The Truth About Housing

Elon's housing website tells you about each dorm, but not in all that much depth. I'm here to give you the DL about all the freshmen dorms.


Let me start by saying compared to other colleges, Elon dorms will make you feel like Kings and Queens. Even the older dorms aren't that bad.
There are four possible neighborhoods for freshmen to live in:

• Global Neighborhood

• Colonnades Neighborhood

• Historic Neighborhood

• Danieley Center

I live in Global and highly recommend it. Global and Colonnades are the newest residential areas on campus--built in 2014 and 2007 respectively-- and are, in my opinion, the best places on campus for freshmen to live.

GLOBAL:

I live in the Global Neighborhood, and must say, it is AWESOME. Not only is my dorm beautiful, but you are in a fantastic location. Global Commons is right in the center of the Global Neighborhood, and the Great Hall is comparable to the library. (better, in my opinion.) So I study right in Global Commons, which stays open all night, and can easily and safely walk right back to my dorm, even if it's 2 AM, since it's so close. There's also Argo Tea right in Global Commons, so that's convenient. Plus, I love the way I have grown as a global citizen. There are Global Neighborhood events every Tuesday night, such as Global Dinners with guest speakers and discussion following, a global film series, and more. We even had a Global Neighborhood trivia night, which was really fun. The Global Neighborhood consists of 5 dorms, and the Resident Student Association actually calls them "houses," and tries to get the students to strongly associate with their house, as in the house concept in Harry Potter. There is a points competition between the houses, and each house gets points depending on how many people go to the Global events. So that's really cool, and I love it. You build a house pride and get closer with people not only on your floor, but on other floors of your dorm building as well. In terms of layout, there are double rooms, single rooms, and pod suite single rooms. Each double room is connected to another double by a bathroom. Singles have their own bathroom and you get a full size bed, as well as your own LG Washer and Dryer. Pod suites are two single rooms, with a small common living area space and a bathroom. There is a large common room, kitchen, laundry room, and study room on each floor. Oh! Depending where in the building you are, your room might be slightly different in size. For example, if you have a standard double room, but it is between two pod suites, you will not have to share the bathroom with another double, and your room itself is larger. (That's how my room was!) 4 of the 5 Global buildings have classrooms on the first floor, where many freshmen English and Global classes are held. They are always unlocked, though, so they're great rooms to study in late at night when you want to get out of your room, but don't feel like leaving the dorm. Lastly, I love Lake Mary Nell being right outside of Global- so although we don't have much of a quad, I can easily sit out by the lake and study, which is really relaxing. Lakeside dining hall is very close to Global, as is the gym, student center, and the performing arts center. 


COLONNADES:
The layout in both Global and Nades is very similar. Two double rooms, connected by a bathroom. If you have a single, you again get a full size bed. Woo! Apparently the double rooms in Nades are slightly larger than in Global, but I think it depends on the building. Names Buildings A and B are a year or two older than C, D and E; so the room sizes vary a tad. The windows in the Nades rooms are larger than the windows in the Global Rooms, but not by too much. Each floor has a large common room, laundry room and kitchen. Nades also has a gorgeous quad area outside, and is very aesthetically appealing with columns and covered brick walkways. Nades dining hall is right next to the residential neighborhood, and hands down is the best dining hall on campus. KOBC- the business school- is also right there, so if you're going to take a lot of business classes, Nades is a very convenient location. Colonnades houses freshmen, sophomores, and some juniors, whereas Global focuses on housing almost all freshmen. 

*If you get on the first floor of Nades or Global, sucks to suck. You have to swipe into the hallways, so the first floor is pretty much divided into two halves, making a literal and figurative divide. People on the first floor say they struggle getting to know people on their floor as much and that there's not much community*


