ahirsch22

i am a junior considering elon and was just wondering what people on here consider good and bad about the university

OHMOM07

What we like about Elon is the personal attention and engagement with professors that our D gets. She hasn't fully taken advantage of everything she could but there is plenty to take advantage of. The study abroad programs are outstanding. What our D does NOT like is the athletic facilities (lack of) and programs. She finds participation in sports to be apathetic and the workout room and pool to be outdated and crowded all of the time. Also the fact that the school is basically in the middle of nowhere.

rhy

We again found out one of the good things about Elon yesterday. My daughter was not feeling well and had gone to the clinic twice. She was in the student center and one of the admission officers asked her what was wrong. After she told him, he called the head of the clinic, then called our daughter and gave her some phone numbers and contacts if she started to feel worse. He also gave her his cell phone number to call if she needed anything. I don't think that would happen in a large university.

grantb

ahirsch22, see the "Why Elon?" thread, there is a lot of good information there. If you have any other questions about positives and negatives for specific things, make sure you ask explicitly what you are interested in.

Also, the Health Center used to not take appointments. After plenty of student input/complaints, they now take appointments. While it can't be said for everything on campus, Elon tends to take student advice very seriously. More often than not, if students want something to change, it will. Another example is that meal plans used to not roll-over every semester. Now, you don't have to worry about not using all your meal plans because you can just use them when you get back from break. Another example is the library is kept open 24 hours the week before finals and mid-terms. These are just a couple of examples, but I think you get the point.

4mygurl

Let me just add...beautiful campus...nice weather...very solid academics...high focus on student engagement...close relationship with professors...study abroad and internship opportunities galore...friendly feel...did I mention nice weather...Yeah I think I mentioned nice weather! For me, it just felt right. If it doesn't for you, another school might! Go visit and get a feel for it based on what you like...

K9Leader

grantb:
Can you post a link to the "Why Elon?" thread? I don't see it.
-K9Leader

nchome

K9Leader...here it is:

Why Elon?

sorry, grantb...I was here and saw the post :-)

3boymom

Just depends on how you look at things and what you want out of college. What people are saying about Elon these days...

"My sister goes to Elon and absolutely loves it. She goes out on the weekends to parties on and off campus and says that theres always a lot to do. Usually there's some kind of event going on, but mostly on the weekdays, but there are always alternatives to drinking. Karoke on Thursdays is especially popular "and you will see half the school there.' (lots of acapella groups, wide variety of people entertaining each other, check out the tube) It's not a quiet school, there is always something to do, and it's VERY sociable. Sororities and Fraternities are popular, but don't dominate the social scene and life there is pretty chill."

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"Elon is little known - right now - but boy is it a rising star. It is considered "highly selective", as it receives nearly 10,000 applications for 1275 spots. The campus is fabulous - and the classes are small. The educational structure is set up with four credit classes, so that you take fewer classes during a semester, but are better able to stay on track to graduate on time. It has two full semesters, as well as a winter term - which, while not required, 97% of students participate in. The students use that winter term to take an additonal class - or study abroad. Many students also study abroad for a whole semester - or a whole year."

"Their study abroad program is a top choice for US News and World Report - as are the research facilities, service learning and many other areas."

"The surrounding area is...probably the best words...a little boring :-) The city of Burlington touches the town of Elon, and it has about 40,000 people - and all the amenities you'd want - but it's not going to be an exciting time :-). People can always find entertainment - but it is Burlington North Carolina. You are, however, less than an hour from Raleigh - and very close to UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Greensboro, Duke and other great colleges and universities. Elon University strives to provide major activities for the students, and I have not heard anyone complaining they are super bored."

"As for conservative or liberal - you're going to find all types. This school is very service oriented, which tends to draw a more conservative crowd. It is also private - cost of attendance (room/board/tuition/fees/books, etc) for the upcoming school year is just about $33,000 - but financial aid is there for those that need it. A private school also tends to draw a preppier, slightly more conservative group as well."

"Finally - Elon used to be Elon College - and it was a teaching college. It has an excellent Teaching Fellows program and their roots in the education world are deep - so they are a good choice for an Education major."

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"Elon University. Best balance overall for size, academics, social life. Solid reputation and rising in regional/national recognition. School administrators are very responsive to student feedback and fix things that need fixing from the student's perspective. A student is a person at Elon and you have many choices to shape your own future and evolve."

grantb

re: 3boymom, "financial aid is there for those that need it"
I disagree. I certainly did not get as much financial aid as I could have used. While tuition is in fact lower than at many private schools, Elon is notorious for being stingy on financial aid. I got only the loans and work-study that the government suggested as minimums.

