<p>Are you gonna give reasons why?</p>
<p>Elon:
* The Education Trust recognizes Elon for excellence in freshman retention and outstanding graduation rates
* The Fiske Guide to Colleges ranks Elon one of 28 "best buy" private universities
* Kiplinger's Personal Finance ranks Elon # 1 in the "total costs category" among the nation's top 50 best value private universities
* Newsweek-Kaplan named Elon the hottest college in the nation for student engagement in its 2006 guide
* U.S.News & World Report ranks Elon # 3 among southern master's-level universities</p>
<p>UNC:
U.S. News & World Report Magazine, 2007 Edition</p>
<pre><code>* Fifth among the nation's top public universities and 27th overall among both public and private campuses. Among public campuses, the University of California at Berkeley ranked first, followed in a tie for second by the universities of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Virginia. The University of California at Los Angeles was fourth, followed by UNC at fifth for the sixth consecutive year. These same five campuses have either traded or tied for the top five slots in the U.S. News public campus category over the past several years.
Among undergraduate business programs, the Kenan-Flagler Business School ranked fifth nationwide.
In other U.S. News rankings, Kenan-Flagler Business School tied for fifth with the New York University and the University of Texas at Austin among undergraduate business degree programs. Kenan-Flagler tied for third among public campuses. Kenan-Flagler was listed fifth for marketing and tied for fifth in productions/operations management. Other specialties ranked were management (fourth) and marketing (fifth).
UNC ranked first among national public campuses and ninth overall in "Great Schools, Great Prices," based on a formula determining which schools offer best value by relating academic quality to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of financial aid. Another category – least debt among students – listed UNC 18th among public campuses and 22nd overall with 34 percent of graduates posting an average debt totaling $13,801 in 2005.
U.S. News included Carolina in a category called "programs to look for" -- highlighting outstanding examples of academic programs that lead to student success.
Carolina was listed among 15 campuses, including four publics, with exemplary senior capstone experiences. Such honors programs permit students to create a special senior project integrating what they have learned. Carolina was among 40 public and private campuses cited for their first-year experiences programs, which include first-year seminars and other programs bringing small groups of students together with faculty and staff on a regular basis. UNC was one of 18 public campuses selected.
Links: UNC News Release
http://www.usnews.com
</code></pre>
<p>ns347: Great comparison post.</p>
<p>I would also suggest simply ignoring unccharlotte's posts. First she was a community college student and a "shoo-in" for transferring into UNC-CH. Then she was probably going to get into Harvard, too, she said, and then suddenly she got rejected as a transfer student (long before anyone else had heard); a few days later (after her apparent rejection from UNC), she decided to "withdraw her application, because," she said, "she got into another university;" after that, she posted that she had decided to stay at her CC. So I'm guessing this person is not a student anywhere, and who knows why she posts what she does, or at all. Bizarre.</p>
<p>Elon is better academically than Carolina. IMHO</p>
<p>Elon thrives in engineering as well as the the hard sciences. Elon has a diverse student body and small class sizes. Carolina has no engineers. U.S. News is Biased. </p>
<p>From article:</p>
<p>A revolt is brewing among college presidents against the influential college rankings put out each year by U.S. News & World Report. </p>
<p>Dozens of schools have recently refused to fill out surveys used to calculate ranks, and efforts are now afoot for a collective boycott. </p>
<p>Colleges have complained in the past about the rankings. But recent events have rallied opposition, including the tying of presidential pay to ranking at Arizona State University and accusations by the president of Sarah Lawrence College that the magazine threatened to use hocus-pocus data to stand in for average SAT scores at the school.</p>
<p>Carolina has a much better reputation, and much better employment aspects (lots of Carolina grads in NYC, for example) than Elon, something which I can say is true for sure after going to college up north and talking to a bunch of people from here. Whenever I mention I'm from NC, Duke and UNC are the only schools brought up--hardly anybody has heard of Elon unless they have a friend going there. </p>
<p>Not to mention the fact that UNC has world-class profs in many areas, while Elon, well, doesn't really</p>
<p>Elon is known internationally. Carolina, by contrast, is known, well, because of Michael Jordan. Only one in in three students at Elon is from North Carolina, and, well, all students from Carolina are from in-state. I just polled a few random people at Durham, NC (cluster sample). The poll results are as follows to the question: "Which school is better Carolina or Harvard": 3 said Harvard, and 7 said Carolina. Note: 10 people were used in the survey. My conclusion, most people thought I was talking about athletics. Well, I suppose we know what most people think is most important, which is athletics. To be like most, go to Carolina. To be like the few and the great, go to Elon. JMHO</p>
<p>This is getting ridiculous. It's basically just arguing with a wall. A stupid, wrong, and stubborn wall. If everyone just ignores these ridiculous claims, they'll go away.</p>
<p>khizzle</p>
<p>It is growing more apparent that uncccharlotte has a very large ax to grind concerning UNC. I'm not sure that I have ever seen such absurd comments regarding any school, let alone UNC in the four plus years I have been active on CC.</p>
<p>unccharlotte</p>
<p>I would strongly suggest that if you are having that much difficulty dealing with rejection from UNC, you might want to seek someone to discuss your situation with rather than continuing to pour out the type of vitriol and nonsense that is making you look foolish. </p>
<p>Elon is a very fine school, but it is NOT UNC. My OOS D and several of her friends were accepted to Elon and offered money there as well but were rejected outright from UNC. We were not surprised at the UNC rejection because we know how high the bar is for OOS students. In the end, she and her best friend chose other options as well and are both very happy.</p>
<p>There is a school that is right for everyone and I hope that you find the one that will fit your needs and ultimately make you happy.</p>
<p>unccharlotte: I hope ur not planning to be a stats major.</p>
<p>But what about the muscial theatre component( or theatre) in UNC vs. Elon? Can you get as good of preparation at UNC in acting as ELon? I feel like that is what it is coming down to for my D. SHe almost has to choose between academics and MT and she does not want to sacrifice either. She is an academic actor/MT person. There is so much preassure on the "name" ..do you all feel that it make a difference at graduation? Or is it the training?</p>
<p>The comment about stats major made me laugh.</p>
<p>unccharlotte is cracking me up - almost as much as the palpable frustration evident in the responses to him/her. </p>
<p>UNC was always my dream school - I couldn't go there because my parents couldn't afford it so I had to go to poor old William and Mary - poor me. (Best thing I ever did btw.) Regardless, UNC is great - Chapel Hill is great and it does have a better academic reputation on a national level. If you want a personal relationship with your professors in a more nurturing academic environment, choose Elon. What I don't understand is why the OP is not seriously considering a state university in NY - with a full ride!! Bank that money and start your own business and buy Elon, or save the money for graduate school.</p>
<p>I would also agree with catera45. There is too much financial difference, and thus Elon is a better fit. It should be an easy choice. </p>
<p>For those who have palpable frustration. Elon is not a better school than Carolina! However, it depends by major as well as a person's likes. However, this is not to say that Elon is not a top-notch school, because it is. This is based on subjectivity from people who have innate preferences. People associate likes and dislikes to distinct characterizations that they have of objects, places, and the like.</p>
<p>Does anyone know about the theatre program? Playmakers and the MFA program looks fabulous! Do theatre majors get much stage time at UNC?
