<p>Elon sounds like a great place from some of the books I've read but what can a current or recent student tell me?</p>
<p>What do the kids do for fun? Is there any diversity? What's a typical Elon student all about? Do you have to visit the school to be accepted? Are the dorms nice?</p>
<p>This is my son's first year at Elon. It is a perfect fit for him. Elon is a small school. Approx 5000 students. The campus is beautiful. My son is very happy with his classes and professors. Freshmen are required to take 19 hours. Doesn't seem to be a problem for him. If you are looking for a party school, this is not it. The town is small. If you are a student that likes to get involved then there is plenty to do. I do not think my son has time to party, he is too involved in on campus activities. His dorm is a little on the old side, but it is clean and well maintained. He loves it. If you are able, do yourself a favor and visit Elon.</p>
<p>My S is a sophomore at Elon. He likes the school, but with a little more of a guarded opinion. </p>
<p>The good: As noccamtmom says, for a relatively small school Elon goes out of its way to insure a ton of ways for students to get involved. They push "service learning" and "leadership skills" more than any school I've ever seen. My son, definitely not a social butterfly, has definitely found his niche with several campus groups, and since his second semester of of Freshman year he's been very actively involved in trying to get a new group off the ground. The Service Learning Center has been incredibly supportive of his efforts. Classes seem challenging but not overwhelming. Great study abroad options. Beautiful campus. Great musical theatre and communications activities (S isn't involved, but his friends are). Elon is a nice small town, but it is good to have a car or a friend with a car.</p>
<p>The bad: Greek life is larger than expected, as is the heavy drinking. Son was very educated about Elon's reputation in these areas and went in with his eyes open, but he was still surprised about just how pervasive the party hard atmosphere is. And this is a guy who hangs out with hard-drinking older firemen on a regular basis when at home! He has gotten involved in Safe Rides, so maybe he sees it on a more regular basis. The school needs more diversity, much more. I know they are trying, but it is disheartening to see just how far they have to go. Financial aid could be better, which results in a very heavy population of upper middle class and above (some FAR above) kids. That shouldn't be sterotyped, though. My son has some friends who are really quite wealthy, but are not preppy/snobby/elitist, etc. He was amazed, though -- seems like the first few weeks of school he didn't meet anybody whose families owned fewer than two vacation homes. We own, ummm, none. </p>
<p>Bottom line: Good academic school, populated by good, friendly (mainly white, mainly well off) kids. There are many, many worse places to spend 4 years! Emerge with a good education and good memories.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman. I tend to agree with lderochi, there is not much diversity and many of the students are from quite wealthy families. My d has made alot of friends but has had ''typical" issues with some of her suitemates. I think that is just part of college life--you're not going to get along with everyone. Elon is a small school and at times can seem like everyone is in your business. My d choose Elon because she received great scholarship monies. She's a presidential scholar and an Honor's Fellow.</p>
<p>Dorms: d tells me some are terrible, others like Danieley are pretty nice. Some of the suites in Danieley have washers/dryers in them!!!! The walk to classes isn't that bad either--some kids complain about this.
Parties: It's college of course there are parties. The school has really cracked down on punishments(fines/community service hours) if you get caught tho' especially in the first couple of weeks of school.
Greek life: According to d she has to be in a sorority because everyone else is... obviously not "everyone" is in a sorority but it must seem that way to her as all of her friends are in one or planning to rush.
A car: d doesn't have one and hasn't had too much trouble getting where she wants to go--friends come in very handy for this! Also, I'm pretty sure there is a shuttle that takes students to one of the shopping centers--I think it's the one where Target is. Also, there is a shuttle that goes to RDU and Greensboro airports at break times but they only have I think three runs so planning for flights is kind of a pain.</p>
<p>The best thing about Elon for my d though has been her advisors. They have spent many hours with her--she came in as an undecided major. They have been beyond helpful in guiding her and helping her decide her future. I can't say enough about how this aspect of being at a small school is making her experience extremely positive. This is her silver lining in deciding to attend and continue at Elon.</p>
<p>So for my d Elon was the right choice mainly because of her advisors. Some of her complaints about Elon have been diminished solely because of this.</p>
<p>Good luck with your college search---it's an incredibly stressful time (I was seriously stressed out from Oct last year until she figured out where she was going!!!)</p>
<p>The big thing about dorms is that most upperclassmen live off campus or in the Oaks. So even though the school is 5000 students, about 2500 actually live on campus; it's very easy for underclassmen to be singled out for having alcohol when there are no 21-year-olds around. Even in the 'bad' dorms, they're still nicer than most other colleges. Check out the Colonnades (dorms) if you're visiting.
