changes

I recently went on a visit to Elon with my son. The campus was beautiful and the people were extremely friendly. But there was a "disney world" feel that is hard to desbribe. How do others feel about the "perfect" on the surface aspect of Elon? Do the key elements of a good education really exist at Elon or is it more that the beauty is only skin deep?

Looking for input from both those that have gone to Elon as well as those who DID NOT decide to go even though they were accepted.

Thanks.

NEMOM72

Changes....That's funny, I never thought Elon had a "Disney" world feel. My S is graduating in few weeks from Elon. He has thoroughly enjoyed his time there, and I do feel he had a quality education for the value. I do feel that the elements of a good education exist at Elon as my son was always challenged in his studies. He was pleased with his professors and felt they really cared about their students.

I know he is going to miss being a part of Elon next year....now, he's entering the world of the gainfully employed! Yipee.

I'm always cynical of the friendliness of the tours at any school, not just Elon. It is their job to market the school to get you to enroll. It is not until you actually attend that you have a true feel for the school. We recently completed the final college open houses with my D before she makes her final decision. I can honestly say that at each school we visited everyone was also very friendly. One northern school annoyingly friendly...I wasn't sure how genuine it was.

We lived in Greensboro for seven years and now are back in New England. There definitely are cultural differences between the North and South. Perhaps that is what you are feeling.

So, no - I do not feel beauty is skin deep at Elon.

1 Sky Pilot

I was wondering this myself hehe.

Beautiful campus, beautiful price, beautiful facilities, pretty decent food...hmm.

Elon is still on the list (got a few days left to decide) but I'm still a little iffy. If there was one thing I could change, I'd adjust the gender ratio...more males please? 50:50 would be ideal.

PA Mom

It's funny because my daughter described Elon exactly the same way....like Disney. I think it was because the grounds were immaculate, and everything looked as if someone had just gone before you and spruced up!
She loved it when she toured, and it was her first choice for awhile. She had an older friend attending there and went to 2 overnight visits during the year to get a better feel for the campus but ultimately decided not to attend. She decided that the size was just too small for her and chose a school 3 to 4 times bigger.
Good luck with a tough decision!

changes

Where else are you considering?

PA Mom

If you meant my daughter.. she applied to and was accepted at Elon, College of Charleston, University of South Carolina, and Penn State. She decided to attend SC and is just completing her junior year. Her friend at Elon is graduating this year and loved her time there, but my daughter just decided that a bigger school was a better fit for her.

nchome

my daughter is finishing up her Freshman year. She is an honors fellow and has had a tremendous year. I do not feel like the beauty is 'only skin deep' but goes on to encompass her education, her professors who genuinely care about her, and the friends she has made there. I am very pleased.

ChiDad2008

My daughter too is finishing her freshman year, and has absolutely loved it. I am sure that some have differing opinions, but when I have visited, they are hard to find. Every student, and parent, that I have talked to has really liked the school. Perhaps that is due to the self selection process. And I am sure there are those for whom Elon is not a fit. We are fortunate that for our daughter, and many others as well, Elon is a great fit. I agree completely that the gorgeous campus is not what makes Elon interesting...it is simply a bonus. There seems to be way more under the surface...so explore, investigate, and make the decision that is best for you or your child.

smbsmom

My son and I visited Elon in February, and we both had the same vague impression that the OP had: the campus felt like a movie set of a college. I felt this especially when the very nice tour guide took us to the lobby of the communications building. It was as if we were on a set or at a colorful museum exhibit of a lobby of a communications building on a college campus. I don't post this to criticize the university, I just think it's sort of fascinating that others are getting the same impression. Neither my son nor I could put our finger on what made the place feel make believe to us. We continued on to Wake in the afternoon and while the campus is newer it felt more rooted, more grounded. I know Elon has spent a lot of $$ on marketing itself. Maybe the downside of that is that it contributes to a facade.

C26

I am finishing up my freshman year at Elon, and am transferring in the fall.

I just want to advice everyone to look PAST the pretty grass and buildings and decide if it's a place you want to be. I do think Elon is a great school, and it was a great fit academically (Communications major). For me, however, the distance from home was too far, the student body was just too homogenous and like my high school for me to love, and I wanted to be at a school more well-known in the north.

I'm transferring to a city school next year, partly because I feel that I intend on living in the suburbs when I graduate (aka Elon), and want to truly "experience" something new in college. I can party and lay out in the sun anywhere, you know?

Elon's a great school for a lot of people, but don't make your decision based on it's "image." Really think about everything else, too.

Whistle Pig

An important message, offered well. Good luck.

changes

C26 thanks for your insights. Can you tell us the 3 things you liked best about Elon and the 3 things you didn't like other than distance from home. Thank you and good luck with your new school.

1 Sky Pilot

"the student body was just too homogenous and like my high school for me to love"

^^This is a concern for me :s.

changes

Sky Pilot. Did you make your decision?

3boymom

Two themes seem to be playing out in this thread – college vibe as a factor in fit, and high school as it relates to college. Being a CC constant reader, I’m good for at least two cents ...

COLLEGE VIBE
Indeed, I can so relate to that hard-to-define feeling that Elon’s campus is disney-like. A few years back I attended a Fellows Weekend with son #1, followed by a move-in weekend, followed by an orientation weekend with son #2 a few years later, and I distinctly remember wondering how much of what I was seeing was staged. Yes, in response to remarks above, I had to peel back the layers to understand what was going on.

Elon’s administration engages students on many levels. Each public relations opportunity sponsored by Elon is characterized by loads of student involvement. Student leadership and school pride are very evident in many of the organizations that run the campus, and being novice at leading I think the students sometimes make it feel like they are portraying a model. Portraying a model, to me, is very disney-like and has the potential of coming out like overkill when students who strive for perfection are involved. But considering what it takes to learn to lead, I’d say it’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are enough administrators involved to provide overall direction and lend some maturity to the process. More so than any other university I’ve researched, Elon celebrates its students --- just check out e-net on Elon’s website. And as for the campus grounds being immaculate, well just me being from the north, I think it’s a southern thing.

HIGH SCHOOL
…is life. People don’t just disappear after high school. They go to college, or the workplace or the neighborhood for that matter, and then they regroup. Key to becoming your own person is understanding how society operates and how to relate to each element within it without becoming overtaken. In other words, it’s about gaining perspective. Along with academics, it’s learning about relationships that matters. High school and college are microcosms of society, in my opinion, each one taken to a progressive level of complexity.

Check out another CC thread, “COLLEGE IS NOT HIGH SCHOOL…”, for more discussion on the subject. You will find that this topic is not exclusive to students and parents who are considering the jump to Elon. Northwestern, Dartmouth and journalism/communication majors in general get a pretty thorough grilling.