Elon v. University of Denver

College Search & Lists
1

It appears my son is down to Elon and University of Denver. COA is the essentially same. Finances are not an issue.

He plans to study business and possibly a minor in political science. Possibly future plans for law school.

Currently, attends private school in the mid-atlantic. Main hobbies are sports, but not preppy and not into lacrosse. Was an accomplished wrestler in high school but has chosen not to wrestle in college. Enjoys skateboarding, snowboarding and climbing. Interested in joining a fraternity. Politics generally moderate with a slight lean left.

I think he is leaning towards Denver, but concerned that the school is located in the city rather than a more traditional suburban or college town setting.

Over the years, we have visited Greensboro, NC and Colorado many times, but never visited either campus. So familiar with the general area but not either campus. Campus visits were planned for this spring but cancelled.

Would appreciate views on both schools - similarities and differences, views on the business schools, size of classes, campus life, preppiness of students, extent overly liberal, anything else relevant.

Thanks.

2

My knowledge of DU is from a family member that graduated, attending various events there over the years, and one of my children was interested in attending. My knowledge of Elon is less, and is mostly visiting the area and friends that attended.

Academically they’re similar, and both schools are in growing areas with plenty of opportunities for internships/jobs.

DU is in a residential part of Denver, but it’s quickly becoming 4-5 story buildings. Especially close to the interstate. Elon is the classic college town. There are plenty of things to do around DU, but it’s not all about the college. That’s probably the biggest difference between the two schools. DU has a light rail stop, so it has easy access to the fun in Denver like the LoDo and RiNo areas.

I wouldn’t describe DU as preppy. Denver and Colorado tend to dress very casual.

Skateboarding is popular at DU. The access to climbing and snowboarding is obvious. You might want to check to be sure there are clubs/shuttles/carshares to get him to the mountains though.

Denver leans liberal, but it’s not Boulder. DU seems to be the usual college with a slight liberal bias. The area around Elon is far more conservative. Keep in mind that Denver isn’t very religious compared to NC.

DU is a fun school, but not a party school like CU Boulder.

I hope that helps!

3

@prntof3sons I could have written this post myself as my son too is deciding between Elon and Denver—also for business or maybe computer science. We have visited both schools twice----DU right before they stopped doing Admitted Students visits in early March. We are from the Midwest. I actually loved the look and vibe of Elon. It is an up and coming school and is highly regarded for their experiential learning–especially in the business school. Everyone we’ve spoken to LOVES their Elon experience. However…it is in the middle of nowhere and that was a big turn-off for my son. Originally Elon was his first choice for a school but as we visited so many other colleges, he decided that being near a city was important to him so that he could have lots of things to do as well as availability of meaningful internships during the school year. He loves DU and Denver. Loves that he can go skiing on the weekends or do other outdoor activities. Loves that he can go to sporting events in Denver as well as those at DU. He’s an athletic kid (but NOT hockey or lacrosse—Du’s specialties), sort of preppy, not a huge partier and he’s pretty middle/financially conservative leaning politically. DU seems to have a better program if he goes the computer science route in combo with business. His older brother goes to school in a very urban setting where you can’t tell the difference between university buildings and office/government buildings on the “campus”. DU is not like that. It has a distinct campus which is near enough to the city but is definitely in its own “pocket”. Personally, I was leaning towards Elon (not that its my decision) but I have been really impressed with DU’s communications to admitted students and parents—and especially how they’ve handled the Covid situation. Lastly, with all the craziness in the world, I would probably be more comfortable with him at DU as we have family 3 hours away and there is easy access to the airport. There is decent access from Elon via RDU but Denver offers more flight options for us. I have a feeling my son will be going to DU but he’s keeping us all guessing (insert eye roll–but I get that he wants a little fun during these crazy times). Please keep me posted on your son’s decision.

4

DU is in the city. There is a light rail stop on campus and students can easily get downtown and to the airport.

DU has a proven international relations and political science program with lots of speakers and events. It is located in the state capital so there are internship opportunities. Both senators have offices in Denver. The school of business is great, and still gets a lot of money from the Sturm family. The university is much more international than Elon.

Elon is at the end of a long, rural road. Once there, there is a tiny downtown. The college is the reason to be there. It would be difficult to do anything outside the college, like be involved in local politics or intern for a company in the area without a car. I think there is more interaction with other colleges in the area (and there are a ton of them) for parties and sports than at DU. DU has a rivalry with Colorado college for hockey and with CU for women’s lacrosse, but there isn’t much cross over with the other schools.

