Ask Questions about North Carolina State

Colleges and Universities A-Z North Carolina State University
61

<p>bmarie,</p>

<p>I can’t tell you anything specifically about biomedical engineering but I know that undergraduate research is pretty big at NCSU and there are TONS of grants available for research or to send you to a conference if you do complete a project.</p>

<p>Once you’ve been on campus for a little bit, try e-mailing different professors that are doing research that seems meaningful to you to see if they’ll take you on as a volunteer in your lab. I have a few freshman friends doing research already and that’s how they got their positions.</p>

62

<p>Since you live on campus you may not be able to answer this question, but I thought I would give it a shot!</p>

<p>I’m an upperclass transfer student that intends to live off-campus. Have you heard of the reputation of University House at the Retreat (formerly just The Retreat). I have a feeling it has a party vibe, but is it known to be super crazy? Mostly greek?</p>

63

<p>I’ve only heard that it’s supposed to be super nice (and expensive from what I hear). I know it has a party vibe but I feel like no matter where you live, if you live with good people the rest of the atmosphere doesn’t contribute a lot.</p>

<p>Sorry I couldn’t help more.</p>

64

<p>No worries, I appreciate any reply! Also, it’s actually cheaper per month than my dorm was at my last school so it’s a bargain for me.</p>

65

<p>Do you know anything about the transition program? And if you do, what is your honest opinion on it.</p>

66

<p>Hi ncstatefreshman, My S accepted to Engineering and weighing options.
Cal Poly, VA Tech, NC State are top 3, probably in that order right now.
Some questions to help the decision…</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What GPA is needed in first year to “guarantee” choice of major? He is Mech Eng intent. He is into ME major at Cal Poly, general eng at VA Tech, general at NC State of course.</p></li>
<li><p>Dorms - are freshman kept together or spread out on campus?</p></li>
<li><p>When is the new upper class eng dorm in operation?</p></li>
<li><p>What is good/better about NC State than other schools?</p></li>
<li><p>What are any drawbacks to NC State? Some other forums, ppl say they would not go to it. I’m sure ppl say this about some schools anyway, but i am curious.</p></li>
<li><p>What is a typical week for eng student? How much free time/when taken?</p></li>
<li><p>How are the classrooms / facilities for engineering? Look very new but we did not get to see these on the general tour.</p></li>
<li><p>What is the culture / feel of NC State eng?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>thanks much</p>

67

<p>stressedmel, I’ve never heard of the transition program. Can you send me a link to their website?</p>

68

<p>biotechmgr,</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Most majors consider the ESS (Engineering Success Score) instead of GPA because it focuses on Physics, Calculus, Chemistry, and your introduction to engineering courses. The middle 50% ESS scores for Mechanical Engineers is 3.028 to 3.833.</p></li>
<li><p>There are some dorms that are traditionally more for freshman (Tucker, Owen, Avent Ferry, Wood, Lee, and Sullivan come to mind) but freshman are welcome to live in any dorm. Some dorms are more difficult to get into as a freshman (Bragaw comes to mind) because upper-classmen request those rooms first.</p></li>
<li><p>Are you talking about Wolf Ridge? Those will be apartments on Centennial Campus, and they will be open for Fall 2013. I haven’t heard anything about an upperclassmen engineering dorm.</p></li>
<li><p>I could go into this all day but I’ll hit a few of my main favorites:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>-NC State is in an amazing location. It’s just outside Raleigh, which is consistently ranked one of the best places in the United States to live. NC State’s campus has a “college town” feel to it, especially around Hillsborough Street, and we feel like our own little city next to Raleigh. Research Triangle Park is also very close, and this is a world-recognized hub of engineering, technology, science, and entrepreneurship. </p>

