I have no doubts that it is a very good university, but everyone tends to throw it in the same class as public powers such as Michigan and Berkeley. It has a number of strong programs, but nothing you wouldn’t find at a number of other Big10, Pac12 and ACC schools, and its graduate programs, which are really the meat of a university (business and law for example) are nowhere near the caliber of UMich and Berkeley. It has a very strong public health program and undergraduate business school, but doesn’t even offer engineering. It really seems like it’s Indiana University with a lower acceptance rate. So why does it get all the glamour as a “public ivy”?
Your judgments here are subjective and unsupported with evidence or even reasoning. What makes you think UNC’s programs are “nowhere near the caliber of UMich and Berkeley?”
Come on, try harder.
“It really seems like it’s Indiana University”
For those who respect IU, the above – if it represents a true comparison – would be a reason to also respect UNC.
It is part of the Research Triangle. It has a top ranked school of Public Health. The business school was ranked #9. The Medical School in primary care was ranked #2. It is considered one of the worlds top research universities.
Undergrads get involved in research. Undergrads get the chance to present their work at multi- school conferences. There are endless opportunities for internships. Many of the undergraduate classes are small ( under 30). The classes are taught by professors. TAs are only used at the recitations. The larger lectures are interactive and discussion based and the professors know your name and often send personal emails to their students. The administration gives out their personal cell phone numbers and tells you it’s ok to call them if you have a problem. The professors invite you to their home for dinner. The college town of Chapel Hill is very nice. If you don’t want to party, you will never see a party. It is a vibrant and active campus with constant activity. I could continue but I won’t.
The business program is #7, not 9. UNC chemistry is ranked at #15 with Michigan. The math dept is ranked #28 and is tied with Rice and a few others. It is tied in biology with Northwestern and Vanderbilt. I am not into rankings ( don’t really care) but I feel the need to prove my point. 
all ratings or rankings etc…are just opinions. if you have an issue with UNC it is very simple do not apply!
why is harvard the best?? because it is…why?? everyone says so. so since everyone thinks it is all the hyper competitive students apply and the feeding frenzy goes on year after year. go visit a school get a “feel” for it and apply to the ones you like. do not worry about "reps"or rankings.
The same could be said for a number of top schools. Why is that a knock against UNC? Would they suddenly become more prestigious if they invested the tremendous amount of money required to start an engineering school? Or are the better off focusing their resources in other areas and leaving engineering to NC State, who does it very well?
And I’m not sure who made the rule that graduate programs are what matters. If you’re looking for undergrad, why is that even an issue? If you’re looking for grad, they are very strong in some graduate programs, such as medical and dental. But if it’s not law or business it doesn’t matter? I’m a Dukie, but still respect what Chapel Hill has to offer. Couple the top-notch education with the low cost (even for OOS, UNC is much more affordable than other flagships), yes, UNC does get a lot of well-deserved attention.
"Your judgments here are subjective and unsupported with evidence or even reasoning. What makes you think UNC’s programs are “nowhere near the caliber of UMich and Berkeley?”
“For those who respect IU, the above – if it represents a true comparison – would be a reason to also respect UNC.”
I’ll address both, and it’s more so aimed at the graduate level. We’ll start with two of the most obvious, law and business.
On law - Michigan, Berkeley, and UVA are all T14 law schools, national powers. UNC’s tends to float around #30, which indicates a strong regional school. As does IU’s.
On business - UNC offers a top 10 undergraduate business school (like IU does). Michigan, UVA, and Berkeley are also top 10. Michigan and Cal are also top 10 for MBAs, whereas UNC’s drops to around 20 (like IU). Nothing to snicker at, but it alludes to more of a regional power than national.
“Would they suddenly become more prestigious if they invested the tremendous amount of money required to start an engineering school?”
Yes. Engineering strength is a terrific gauge of premier research universities. MIT, Berkeley, Michigan, Cornell and a number of Big10/ACC/PAC 12 schools excel in this area. Like Indiana, UNC does not offer it.
