<p>UC schools (in-state tuition) or UNC - Chapel Hill (OOS tuition) for economic or finance degree. S is now deciding. </p>
<p>As my ony child I would love him to stay somewhere within our very large state. Plus...living away from home surrounded by all new people (and NC is diff than CA ) </p>
<p>S is excited by UNC's finance and economics dept and the talented profs. I think our CA UCs are equal. He points to the companies who hire directly from UNC and the starting salaries. I have no response... </p>
<p>Does anyone?</p>
<p>ps. I posted the above, i think in the wrong spot...sorry</p>
<p>As a holder of a graduate degree from Carolina, I am a big supporter of UNC, but spending all that OOS money doesn't make a whole bunch of sense if he can get into one of the top UCs.</p>
<p>Agree with tsdad - the difference in prestige of a UNC and UC degree is negligible - the difference in cost is considerable. Besides - has your son ever experienced SUMMER weather in Chapel Hill ?? (Smile.)</p>
<p>S went to UCLA and got a great education (design). I know of one kid from the area who went to UNC (honors program), enjoyed it, but her mom reported that she had to develop a response to a frequent query when she first got there: "Where did you get that hair?" (She's Jewish and had very curly, brown hair.) ;)</p>
<p>I think that diversity at any of the UCs will be greater, if that means anything to your S.</p>
<p>if you are comparing UNCC and Cal or UCLA, then its a wash academically -- all three have extremely strong econ departments. However, UCLA does not offer an undergrad biz degree, if that's the direction your S is thinking. UCLA's 'business econ' major is excellent, but impacted, so harder to get into.</p>
<p>However, I would choose Chapel Hill over any of the other UCs, assuming that finances are not an issue. It's a great college town, and I get the sense that if feels smaller than it is -- something no UC can feel like. The other thing about the UCs is that several were over-enrolled this year -- Davis ended up withi 900 more Frosh than they expected. As a result, upper classes were reduced, and all dorms reconfigured: singles to doubles; doubles to triples, triples to quads, and, the TV-play rooms on each dorm floor were also converted into sleeping rooms. </p>
<p>Note, however, that UNCC OOS is $30k, and Cal's COA is $24k, so the cost factor may not be that big an issue to your family. Of course, you need to add travel to the COA.</p>
<p>I can't comment on the difference between UNC and UC and I suspect that the Cal schools are more diverse than UNC. But Little Mother -- I just want to say that UNC has a sizeable Jewish population, a very active Hillel, and a pretty progressive student body, so I'm shocked to hear the insuation you are making about the comment your friend received. UNC does have some students from small towns in NC who may never have had contact with Jewish kids before, and no doubt there's some prejudice lurking around, as there might be on any number of campuses -- but I respectfully suggest that maybe this kid has some extraordinary hair that might get comments anywhere?</p>
<p>Money saved at Berkeley: $6176 (This is conservative and is probably slightly low)</p>
<p>Now the questions becomes: Is it worth it? For a student with good financial aid or a scholarship, possibly. For a student who likes going home on breaks and/or plans to go to graduate school, possibly not.</p>
<p>"Tuition at UNC-Chapel Hill is expected to increase $250 for North Carolinians and $1,250 for out-of-state students in the 2007-08 school year.
The university's board of trustees approved the increases Thursday, while more than 150 students stood in protest. The proposal will go to the UNC system's Board of Governors for a final vote in two weeks.</p>
<p>A $250 in-state increase would fall within UNC President Erskine Bowles' 6.5 percent cap on tuition increases for North Carolinians. But the out-of-state proposal prompted passionate speeches by students who say the increase is too steep. A majority of the campus tuition committee had preferred an out-of-state increase of $500."</p>
<p>UNC would be a very different college experience than UCLA or UCB. More of a residential campus and much smaller. That would be the major difference. Is that worth $25-30,000 over 4 years? Tough to say.</p>
<p>Academically, I wouldn't expect to see much difference for economics, but Berkeley and Riverside are the only UCs with undergraduate majors in business (although Irvine continues to flirt with the idea), and Riverside does not offer a Finance major. </p>
<p>As for what your son likes about UNC, he will definitely find talented profs at all the UCs. If he wants to move back to California after graduation, he will also find that a UC degree is going to be more "marketable" than one from North Carolina.</p>
<p>Please know that I got this information from the mom who was standing in line with her daughter when it happened. Mom did report that all the kids around them were blonde, so maybe it was some sort of reverse prejudice on their part. (Don't kill the messenger, please!)</p>
<p>No problem, Little Mother. I'm so hungry for every tidbit of information I can get about the colleges my son has applied to that I was concerned for anyone reading here about UNC. Anyway, there's no question that there are WAY more blondes at UNC than in northern schools. Hugs to the messenger!</p>
<p>Talking about blondes and California, when I first moved from the East Coast I went to a very crowded movie. Looked around the lobby and realized I was the only brunette in the entire lobby. Of course, not all the blonde were natural..lol.</p>
<p>Speaking as a Californian and an admirer of the UCs, I still think there is something to be said for the Chelsea Clinton Rule: If you have a choice between good schools on both coasts, choose the school on the opposite coast from where you live/grew up. Part of your education will be experiencing different people in a different part of the country. And if it turns out you don't like the opposite coast, well it's only for four years.</p>
<p>Go to the UC school. Trust me, I lived for a dozen years in California, moved near UNC-Chapel Hill, and can confirm that UNC isn't special enough to warrant OOS tuition and the insistence of your son. There is something to be said for moving to a new place, but you don't have to go out of California to do that--Nor Cal and So Cal are different enough.</p>
<p>Not trying to bring down UNC--I know people who have wisely turned down Duke and Georgetown for UNC's undergrad business. If the OP's son really wants to go to UNC for that program, and/or is interested in the honors program, etc., then it is definitely an option to consider...I was just saying that it's a big investment!</p>
<p>We thought UNC was an outstanding deal for oos, even without her scholarship money. Absolutely TOP programs in business, journalism, public health, pre-med, etc..for $30k a year? Can't beat that. UNC will open all the same grad school doors as private school costing $45-50K. </p>
<p>In ldgirl's case, she was accepted to instate honors (UT-Austin Plan I Honors), an Ivy and UNC-CH Honors, among others. So three distinctively different avenues were available to her. She wanted UNC-CH because she loved Chapel Hill (it is that wonderful) and because she knew a UNC UG degree would allow her to be more distinguishable on grad or med applications than if she were one of the hoards graduating from COLA at UT-Austin.... and because UNC-CH had programs with national recognition in areas that interested her....and finally... because at less than $30K a year and with scholarships, she would still have money left over to actually PAY for grad/med school.</p>
<p>I think you have to look at it that way. If your kid has certain degree in mind, go the school that is known for that degree. If your kid knows he/she wants to go on to grad/med, look for the school that opens those doors. And if money is a concern, send your kid to the very best school possible that opens as many doors possible that you can realistically afford.</p>