And the car thing comes directly from the fact there are a lot of wealthy students. A lot of wealthy families are trying to save money by coming to Elon instead of another more expensive University, since they won't be getting any financial aid anyway.</p>
<p>Thank you for your honest assessments. </p>
<p>We just down-gradded Elon to "visit if we have time" for D's 4 day trip to Elon. D was attracted to Elon' b/c of the strength academic programs and the fact that is in NC (she wants warm weather, but not too far from home), but desciptions of the campus social culture were, in a word, off-putting. I was particularly troubled by the prominence of Greek life and the lack of diversity (we are a black family), as well as guide books stating that the campus is like a "contry club" and that girls are very concerned about their appearance and "really dress up, even for class." </p>
<p>D is not a strong enough to be considered for merit money, so there will be no generous scholarship to offset any negatives. </p>
<p>If we have time, we will still visit Elon, but I wll be looking with a very critical eye - - D is not a strong enough to be considered for merit money, so there will be no generous scholarship or other silver lining to offset any negatives.</p>
<p>
[quote]
We just down-gradded Elon to "visit if we have time" for D's 4 day trip to Elon.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Elon is a very small town. I don't see how you could spend 4 days there and not have time to visit the college. Actually, I do not see how it is possible to spend even a day there without seeing the college.</p>
<p>You ought to visit - it is a beautiful campus and a very friendly, welcoming atmosphere. The academics are strong and the emphasis on service and study abroad are very sincere. It is true that diversity is an area that Elon needs to address, but that won't be possible if students like your daughter don't even kick the tires and slam the doors. And, don't be so quick to dismiss the possibility of some sort of scholarship money from a college interested in increasing its diversity.</p>
<p>Good luck on your college road trip!</p>
<p>As I'm sure that some of my comments have contributed to your decision, I really am sorry that you're taking a pass -- and I hope you'll reconsider. Elon's lack of diversity is, indeed, my biggest issue with Elon. But I believe very strongly that Elon's administration is committed in this area. And I should note that during Parent's Weekend I had a very nice conversation with an African-American dad who said that his daughter was thrilled with Elon. Greek life, eh. There are other things to do, and my son has found them. And I do believe the guide book comment about "dressing up for class" is really out there. My son also rolled his eyes when he first read that during HS, and he laughs about it now. Unless sweatpants are now considered "dressing up", that comment is pretty dated. :)</p>
<p>Dear NYC,
I am a sophomore at Elon and I wanted to say I really think you should still consider Elon as a school to look at. To be fair when my mother first tried to coax me out of bed to visit I rolled over in bed, uttered some obscenities, and dismissed it as a party school. Clearly the visit changed my mind and I have to say I'm very happy to have not only come here, but stayed here. Greek life should not be something to worry about when applying to Elon. Yes there are plenty of Greek kids, and then there are plenty of non-Greek students. I myself am unaffiliated, as are all but one of my close friends, yet I still have other friends who are also in fraternities and I still hang out with. The Greeks seem more dominant than they really are simply because of the Greek pride on campus and the fact that they throw a lot of the parties around campus. As an unaffiliated guy I've never found it hard to get into parties or to find things to do.
Elon students do party, there's no question about that, and I think we do party hard and have a good time, but when class time comes we get our work done. If there's any reason Elon students party hard it's because the fact that so many of us work hard. A common complaint is that there is a lack of things to do around campus, which I think has some merit, but not as much as people would believe. Elon is in a great location in NC surrounded by colorful and interesting rural NC. I myself and from Raleigh and have still managed to meet some of the most interesting people around here. The school also does a lot to offer alternatives to drinking on the weekends, unfortunately they're really just horrible at advertising them. If you look hard though you can find'm. I spent 4 days in DC at Georgetown for a Model UN conference and I didn't have to pay for anything but my own food. I realize I sound like I must work for the school or something, but I don't. I really just love my school and I don't want anyone to miss out on this wonderful place I take so much pride in attending and am so happy to call home.