HISTORIC:
Although there are 5 buildings in Colonnades and 5 buildings in Global, each building is nearly identical. This is not the case with the Historic neighborhood, though. Smith and Carolina are right next to each other and very similar; they are hall style dorms with double rooms and communal bathrooms. Smith is all boys and super rowdy. And Carolina is all girls, and also rather social; there's a certain reputation Carolina girls have.. If you're not a big partier and typical girly girl, Carolina isn't going to be your environment. These two dorms are adjacent to the Academic Pavilions though, so you can crawl out of bed 5 minutes before class and still be on time. Also in Historic is West, another all girls dorm that is hall style with communal bathrooms; it's the oldest building on campus and is rumored to have a ghost. There's a nice common room on the first floor, though, unlike Smith and Carolina which have no common spaces. Elon does a good job of putting fresh carpeting and floors and the like in the older dorms to keep them remotely modern. No, they're not hotel luxury like Global, but they're not that terrible for freshman dorms in comparison to other colleges. HBB- Hook, Brannock, and Barney- are three little buildings that are connected and have suites, in a sense. You open a door from outside and there's a little hallway with a bathroom, water fountain and 3-4 double rooms. You get really close with the 8 other people you're living with, but in terms of meeting people you don't have a whole entire hall like most dorms. Some in HBB say they feel isolated. If you're a social person, though, just go upstairs to the suite above you, and introduce yourself; everyone's looking to make friends--HBB is as isolated as you make it. If you want to meet more people in the complex you can; you just have to take a bit more initiative. Virginia is a suite style building that's connected to West; the first floor common room is shared. Lastly in the Historic Neighborhood is Sloan, which is Jack and Jill style like Global. It's primarily two doubles sharing a small bathroom. I've heard mixed things about Sloan. Sloan is closest to downtown Elon where Acorn is, and is also directly next door to McEwen Dining Hall and the comm school. The one thing about Historic is you can't specify on your housing form which dorm in historic you want. You would just put Historic. The dorms in Historic are all so different though, so that kind of sucks, in my opinion. Even if you put you want all female housing, you can get either West or Carolina which are two completely different environments.
Everyone that lives in Historic says what the dorms lack in luxury is made up for by the great community. 


DANIELEY:
? ? ? ?
I don't even know what to say about Danieley. Danieley is the only dorm complex I've never set foot in. I've been in Daniel Commons, the common building for Danieley residents. That's where Qdoba is, and they just added an Einstein Bagel Bros. Elon also just added a huge rec center with basketball courts and a larger gym for Danieley residents. So that's good!! People in Danieley used to complain that the school didn't give Danieley any attention, but that has recently changed with the expansion of the common building. I don't know if the dorms have been renovated, though. Like I said when I was talking about historic, the college generally does a good job at updating carpets and beds.  Danieley was built in the late '90s, so it's not that old. I believe there are 4-5 double rooms with a kitchenette area and bathroom. Danieley is the only neighborhood where there are no LLCs, which I believe is because LLCs are given top housing.. And although you'd think Danieley is newer and therefore better than Historic, the location is a major downfall. It's set far back on campus. To get to the Academic Pavilions where a lot of classes are, it can take 20-30 minutes depending on your walking pace. If a walk doesn't bother you, though, there's not that much bad about Danieley. There's even a biobus that takes you from Danieley to McMichael Science Center in the center of campus, which is convenient for cold winter days. The biobus tries to keep a strict schedule, but sometimes it's early or late, so it's only semi-reliable. Danieley gets away with the most parties of any of the freshman dorms, so I've heard. I have been in a Danieley apartment and those are actually really spacious and nice! Those are only for sophomores though; I'm just explaining the Danieley Flats for freshmen in this post.

Housing Deposits: Elon says if you apply ED and get your deposit in quickly, you have priority on housing. This is true for the most part, but not guaranteed. I have known a couple people that applied ED and sent their deposit in quickly, and have gotten their last choice housing. For the most part this does not happen, but I just wanted to let you know, there is that possibility, and I definitely have heard stories about it. (One of my friends applied ED, and had Historic as her last choice, but got put into the all girls dorm in Historic, called West, instead of her top choice, Global.) I personally applied Early Action, and did not put my deposit down until March. But I still got Global, my first choice! The reason for this is because I applied to a Living Learning Community in Global, and if you get accepted into the LLC, your housing is set. There are some really cool LLCs in global I suggest students applying to if they want guaranteed housing in Global. The LLCs in Global, off the top of my head, are: Creative Arts, International, Italian, French, Spanish, and Leaders in a Global World. There are LLCs in every neighborhood, so if you have your heart set on living in Colonnades for example, then it would be wise to apply to an LLC there. 

Housing for upperclassmen is determined based on your cumulative GPA and how many semesters you've been on campus.

Actual Freshman Advice

Hey, incoming freshmen! Or shall I say "first-years"!

