Elon University | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Elizabeth

Class: Freshman
Major:
Gender: F

High School: Middle Creek High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

Elon prides itself on its academics, its staff, and its size. Elon is not too big, but not too small. The average class size at Elon is less than it was at my high school - all of my professors know me by name and make a huge effort to get to know me personally. Elon stresses engaged learning, which means that the students actively participate in their learning. Class time is used more efficiently because it isn't just all of us sitting in front of a professor lecturing. I am yet to have a professor who does not go out of his/her way to help me to succeed. Elon has resources on campus for whatever you may need help with - just within my first year I have gotten to know the people at the Career Center, the Service Learning center, and the Study Abroad center, all of whom have been very helpful. There is definitely school pride at Elon, although you don't come to Elon for the sports. You come to Elon for the atmosphere of students who truly want to learn, be involved in the communities, participate in undergraduate research, internships, service learning, and study abroad.

Academic Life

Academics at Elon are amazing. I have really loved most of my classes. Because it is a liberal arts school, education at Elon is geared more towards learning for the sake of learning, although we develop skills that are very useful in any career. Class time is often more of a discussion than a lecture - the professors often encourage student participation, as engaged learning is stressed at Elon. There is a healthy competitiveness and drive to learn in the classroom. The most unique class that I have taken in the year I have been at Elon is a service learning class during "winter term" called "Volunteerism, Social Justice, and Civic Engagement in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina". In this course, our class studied at Elon for a week about the socioeconomic factors that surrounded Hurricane Katrina. Then, we went to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana for a week to do Hurricane Katrina relief. Later, we came back to Elon and spend the last week of winter term preparing presentations to spread the word about how much relief work still needed to be done even two years after the storm. It was very rewarding to combine education with service by going on Elon's 13th trip down to Mississippi since the storm hit.

Student Body

The stereotype about Elon students is that they all come from extremely wealthy families. Many of them do, but certainly not all of them. A good number of Elon students are there on scholarship or some form of financial aid. Students wear anything from sweatpants and t-shirts to sundresses to class, just depending on what kind of person they are. I wear jeans and a t-shirt to class every day and don't feel at all out of place. Elon students are from all around the country, with many from other countries as well. I have friends from California, North Carolina, Connecticut, Florida, Texas, and Hong Kong, just to name a few. Most Elon students are very politically aware, with a slight majority right wing, although the left wings seem to be more active on campus.