Sincerely,
Elondude</p>
<p>We too are planning a trip the Triad area (I doubt nyc is spending all 4 days in Elon). We have scaled-back out trip and will probably by-pass Elon (on advice from iderochi and others). More than the lack of racial diversity (6% black enrollment seems a bit low for NC, but that number is certainly do-able), I found the following description on the Princeton Review off-putting:</p>
<p>Elon Students Say...
“Attending Elon is a lot like attending a country club,” students tell us, observing that “your typical Elon girl is clad in Vera Bradley and her Greek letters (don’t forget the popped collar underneath [her] letter shirt!), and dresses to the max whether it’s an 8:00 A.M. class or it’s 2:00 A.M. in the library. For the typical Elon boy, it’s a polo and shaggy hair. That says it all.” </p>
<p>YIKES!!! The descriptions goes on to say that the atypical goups on campus include "Army ROTC cadets, the theater people, the musicians, and the socialites." (Socialites in addit to the popped collar, Vera Bradley girls!)</p>
<hr>
<p>"It is true that diversity is an area that Elon needs to address, but that won't be possible if students like your daughter don't even kick the tires and slam the doors."</p>
<p>That may be true, but there are sooo many schools and too little time to visit then all. Anyway, I have left the afternoon of our arrival free, and if we have time (no flight delays, no problem picking up the rented car, don't get too lost, etc.), we may buzz the campus - - though iderochi says Guilford and UNC-G are a better fit for my D. (I'm still hoping she'll get those grades/scores up and that UNC-Asheville will be in play.)</p>
<hr>
<p>My D is soooo NOT into model UN ("that's for kids who like the sound of their own voices").</p>
<p>The Princeton Review Elon is not the one I've seen. My son is a freshman, and although several of his friends wear the Eastern prep school look, he's been wearing T-shorts and shorts all semester and fitting in just fine. He loves it. I mean loves it. The professors are friendly and helpful, the campus is beautiful (as are the girls), and there are lots of things to do. The kids are from all over and very friendly. I met many of them at orientation and parents weekend and could not be more impressed. I agree that the biggest negative is there are not many minorities, and my son agrees. There do seem to be a lot of wealthy kids, but not off-putting- he and his dormmates all debate whether they want to spend the $10 for a dinner off campus. Not that many of his dormmates have cars, but enough do so he can get where he needs to be. My son likes the partying scene and he's happy with the social life, but he's always been anti-fraternity (the preppy stereotype thing) so it's bee a surprise to him how welcoming it is. Elon appears to have an enthusiasic inclusive greek life, if that makes sense. I'm not sure if my son will rush, but I am sure he'll be welcome by his friends who do. And no matter what, he will always love this school, as do we. Being waitlisted by Duke led him to the perfect school for him.</p>
<p>I toured Elon with my daughter last spring and found the students to be dressed like kids at any middle class high school , mostly jeans, shorts, sweats , t shirts , sneakers and flip flops.
As for minority representation , the degree of comfort is an individual choice , but 6% black enrollment is not low for private colleges of this size.I also struck up a conversation on campus with an Elon senior at lunch (not on the tour),African American ( a pretty cool dude)and he told me he was very happy with his experience , I believe he was from baltimore if I can remember that far back.Maybe you can contact someone at Elon regarding diversity to get some insight.
