Hi All… so my daughter has narrowed down her school choices to Wofford, Elon and Fairfield University.
While she likes the small close knit feel of Wofford… she does like some of the more diverse class options offered by the larger schools - Elon and Fairfield.
We were wondering if anyone has thoughts on these three schools - reputation, student life, classes, student success after college.
One more note - she likes the idea of business classes, but not high finance, and like politics, government and other liberal arts classes too. So not sure if a focused major out of the gate is what she is looking for.
Thank you for the message. The religious aspect not a factor either way… she does like that wofford and Elon have Greek life… and that Wofford and Elon are closer to home.
I think it will come down the feel when she visits the schools again. My daughter likes aspects of a smaller school - her high school is 4,500 kids, as she did not like the size. But again, it’s high school … so very different.
As for cost, not really an issue… really looking for great access to professors and overall school atmosphere.
If she prefers the location and availability of Greek life at Elon and Wofford I would probably eliminate Fairfield and focus on the other two. Hopefully after re-visiting she will find her favorite.
My D is a sophomore at Elon. She was accepted to a wide range of schools, large, medium and small. It’s been a good fit for her. The small class sizes give her confidence. She’s very social, was a TA, and holds a number of leadership positions. She arranged for internships after freshman, sophomore and junior years, but these are internships she sought out with companies that do not recruit from Elon. There are many study abroad options from short-term (J-term) trips to a semester or year abroad. She is troubled by the lack of diversity (our K-12 district is very racially mixed), but she has found good friends, academic success and is well-positioned for her post-college career.
Are you from the South ? If not, Wofford would be an unusual choice.
Fairfield University offers an opportunity to live in a wealthy community surrounded by students in pursuit of wealth who enjoy evening sunset cocktail parties. Lots of drinking with ambitious peers. Business & nursing majors dominant; not diverse. Can make lots of connections if student’s desire is to remain in the northeast US.
I have experience with Elon and FF. Both have similar general education/liberal arts requirements. FF - The business program is more “serious” than Elon and offers greater opportunities for internships in NYC, etc. I would not let the “catholic” element of FF turn you off. The Jesuits are probably the most liberal of Catholics. Not all students are catholic. There is a requirement to take a religion class, but it does not have to be in Catholicism. Having said that, FF can be clicky. It is not for everyone. There is wealth there, but there is also wealth at Elon. I love Elon, but housing is not guaranteed for all four years, and there is not a lot to do in the area—drinking/Partying culture at both. Think “Fit” and where they will be the happiest. When you are happy and succeed, you take advantage of all the school offers. When you are not happy, you are less likely to do that. Also consider where these kids get jobs afterwards - ask the school. Recruiters tend to hire from schools close to them. So the first job offer could come from a company in that region. Consider also ease of getting home and cost of travel.
Both schools have released their 2022 first destinations report, so that may be of interest in exploring the locations and industries where graduates end up about 9 months after graduating. I had not realized Fairfield was so heavily represented in nursing, with nearly 1/3 of grads working in healthcare. Also nearly 1/3 go directly to grad school from undergrad.
I think Elon has the larger national reach (certainly more so than Wofford) if that is important to you. We are in WA and Elon even came to D24s school. We loved Elon when we visited. Beautiful campus, strong school spirit, focus on teaching, lots of opportunities for those seeking them out. The location is a bit isolated (think it would be nice to have a car there) .
We love Elon. It is one of the best run colleges. We have been very impressed with their communication and programs. Their business school is outstanding and offers several different concentrations (finance, marketing, management, entrepreneurship etc).
I have personal experience with Elon and FF. Elon has a great communications and theatre program. FF has a better business school. Elon does not guarantee housing for all four years. FF has housing for all four years, but many students move off campus during their senior year to live at the beach ($$$). Elon is a bit more of a party school, primarily because it is a little more remote. Therefore you may want to consider having a car. FF- a good number of students leave campus on the weekends to go home, attracting a lot of students who live 1-2 hours away. Bridgeport train station is about 5 miles from campus - with easy access to New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc… Both schools attract a significant number of students with a mid to high socioeconomic background. Also - religion. FF is catholic. However, Jesuits are the most liberal Catholics and attracts students of all faiths.