How are you?

You probably have little idea what to expect once you get here. Move-in and getting to know hundreds of new people can be stressful and quite the experience, but I promise, it'll come a lot more naturally than you'd think. Just stick with your gut, be overly friendly and sociable, and don't do anything stupid. 

There are freshman tips floating all around the internet, and I decided to make a list of my own that are Elon specific.

1.) Consolidate all your crap when you're packing. Think- moving boxes, little storage crates, etc. A ton of loose stuff is an absolute pain in the butt when you're moving in. And even worse, there's a whole orientation team to help carry your stuff, and you don't want to be *that* person that has everything loose and makes the O-team's life miserable. Also, label all your boxes. It's way more helpful than you'd think. It took me until October to even have everything all situated in my room, since I had so much random stuff mixed in where it shouldn't have been. I remember packing for fall break and finding my iron in a shoe box. Heh, whoops. If you're organized from the start, it'll make living in a new place much less stressful.

2.) Don't worry about having your room perfect the first couple days. You have plenty time to perfect your space. Although you definitely shouldn't wait until October to get organized, do make time to get out of your room and socialize the first few days. It's insane how close people become the first couple weeks of school and you don't want to miss out on that. If friends on your hall are playing ultimate on the quad or going out to parties the first night, go along; don't just stay in your room and keep unpacking. However, there is something to be said about going out to parties the first night you're on campus...

3.) You probably shouldn't. It's fine to go out if you're with your RA or a sophomore that knows what they're doing and where they're going. But you don't want to get super drunk the first night, or get lost, get taken advantage of, or even black out and wake up in the yard of a frat house and then realize you're missing orientation or freshman convocation. You have all of college to party, so don't go overboard the first night. Orientation is led by your orientation leaders that are college students just like you, so they get it; however, your adviser is present during orientation  for a big chunk of the time.. And you absolutely do not want to make a bad first impression on him/her by skipping sessions or showing up hungover. 

4.) Your lanyard does not go around your neck. Your lanyard does not go around your wrist. It goes in your backpack or your pocket or really anywhere that's not visible. This is the ultimate freshman red flag.

5.) As is walking around campus with a map. Elon is not that big. Once you get here, you'll realize it's a lot bigger than your tour made it seem, but chances are you'll be on the main campus for the most part. Before the first day of class, walk around and just get used to all the sidewalks, which building is where etc. Orient yourself. And if you still feel like you don't know where you're going the first day, set your phone background as a map. If you're looking down at your phone you'll blend in with all the upperclassmen who are just texting as they walk across campus.

6.) Introduce yourself to everyone. It's going to feel weird, because how often in life do you say hi to everyone who crosses your path? Elon is a medium sized school, but can feel small real quickly once people start forming cliques. And it can feel really sucky if you don't fit into any of the cliques. So talk to everyone and embrace your extroverted side to the complete fullest. Once it's second semester, it's a lot harder to just walk up to anyone and become friends with them like you can do the first month.

7.) Quickly get onto the Elon Class of 2019 page or girls Facebook roommate search page or whatever you posted on. AND DELETE EVERYTHING YOU SAID. I promise this is a good idea. Whether you realized it or not, you said some stupid crap on those pages, and don't want it to come back to bite you. 

8.) Don't get binders. Not only do they take up way more space in your bag, where are you going to fit them all in your dorm room? If you realize one class is super difficult and requires immense organization, fine, do get one. But don't come to college with six huge binders. Such a bad idea.

9.) Half the people in the writing center suck. Go there early on in the semester so you can figure out who's helpful and who isn't. Then, when you have a huge assignment at the end of the semester that counts as 40+% of your grade, you have a writing center consultant in mind that will help you ace that paper!

10.) You are awesome the way you are. Anytime you're in a new environment, you're vulnerable and more susceptible to conformity. If it's not you, don't do it. If you're anti-alcohol, don't let other people make you feel like you have to drink. If you're not preppy, don't monogram all your stuff just because everyone else has monograms. Stay true to yourself. I went out and bought a whole new wardrobe once I got to Elon because half the girls were wearing Lily, Jacks, Norts, Jack Rogers, Tory Burch boots, bean boots, j crew vests etc. etc. Ultimately, once I got home for the summer, I re-evaluated my life. Who even was I? That's not my fashion taste, and that's not who I am. I wasn't even that happy with myself because I was trying to blend in with the typical Elon girl. Elon needs more people who are different! Who are unique! Who are proud of who they are and don't try to change into someone they're not! Do yourself a favor, and remind yourself every day that you're amazing as is! It's really hard to do when you're in an environment of perfectly skinny, blonde, tan, model-esque girls, but don't you forget it! 

