<p>RVM- Elon is # 1 </p>
<p>[Beautiful</a> College Campuses - America’s 50 Best in 2013](<a href=“http://www.thebestcolleges.org/most-beautiful-campuses/]Beautiful”>http://www.thebestcolleges.org/most-beautiful-campuses/)</p>
<p>Elon may be beautiful but I have to question the judgement of the people who made this list since TAMU is on it. Yes only 44 but still not more beautiful that 45-50 not to mention several that didn’t make the list. We love TAMU…but not for its beauty!</p>
<p>Fun list! Elon is beautiful - especially all the fountains and small lakes.</p>
<p>I’ve seen a few of the campuses and on some of them, the focus was on a beautiful part of the campus, but there are other parts- and construction- that are not as pretty. Elon is uniformly beautiful.</p>
<p>Of course, rankings aren’t the whole story, and there are many reasons to love a school. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and "don’t judge a book by it’s cover "come to mind when it comes to college selection for any particular student, but some campuses are very nice.</p>
<p>We thought Elon was beautiful too. But UNC-Chapel Hill? It was nice, but beautiful? I didn’t see it.</p>
<p>Just came across this - nice overview of gap year options:</p>
<p>[Jewish</a> Ledger | Serving Connecticut’s Jewish Communities » Gap Year ? Preparing for college?in Israel](<a href=“http://www.jewishledger.com/2013/06/gap-year-preparing-for-college-in-israel/]Jewish”>Gap Year - Preparing for college...in Israel - Jewish Ledger)</p>
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<p>Hope you can tolerate one more plug for Elon - great article on Jewish life:</p>
<p>[Elon</a> listed among ‘The Top Schools Jews Choose’](<a href=“http://www.elon.edu/e-net/Article/72363]Elon”>http://www.elon.edu/e-net/Article/72363)</p>
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<p>Do you have the link to the updated list? Even though I’m fairly sure that much of the data is wrong, it would be helpful to see which schools have emergent Jewish life.</p>
<p>The Reform Judaism magazine Insiders Guide to College Life comes out August 1 - I’m sure someone will post the link once it is available. Elon just had advance notice of their being featured in the article.</p>
<p>Wow, what a difference a few years make, RVM. I told you our cousin started as a freshman at Elon but transferred to UMCP…one of the reasons being not enough Jewish activity on campus. Of course she graduated last year from UMCP and was happy with her switch, but it seems as if the Jewish life there exploded right after she left. Too bad, but she did have a wonderful experience at UMCP.</p>
<p>So true! The incoming freshman class this fall is 10% Jewish - the highest in Elon history. I think it is one of those “build it and they will come” scenarios - where the recent addition of the Jewish Studies minor and the renovation of the multi-faith center into a dedicated Hillel House attracted more Jewish students. And then word of mouth spreads that Jewish life at Elon is thriving - and more Jewish students check it out, etc.</p>
<p>This is exactly what other schools - Vanderbilt and Muhlenberg come to mind - have done. It is interesting to note just how quickly this shift can be - a few years can make a huge difference.</p>
<p>College experienced parents, I have 2 dorm room questions.
For anyone who used BB&B to purchase and then pick up, do you get the exact items in your cart shipped to your nearest store, or do they fulfill it from a list? I am concerned that items we select won’t be available if it’s the latter.
Also, what’s up with buying desk chairs? I never heard of that.
Thanks!</p>
<p>The college town’s BBB fills your order. I remember some items that were available in our home town store were not available at the college town store and we were told that when ordering so there were no surprises. I never heard of students supplying their own desk chairs.</p>
<p>Btw, Shulamit, you don’t purchase until you pick up at the college BBB. And you are not committed to buy any of it.</p>
<p>Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve been on CC. But I see we are still talking about Elon :)</p>
<p>We are winding down on senior year. One more day of classes on Monday. Graduation is two weeks from tonight. </p>
<p>Time to start thinking about shopping for freshman dorm. I can’t believe it.</p>
<p>Hope all my friends on this thread are doing well!</p>
<p>Heck, look at Oxford of Emory. Ten years ago, it accepted 78% of students, the vast majority of whom were white and from Georgia. Today, the second most represented state is California, internationals comprise 15% of the student body, the acceptance rate stands at about 40%, and what used to be considered top 25% in terms of SATs is now near the bottom 25%.</p>
<p>Even relatively recent alums are amazed at how different the school is from just five years ago.</p>
<p>Shalamit both my kids brought their own desk chairs to school. The dorm did provide a chair but they were basic and not very comfortable. Both of my kids are dorm room studiers and I think having a chair that they can sit well in and be comfortable in is a good investment. We bought ours from Office Depot and close to the start of school they put out some coupons that we used. I think they come out other times of the year too. Hint if you buy from them and you have the vehicle space for transport pay the extra (at the time it was 8 bucks) to get the chair assembled. My husband didn’t give assembly a thought and it made for some humorous memories watching my S and husband trying to make sense of the instructions and then my S helping his roomie’s dad with assembly. What a project!</p>
<p>Thanks Vitrac and Spectrum. I never even considered a chair. My concern would be how to get it home in May. We are already thinking that we won’t have enough room in our car, a small SUV.</p>
<p>The only other issue I se with bringing a chair from home is you still have the college supplied chair in the dorm room, and it can be crowded. If both roommates bring their own chair, then you have two extra chairs taking up space. If it is a small room, this could really add to clutter.</p>
<p>Bring basic tools for freshman move in. Whether it is assembling chairs, or dealing with lofted or bunked beds, you will need them.</p>
<p>Shulamit: For S who was going to school out of state he put it in storage each year. When he moved after graduation we had two vehicles and that is how we moved it but after 4 years we considered if the next move was a single car drive or a flight we would have left it.</p>