Elon vs U of Richmond

[Anonymous]

We visited Richmond in October. Everything felt stilted and fake. Didn’t like it at all. Don’t get the hype. Never been to Elon but I’ve heard good things about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visited Richmond in October. Everything felt stilted and fake. Didn’t like it at all. Don’t get the hype. Never been to Elon but I’ve heard good things about it.

Same. I don’t know either way about Elon, it's worth exploring, but there was something about Richmond that didn't work for us or DC

[Anonymous]

At Richmond you feel like you need to walk around the buildings to make sure you are not walking through a movie set. The whole campus felt contrived and inauthentic.

[Anonymous]

No contest. Richmond is far more well resourced and its students are far better performers academically. Richmond is also more selective. Elon takes almost everyone (70%).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No contest. Richmond is far more well resourced and its students are far better performers academically. Richmond is also more selective. Elon takes almost everyone (70%).

Elon takes 92% Early Decision. If you can write a check, you're all set. I know a kid who did ED at Elon. Will work at the family business no matter what, so it honestly doesn't matter where he goes to college. Get a BA and within 3 years he'll be "CFO."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No contest. Richmond is far more well resourced and its students are far better performers academically. Richmond is also more selective. Elon takes almost everyone (70%).

Elon takes 92% Early Decision. If you can write a check, you're all set. I know a kid who did ED at Elon. Will work at the family business no matter what, so it honestly doesn't matter where he goes to college. Get a BA and within 3 years he'll be "CFO."

Wow. Open-access

[Anonymous]

Richmond is a legitimately good school with an enormous endowment that has allowed it to catch up (almost) in prestige to southern LAC peers W&L and Davidson.

Agree with the sense that the campus was a little antiseptic but it was also really nice.

The comment was skewered earlier but the young ladies who attend are indeed shockingly pretty. Maybe it attracts a “type.”

Elon is a Richmond wannabe that basically any half decent student can attend full pay. Not comparable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is a legitimately good school with an enormous endowment that has allowed it to catch up (almost) in prestige to southern LAC peers W&L and Davidson.

Agree with the sense that the campus was a little antiseptic but it was also really nice.

The comment was skewered earlier but the young ladies who attend are indeed shockingly pretty. Maybe it attracts a “type.”

Elon is a Richmond wannabe that basically any half decent student can attend full pay. Not comparable.

This is all accurate. Some mom who is upset that they simply cannot keep pretending that Elon is a strong school keeps coming back to trash Richmond. The two schools are in completely different realms. The only students who don't get into Elon are the ones who are obviously using it as a safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is a legitimately good school with an enormous endowment that has allowed it to catch up (almost) in prestige to southern LAC peers W&L and Davidson.

Agree with the sense that the campus was a little antiseptic but it was also really nice.

The comment was skewered earlier but the young ladies who attend are indeed shockingly pretty. Maybe it attracts a “type.”

Elon is a Richmond wannabe that basically any half decent student can attend full pay. Not comparable.

This is all accurate. Some mom who is upset that they simply cannot keep pretending that Elon is a strong school keeps coming back to trash Richmond. The two schools are in completely different realms. The only students who don't get into Elon are the ones who are obviously using it as a safety.

Was going to say the 30% that are rejected are probably almost all yield protection.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elon’s 25th-75th percentile SAT range is 1175-1330. UR is 1410-1500. Are we done comparing apples and oranges?

The smartest kids at Elon would be the dumbest kids at Richmond, to be crude about it.

This is ridiculous. Really smart kids with very high stats are at every T150 school. Maybe they needed to stay in state, maybe they chased merit, maybe they won special scholarship at particular school, maybe they prioritized a specific major at a specific school, maybe they wanted to study under a certain professor, maybe they wanted to play their sport - so so many reasons that high achieving academic kids with great minds are at HYPS as well as Richmond or Elon or UVM or Rollins or whatever. The “smartest kids” are not that far apart at these schools. Likewise I know multiple Ivy athletes that are in the 3.1 GPA/1150 SAT pool. Everyone needs to stop assuming such big differences between schools. If we are talking about the T150 we are still talking about the top 5% of schools in the US. T30 and we are talking about top 1%.
And that of course assumes you believe USNWR got the right 30 which as is regularly debated here is not a safe assumption and since USNWR changes their methodology each year to stay relevant who is top 30 is a crap shoot. So seriously asking why the obsession over “top” and “most prestigious” ? Why tear schools and kids down just to prove prestige?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon’s 25th-75th percentile SAT range is 1175-1330. UR is 1410-1500. Are we done comparing apples and oranges?

The smartest kids at Elon would be the dumbest kids at Richmond, to be crude about it.

This is ridiculous. Really smart kids with very high stats are at every T150 school. Maybe they needed to stay in state, maybe they chased merit, maybe they won special scholarship at particular school, maybe they prioritized a specific major at a specific school, maybe they wanted to study under a certain professor, maybe they wanted to play their sport - so so many reasons that high achieving academic kids with great minds are at HYPS as well as Richmond or Elon or UVM or Rollins or whatever. The “smartest kids” are not that far apart at these schools. Likewise I know multiple Ivy athletes that are in the 3.1 GPA/1150 SAT pool. Everyone needs to stop assuming such big differences between schools. If we are talking about the T150 we are still talking about the top 5% of schools in the US. T30 and we are talking about top 1%.
And that of course assumes you believe USNWR got the right 30 which as is regularly debated here is not a safe assumption and since USNWR changes their methodology each year to stay relevant who is top 30 is a crap shoot. So seriously asking why the obsession over “top” and “most prestigious” ? Why tear schools and kids down just to prove prestige?

