Why choose elon

Colleges and Universities A-Z Elon University
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<p>My daughter just went through recruiting and is pledging a sorority. However, like all Elon students she was not Greek affiliated during her first semester or winter term, and she had a great time. She did go to frat parties, but she also did other things.</p>

<p>Elon’s on-campus Greek houses only hold a dozen kids each, and they don’t provide meals. So the Greek/non-Greek split is not nearly as pronounced as it is at schools where most of the fraternity/sorority live in the house and eat on the house’s meal plan, because the kids don’t eat and live separately.</p>

22

<p>My daughter is also pledging. It was quite a chaotic week and not fun for the ones who weren’t chosen. But next year she and three friends will be living together- two of the four are not in sororities.</p>

23

<p>I have been off CC for awhile so I just saw this thread. My d is very happy with Elon.
She did not rush and seems happy with her decision. I was worried since I knew she would not rush at any school. I was not sure how that was going to play out at Elon which has a high percentage of affiliated greek students. So far so good. </p>

<p>As to the school, here are the positives so far. The classes are as promised small and the students do engage with their professors. They seem to care about the students. My d picked Elon for the professors, location ( north to her), and the overall good vibe she felt. She does not eat meat and is very happy with the dining choices. She loves her hall and has made friends. She is happy, doing better academically than I imagined so as a mom I am happy too. </p>

<p>Elon is far from home and she has made that transition beautifully. Some of her friends at other schools far from home may transfer back closer. I think some kids do better with this than others. She only knows of one possible transfer out of Elon. The student doesn’t hate it but it was not the first choice and I think wanted a more urban/college town setting.</p>

<p>Hope this helps!</p>

24

<p>A question about rushing…at my D1’s school, if you attend everything required during rush, you will receive a bid to a sorority. Might not be the house you hoped but you do get a bid. Based on the comment above by BLK616, it sounds like you could go through rush and not be accepted by any sorority. Can anyone confirm? (Seems so harsh!)</p>

25

<p>Sorority recruiting (they don’t call it rush) at Elon is a mutual selection process. It takes place during “Fake Break,” the week between winter term and spring term, at the end of January. It is designed that there will be a place for everyone. I’m not sure it always works out that way, but that is the goal. For example, if there are 8 sororities and 400 girls rushing, then each sorority will take 50 girls. Sororities can’t say, “Sorry, we only want 20.” So at least in theory, there is a place for everyone.</p>

<p>If you’re interested in the details: Elon has 8 sororities (and a 9th is colonizing now). This year there were about 450 girls who started the rush process! They are divided into smaller groups, each group has a Psi Chi - an older sorority girl who has chosen to temporarily disaffiliate from her sorority to counsel and guide girls who are going thru the recruitment process. </p>

<p>The first day all girls visited all 8 sororities. After that day, the girls pick 2 sororities to “drop.” The sororities make a list of the girls that they want to invite back (not sure exactly how the numbers work, but they don’t cut very many). The next day, the girls return to the sororities that invited them back. They go a maximum of 6 sororities - if all 8 sororities invited them back, they don’t go to the ones they dropped. If less than 6 invited them, they have to go to all the ones they’re invited to (even if it’s a sorority they chose to drop). After that second day, the girls again pick 2 more to drop, and the sororities whittle their list further. Third day, the girls visit a maximum of 4 sororities. Both the girls and sororities trim their lists further, and on the 4th day - “Preference Day” - the girls go to 2 sororities. After preference day, the girls pick their first and second choice sorority. The sororities take their list and give the top half of girls a 1, the lower half a 2. Then they are matched up (I think all this is done by a computer). In the end, everyone who goes to preference round will be placed in one of the 2 sororities they saw that day.</p>

<p>This year, my D told me that 450 girls started rush. Some dropped out after the first day - just didn’t like it or found it too stressful. Others dropped along the way when they had a particular sorority in mind and it didn’t invite them back. But in the end, I think close to 400 girls stayed with it and ultimately pledged a sorority. I’m assuming that because my daughter’s sorority pledge class has 48 girls! (48 pledges times 8 sororities is almost 400 girls).</p>

