<p>Son looking at these 3 plus Denison, I got a lot of responses on Denison, any more info on Wake, Elon , Wittenberg- socially? Son doesn't drink, wants to sing acapella group and stay involved in young democrats, travel abroad. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Have you tried checking the Elon and Wake Forest discussion forums (under the "colleges" heading) ? You might find some useful info. there.</p>
<p>We looked at Denison, I loved it--too small for both of my girls.</p>
<p>My younger D is at Elon. Just started. She chose it because they had a program that she wanted--and a small scholarship helped a little in the decision making.
She loves it there. (Although she does miss spicy food and shopping coming from Chicago) It is about the same size as her high school--and she says that she has met a lot of people.</p>
<p>Everyone that I have met that is connected to the school from the admission staff to the people who helped move us in are great--they are ready to help, answer questions etc.</p>
<p>Elon has several a capella groups.</p>
<p>My oldest graduated from Elon. He loved it there. They have a strong study abroad program. It's conveniently located. The school itself is in a small town, but close to Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Greensboro. He had some medical problems his freshman year and the school administration and school health clinic were great to work with him and keep us updated.</p>
<p>Youngest attended 2 years at Wake. They also have an active study abroad. Both schools have beautiful campuses. Both schools have engaged professors who (over all) seem to put the students as main priority and research as a second.</p>
<p>PM me if I can help in any way.</p>
<p>I’ve had some exposure to both Ohio and North Carolina schools, so maybe you will find my information helpful. I grew up in Ohio and many of my friends attended college locally. I would occasionally visit their campuses back in the days when I was a student. Though my recall of impressions about Ohio schools may be somewhat faded, I do get to visit Ohio on business once in awhile these days and think that Ohio atmosphere in general has not changed all that much beyond the fact that more franchises dot the landscape. As for North Carolina, two of my kids choose Elon University as out-of-state students in recent years. As you and your son are considering in-state vs. out-of-state factors also, I will do my best to compare schools along these lines too.</p>
<p>Ohio is an industrial state as well as an agricultural state that has seen hard times but people there are hard-working, Ohio-loyal and determined to improve on their situation. You will find these qualities strongly represented among students at the many small colleges in idyllic settings scattered across the state. Among them, Denison and Wittenberg both offer wonderful introspective college experiences. Being the larger of two, Denison may be in a better position to provide a critical mass of students in any given interest area to enhance day-to-day group experiences --- sports, clubs, road-trips, foreign-language study. Social atmosphere at Wittenberg reflects more of a need to value operating under your own steam as an autonomous individual. The experience at Wittenberg is enhanced if you make use of the school’s consortium association with other small schools as a way to connect with more like-minded people who just happen to be on different campuses. You are more likely to have close friends with different interests at Wittenberg, whereas your closest friends at Denison are more likely to be in a cluster of people who have basically the same interests as you. Denison is the more social of the two schools and you see it reflected in Greek Life which is your typical college partying scene. Once you become part of a group at Denison, Greek or otherwise, you are less likely to interact with others who are not in your group. Birds of a feather flock together --- it might feel cliquish to some people as it takes more strength of character to be an individual at Denison. I also remember hearing that there was some tension between different groups with ethnic/racial undertones at Denison a few years back, but I also know that the school administration has bent over backwards to overcome this challenge in addition to taking steps to neutralize Greek life in recent years.</p>
<p>I risk telling you something you already know in that North Carolina is a state to which developers are flocking in recent times. The textile mill boom that gave way to exporting this industry years ago created incentive to restructure and growth opportunities are clearly gaining momentum. Wake Forest and Elon University may well be benefiting indirectly from this trend. Several families I know have children at Wake. Socially speaking, this is a workhard-playhard environment with a conservative bent --- “intense” is the word that comes to mind. Small school playing in the big leagues puts the pressure on everyone to perform 24x7 in all they do. Greek life dominates downtime from academics and serves as a relief valve. Wake currently has a very homogenous student body, however I do know that there is a huge push to increase diversity on campus lately. School administration is academically driven and seems a little out-of-touch with students. It could be just me, but I get the feeling that the campus is a little polarized. I know Elon somewhat better in that I have kids at Elon, and can tell you that the feel of each of these schools is very different. At Wake you see kids who are numbers oriented and by-the-book when it comes to admissions stats --- outstanding in so many ways, but perhaps a tad bit over-geared to constantly putting out extreme effort and overachieving. In contrast, for kids in general at Elon, maximum effort appears to be a personal judgment call that balances academic life with social life. It’s a framework that appealed to my own kids when it came time to picking a college, though they would probably never admit it, as they were not immune to experiencing ups and downs in a very competitive high school environment and were looking for a personal fit that they could not describe. Everyone’s kids are unique so take this thought with that in mind --- my kids, different as they are from one another, are amazingly in synch with who they are academically and socially at Elon. Maybe it’s the influence of the engaged atmosphere promoted by the school, or maybe it’s the result of readiness for making intelligent choices that came about because of high school experiences, but I am having a hard time distinguishing between academic and social learning at Elon because one gives way to the other. Can’t be any more specific without giving away too much about my identity and potentially embarrassing my kids, so for anything more revealing on Elon you’ll just have to contact me by PM.</p>
<p>Enjoy the ride and good luck!</p>
<p>My D attends Wake Forest and loves it. She is a freshman and alway busy (they call it Work Forest). Beautiful campus, know there is an acapella group cuz they performed at parent's weekend, think they are very good.
D, who never went to parties or football games much in h.s. seems to enjoy these at Wake. Frats have "theme" parties on Fridays, and most kids go to football/basketball games. There is a substance free dorm at Wake which is quite nice. It seems that social activities are always available, and (hopefully) most don't involve alcohol. There really isnt a "college" town, but there are lots of restaurants and movie theaters around.</p>
<p>What I like about Wake, as a parent who lives over 2000 miles away, is that everyone is overly nice and it feel like a small, residential campus. Freshman are set up with an advisor and an advising group that meets regularly for dinner or coffee. My Ds largest class is 40, with her freshman seminar being around 12 students. My D is not the really outgoing type, yet she seems to be doing well socially and academically. Study abroad is very popular and encouraged. My D is also a democrat but not really involved. She complains that she has seen alot of info on Young Republicans, but not much on a Democrat club, but she may just not have seen it. Message me if I can be of help.</p>