Elon University - is it as good as it "looks"?

[Anonymous]

So what about black kids? I am curious what life is like for black kids at Elon and at other NC universities and colleges. Do the police come on campus? How are black male students treated when they go into town? As AA parents our first concern is that our son will be safe. Our second concern is that he will not be subjected to overt racism. We like the idea of small classes and individualized attention and the idea of a college being a learning community. Also our son is very outgoing and socially active. Do kids date across racial lines?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what about black kids? I am curious what life is like for black kids at Elon and at other NC universities and colleges. Do the police come on campus? How are black male students treated when they go into town? As AA parents our first concern is that our son will be safe. Our second concern is that he will not be subjected to overt racism. We like the idea of small classes and individualized attention and the idea of a college being a learning community. Also our son is very outgoing and socially active. Do kids date across racial lines?

My DD is white and is a soph. at Elon. She loves it. Several of her classmates in upper bio classes were just admitted to med school. My DD has a few black students in her overall white sorority, but there are traditionally black sororities, maybe fraternities too. I am not going to lie - it is a fairly white campus. But still way more students of color than I was expecting based on "rumors." Based on the socializing I see in the dining halls, student centers, common areas, all of the student hang out together - there is no (or very little) separation by race. Just like any campus, you will see white students, black students, Indian students, etc. studying together. It is a VERY friendly campus. The fact that your son is "very outgoing and socially active" makes him sound like a good fit. My DD's classes are hard, as she is a bio/chem major, but the professors are very helpful and engaged. A lot of the staff on campus (check out the study abroad center, as just one example) are educated black professionals. You can pull up each office (housing, residence life, study abroad, etc) online and see that. Good luck to your son. I hope he goes to Elon!

[Anonymous]

PP again. Does he like to eat? The food is phenomenal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP again. Does he like to eat? The food is phenomenal.

? Niche ranks Virginia Tech #2 for best campus food; JMU is in the top 10.. Elon not listed at all that I can see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP again. Does he like to eat? The food is phenomenal.

Went to Elon for a year before transferring back to an in-state school -- food really was phenomenal. I definitely missed the food at Elon!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter got a full scholarship to Elon and American university. She went to Elon and graduates in may. She is going to law school after and American university offered her another scholarship for law school. No my child isn't a drunk white kid. She was raised by me a single mom. She graduated high school with a 4.9 GPA. Has kept nothing best top grades at Elon. So for all you butts saying rich kids go there because they can't get in anywhere else. Well your wrong. Let's face it! All university's has the not so great kids that rich parents paid a big sum to get them in. But for my poor daughter she got in on her own smarts and amazing essay and being a top notch student. So now she has to decide which scholarship to take for law school. Because of course there's more then one. Because my daughter is smart and she has been accepted and respected and loved at Elon from the rich kids. Yes!! There's some poor kids there to like my daughter. But these kids worked their asses off to get the scholarships. So don't lump every young person into mom and dad is rich and paid to get them in because they could not get in anywhere else. Elon is a great university and they expect the best from their students and if you don't give your best and act your best. They will inform the parents we don't need your kid here. I know for a fact it's happened. So talk about what you know or shut the hell up. Elon is number one in my book and has made a dream come to for this very poor single mom who raised her daughter to reach for the stars and hang on. I also have eanothwr daughter in college who is also an academic student. So to you married couples that could not raise your kids as well as this poor parents did alone. I would say your the sorry ones and it landed on your kids. You get out of your kids what you put into them.

wow. What's an academic student?

[Anonymous]

I'm from NC and remember Elon from back when it was not a rising star. But it assuredly is now. Rising is not the same as established and revered, obviously. But it gets some respect. Supposedly great campus, great food, great hires lately, constantly improving academics across the board, very friendly socially. I couldn't speak to the racial vibe there.

Davidson probably a better established SLAC if you can get in.

Other schools in NC vary widely.

UNC-CH is a BIG, diverse state school and probably very similar to other state schools you may visit in terms of racial dynamics. Town is reasonably diverse and urbane for a small city - as college towns are - and the university is closely tied into the town. That's not to say it is paradise, but it is a fairly progressive community overall.