Public Health and Public Policy. UNC has a very strong public health school, ranked in the top 5. IU has a very strong public affairs program, ranked on par with the Kennedy School, Maxwell, and Woodrow Wilson School. I realize these are different disciplines, but both schools offer premiere public policy schools in different focuses. Both IU and UNC have strong regional level medical schools, but neither comes close to the likes of Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, or even Michigan.
I am not saying that UNC is a bad school by any means. It is a very strong school. My point is that when you dig a little deeper, its whole is greater than the sum of its parts when compared to other elite public universities. In a lot of ways, as I have mentioned, the level of its programs are similar to IU, but UNC has a lower acceptance rate. Yet UNC is ranked and considered on par with Michigan and Berkeley when if you look at programs themselves they are not at the same level, particularly at the graduate level. I realize that rankings are not everything, but I fail to see anything that distinctively separates UNC from Georgia, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Penn State, Minnesota, or Texas, especially since they do not off engineering.
This is silly. If you do not like what the school has to offer, do not attend. Getting into any medical school in this country is a grueling experience and many do not even get into one. Cornell is ranked #18, UNC is ranked # 22, and Emory is ranked #23. But really- who cares? Every medical school in this country is good and those who are fortunate enough to get in should be proud.
Every school in this country has strengths and weaknesses. There is no perfect school.
UNC is ranked #2 in primary care ( USNWR 2016). I am now done because I am not the type to get caught up in this nonsense.
Why should defend or support UNC to you? If the school doesn’t strike you the right way then don’t pursue it as an option. Trust me, UNC has enough applicants/students without you.
UNC is a bona fide 5-star school with or without your application.
I think OP is asking a good question. If anything, it is a thought-provoking question.
I am a HUGE fan of UNC-CH. It provides a world-class education at a price that is difficult to beat (if you live in-state). If my D were to apply to 5 state flagship schools, then UNC would be one of them (we are IL residents).
The area is beautiful, cost of living is relatively cheap, and I have no complaints about Southern hospitality (i.e. the people are nice).
He asked a question regarding what is it about UNC that makes it so likable?
Answers along the lines of apply somewhere else or you’re an ignorant knucklehead do not add to the discussion.
@twogirls brings up a few good points, and that type of objective data are helpful to defend most peoples’ option that it is a word-class institution.
As others have pointed out, rankings don’t mean much (especially if the rankings aren’t in your favor). It’s garbage in, garbage out. Rankings also depend on the methodology. USNWR has Hopkins ranked #10. Forbes has Hopkins ranked in the 60s below (dare I say it) Colgate. You ask someone on the West Coast about Colgate and they’ll you that they prefer Crest because it whitens teeth better. I hope Colgate people don’t bash me. It’s just an example. I’m very ignorant about Colgate so that’s my excuse.
The engineering piece is a non-issue. UChicago does not have school/college of engineering yet it is a top-notch institution by most definitions.
It may be that UNC is better than IU because it is simply more selective. We can all agree that selectivity has some mystique to it. We all want to be members of a club, group, etc that not everyone can be a part of- it’s human nature. The argument against the selectivity piece is Fisk University. On College Data, it says it the school has a 20% selection rate and 91% (yes, I’m wondering if it’s a typo) yield! Yet, very few people know about Fisk.
So I think this thread would be useful to future students and potential applicants to answer OP’s question about what is it about UNC? Objective data is best, but subjectivity will probably carry the day in the end. OP comes back with some nice objective counterarguments in post #7. All we can answer back is apply somewhere else? Come on. We can do better than that.
I know rankings aren’t the be-all and end-all but UNC is ranked the number 5 public school in the country behind only UCB, UCLA, UVA, and UMich, according to US news, and it is highly ranked by other sources too. It is a great school with a passionate student body. Even if you consider UNC in the context of all universities it sits in the top 30. It really is a great place to study. If you don’t like it there’s no problem with that just don’t apply no need to belittle it because it truly is great. Whether you apply or not it’ll still be a top tier school I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.
I think we have pretty much covered the objective data. As far as rankings go for specific programs, UNCs MBA program is ranked #18 right below UT-Austin (17) and right above Wash U in St. Louis (19) (USNWR2016). Cornell is 16, Emory is 21, Georgetown is 24. I spelled out other rankings in previous posts. Nobody is going to hire you or not hire you based on a ranking. Nobody says "We want him because his school is ranked #12 and the other guys school is ranked #16. UNC is in the top five public universities in the country and is known for the sciences. Is its law school ranking lower than some other top schools? Maybe. If that bothers you, do not apply.