DU is located in a pricey area of Denver with beautiful homes, some nice restaurants, big grocery stores, malls not too far away, but it is in a city and city living has city problems. Homelessness, crime, PARKING! (huge parking issues near DU). Many people in the area use DU’s facilities (and they are great) for athletics and attend events at the music halls. There is a lot of activity on campus that is not about the college but about the city. My kids have been to many camps and birthday parties on campus (their grade school is only a mile away). The school hosts Destination Imagination tournaments, the Junior League holiday shopping mart, high school graduations on campus. It’s a busy place.

I think both schools are preppy and kids have a higher SES than the average college kid. The greek system at both schools reflect the SES of its students.

I’d pick DU because I found Elon to be too isolated, too perfect. I had a co-worker who went to Elon and was incredibly close to her sorority sisters (she’d been in 6 or 8 weddings) and teammates (swimming) and did build those lifelong friends everyone hopes for.

5

Hi, my son attends Elon. I agree with the posts here about the surrounding area and city. The town of Elon is tiny. It was a concern factor for us, too. There are many student activities (as there are at any college), and outdoor clubs that do stuff like backpacking, white water rafting, etc. But if going out and about on weekends and having lots of cultural activities nearby are a factor, that is something to consider. My son is very happy, he’s more of a small-friend hangout guy. He has a car and has done a couple of weekend events in Raleigh, but that’s it, and fine with him.

Elon does have an Elon USA program in DC, and one of the highest ranked study abroad in the country. Also yes the Business program is strong! Fraternities are present, but only residential for sophomores, in smallish houses. So not a dominating part of the social scene, but there. There are partiers at Elon for sure, but non partiers find their people too (mine is one of those) and yes the student body skews higher income, non diverse. My son is not preppy and feels fine there, so I don’t know that it is overwhelmingly preppy, even though it is overwhelmingly white and higher income, and lots from NJ/NY. That said, my son has friends from many states and income levels. Elon is working on diversity, but stats are low.

Classes are small and advising is strong at Elon…that was something my son was drawn to. Elon’s mission is “Engaged Learning” and it shows in practice.

The campus is very very beautiful and quintessential. The students go to nearby Burlington (10-15 min) for stuff like restaurants, shopping. There are shuttles or lots of kids with cars.

Elon is really, really good at communicating and social media (one of their very strong majors is Communications, and it shows in their college communications and those to parents as well). I have another kid at a same size college and the communications and handling of COVID and communications in general, Elon is blowing the other (very good) school away. I do think the Elon admissions are doing lots of virtual events.

We were very impressed with Elon and only heard rave reviews. I’m sorry that you can’t visit and really feel for all in your position. If you or your son want to pm for any info, send me a PM. Sorry I don’t know anything about University of Denver!

1 Like
6

College students overestimate the time they are going to spend off campus generally. That said, the locales are quite different. If your students expect to settle on the East coast, I think Elon is definitely superior for internships and networking, particularly in the Acela corridor. If California or Colorado are prefered, DU makes more sense.

1 Like
7

Thanks for your response. I agree that college students overestimate the time they are going to spend off campus. I think my son’s concern is to what extent Denver has a true campus with things to do. My oldest son went to school in downtown Cleveland (Case). This son was somewhat turned off by the downtown nature of Case. From the other replies, it sounds like Denver has more of a true campus feel.

8

My D is going to be attending DU this Fall and we live about 20 minutes away (which was the biggest downside for her). DU has a great campus (even though it’s close to downtown) and the campus is super active with tons of things going on. For my D, who is planning to study Intl Relations (speaks Arabic & French), Econ, & PoliSci, DU has great academic programs and a ton of internship opportunities. I don’t know a ton about Elon, but I can say that I wouldn’t describe DU as a “city school” and the campus itself couple with the access to the outdoors is a big plus.

My D has a great merit scholarship from a local foundation that is basically a full-ride to any school in CO (DU fills in what the foundation doesn’t) and for her interests, DU was the right choice given the scholarship. Some of her other accepted choices were pretty different (small schools like CMC, Scripps, Bryn Mawr, Conn College) and others were more similar mid-sized universities (American, Tulane, USD, etc.), but even without the scholarship, I felt like DU held it’s own against some of these other, higher-ranked schools

9

Thanks for the responses. He Sent in deposit to DU yesterday. I think the idea of being so close to Colorado slopes won out. I just hope he realizes he is there to get a degree.

I liked the fact that DU told us that if they go online for the first quarter, students can defer to January. I haven’t seen any other schools make such a statement.