Elon University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Majors: Double major in Finance and Accounting
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Straight Male

Summary

I’m in a fraternity, I’m on the club golf and club fishing teams, and I work with National Alliance on Mental Illness on campus.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: I went to a public school in Littleton, CO with a graduating class of 460. There was a culture of going to college.
Majors: Double major in Finance and Accounting

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a fraternity, I’m on the club golf and club fishing teams, and I work with National Alliance on Mental Illness on campus.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
My fraternity definitely has because that’s where I found my core group of friends.

Academic Experience

Can you describe the weekly coursework for your majors?
It’s a mixed bag. Accounting is a lot of problem sets. I haven’t taken many finance classes. It’s mostly just tests and problem sets.
Is there anything that you feel your either of your majors’ departments do especially well or especially poorly?
No, I think they do everything well. There are no super positives or negatives about it.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it depends on what your professor is like. Some like lots of group work, some are more focused on individual work.
How accessible have your professors been?
Pretty accessible for the most part. All have office hours at a certain time every week so you can go in and do that, or you can just send them an email and they’re usually free to meet or get coffee or something.
What has been your favorite class in Accounting?
Financial Accounting
What has been your least favorite class in Accounting?
Managerial Accounting
Why did you choose your combination of majors? Are you happy with your choice?
I’ve always been a numbers guy but didn’t want to do the engineering route, so I thought finance and accounting would be the best fit for me. I’m more of an analytical type of person.

Reasons to Attend

1) Everybody that goes there is super open to hanging out with you, especially that first weekend. It’s a very open campus.
2) The study abroad program is amazing. I was abroad in January and a bunch of my friends are going abroad this fall. It’s huge. [About 78% of students study abroad.]
3) The campus is beautiful.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you’re coming from the west, there’s not a whole lot to do. Like, there’s no skiing or mountains to climb or anything like that.
2) There’s not a whole lot to do outside of campus.
3) The food isn’t great.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Smith Dorm with one roommate
Sophomore: Loy Neighborhood, known as the Greek Neighborhood, with two other people in my room but 12 people in the house
Junior: Oaks Apartments with 3 other guys in a single room
How was transitioning from Colorado to North Carolina?
It’s kind of a culture shock. It takes some getting used to, but I’ve gotten used to it now. The nice thing about Elon is everybody is so nice so it made it easier. The initial culture shock is the way people go about their business. Colorado is a very laid-back type of place and North Carolina is more structured and proper. People say “ma’am and sir.”
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
The Root
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
Going to Carolina Hurricanes games

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you participate in at Elon?
I’ll go to frat parties. I don’t really go out during the week, usually just Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
What have been some of your favorite times at Elon?
Orientation weekend freshman year is one of the best times I’ve had. I was living in an all guys dorm at the time so I had like 40 guys I got to know and we all went out together. It was one of my favorite experiences.
Can you describe a typical night going out freshman year?
You rush in the spring. So, in the fall if you’re going out you either know somebody in a frat and they can get you in, or, if you don’t know anybody, you bounce around and try to get in the door somewhere.
How happy are you with the nightlife? Is there anything you would change?
I’m pretty happy with it honestly. It’s a good mix. I like how it’s not just a bar school because that can get expensive.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
Most of them through pledging and the people I lived with freshman year.
How would you describe the social scene?
It’s fun. I think it can be exclusive at parts, especially if you’re a guy and not in a fraternity it can be tough. I think it’s a great experience, the only negative can be that it’s sometimes exclusive.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
There are two different bubbles. The African American fraternities only hang out with themselves, they don’t reach out to a lot of people. It can be exclusive in that way. There is not a lot of interaction between the groups.
Do you think people are happy with their choice of Elon by senior year? Do you think people leave loving Elon?
Yeah, I think so. I think everybody I talk to loves Elon. A lot of people don’t want to leave.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
No, not really. I found my internship myself.
Have you used the career office?
I’ve used it a little bit. It’s helpful for resumes. In helping me find a job, it wasn’t that helpful especially because I was trying to get a job in Denver. People don’t really know what Elon is in Denver.
Have you learned any computer programs that will be helpful to you professionally through your coursework?
Management Information Systems helped me learn Excel. I got Excel certified, and that was especially helpful in my internship.

Financial Aid

Have you used the financial aid office? If so, how helpful have they been?
Yeah, they’re very accessible I’d say. They’re always very upfront about things, which is really helpful.