K9Leader

"While tuition is in fact lower than at many private schools, Elon is notorious for being stingy on financial aid."

What's important is the bottom line of what you pay. Some privates, University of Richmond, for example, jack the price up (has it hit $50K yet?) and then use the Richie Rich students who can and will pay that much to subsidize everyone else, along with some financial aid. The non-super elite privates (super elites = Ivies, Stanford, Duke, MIT) have to get the bottom line down to where it is within sight of the cost to attend a public at out-of-state cost. Whether the cost is $45K and they give you $17K-18K or it's $31K and they give you $4K-5K, the bottom line is pretty much the same.

When we went through this with my son two years ago, his choices were (costs were for the 2005-06 year):

American U. (private)
annual cost $42-43, $17K in merit aid, for bottom line of $25-26K

Ithaca College (private)
annual cost of $39-40K, $18K in merit aid, bottom line of $22K

U. of Maryland (public, out-of-state)
annual cost $29K, $3K merit aid, bottom line of $26K

U. of Delaware (public, in-state)
annual cost of $14K, $3K merit aid, bottom line of $11K
(out-of-state was about $27-28 at that time)

William & Mary (public, out-of-state)
annual cost of $31K, no merit aid, bottom line of $31K

Of course, he chose W&M, the most expensive option, but the best fit for him, although Ithaca was a very close second, with UD a distant third. The financial hit is cushioned by the fact that my wife and I are W&M alums so how could we say no? He is happy there and it was a good decision. W&M, as is UVa, and UNC and a few others, are the elite publics so their out-of-state costs can be at a premium price.

When you buy a car, try not to get overwhelmed with the monthly payment, the special interest rate only good until midnight tomorrow, the rebates, the no-extra-cost option package, the trade-in allowance, and the special last-minute discount "because I want to see you in this car today" and lose sight of the actual bottom line price. Buying a higher education is the same -- don't lose sight of the bottom line cost by being overly impressed by the high price ("it costs $48K per year -- it must be a great school!" And they want me so much they gave me $16K in aid!"). JMHO and YMMV.

--K9Leader

grantb

you're right, the bottom line is the most important thing. personally, hobart and william smith offered me enough financial aid to make the bottom line after scholarships (not including work study and loans) significantly lower than elon. hobart is using richer families (as you discussed) to help fund financial aid scholarships for middle class families. elon doesn't have that advantage. that's part of the reason elon has also gained a reputation as a "rich kids" school. it is financially more attractive for families that would not be getting any financial aid anyway.

3boymom

Extracted from the Elon website, Institutional Priorities for 2007-2008 include the following...

-Develop a new model for identifying and awarding named scholarships
-Strengthen funding for Presidential Scholarships, Honors Scholarships, and Fellows Programs
-Consider new scholarship opportunities for upperclass students to acknowledge extraordinary achievement

I am a believer in the leadership at Elon and the desire of many supporters to put Elon within financial reach of more students and their families, but realistically it will take time and good fortune to accomplish. I am also deducting that this goal goes hand-in-hand with the goal of growing the school's endowment to keep from having to apply Robin Hood rules.

Also, consider the possibility that comparing schools on "bottom line" figures alone may not be doing justice to the process of selecting the school where you want to get an education. If you are interested, Kiplinger looks at measures of quality as well as financial measures, and Elon has been ranked highly on their list of Top 100 Best Values in Private Universities for a number of years.

jbrown

I think and have read on the website that the issue at Elon is not so much stinginess, but lack of an endowment-they say as much!

Richmond's endowment is huge therefore can offer big need based $$( as they did my daughter)

Maybe all the years of being a teachers college has produced a lot of alumni that do not have a lot of extra $ to give to their alma mater.

One thing I notice on the website is a lot of parents/granparents of current students/recently graduated who fund a lot of scholarships.

As the current students graduate and get higher paying jobs( the new business school and law school should help majorly with that!), you will see the endowment grow

and therefore more aid!

mkm56

My son graduated from Elon in 04. He loved the school. Classes were small with a lot of discussions. No TAs teach classes. Professors were very accessible and got to know each student individually. Beautiful campus. Study abroad was popular.

My son had a medical problem his freshman year. The medical clinic there was great to do follow up blood work, coordinate with Dr. back home and kept in touch with him to see how he was doing.

He also liked the school for several non-academic things. Parking is not an issue. Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Greensboro are very short drives to go see concerts, games, etc. Social activity on campus was very high--at least he never had a problem finding something interesting to do.

speedo

great school but lousy fin aid. It used to be
a real cheap deal for kids from the northeast
but that's not so much the case anymore,
probably $25,000+ for most oos kids.