If you're visiting-

Elon Tour Guides are awesome. They are equipped with so much information to share with you and have their routes down to a science. Tours are limited to a certain duration, though, so you really only get a perfunctory glimpse at our amazing campus. Once I became a student at Elon, I realized there was so much more to campus than the tour made it seem. Also, you can't get the inside scoop from your tour guides on everything. My friend and I love Elon and are wannabe tour guides. Every time we see prospective students and their parents walking around, we try to strike up a conversation. We can't apply to be tour guides until the spring, and even so, probably won't get the positions- since we are white females- and if the tour guide position isn't coveted enough as it is, it's even harder to land the position if you're not diverse. Anyway, following your info session and admissions tour of campus, if you want to meet for coffee to hear more about Elon or want to see some more buildings , my friend and I would be glad to meet up with you.  It sucks visiting a college where you have no inside connection with a student to talk to. No one from my high school came to Elon, and I really wished that someone did so I had an actual student to get more information from and ask my questions to. My friend and I are totally willing to be that insider for you, though, so message me or comment if you'd like haha!

What are you curious about?

The segments I have planned to post about soon are:
- Academics and my experiences with professors
- Elon's Social Scene (Deny it all you want, but I know you're probably curious about parties)
- My favorite places to hang on campus
- All about the dorms and housing
- All about food

What do you want to know, though? What other area would you like me to write about? Comment letting me know, because I honestly am just making this blog to help you out. I was in your shoes last year, and it's scary- having to pick just one college, picking the college but not knowing all that much about it etc.

How safe is Elon really?

Posting this segment, because I know safety is a common concern of parents and prospective students. Elon isn't going to post on their website information about murders or anything of the sort, so how do you know how safe campus actually is?
ELON IS ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY SAFE.

I've never felt safer in my life, and I grew up in a small village of 1700 people.
Elon's campus is quadruple the size of my village, and I feel safer at Elon than I did at home.
The town of Elon itself is really small and primarily made up of just the college, so there is not a lot of traffic or outsiders coming through the area.

Elon must report to students when there is a safety incident, and we've yet to receive a report this year. The most dangerous thing I've heard to happen is a few cars were broken into- which was traced back to something pledges had to do during recruitment. (Which is dumb.)

We have a blue light system, but I've never felt the need to use it. Campus is very well lit; I've walked from the library to the coffee shop at 12:30 AM several nights and it didn't even phase me. After the UVA missing girl incident, I started carrying pepper spray for my late night escapades when I'm alone, but only because my parents insisted, and I guess you can never be too safe. I have never felt the need to use it, though.

All the dorms are very secure; you must swipe into them, and you can only swipe into your own dorm. The majority of the buildings even have a double swipe system-- you have to swipe to get into the lobby, and then swipe again to get into your hall. You also have to swipe to get into the library and other buildings after hours, so this ensures that no outsider can get into the building you're studying in late at night.

I'm generally a really paranoid person, so the fact that I feel so comfortable on Elon's campus 24/7 speaks volumes for campus security. They do an outstanding job at keeping our campus safe, and I commend them for that.

My Favorite Places on Campus {Studying Edition}

As much as we'd all like to pretend college is fun and games, it's not, and you're going to need to do a lot of studying throughout your time at Elon. You can try studying in your dorm room or common room, but chances are, you won't get much work done there. I love everyone on my floor, so sitting in the common room or the study room connected to the common room doesn't work for me-- my friends always walk by and it's impossible not to get interrupted.