If you can deal with the small town (even though it is just off the interstate ) Elon looks like a winner!</p>
<p>Foolishpleasure,
I think that Elondude's assessment as a current student was about as sincere and informative as any could have been....and I feel that your final comment about the model UN activities was inappropriate, rude even. As far as PrincetonReview is concerned, many schools are classified as "popped collar" and the like. Based on the research that I've done, this school sounds like a wonderful place to spend 4 years and appears to have a good deal of progressive momentum going. Elondude, thanks for further confirming this for me and others. That was a genteel and thoughtful post.</p>
<p>Foolishpleasure:</p>
<p>Yes, of course, what appears in a college review book is always 100% accurate so no real need to go and take a look for yourself. Why even bother to make a road trip to actually visit any schools? Just make your choices out of the book!</p>
<p>The thing is that there were some schools that on paper sounded perfect for my S when he was looking (SUNY-Geneseo, American, U. Richmond) and my D as she has been looking (Villanova, Wake Forest, Duke, Emory) but turned out not so much when we visited. There were also a few that my children were not terribly interested in at first (Ithaca College, Elon, Lehigh, Bucknell) but turned out to be pleasant surprises and ended up high on their lists. </p>
<p>Frankly, between the college search of my children, I have visited some 30+/- college campuses over the past four years and the students at all of them dress pretty much the same - jeans, shorts, sweats, t-shirts, polos, hoodies, fleece jackets and pullovers, sneakers, flip-flops, slippers (yes, bedroom slippers), and those boots the girls all like (this includes Elon). I do not find that passage from the Princeton Review believable or credible. </p>
<p>I have no dog in this thing - my daughter has Elon fairly high on her list and I would be happy to see her go there, but that is the extent of my ties to the school. But it concerns me that eliminating schools based on such arbitrary things as a snarky comment in a review book could cause your D to miss out on visiting some schools that might be a good fit for your D.</p>
<p>Anyway, whatever schools you do end up visiting, good luck on your road trip!</p>
<p>Hmmm, I have found many - - though by no means all - - comments in review books to be both accurate and therefore helpful in terms on narrowing down the list. But of course no method is fool-proof: a school that looks good on paper may disappoint in person; a student may mistakenly believe a school is a good fit because of her rapport with the guide or a small group of students who are not represenative of the student body in general or a student may attend a special on-campus recruintment program during which the campus is hoppin', only to discover that on many weekends there's nothing to do.</p>
<p>Also, I for one, have read many a snarky comment on these boards (most recently a post about a Vandy prospect being greeted by a host student whose fancy car was covered with sorority stickers). That's what happens when people express their opinions. I think one difference here is that the snarky comment is repeated on the school's own board (the Vandy comment was on another school's board, explaining why the prospect was more comfortable at school X than at Vandy).</p>
<p>Likewise, I have noticed that critical comments are perhaps dismissed too quickly as "arbitrary" or unimportant. Anything a family considers important is a legit basis for adding or dropping a school from its list. On a number of boards, well-meaning posters urge black parents to look past a schools lack of diversity (don't be fixated on an arbitrary number or percentage). There are also any number of posts denouncing the SAT and standardized tests as arbitrary measures. This suggests that an "arbitrary" factor is just a factor that the poster doesn't value. </p>
<p>I think the description of the Elon student body could give many parents pause. (K9 and Epinomis, interesting that the former says all kids wear jeans/hoodies and the latter says "popped collar" can describe many campuses!) But I'm surprised that such tame comments by a prospect who is willing to look past the lack of diversity - - which a number have acknowledged is a definite weakness - - would be met with such negative response. (I'm also sorry for having started the fire storm.) I also suspect there is more of the country club atmosphere at Elon than would be a good fit for FP and that's why Iderochi, a die-hard Elon booster, suggested more hippie/counter-culture schools. </p>
<p>Most colleges and universities are a good place for some segment of the applicant population - - but not for all applicants. The trick is narrowing down the list to those schools that will be a good match for your child. And, as Brave Ulysses noted, the degree of comfort on any campus is an individual choice.</p>
<p>Well, I wouldn't say die-hard, more non-life-threatening-mild-disease-hard :)</p>
<p>But it's true, no school is a good fit for everyone. My son took several schools off his initial list that sound like perfectly wonderful places. Of course no school is going to be perfect -- the point of all this is to find a school that is a good fit for the student, warts and all. I don't have any problem with someone using their own criteria, no matter how idiosyncratic, to find and/or narrow down their own list. With respect to ethnic diversity, I always wonder how many white students would want to attend a HBC with a 5% white enrollment. I wouldn't criticize anyone for taking a pass, just like I'm not going to criticize an African-American student who doesn't want to attend Elon due to its low diversity numbers. </p>
