<p>UNC Asheville seems like a nice little school in a lovely city. Anybody have an opinion or personal experience?</p>
<p>UNC-Asheville is one of my favorite schools in the country and if they had an engineering major, I would definitely go there. Here’s what I found out during my research of the school:</p>
<p>Student Body
-There are a lot of atypical people such as hippies, punks, people with tattoos/piercings, artists, actors, musicians, and writers. A lot of oddballs at UNCA. However, hippies don’t dominate the school and there are an increasing number of pretty people and people who come from small mountain towns. Students tend to be religious
-There are many nontraditional students (older people taking college classes).
-There are many liberal people at UNCA and the reputation is that the school is liberal but there are also many conservative students as well being in the south. Overall, everyone is friendly, intelligent and helpful.</p>
<p>Academics
-The curriculum at UNCA is based upon the Integrated Liberal Studies (ILS) which includes many introductory writing and humanities courses as well as Topical Clusters which require students to look at a topic from different disciplines (ex. natural science and social science perspective). There are also Intensives which are designed to strengthen writing and research skills. ILS puts a lot of emphasis on thinking for yourself and to become involved in things you are interested into. It also allows one to explore many fields and from that to decide what you really want to do. UNCA’s ILS program is a great way to find out what you want to major in.
-UNCA undergraduates get small classes from freshmen year on and one on one assistance. The professors are dedicated and passionate about their job. Overall, the school is a private LAC at a public school price.</p>
<p>Campus Life
-Asheville is a liberal city. It’s an artsy town in the mountains that has plenty of shows, restaurants (of ethnic and vegetarian kind), old-time music and contra dancing. The Great Smoky Mountains provide hiking, mountain biking, and kayaking opportunities (many otudoor recreation opportunities).
-Some people think campus life is boring but thanks to Asheville and the mountains, life isn’t boring if you can get off campus. On campus, there are basketball games, soccer games, intramural sports, dorm socials, study breaks with free food/games, parties for NFL games and other sports. Frisbee is huge at UNCA and many people like to hang out on the quad in the center of campus. The campus is beautiful and is a great place to go outside and work or you can take a walk in the beautiful botanical gardens.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about the school, but Asheville itself is <em>gorgeous</em>.</p>
<p>It is a wonderful school- not your typical state university. It is sort of like a “state LAC”. Asheville is a great place all the way around.</p>
<p>UNC-Asheville is, like Georgia College & State University and the U. of Mary Washington in VA, one of a small number of selective public LACs that are designated by their states to provide the same type of experience found at private LACs for the state tuition rate. And all three are exceptionally nice campuses in beautiful, historic, Southern communities with charming downtowns.</p>
<p>It’s a cool school in a really cool city. I have a friend that goes there. People are really into music and um, partaking in illegal substances. Very friendly student body. Definitely a hippie vibe.</p>