UNC has a beautiful campus in a great college town (subjective). A typical freshman will have 4-5 classes, many of which will be small ( under 30). Professors teach, not grad students. Lecture halls are interactive and discussion based. There are plenty of internships and research positions to apply for. Professors know their students by name and often email them to ask how they are doing. They make themselves available during office hours. The campus is vibrant and active, and there are plenty of activities going on all the time. I will now stop because I am probably repeating myself.
- I am quite baffled by the idea that a university has to have an engineering program/school in order to be a powerhouse research university. I’m not sure what the presence or absence of engineering has to do with whether or not it’s a research university. UNC-CH ranks 10th in NIH funding (ahead of Yale and Columbia) by bringing in nearly $390 million in NIH research funding every year. It ranks 8th in total research expenditures according to the NSF, ahead of Harvard and MIT. Indiana - while a great school - ranks 155th in total NIH funding and 100th in total research expenditures.
OP provides no reasoning as to why engineering strength is a “terrific gauge” of premier research universities. IUPUI offers engineering - does that make it better than UNC? What about the University of Alabama at Huntsville? Or Cal Poly SLO? What about the fact that many top/elite universities have engineering departments that aren’t as well known as some of their other areas? Some of the top programs for electrical engineering are at Arkansas, University of Central Florida, and University of South Carolina, yet I don’t think the OP would rank them amongst Berkeley and UVa. (In fact, University of Virginia is an interesting choice because while they have excellent engineering departments, several of their departments are ranked around 30-40ish.)
In fact, NCSU proves the point from the opposite side, too - NCSU has strong engineering programs but most people would not put it at the same level as Michigan or Berkeley. And on the flip side, Emory is a strong research university but does not have engineering programs either.
Which brings me to my next point
- In what world is being in the top 10 to 20 percent of schools in a certain area “regional” prestige?
Law school is a different beast, one in which going to the top 25 or so schools is really important for the kind of success most law students are chasing. Still, #34 (UNC’s current ranking) out of 205 puts UNC in the top 20% of law schools in the entire country. That’s not regional prestige.
I don’t know how many business schools there are, but even if we assume a conservative 250, being ranked around #18 (UNC’s current rank) puts them in the top 10%. Again, that’s not regional prestige, that’s national.
- The medicine thing is just silly. UNC’s medical school is ranked #22 for research and #2 for primary care. Again, being ranked #22 (top 15%) - let alone #2 (top 1%) - out 172 MD or DO-granting programs is not regional prestige - that is national level prestige. Michigan is ranked #11 for research and #5 for primary care. They are definitely in the same arena.
Q
To be fair, not many top tier schools have an undergraduate business school. Most students interested in business/finance with the goal to go to Wall Street would be better off going to a top ranked economics program. UNC’s B school is ranked 7th; however, it’s probably ranked around 20-40 if you consider schools that do not have a B School, but do have a strong econ program that prepares the students for the same jobs. For example, I would go to Duke for econ rather than UNC for B-School. Do not let rankings fool you, they do not tell the full story.
This is a fascinating thread. Do rankings make the school? Is engineering a necessity to be a top university? How are reputations made? What do you really value in a university?
I have been in academic medicine for 20 years. My education and junior faculty years were spent in the northeast and midwest. I have hired and worked with many UNC-CH graduates (undergrad and medical school) and they have been excellent medical students, residents and colleagues.
That experience with UNC graduates probably played a role in my D opting to go there for undergrad. She loves everything about UNC and I hope she has the success the UNC grads I have worked with had.
UNC is a power house science school with many high ranking programs, and the business school is within the top 10. There are internships and undergraduate research programs at your fingertips, and the professors are there for the students at all times (my experience). Do not kid yourself- the school is rigorous. Students who graduated HS at the very top of their class with very high test scores and 5’s on every AP test work hard and often experience their first B on a test or quiz.