<p>But turning to the guidebooks, and PR in particular, I do have to say that the comments about many schools, including Elon, seem really off base and very dated. I saw the same comments in this edition as I did in the edition my son had from 6 years ago. God knows how far back it goes. I've found others to be better -- Insider's Guide, Fiske are two.</p>
<p>I would hardly call this discussion a firestorm - check out some of the School A vs. School B threads. The point was simply that you shouldn't always believe everything that you read and that a campus visit can help you confirm or disprove what you may have read about a school.</p>
<p>My observation about the mode of dress of college students included more than "jeans/hoodies" and did note that polos are common, some of them even with "popped" collars. In Monty Python and the Holy Grail King Arthur tries to convince a peasant working in the fields of his divine right to rule by noting how he received Excaliber from the mystical Lady of the Lake. The peasant points out that receiving a piece of cutlery from a watery tart is hardly the basis for a form of representative government (paraphrasing). Whether college students wear their polo shirt collars down or up hardly seems like it should be the deciding factor on where one gets an education. Although I guess that makes as much sense as choosing a college based on the ranking of its football team . . .</p>
<p>Iderochi, thanks for providing the clarification. Yes, what I meant is that the preppy dress classification has been given to so many schools on Princeton Review that once I started seeing it over and over again, I stopped reading those comments and began looking at that sight only for the stats. I personally feel that comments from current students are the most relevant; of course, every student will have his/her own unique experience, thus making generalizations difficult here as well. I'll add College ******* to your list - you have to pay for the guide if you want it in full, but you can access parts of it online for free. Also, I check the sports rosters at colleges to see if a school is making a concerted effort to diversify geographically or otherwise, or is content with a more regional bent.</p>
<p>Just to add to the discussion. My D and I just got back from a weekend at Elon. She was auditioning for their BFA program and then we stayed for the Open House the next day. She absolutely LOVED the school putting it way at the top of her list. Interesting enough none of the things that have been discussed were relevant to her decision. She was thrilled with the curriculum, and the study abroad and internship opportunities. We both felt that the faculty was really there for its students and were more concerned with the students and what was right for them and less concerned about trying to impress us with statistics and facts about the SCHOOL. We both really thought that was a strong point. No school has everything. Each student comes to the table with different needs. That is why they call it a "fit". Size, location, curriculum, diversity, Greek Life, cost...all the factors are important-some more than others depending on who you are and what makes you tick. Sometimes you hear something said that seems to make no sense to your child but to someone else it is of utmost important. I would encourage anyone looking at Elon to do so with an open mind and make sure they look at what is really important to them. (Sometimes what is important to us as parents is not so important to our children.) As to preppy, clothing and attitude, I did not see much difference in any of the students we have seen so far and we have visited small, large, pricey, State schools, urban and rural campuses. Kids are kids and they will find the group on campus that they make them feel at home. I think sometimes conversations get heightened because this is such a scary and important decision and we as parents have an enormous amount of emotions invested in our children and how they will spend the next several years of their life.
Again, if Elon is on your list and your child thinks it sounds like a program that might work for them I would highly suggest going there, I know it made a tremendous difference to us.</p>
<p>With the noteable exception of Iderochi, every parent or student who is happy with a school encourages others to "visit and see for yourself." But most families are unable (or are understandably unwilling) to visit the 18 school on the applicant's working list. Thus, one turns to other resources to assist in determining where to make the cut. </p>
<p>Whether a student wears a polo or a hoodie may be a poor basis for deciding where one gets an education. But applicant families are looking at academics AND fit, and the polo/hoodie quotient (if accurate) may say something about fit, likewise the reports that girls dess up, even for late-nite sudying (the latter being of more concern to my family).</p>
<p>And, as only one posted noted, I did day that we would keep an open mind about Elon - -to the extent that if we had time we would visit. We bumped Elon to a "maybe" before reading the PR description - - at most, the description confirmed our sense that a number of schools were a better fit than Elon. (I have been surprised by how many New Eng schools she has kept in the running, despite initially insisting that she warm weather was a "must have.")</p>