This is not a good point. Of course Elon has a few very smart kids who are there for one reason or another. And of course Harvard has dumb jocks. But you have to look at the typical student to draw comparisons between colleges. The typical student at Richmond is very intelligent and high achieving - not necessarily Ivy level but in some cases actually Ivy level. The typical student at Elon is just kinda smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon’s 25th-75th percentile SAT range is 1175-1330. UR is 1410-1500. Are we done comparing apples and oranges?

The smartest kids at Elon would be the dumbest kids at Richmond, to be crude about it.

This is ridiculous. Really smart kids with very high stats are at every T150 school. Maybe they needed to stay in state, maybe they chased merit, maybe they won special scholarship at particular school, maybe they prioritized a specific major at a specific school, maybe they wanted to study under a certain professor, maybe they wanted to play their sport - so so many reasons that high achieving academic kids with great minds are at HYPS as well as Richmond or Elon or UVM or Rollins or whatever. The “smartest kids” are not that far apart at these schools. Likewise I know multiple Ivy athletes that are in the 3.1 GPA/1150 SAT pool. Everyone needs to stop assuming such big differences between schools. If we are talking about the T150 we are still talking about the top 5% of schools in the US. T30 and we are talking about top 1%.
And that of course assumes you believe USNWR got the right 30 which as is regularly debated here is not a safe assumption and since USNWR changes their methodology each year to stay relevant who is top 30 is a crap shoot. So seriously asking why the obsession over “top” and “most prestigious” ? Why tear schools and kids down just to prove prestige?

Sorry, but you sound very desperate. Forbes has Elon at #159 and Richmond at #101 (Liberal arts and universities ranked together). Average test scores are much higher at Richmond. Richmond has a much higher endowment per capita. There is no comparison to be made.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon’s 25th-75th percentile SAT range is 1175-1330. UR is 1410-1500. Are we done comparing apples and oranges?

The smartest kids at Elon would be the dumbest kids at Richmond, to be crude about it.

What percent submitted? Testing isn't really a comparison anymore.

lol

Just look at the CDS. I believe both schools have about half submitting.

I don’t know what to tell you. Richmond has become a relatively elite LAC. Very hard to get in. It has a huge endowment and offers students a lot.

Elon does not attract top students.

These statements seem anecdotal.

I’m literally pointing you to data. But yes, anecdotally, I don’t know of any kids in the AP track at my kid’s school who considered Elon. But many considered UR. It’s just obvious. It’s like saying USC Columbia is the same as UNC Chapel Hill

Actually, UNC and USC are both R1 state flagships.

But not all state flagships are created equal just as not all small private colleges in the south are created equal.

UNC and USC are not that different. Elon is a national university, which is different than UR, a LAC.

Different from. Whatever. Send your kid to Elon. I don’t care

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is a legitimately good school with an enormous endowment that has allowed it to catch up (almost) in prestige to southern LAC peers W&L and Davidson.

Agree with the sense that the campus was a little antiseptic but it was also really nice.

The comment was skewered earlier but the young ladies who attend are indeed shockingly pretty. Maybe it attracts a “type.”

Elon is a Richmond wannabe that basically any half decent student can attend full pay. Not comparable.

This is all accurate. Some mom who is upset that they simply cannot keep pretending that Elon is a strong school keeps coming back to trash Richmond. The two schools are in completely different realms. The only students who don't get into Elon are the ones who are obviously using it as a safety.

Neither school is particularly desirable and nobody knows or cares that one is supposedly better than the other. Regional overpriced private schools. I’ve not been particularly impressed with Richmond grads and don’t know anybody particularly smart who chose that school. Typically it’s a 3rd or 4th choice because they were rejected from the schools they really wanted to go to.

Do kids really have University of Richmond as their first choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is a legitimately good school with an enormous endowment that has allowed it to catch up (almost) in prestige to southern LAC peers W&L and Davidson.

Agree with the sense that the campus was a little antiseptic but it was also really nice.

The comment was skewered earlier but the young ladies who attend are indeed shockingly pretty. Maybe it attracts a “type.”

Elon is a Richmond wannabe that basically any half decent student can attend full pay. Not comparable.

This is all accurate. Some mom who is upset that they simply cannot keep pretending that Elon is a strong school keeps coming back to trash Richmond. The two schools are in completely different realms. The only students who don't get into Elon are the ones who are obviously using it as a safety.

Neither school is particularly desirable and nobody knows or cares that one is supposedly better than the other. Regional overpriced private schools. I’ve not been particularly impressed with Richmond grads and don’t know anybody particularly smart who chose that school. Typically it’s a 3rd or 4th choice because they were rejected from the schools they really wanted to go to.

Do kids really have University of Richmond as their first choice?

Certainly since they get a ton of kids ED like any other school.

But it’s a bit of a dumb argument. Everyone realizes there is a pecking order when it comes to college - given the option, most people would choose the most reputable schools like HYPSM. But then kids need to make realistic choices and within bands focus on particular schools that appeal to them. Within the UR band, which is basically second tier SLAC, there are plenty of kids who are drawn to the school - and it has a lot to offer with its beautiful campus and massive endowment. Some very strong students (I can think of one) end up there because they didnt make Ivy - that’s ok too.

No Ivy League reject is going to Elon. U of R rejects go to Elon.