<p>-NC State has Centennial Campus. I don’t know much about VTech or Cal Poly, but I don’t think either of them have brand new engineering buildings, one of the newest and coolest libraries in the world, and they don’t have major industry partners with offices and labs next to classrooms. ([Centennial</a> Campus - An Extraordinary Research Park and Campus](<a href=“http://centennial.ncsu.edu%5DCentennial”>http://centennial.ncsu.edu))</p>

<p>-NC State is consistently one of the top schools to recruit from. ([Best</a> Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060.html]Best”>Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ)). Recruiters recognize that we are hard-working students that really thrive being at a land-grant institution, and our engineering career fair is one of the largest in the country.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I don’t want to say anything negative about my school unless I’m addressing a specific concern of yours. There are drawbacks to any college, but I’m not here to complain about this school. I genuinely love it here.</p></li>
<li><p>This depends on the student, their major, and what they are involved in. My boyfriend is a sophomore in Civil Engineering and typically spends 1-2 hours a night working on homework, so his schedule is very free for time with friends and intramural sports. My suitemate is also a Civil Engineering major and spends 5-6 hours a night working on homework, studying for tests, and doing extras to prepare herself. I work a lot, but I also have a lot of time to get involved (I live in a Living-Learning Village, am an Ambassador to the College of Natural Resources, am a member for the College of Natural Resources Engaging Leaders program, and I’m an officer for my professional organization)</p></li>
<li><p>Centennial is top notch. If you can take a tour, I would. Your student will take their basic classes (calculus, physics, chemistry, etc) on Main Campus, but his engineering classes will be on Centennial.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not sure. My major is split between the College of Natural Resources and the College of Engineering, and I personally identify more with CNR. I know that people feel really taken care of in CoE (our advisors are really good), and they, overall, thrive and really enjoy being here.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>thanks much</p>

69

<p>[Welcome</a> | transition.dasa.ncsu.edu](<a href=“http://transition.dasa.ncsu.edu/]Welcome”>http://transition.dasa.ncsu.edu/)</p>

70

<p>stressedmel, </p>

<p>I’ve never heard about the Transition Program, I’m sorry. If State seems like where you want to be, I think this is a good opportunity to keep you on track academically. Good luck!</p>

71

<p>Thanks very much ncstatefreshman! Hope all is well for you, sounds as though it is!</p>

72

<p>Hi, I haven’t committed to NCSU (freshman) but I will be making a decision soon and I have a few questions about dorms.</p>

<h1>1: I did a brief tour of the campus but I’m not familiar with the dorms. I toured a dorm room but I don’t even remember which one it was, lol. Would you say the personalities/types of students vary between all of the dorms? Are some dorms more preppy/nerdy? Also, what is UT - just out of curiosity, I won’t be living there but I’ve heard some incoming freshman say they will be and it doesn’t seem to be a normal school dorm.</h1>

<h1>2: I’m coming from VA and I know a few people from my school (and in NC) that are going to State but I’m not friends with any of them and won’t be rooming with them. My question is: when I did a tour of the school, some of the guides seemed to be kind of down on “random” roommates; is it really that bad? Would you say a vast majority of freshman do random? If you know people who had random roommates, did it work out for them?</h1>

<h1>3: How is parking? I will need to bring a car because I live in VA and my parents can’t come and get me whenever I need to come home.</h1>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

73

<p>Jacob6684: Just curious, what major will you be pursuing?</p>

<ol>
<li> I’ll answer your UT question first because it’s the easiest. UT (University Towers) is an off-campus housing option. It’s basically an apartment, except it’s kind of set up like dorms so there are two kids to a room, two rooms to a suite, and each suite shares a bathroom. Many freshmen live there because it’s close to campus (closer than some dorms!) but the rooms are often nicer than dorm rooms. It also has its own dining facilities.</li>
</ol>

