In the college search for my D, I always ask people what they DON’T like about a particular school since it’s always good ot get pros and cons. My D is very, very interested in Elon, but besides the fact that it is in a remote location, I don’t see other negatives. I know it’s a strange question to ask, but it’s good to get it all in perspective…
I would argue it is not even in a remote location. Yes, the town of Elon is tiny, but it sits right next to the city of Burlington, with restaurants, fast food, 3 grocery stores, Target, BBB,and an outside mall/shopping center all within a mile or so of campus. There is a Tanger Outlet Mall 20 minutes down Route 85. The city of Raleigh is 45 minutes away and students do go there for events and concerts. More often, they go to Greensboro, which is just 20 minutes away and has a cute and walkable downtown with shopping and a number of good restaurants. Hanging Rock State Park is a popular destination when kids need a break from campus life (about an hour and 20 minute drive.) Many students take at least one trip to the NC beaches during their 4 years (3 hour drive), or Myrtle Beach (4 hour.) My D has never felt confined by the location of the campus. Kids who want a true city school may feel differently.
If Elon is long-distance from your home, then yes the travel planning, time and expense is part of the equation to consider, but so many students come from out-of-state that this is the norm and they all figure it out, including transportation to and from Raleigh airport.
The only thing we gripe about with Elon is their online billing system; it doesn’t do a good job of providing details when scholarship payments, stipends, or credits are applied. Seriously, that’s our only negative, and all that requires is an extra phone call or two!
Some people have had issues with getting sick appointments or less than satisfactory care at the health center, but that has not been our experience. There are also several urgent care centers in Burlington. My D had a good experience at one of them. Being in close proximity to Duke/UNC means there are good health care options should an emergency occur.
I guess it’s all in how you define remote. Elon is small town, but not remote. As noted above, nowadays there are shopping centers in Burlington, outlets in Mebane, a Barnes and Noble and restaurants right next to campus - very different from what Elon looked like decades ago when both the school and the town were named Elon College. Back then the only restaurant around was the Applebee’s, and you had to drive to Durham or Greensboro for most anything other than groceries.
It’s certainly not an urban center, and if you’re looking for lots of action and nightlife within walking distance, then you would be better off in a bigger city. But it’s not sitting out in the middle of cow pastures either.
That said, I did get a laugh when the Barnes and Noble opened. It’s a two-story store, and had the first escalator in Alamance County (most retail in the county is one story, the places that used to be retail before that were more than one story all had elevators but not escalators). There was a story in the newspaper about how to safely ride the escalator! Made we want to take that Sunday bath, hitch up the wagons and make a trip into the big city!
LOL - hitching up the wagon sounds pretty remote to me :). I think if she went, we would definitely send a car with her…
Kids generally don’t need cars at college, especially the first year. You want them to stay around campus and build relationships if possible. They also get bugged a lot by other students who are acquaintances, not real friends, for access to the car or rides.
I don’t have direct experience with Elon, but my friend transferred out of Elon because of diversity and fit. Elon has relatively little minorities and people of color at the university when compared to other colleges. As a minority, she felt a bit uncomfortable and never really felt at home there, so she decided to transfer.
It is also one of the least socioeconomically diverse schools in the country. Elon has the third fewest number of students eligible for Pell Grants after Muhlenburg and WUSTL (families making less than $60,000 annually). It also has the third highest percentage of students that come from families making more than $110,000 a year out of all 2,395 universities in the United States – let that sink in for a moment.
I imagine the effect is more strongly felt by minorities and those that do not come from affluent backgrounds at Elon and I don’t say this to bash Elon in any way, I also have friends that attended that were happy there, but because you asked that is something to consider – especially if you are from that background. There is also a large percentages of females involved in Greek life – which can be a positive or negative depending on your opinion of Greek Life.
It may not matter to you, but when we visited and asked about financial aid they told us they do not give out much since they have a small endowment. If you look at their common data set, the data there shows that. Maybe run the Net Price Calculator on it.
Interesting. @shawnspencer Where do you find those statistics? It would be interesting for other schools as well. Thanks.
Like @shawnspencer, I don’t have direct knowledge, but from what I have heard from parents of students there, or friends of D, is that for serious students, the school can seem to lack rigor or an intellectual feel.
Here are some articles with the statistics:
Racial Diversity: https://www.elon.edu/E/admissions/undergraduate/first-year-class-profile.html (They are getting better than year’s past, but the number of Asian-Americans at the school are especially low at 2%)
Pell Grants: http://hechingerreport.org/which-college-will-replace-wash-u-as-the-least-socioeconomically-diverse-in-the-country/
Socioeconomic diversity: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobility/elon-university (scroll down, the average family income is $208,300 and almost 80% of students come from the top 20%) <— this website is pretty cool, it tracks socioeconomic diversity (with rankings) across several schools and also upward mobility after college
There have also been a few College confidential posts about this and when you look at college review sites by students, diversity is often the number one thing that people say is lacking at the school aside from maybe dining, but that is common at many schools.
While it’s true Elon does not give as much aid as comparable schools, that’s because their sticker price starts out lower. Net price is what matters, not the total $$ in aid. They do have competitive merit programs that offer a chance at additional money, such as Honors and Fellows.
@shawnspencer That is a very cool website. Thank you. Some of the other schools my D is thinking of are on that list as well…
My daughter has had a very positive experience at Elon. Location has not been an issue and the only weakness I would consider is lack of diversity. Racial and economic diversity are clearly limited.