Elon University Top Questions

Elon is very diverse. Only 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} is in state which is nice considering the fact that its in the south. Some people may say that everyone is from a wealthy background but that isn't always true. It's probably split from private and public high schools. Financial backgrounds aren't necessarily prevalent, many students get jobs on campus.

In my experiences differences in race/religion/sexual orientation/economic status don't cause barriers between students. For example, I'm a white, Baptist and some of my best friends are African American and Jewish. Different types of students interact without hesitation. Most students here are from the New England area. However, Elon has students from all 50 states and around 30 countries. We are a melting pot!

Elon is a pretty tolerant place, but we are mostly of one type - preppy. An emo, punk, or grunge kid would probably feel very out of place. If you typically go against the grain, dance to the beat of your own drummer, etc., that's great. But there aren't very many people like you at Elon. Different types of students do interact, but that's mostly in class. We tend to stick with our own types. At a lot of colleges, it's typically for students to wear sweatshirts to class all the time, but that's not Elon. We mostly wear jeans, but we look a little nicer than that. In the spring and summer, girls are known for wearing sundresses a lot. Students mostly come from affluent backgrounds, but that's not everyone. There are plenty of people who have jobs because Mommy and Daddy don't pay for everything. Girls in certain sororities are especially known for their inability to understand that not everyone has everything they wanted handed to them.

Students here are not that diverse, which is fine. I really don't have a problem with it at all. Most students are white and come from the upper-middle class. While the largest draw state is NC (about 25-30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students are NC residents), most of the rest of the student population is from the north and the midwest (PA, MD, MA, VA, OH, etc.). But students here are also open to the LGBT community-- I've seen students many times around campus wearing shirts that say "Gay? Okay by me." One thing that I was nervous about before coming to Elon was the male/female ratio. I remember reading in one guidebook that there aren't many guys here, and of the guys that are here, half of them are gay. That is 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} NOT TRUE. Honestly, if I hadn't been told the male/female ratio, I wouldn't have guessed that its almost 40/60, and there are FAR more straight guys than gay, at least in my experience. I guess the student that might feel out of place here is someone who is very alternative-- gothic, very punk, very emo-- just because you don't see many students like that here. Students are also pretty involved in politics. There is a College Democrats club and a College Republicans club, as well as numerous clubs that have emerged in support of particular candidates for the 2008 Presidential Election.

Plenty of religious opportunities on campus - many clubs and social groups. Racially, there are limited opportunities.

Elon, is definately predominantly white upper class kids althought the university is working hard to make us a bit more diverse every year. I am white and the 3 other girls in my suite are African-American and 2 of them have become some of my best friends here. This has never been a problem for us personally, but there have been a couple of social situaitons where it has caused tension. This is not to say that kids of different social statuses or cultures don't get along here because most people honestly do, you just have to be prepared to handle a couple of small bumps in the road.

Elon could definitly be more diverse- but that is happening more and more with time. Most students at Elon do have money but you might be surprised how many students here are putting themselves through school.

The school is predominantly white, which most students seem to be quite content with. There is not much interaction amongst the races. African Americans are either gay, an athlete, or participate in a historically black fraternity. If they do not fall into one of these categories they generally have white social tendencies, thus generally friending white students. Students who have strong cultural convictions would not fit into Elon. Because many students are from the North East there is not much of a southern pride against blacks. The vast majority of students are from above average income families and many are very wealthy. At the same time students who come from less privileged backgrounds are not shunned.

Greek Life is extremely active on campus, holding fundraisers frequently both individually by each Fraternity or Sorority, and in participation with the college. Most Elon students are from the North, surprisingly.

The typical Elon female student is a preppy sorority girl who is usually stuck-up and vapid. Her favorite TV show is The Hills and she drives around campus in her Lexus blasting hip-hop. Sorority rush is the most important time of her life. She spends over an hour getting ready just to go to class or to get coffee. She spends her weekends and weeknights getting wasted and hooking up with frat boys who probably don't know her name. The typical Elon guy is a frat boy whose mom shops for him at Abercrombie and Hollister. He smokes a lot of weed and drinks a lot. He's usually too cool for school, or anything else. There are also the honors program kids, who vary widely. But if you're not in a sorority or frat, or in an honors program, you're pretty much screwed when it comes to making friends. Most students are from NC, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, or Ohio. They run the gamut from middle-class to upper middle-class, but everyone acts like they're richer than they are and brag about their socioeconomic status. There are black students on campus, but students of different races rarely interact. Elon students aren't the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree. Most of them are of average intelligence, and many aren't too informed about anything outside of the "bubble." There is some air of left-mindedness on campus, but there are plenty of Southern good old boys who are very conservative. Many students are business and communications majors who are hoping to make lots of money some day. Many of the girls here openly admit they just came to Elon to find a rich husband. If you don't have a car, it will suck. There are things around Elon to do, but only within driving distance. If you don't want to join the Greek system, be prepared to make friends who don't either. If you don't drink or smoke weed, don't even think about coming to Elon. You'll be one of 6{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}.