Elon University in Review

Introduction
I chose Elon for two reasons: its amazing communications department and its global perspective, its commitment to exposing its students to the world around them. Not only is the school itself a melting pot of cultures, religions, politics and experiences, but the Study Abroad program is nationally renowned and encourages students to completely immerse themselves in other cultures. So come to Elon equipped with an open mind and be prepared to learn outside the classroom as well as inside it...and you'll love it here.

Campus Life and Social Life
There are a lot of clubs, including intramural and club sports. Every organization is extremely active: it's not just about creating mission statements and sitting back, the kids really participate in their passions through these organzations.

In terms of the more standard college fare - drinking, partying, aimlessly wandering the streets in the middle of the night purely for the sake of being rowdy, etc. - Elon has a respectable level of that as well. There have been crimes reported, from theft to rape, but they almost exclusively involve kids who go out alone, under the influence, in the middle of the night...so like most situations, life here isn't failsafe and does require common sense. But if you're relatively smart about it and don't put yourself in any obviously compromising situations when you're not equipped to deal with them...you'll be fine. I've never had a problem here. Academics
Be prepared to have your eyes opened and your mind expanded. Elon does an extraordinary job of connecting its students to all sides of the world, which means educating everyone about the countless injustices that are occurring every day - even the ones that aren't as widely publicized on cnn.com homepage.

This focus speaks to a larger focus at Elon on critical thinking, thinking outside the box, engaging with your academic environment. Yes, this means the professors here make you think (and work). This means lots of reading...and you will be asked to have an opinion and articulate it with confidence, a demand that is unbelievably necessary to success after graduation. So whether you have natural leadership abilities or have yet to develop them but are open to evolving, you'll love it here and come out ready to contribute to society in a meaningful way.

By reputation, in keeping with the international focus here at Elon, the best departments are probably Business, Communications, Political Science and International Studies. Theatre Arts is amazing as well, and I've heard great things about Biology and the Social sciences like Psych and Sociology...

Professors have honestly blown me away, for the most part. If you get Jim Brown, your life will probably be changed. They are not kidding when they say 'you will develop personal relationships with your professors.' You will, because they rock!!
Not a lot of TAs... the only ones I have encountered are in science classes, but they don't teach, just sit there and occasionally verify something the professor says, and do tasks like typing up lesson plans and such. But sometimes, they are really helpful.

Workload - depends on the class, of course, but my initial impression of college was, "this is really easy". But that was probably because I took rigorous AP/IB classes in high school. Elon is a spectacular school, but the workload is not impossible.

Student Body
Students are mostly from the East Coast, but represent many diverse backgrounds culturally and geographically. One common joke along these lines on the part of students is that applicants have to look like they're auditioning for "The Real World" to get in. It's a little sketch that Elon makes you submit a current photo of yourself with your application without explaining why....and also a little sketch that most of the students here just so happen to be beautiful, rich, and preppy...but luckily, everyone's open to diversity, so if you don't own any Banana Republic, you won't be judged.

In Closing...
Elon was the best decision of my LIFE. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for me these next three years!