Here are my favorite study spots:

• Global Commons
• The Great Hall is huge and has several tables and comfy chairs. The tables even have outlets right on them, so you can easily charge your devices. The chairs at all the tables are cushioned impeccably well, too, so you certainly will be comfortable. This hall was originally meant to be social, but it's generally very quiet. It is not designated silent, but at times it seems that way when it's not that crowded. It's definitely quiet enough to study, but at times there will be obnoxious people in there who talk really loud, and the room is huge and echoes badly. So if you're looking for a completely silent place, the Great Hall isn't it. (Perk- Great Hall is open 24 hours and in the same building as a cafe)
• Second and third floor of Global Commons are conference rooms and common areas with tables. These are generally quiet and a great place to study, especially if you want to get away from the crowds in the library and Great Hall. 
• The Computer Room is located adjacent to the cafe, Argo Tea, on the first floor of Gloco- our loving nickname for Global Commons haha. There are some chairs and a table in this room, as well as four computers and a printing station.

• The Library
• Not my favorite, by any means, but worth mentioning. I cannot get comfortable in the library. Third floor is completely silent, and I feel awkward if I even breathe or unzip my backpack. If you're sick and you cough, even just once, prepare for stares of death.. Second floor is quiet- you're to talk in a hushed tone there- and I'm fond of that atmosphere, but don't find the seating and tables comfortable for long periods of work.
• First floor of the library has been recently refurnished, and I find the chairs and tables in the Writing Center area nice. (Note: you don't need to be getting help from the Writing Center to use their tables-- they will only ask you to move if all the other tables in the WC are full, which is rare) First floor is rather social, though, so don't expect it to be that quiet. 
• The library is open 24 hours.

• Lindner Reading Room
• This room is on the first floor of the Lindner Academic Building, in the Academic Village. It looks similar to a room from Harry Potter, so it's dubbed the Harry Potter Room. It's completely silent. There are some large leather chairs that are super comfortable if you have a lot of reading to do and want to feel at home. The lighting isn't the greatest in this area--it's kind of dim--but if that doesn't bother you, I highly recommend this space. Note that there are blinds that can be opened, so if you open them during the day you receive adequate light. Only at night does it get kind of dark. (Perk- this room is near all of the academic buildings, so if you need somewhere to study between classes, this is the place. There is no printing station here, though.)
• You must swipe into the building before 8 PM I believe, but once you are there, you can technically stay as late at you want/need.

• Numen Lumen Pavilion
• Oasis Room: This room is located on the second floor on the Numen Lumen Pavilion, and feels and looks just like your living room at home. There's a dock for your iPod, a flat screen TV, bean bags, a shelf of board games, etc. It's meant to be more of a hangout than a study room, but it's generally really quiet since people don't use it that often. Whenever I'm nostalgic for home while doing homework, this is where I go. 
• Study Rooms: There are also a few individual study rooms in this building. They're really small without windows and seem like glorified closets to me, but if you like having a space all to yourself, these are for you.

• Acorn Coffee Shop
• Acorn is open until 1 AM every night- err, morning- so it's a perfect place for late night studying, especially since you have food and coffee access at your fingertips. The coffee shop is kind of small, but there will generally be a chair or table open you can work at. It's a very social and bustling environment. I need to study in quiet, but if I'm just doing something that doesn't require much brainpower and I need a change of scenery, I go to Acorn.

• Oak House
• Very similar atmosphere to Acorn. I think the interior is slightly nicer-- the chairs are more comfortable and there are more tables. The only downside is they are not open as late as Acorn, and it's a bit louder. (They have an awesome playlist of music that's always on, which is great, but can be a distraction if you're trying to read)

Honorable mentions: Irazu Coffee Shop (located in Moseley Student Center), Along Lake Mary Nell or Lake Verona (bring a large blanket and do your work while enjoying the beauty that is Elon's campus! But beware for bees and wind that will blow your papers into the lake.. sadly, yes, that did happen to me lol), and in any classroom on campus. (if you live in the Global Neighborhood, I highly recommend you take advantage of the beautiful classroom on the first floor of your building!!) 

Introductions

Hey there! My name is Bree and I am a freshman at Elon University. I decided it was about time that there was a place you could hear about Elon aside from their impressive website and social media pages. It's not that I have a lot of negative things to say; I'm not creating this website to bash on my college in any means. I just think it's nice for prospective students and incoming freshmen to know what to expect, and to have a first-hand take on this school. (aside from the random information on websites like CollegeProwler)

I'm currently enrolled in 19 credit hours and am a science major, so I'm pretty busy for the most part. I will be updating this blog as much as I possibly can, though. I'll be talking about several topics, from the academic scene, to the best study spots, to the perks of different dorms, to which parties are the most fun.  

Subscribe if you're interested!