Wake is small and fairly cut off from the town it is in. Very white and Southern, and heavily greek, it has nonetheless made great strides at inclusion over the years and is quite conscientious in such efforts. Nonetheless, I think is tends towards some social segregation that I think can be challenging. Classes are small and welcoming overall, and could be a good fit for someone looking for a smaller school, who could live with less diversity.

Duke I have less experience with. But by reputations: less Southern, more elitist. Some of the same social segregation issues that appear at Wake. More academically elite in many areas.

High Point University was nothing when I was living in NC - no decent reason to go there if you get into any of the decent state schools. They got a huge infusion of cash, that they poured into the campus and the programs and made dramatic hires. Then it got trashed in the press for high profile efforts to attract wealthy students. And, well, they probably deserved it. But it is supposedly quite a good program now in addition to the flashy campus. Not sure if they're still considered the kind of rising star they hoped to be.

Other state schools have their pros and cons, if you have more specific questions. I've spent small amounts of time on or near campus at Wilmington, Greensboro and Asheville. And have a bunch of friends who went to NC State.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Furman's nicer, with better academics.

Is this the prevailing view regarding the relative reputations of Elon and Furman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Furman's nicer, with better academics.

Is this the prevailing view regarding the relative reputations of Elon and Furman?

I mean, you can research stats. I have lived in V, NC, and SC. In my experience, they both have decent reputations. My DCs toured both - loved both. You can't go wrong here.

[Anonymous]

I went to Elon, graduated in 2001, so it was awhile ago. I loved it, as did all my classmates who went there. There are a few things that really stood out about it that worked well for me:
Study Abroad-The program if phenomenal. You can study abroad during Winter Term (I did) or for full semesters. Almost everyone studies abroad at some point. The programs are reasonable and really engaging and fun.

Professors/Classes-This was a while ago, but the classes were small, professors were engaging and you don't sit in big lecture halls being spoken to--you are actively engaged in your learning.

Volunteerism--Very big on campus. Everyone volunteers. There's always some volunteer event or another.

I did think there was a big Greek program. I was in a sorority but my roommate was not (she played a sport). A lot of friends were in different sororities, and we're still friends now.

Overall it was a good school for me. I see that is much more expensive now ($12k a year when I graduated) and the academic requirements are much higher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in this area and want to second PPs about Burlington. This is a very economically depressed area of NC, especially after the economic downturn, the furniture factories going off shore and lots of mills going through bankruptcy. There just isn't much there, or within an hour or so driving radius. Kids who have grown up in the DC area (including the suburbs and exurbs) are going to have huge culture shock.

This is interesting to me. I feel like Burlington has grown exponentially in the past ten years, along with the rest of Alamance county. This might not be an accurate description anymore. Granted, it is not DC, but it is not by any means culture shock.

[Anonymous]

no

[Anonymous]

I am going to be honest, in the late 90s and early 2000s when I was in college Elon was known as a nice small college that specialized in providing support for learning disabilities. it wasn't much of a mainstream school. My cousin went there specifically for this and I went to Wake nearby in Winston so I am pretty familiar with the school. Nice school, nice students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:funny all the people i know who went there were the ones who couldn't get into any other school or were total f' ups.

when did schools for rich dumb and f'd up kids beicome known as rising.....

Yeah 35 ACT and 800 Math 2 is dumb. Dumb fuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in this area and want to second PPs about Burlington. This is a very economically depressed area of NC, especially after the economic downturn, the furniture factories going off shore and lots of mills going through bankruptcy. There just isn't much there, or within an hour or so driving radius. Kids who have grown up in the DC area (including the suburbs and exurbs) are going to have huge culture shock.

This is interesting to me. I feel like Burlington has grown exponentially in the past ten years, along with the rest of Alamance county. This might not be an accurate description anymore. Granted, it is not DC, but it is not by any means culture shock.

It may have grown, but it will still be culture shock to people used to the DC area. It's very provincial. Most people there are born, raised, and die in Burlington. I live near there, and everyone I meet is very friendly and nice, but overall, not anywhere near as sophisticated/educated/well-travelled as DC suburbanites. Having said all that, how much do college students really interact with the townies? To get away from campus, there is Greensboro/Winston-Salem or Raleigh/Durham - each about an hour away. My husband went to Elon many years ago, and loved it. He is smart and successful.