<p>I wouldn’t say that there are really different types of people in each dorm except for dorms with LLV (Living-Learning Villages) in them. You’re going to see more girls in Lee Hall (WISE), some more nerds in Scholars (Sullivan), and lots of engineers in the Engineering Village (Metcalf). But that said, if you don’t live on a floor in one of the villages, you won’t really experience the difference in students. Pick a dorm based on your favorite location and hall vs. suite style, not based on who you think lives in each.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Some people have bad experiences with random roommates just because it’s random and you don’t get along. Some people end up loving their random roommates. I roomed with someone I met on FB while looking for a roommate and we ended up not getting along. I see no problem with a random roommate and the girls in my suite that went random seem to like it just fine. There’s nothing bad about it :)</p></li>
<li><p>Parking for freshmen is limited because we don’t have as many credit hours. The spots available to you all depend on what dorm you live in, but most freshmen choose RS (Resident Storage) lot. I did last semester! It’s a lot on Centennial Campus and our bus line has a stop at the lot so that you can get to your car. You can also park in most spots on campus after 5pm and on weekends, in case you are busy a particular weekend and need to access your car a few times. If you can, make friends with upperclassmen in your major. One of my friends is on co-op now so I bought his parking permit from him and now I can park very close to my dorm.</p></li>
</ol>

74

<p>You can also rent a space [ValPark</a> NCSU Parking](<a href=“http://www.valpark.com%5DValPark”>http://www.valpark.com)
My S lived in Owen as a freshman and rented a space in the ValPark lot. It’s right next to University Towers…an easy walk to class. </p>

<p>ncstatefreshman, NCSU is most definitely in Raleigh… not “just outside of Raleigh” or “own little city next to Raleigh”. Just don’t want those not familiar w/ Raleigh to get the wrong idea.</p>

75

<p>Thanks ncstatefreshman and Packmom! I am in Management, by the way.</p>

76

<p>I’m signed up to join WISE this year (I’ll be a freshman.) Can you give me some more information about how you like Lee hall, and the suite style in general vs. hall style? I’m in-state (I live just south of Raleigh actually) and I’ll be majoring in Biological Sciences. Is there a lot of partying that goes on in Lee? I’m not interested in that and don’t want to be involved in it.</p>

77

<p>What’s the difference between the tri-towers and sullivan/lee?</p>

78

<p>PackMom,</p>

<p>We are in Raleigh but I wouldn’t consider us in the city center, like a school like University of Chicago. I can see the skyline from my dorm room and we are definitely close, but by “just outside” I mean we’re not downtown.</p>

79

<p>wolfpack4life,</p>

<p>I love being suite-style because I’ve gotten very close to the girls in my suite. We’re all a little goofy and we do a lot of fun “suite things”, and I think I would be intimidated by the opportunity to get to know so many girls on a hall. Lee is also getting renovated this summer, so you’ll have all new things and it will be a lot nicer than it is right now. As for partying, I have never come across partying in a dorm room. Alcohol is not allowed in dorms and for the most part, RAs enforce this rule. Crazy college kids will be crazy kids and they may try to get around this, but I don’t think you’ll have a problem with parties in Lee.</p>

80

<p>stressedmel,</p>

<p>The differences between the Tri-Towers and Sullivan/Lee:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Sullivan/Lee is newly renovated. Tri-Towers have good furniture and are newish but not as new as Sullivan or Lee.</p></li>
<li><p>Location. Tri-Towers is on Central Campus, S/L is on West Campus.</p></li>
<li><p>Suite configurations. Tri-Towers have 5 rooms to a suite and a bathroom with two showers, two sinks, and two toilets. S/L has 4 rooms to a suite with one shower, two sinks, and two toilets.</p></li>
<li><p>Security. Metcalf does not need a key to enter the building. You need a key or your ID to get to the elevators, then a key to your room but your suite does not have a key. You also need a key to access your bathroom. Carroll, Bowen, Sullivan, and Lee require keys to access the building, the suite, and your individual room.</p></li>
<li><p>Living-Learning Villages. Different LLVs are offered in the different dorms.</p></li>
</ol>