Elon’s campus atmosphere better. Ithaca seemed uninvolved in school spirit type of activities and there was no Greek life (not that Greek life is a deciding factor, but it does help students feel tied to their school and have a sense of tradition). But Ithaca is offering a ton more money right now. Waiting on the Feb. 1st Fellowship notice from Elon.
Elon is stronger academically, with preprofessional students. Ithaca is stronger for communication and will have a greater variety of student profiles. Ithaca will also have a better network for business in the NYC area. Elon’s will be stronger in the NC/SC/VA area and will have better weather. The atmosphere is quite different - if possible, have him do an overnight at both.
My S has narrowed it down to the same two schools! Any new insight? We have visited both schools and plan to revisit Ithaca in April, since he last saw it in November. Might go back to Elon as well, but we were just there a few weeks ago, so the feelings and info are still fairly fresh. He’s having a really tough time deciding…
We visited both in Spring/Summer. Just went back to Ithaca and will go back to Elon in a few weeks. He wants Elon now. Will see if that gets confirmed when we go back a second time. So interesting how many people are deciding between the two schools…
My son graduated last May from Ithaca for TV/Radio Production. He was accepted to Elon, competed for and was awarded a Communications Fellow and I was sure, at that time, that Elon was going to be his choice. He visited Ithaca one more time and decided on IC.
At Ithaca’s Park School of Communications they stress hands-on work (in TV/R) starting freshman year. He loved and took advantage of that. I think it also came down to the alumni network of Ithaca. Its incredibly strong in the NY and Los Angeles area, centers for TV/R.
He studied his last semester in LA with the “Ithaca in LA” program, had several internships and made lots of contacts. He and a whole crowd of his Ithaca TV/R buddies all moved out to LA and are having success in finding jobs and supporting each other.