My D has been accepted to Roanoke and their honors college. We will be going to visit in Feb for one of their academic exploration days and and Honors Program luncheon. We are not from the VA area so we don’t know much about the school. Does anyone have experience with Roanoke? She plans to major in secondary education & math. Any thought, opinions or feedback would be great. Thanks so much!!!
@mamawitch – My D20 was also accepted to Roanoke. We visited. My D is looking for small schools…but found Roanoke a little too small (2,000 students) for her. My DH and I loved the school and surrounding town of Salem which is just outside Roanoke. You will never be a # and as a student you will be able to make strong connections with professors. While they provided a very generous financial aid package for D20 it will still be a stretch for us with her twin S20 starting as well. It’s not totally off the table though as D20 is still waiting to hear from her top pick UMW.
@scoutmom2002 My D also wants smaller, but I was afraid Roanoke would be too small as well. She’s also looking at CNU in VA. I think the size is better, but coming from OOS, I like the fact that Roanoke is private. I worry that it could be hard for an insecure teenage girl to find her group in a school that many already know each other.
@mamawitch - CNU and UMW on my D’s list. Honestly I don’t think my also shy insecure teenage girl would know anyone at CNU either. She’ll be making new friends wherever she goes as I’m sure your D would as well 
@mamawitch , my son is a senior at Roanoke College. He double majored in business and computer science. Received a very nice merit award. We’re from NJ. He’s enjoyed his time there. Beautiful campus and the students can walk to Main Street in Salem, which has restaurants, shops, etc. Walmart a few miles down the street. Greek life/partying was not his scene. He developed nice friendships with students with similar interests. He was not in the Honors program but will be graduating either cum laude or above. Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.
Thanks so much @123France I sent you a PM. I don’t know why Roanoke doesn’t get a thread in the list of colleges and universities on this site.
Hi @mamawitch. I have seen your post on CNU as my son got in there as well and we are in VA. My son had looked at RC at one time for a sport but decided this summer he didnt want to play in college. Personally he thought RC was way too small but I liked it. It has a really nice athletic center. CNU is definitely a different vibe. A bit bigger and the buildings are all newer. Nice dorms at CNU. My son will probably be going to a much bigger school
My daughter is has also been admitted to the Honors Program at RC and we’re heading there next week for exploration day and a couple other things. She’s mostly applied to very small colleges and is comfortable with that, although the large number of students from “up north” is a drawback from her/our standpoint as it changes the flavor from Southern to … not Southern. Still, she really enjoyed the school on our one visit and they’ve made every effort to make her feel wanted by the college. I have a current graduate student in my class who went there and totally loved it, so we’re eager to find out more.
@jgwolf S19 is at UF so this is a whole new group of schools we’ve been looking at for D20. The majority of schools seem small compared to Florida!! During her Feb vacation we’re going to look at RC for the 1st time, then a revisit to Elon and CNU. Hopefully, she’ll get a better idea then.
@ammforccw They definitely do a great job of “showing the love” to their admitted students!! I think that’s one of the things that she likes about the school. I’m not sure how to take your comment about the students from “up north” being a drawback though. My daughter is coming from Maine and wants to branch out from what she knows. I hope the other students embrace her and don’t think she’s ruining the flavor of the school. She hopes to meet people from all areas of the country.
Does anyone have experience with experience of diversity and inclusion at Roanoke? We are interested in good LAC’s woth possible merit for B/B+ kids but being over 82% white and less than 6% African American in VA is a concern.
So sorry about the typos! Should have put on my glasses LOL.
HI, @BktoNJ , my son is a senior at Roanoke and happens to be bi-racial (Asian/white). We’re from NJ. He was a B+ HS student and received very good merit aid. Yes, Roanoke is over 80% white. I see that they have a Black Student Alliance and have had diversity speakers/events throughout the time my son has been there. Of course, my son cannot speak to what life is like at Roanoke College for an African American student. I would suggest visiting, if possible, while school is in session so you and your child could get a feel for the school.
Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions regarding Roanoke.
@123France Thank you so much. It sounds like it’s been great for your son. That’s wonderful. My son is white (and Jewish) but has always lived and gone to school in either integrated or majority black places. We put a high value on his ability to learn and evolve in an environment that faces racial issues corageously and realistically for the whole community. The percentage of one group or another on campus doesn’t tell the whole story one way or the other of course but going to the south to a school that has not succesfully integrated even to the standards of private colleges raises some questions. Only way to know is to hear from community members, so thank you.
We have since found out that it doesn’t offer some of the programs that he’s interested in so my be a moot question afterall for us.
Hello 123France! Are you still around? My daughter is Asian (I’m not) and I’m curious to know more about your sons experience at Roanoke.
@MsAdventure , my son, who is biracial ( half Chinese half white) enjoyed his time at Roanoke. Graduated in 2020. Computer science and business major, non partier. Had a nice group of ( non athletic) friends. Is there anything specific you’d like to know about Roanoke College?
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Hi! Yes,I have some questions… we visited yesterday & my daughter liked it a lot. They said about 20% of students were Greek but most of the online student reviews say it seems much more than that. More like it’s a big part of campus & cliquey. D24 hates the whole frat/sorority thing in general. My oldest 2 sought out schools that didn’t have them. What’s your overall thought at Greek life at RC?
Also, some seem to say it’s very rigorous academically & it’s almost impossible to get an A by design. Is this just slackers moaning? Haha
Hi! I know your note was directed to someone else but wanted to share my child’s experience at Roanoke related to your two questions as well in case it’s helpful.
Greek life is definitely visible on campus. The way my son describes it—if you’re interested in parties, Greek life is the center of that. If parties aren’t how you want to spend your nights, there is plenty else to do and plenty of others to do it with. Additionally because Roanoke doesn’t allow first years to rush until second semester it gives people a chance to get to know each other without the pressure of who’s Greek and who isn’t. My S never had an interest, had a great group friends—two do whom did rush first semester Sophomore year. S looked into it this semester, confirmed he wasn’t into it and they are all still friends.
I’ve definitely heard the same re: hard to get an A from S and his friends. Hard but not impossible. For me—I don’t hate that at all. The one exception would be if someone was interested is applying to med school after or some other program where GPA rules all. Otherwise it seems to create an environment where focus is on learning rather than grades.
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I asked my son again about Greek life and he said that it’s there for those who want to partake, but you do not need to go Greek to enjoy a social life. My son would have been the last person to join a fraternity. Instead, he joined the board game group. He would also have been the last person to join a sports team and never went to one game. Hence, he wasn’t’ “in” with the Greeks and athletes, but had a good number of friends and an active social life.
As for grades, my son was a double major in computer science and business. He worked hard, spent many nights in the computer lab until 2:00 AM and graduated cum laude. I’ve never heard about it being impossible to get an A. IMO, if you’re serious about your school work, you should do well. My son did know of a handful of people who didn’t return to Roanoke for academic reasons. He chalked it up to skipping class and not doing the work for the most part.
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Thanks guys! After our “debrief” haha the school is a fit is so many ways. It’s good to hear the Greek thing isn’t too much of an issue for some of you guys. It is reassuring because it just seems like now that we’re asking everyone in any way affiliated, one of the first things they ask is - is she interested in a Sorority??? She isn’t. At all. Not in the slightest. And seems even less so as the days pass. It’s making us question because we’re asking everyone with any kind of link to the schools she’s interested in for their input. This is the only one asking us/her that. 
. I don’t want to write it off for a silly reason!