I cannot believe it, but we are actually close to the end of July, and it feels like this summer is flying by! I hope everyone has been utilizing their extra free time and traveling to a few colleges. There is still time, as most colleges will have information sessions and tours throughout August. Also, for you Xavier students, classes start late this year because of a late Labor Day, so you have even more time to visit colleges. Be on the lookout for open houses at schools across the country, as many of those occur in September and October, and most of them you will need to sign-up for in advance.
Okay, with that announcement out of the way, I want to talk about my trip to Elon University earlier this month. As many of you know, I visited seven schools in Virginia and North Carolina, however, there was one that truly stood out to me, and that was Elon University. I honestly was shocked by their campus and what they have to offer to students. This is a school that is blowing up in popularity, and I was able to get a first-hand-look as to why this is happening. I was taken completely by surprise and I look forward to recommending this school to many students in the years to come.
General Information
Elon University is located in a small town in Elon, North Carolina. It is situated in the middle of Chapel Hill, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem, so it is near a ton of great colleges and towns. The campus itself is gorgeous, and is situated on a registered botanical garden. When I drove there, I actually drove through a country club, which is right next to the campus, but the campus itself seems like a country club. Right off of campus, there is not much going on, I'll be honest, but it is a cute little town, with all of the essentials. If you are up for a road trip, Elon is only 3 hours from the beach, and 2.5 hours from the mountains. The school is a great size, as it holds just under 5,800 undergraduate students from across the country and world. Only 20% of students actually come from the state of North Carolina, while 80% come from outside the state. Elon also offers competitive Division 1 sports, Performing Arts, and ROTC opportunities.
When I was there, I experienced an overwhelming feeling of support and care from the Elon community. I even felt this with the tour, where usually the large group of students and parents are broken up into a few big groups, where you don't have much personal attention. Elon had over 20 tour guides introduce themselves, and families were assigned to guides individually, and I only had 6 others in my group, which was a great experience. At the end of the tour, the guides gave each family the business card of their specific admissions counselor, such a nice touch! It is to no surprise that Elon is ranked number 1 by U.S. News and World Report in the nation for their academic programs being "focused on student success". Elon cares about their students, and it is their number one goal to make sure they are happy academically and socially. They have an average class size of 12:1, and they are ranked number 1 in the nation for the number of students with global study abroad experience. Also, unlike most schools, students are required to do 2 of 5 experiential learning opportunities during their time there, including internships, study abroad, research, service-learning, and leadership.
They also offer a "Elon Job Network" where they have thousands of Elon alum helping students gain access to internships and jobs once they graduate. It is no surprise that Elon boasts a 91% retention rate. and that 6 months after graduation, 89% of students are employed are in graduate school, and out of those employed, 91% have a job related to their career goal. These are great numbers, and you can tell that Elon is doing something right with their students!
Academic Information
Elon houses 4 main academic colleges, which their students can choose from. As long as students are accepted into Elon, they can choose whichever major they want. The four main undergraduate colleges are The College of Arts and Sciences, the Martha and Spencer Love College of Business, the School of Communications, and the School of Education. They also have two colleges for graduate students which are the School of Health Sciences, and the School of Law. Overall, there are over 60 majors for students to choose from while at Elon. Just a few of these majors include: finance, entrepreneurship, international business, marketing, journalism, cinema and television arts, media analytics, biology, and arts/music theater. There is pretty much any major for any type of student at Elon, besides a school of Engineering. However, Elon does offer a 3-2 engineering program with 10 partner schools.
It is also important to note that their music production major is growing and students are able to do a semester in LA, DC, or NYC. Finally, I was really impressed with their School of Communications and the hands-on access students are given right away. If interested, freshmen students can start work as a journalist, cameraman or an anchor for Elon's own news network. This is an incredible opportunity for students interested in that field!
Admissions Information
So I realize I lot of the schools I have written about have been great, but also extremely difficult to get into, and also very expensive. I am happy to report that Elon University is neither very selective nor expensive. To be honest while walking around their gorgeous, expansive campus and hearing about their strong academics, I'm not sure how this is possible, but I'm glad it is! The following are important admissions related tips and information:
- Elon is not a Common Application school. To apply, students must go through their website.
- They offer an Early Decision (November 1st), Early Action (November 10th) and Regular Decision (January 10th).
- The middle 50% for acceptance is: SATs 1710-1960 and ACT 25-29.
- The total cost of attendance is just about $45,000 (close to $20k/year less than most private colleges).
- There are five different scholarship opportunities for students.
- 77% of students graduate within 4 years, which makes it a top 100 school in the nation in this category.
- Each year, they have about a 54% acceptance rate
- Demonstrated interest is very important to them, so make sure you visit and stay in touch!
- Elon is on the 4-1-4 academic calendar, meaning students take a 3-week course in January.
- Elon offers a GAP program to 15 incoming freshmen, who start their freshmen year in Wyoming camping and hiking, and then travel to cities throughout the country engaging in service learning opportunities. Students then come to Elon in the spring, and are on track to graduate in the fall. Students also receive 9 academic credits for this program.
-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA
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