<p>I don’t know what happens if someone does not get invited to return anywhere, but I have to think that would be extremely rare. My D’s roommate only got invited back to 4 sororities after the first day, and one of the ones she was invited to was one she had wanted to drop. But she started recruitment with a focus on a single sorority, and D thinks she kind of gave off that vibe to the other sororities. In the end she pledged a sorority, and although it wasn’t the one she had initially wanted, and so far she’s really happy.</p>

<p>Frats, on the other hand, are much less formal. I don’t know how that works exactly, but it’s not a prescribed thing like sororities. The frats at Elon are smaller than the sororities.</p>

26

<p>Lafalum84’s description sounds like the one I got from my daughter. I believe (though I’m not sure) that if you stay in the process you will get at least one bid. But it may be one you don’t want at all. There is a new one starting up and I gather some of the kids who either didn’t get into the ones they wanted or didn’t rush are going to join the new one.</p>

27

<p>Wow that is means about 50% of the girls went through rush and pledged. I am assuming there are about 750 girls in the freshman class. Was this rush higher than last year?</p>

28

<p>There are about 800 girls in the class of 2014 (1360 students enrolled, 59% female = 800).</p>

<p>So about half of the girls remain independent. And as noted above, the Greek houses only have room for 12 members to live in them and don’t have meal plans, so Greeks are very integrated into campus life. I believe it is very possible (and common) to be a “GDI” and be happy at Elon. (GDI = Gosh Darned Independent, or non-Greek :p)</p>

<p>I’m sure the large number of girls who chose to go Greek is why they are starting a 9th sorority.</p>

<p>BTW, I’m only assuming that approximately 385 girls eventually pledged based on D’s pledge class of 48 girls, multiplied by 8 sororities. Given the way the system works, I’m assuming all sororities ended up with a similar size pledge class.</p>

29

<p>About how much does it cost a student to be in an Elon sorority each semester or year?</p>

30

<p>The fees vary, but my daughter’s sorority costs about $350/semester. But again, it varies by sorority - I think some of the fee is set by their national organization.</p>

31

<p>Thanks Lafalum84. Their website is confusing:</p>

<p>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One-Time New Member Fees (charged by chapter):</p>

<p>IFC = $175 - $350
Panhellenic = $250 - $700
NPHC = $500 - $800
Annual Dues (charged by chapter):</p>

<p>IFC = $600 - $950
Panhellenic = $750 - $900
NPHC = $100 - $200
Fees assessed by Elon University:</p>

<p>$60 Pledge Fee (one time fee assessed the semester AFTER your new member semester)
$60-$95-$145 Greek Organization Fee (each semester for those groups with housing)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Which make it look like it could cost into the thousands per year! Just trying to get a better idea!</p>

32

<p>To clarify that chart:
IFC = Fraternities
Panhellenic = Sororities
NPHC = Historically Black Frats/Sororities</p>

<p>The one-time fee is paid when the student is initiated after pledging. It does not repeat; it’s basically a joining fee and I’m pretty sure it’s set by the national organization. </p>

<p>Then the chart shows annual dues, but they are usually paid by the semester. If your student pledges in the spring (like the vast majority of Elon students) they’d pay the one-time fee and at most HALF of the annual dues that spring. Then starting the next year they’d just be paying the annual fee.</p>

<p>I don’t pay that much attention to how much it costs because my D pays her own sorority fees, I think she said it was between $350 - $400/semester this year. That means her sorority dues will cost her about half of the money she earned last summer, but she finds it worth it.</p>

33

<p>My daughter applied last year and got deferred and then denied. Elon was in her to choices. Now that she is looking to transfer, city life/urban campus is not for her, she once again has Elon at the top of her list. We didn’t get an opportunity to tour last time, but we did visit. We took the tour and met with the transfer coordinator on Friday. D is even more impressed & excited now. Hopefully she will be a student Jan '13!</p>

<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC App</p>

34

<p>I am rooting for you!!!</p>

35

<p>Thanks rockvillemom!</p>