Is it a great liberal arts education without alot of theatre at the BA level or could a program be put together bewteen the music department and the drama dept.?</p>
<p>mhappiness,
Did you look through this thread?
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=98500&highlight=elon+musical+theater%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=98500&highlight=elon+musical+theater</a></p>
<p>I have been rushing to the computer every day to check on this thread. I am grateful to the OP for posting because we are facing exactly the same dilemna. DD got signifcant money from Elon, alng with an invitation to the Honors program. She got a a very positive feeling from the campus and the Honors Fellows students when we were there. She was admitted OOS to Chapel Hill, and we all know what an accomplishment that is. She is going to talk her counselor today, in hopes of clarifying her thoughts and coming to a decision. She MUST decide today because she is leaving town for an academic (We the People) competition and if she decides for UNC she has to sign up for the Math SATII by TOMORROW!!! For me, it comes down to this: will being in the Honors program at Elon give her an education equal to what she would get at Chapel Hill?? Will the individual attention she would get at Elon make up for the loss of a UNC diploma??? I am a UNC alumna, but DD says I have been good about not pressuring her in a certain direction. I want the best for her. I will accept her decision (I will repeat this until I believe it.) Any last-minute advice will be appreciated.</p>
<p>Well, here's my take (and this is really just my opinion--so take it with a grain of salt). I think way too much is made of the "individual attention" and nurturing at these small schools. How much individual attention does one person need, anyway? </p>
<p>My guess is, since your daughter was accepted to UNC (especially out-of-state, where only 1 in 10 applicants are accepted), she is a quite capable and probably fairly independent individual (just a guess). While UNC is obviously much larger than Elon, as you know, students aren't just thrown to the wolves, left to fend for themselves out there in the cold. They're not roaming around all alone, wishing for faculty to pay attention to them and desperately wanting friends. (But, surely, you already know all this.) Faculty members are quite accessible; they do get to know their students; and once you get past any entry level courses, the classes (especially honors) are not that large. It's a friendly place and easy to make friends.</p>
<p>I have nothing against Elon; kids who go there seem to truly love it. It has a beautiful campus. Your concern (or my concern if it was my kid) would be: will she get bored before the end of that 4 years; will she be challenged as much as she should be, academically; and because the school is so much smaller, will she receive all the benefits and offerings she would receive at UNC? She might want to look past the size of the classes to see what else is offered at each school in terms of what makes a campus "rich."</p>
<p>That said, if she loves Elon and received a scholarship there, she may be very happy. I can only tell you that all that "individual attention" (whatever that means) would have suffocated my own kid. In fact, she went to an excellent small private school in Manhattan where we lived when she was much younger (K-3rd grade), at a time when you'd expect a kid to love all that individual attention, and even at that age, she couldn't stand the hovering. So, only you and your kid know if "individual attention" and the honors program at Elon are worth it. My kid went to a very large, excellent, and diverse inner-city public magnet high school that she loved and where she thrived, and that she navigated quite well. So the size of UNC simply didn't faze her. If your daughter is used to a much smaller high school environment, perhaps Elon would be a better fit. </p>
<p>Again, just my opinion. I doubt it helps, but hope so.</p>
<p>I would do everything in my power to avoid Burlington, NC. Any education is what you make of it, but at UNC you'll have such an easier time meeting intelligent, fun, kids.</p>
<p>If anyone from my school read comments even putting Elon NEAR UNC in its experience/academic rigor/selectivity they would do some kind of spit take. Even in state, Elon is the school for kids who get rejected from UNC or State.</p>
<p>I'm sure I'll offend someone here, and I'm sorry, but I just want everyone considering Elon to know that my opinion, even if not PC, is very well represented in and out of the state of North Carolina.</p>
<p>msreadalot - assuming Elon and UNC were equal with regard to reputation, which would your daughter choose? I would choose UNC over Elon except for certain areas where Elon outshines UNC, like musical theater. However, I doubt she will be bored at Elon - how many kids write home complaining that "everything is great, but I sure wish my classes were harder and more challenging?" The atmosphere of the two seems really different to me so it seems that might be the deciding factor. I would be drawn more to UNC; my daughter would probably fit in better at Elon. Does she see herself joining a sorority, for example?</p>