carolina v. princeton

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
1

<p>I posted this on the Princeton thread but I thought I'd put the same thing here to get a balanced perspective.</p>

<p>So I got the Morehead-Cain scholarship at Carolina, which for those who don't know, is a full ride at Carolina, plus funding for summer research, a NOLS/Outward Bound Course, and basically all the money I could need to do anything. The</a> Morehead-Cain Scholars Program for more information.</p>

<p>I have to accept or decline by April 13. Please don't respond by saying "Wait until you hear from Princeton," because that leaves me with less than two weeks to decide, and I've also got a friend who wants to room with me at Carolina, and I want to let her know as soon as possible if I'm going to either wait for Princeton's decision before committing to Carolina, or go ahead and send in our housing form now.</p>

<p>The scholarship looks amazing, with all its summer stuff and everything, plus the money itself is tough to turn down. But Princeton's been my dream school since middle school, and I don't know if I can give up the dream.</p>

<p>So here's the quick rundown. I'm from a high school in NC that sends a good number of kids to UNC every year. I've heard it can be high school extended, but I really like high school and the kids I know, so I don't know if that would be a bad thing exactly. I'm fairly socially conservative, and even though Carolina's been described as a bastion of liberalism and Princeton's been described as conservative, I don't know how true that is. I visited Princeton and felt it was not very conservative, whereas the kids I know at Carolina are pretty conservative. I like the preppy/conservative thing, definitely.</p>

<p>I definitely like to go out, but I also like the kind of smart conversations I don't really get in high school. But I don't want a school that's super intellectual, like life-of-the-mind kind of thing. I want a school where there's a good balance of both.</p>

<p>I'm worried about being lost in a sea of people at Carolina, because it's so huge, but I'm planning on going Greek so that would probably break it down a little, I think. But I'd also be worried about not fitting in at Princeton as someone from the South.</p>

<p>Basically, can anyone help me make a decision? I know there's a good chance a rejection letter from Princeton will ease my mind a little, but I want to have a plan in mind so I don't have to wait until the last minute to decide if I do end up getting both. I want to know where I'd fit the best. I hope you can help, because there's no one here that I can really ask.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I'm not going to biased being a Carolina fan. If i were you i would send in that housing deposit at Carolina, you cannot go wrong with a MoreHead. You are going to have a AMAZING time here. Greek life from what i hear is great at Carolina. Sports are superb. Education is party hard, study hard. I don't know what else to tell you, BUT go with Carolina- you won't regret it.</p>

3

<p>First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on the Morehead. That is quite an honor. I really can only speak to UNC, though I have not heard that Princeton was conservative--quite the opposite in fact. Maybe it is considered conservative in relation to other ivies?</p>

<p>My son transferred to UNC from Wake. He loved the smaller classes at Wake and had more interaction with profs there as a freshman than he would have had at UNC. However, I would assume you are in honors and then wouldn't your classes be smaller?</p>

<p>He had the same concerns about knowing people from high school at UNC. However, he also went Greek when he transferred in and does not associate with any kids from his high school. I think you will find your own group wherever you go.</p>

<p>Turning down the Morehead would be a very, very hard thing to do. A friend's daughter received the Morehead this year and also had been accepted to two of her dream schools--Northwestern and U Chicago--she has decided to accept the Morehead. </p>

<p>My biggest concern as a parent would be (after having a kid end up not liking his "dream" school) if you turn down the money and prestige of the Morehead and go to Princeton. What happens if it is not the "right" place for you? You might be kicking yourself silly for turning down the offer.</p>

<p>No one but yourself (with input from your parents) can tell you what is "right". What does your gut say?</p>

4

<p>Princeton........</p>

5

<p>Can Princeton offer you four summer-enrichment opportunities and international travel? A full scholarship plus living stipend? A laptop? An $8,000 discovery fund? Graduating debt-free? Awesome sports and sunny weather?</p>

<p>Nope.</p>

6

<p>I'd take the money and run if it were me.</p>

<p>While Princeton by itself may be a more prestigious institution than Carolina, the Morehead is an amazing opportunity and is a way you will be able to distinguish yourself from future applicants to grad school or anything else you want to do in life. Many more people attend Princeton each year than receive that scholarship.</p>

<p>And it's not like academics at Carolina are shoddy by any means.</p>

<p>As far as being lost in a sea of people at UNC, the personal attention you'll receive from the people at the foundation will make your life easier and help you to make the most out of your time in college without having to worry as much about that.. and I would guess the travel options available to you will be at the very least comparable to anything Princeton will have.</p>

<p>The ability to graduate debt free, especially since we don't know how the economy will be in four years will make your life a lot less complicated and ensure you wont have to worry about whether you can afford to explore whatever opportunities come your way because you have to worry about making payments on your student loans.</p>

<p>Ultimately, you need to ask what Princeton has to offer you that you can't get at Carolina. I don't know what you're going to major in, but you need to compare the programs at both schools (and find out if there's any co-enrollment at Duke, for example), and whether or not you're going to be missing out on anything you can't live without.</p>

<p>I would try to spend some more time on each campus before you make a decision, maybe a weekend visit or something, and get a feel for where you want to spend the next four years of your life.</p>

7

<p>I was in very similar position to you, picking between an Ivy and UNC..but just plain UNC, not the Morehead. In fact I had the same concerns about atmosphere, continuation of high school, etc. I picked the Ivy. That was 3 years ago and I still don't know if I made the right decision- probably because there isn't a right decision. You really have to decide what you want out of college. Some things to consider: </p>

<p>-Carolina is only considered liberal compared to the rest of the South, while Princeton is only considered conservative compared to the rest of the Ivy League (and that's really an outdated stereotype). I thought I was liberal when I lived in NC, but I'm one of the most conservative people I know at my school. Preppy- you'll find it both places. Both also have good Greek systems. I had a little culture shock going from the South to the Northeast..it can be a difficult, especially if you're actually attached to your Southern identity. But ultimately it's been just fine.</p>

<p>-What is the financial situation? Do your parents mind paying for you to go Princeton, and do you think it'll be worth it? The quality of teaching will not be worth $50,000 a year more and if you expect that it'll be a letdown. You're really paying for intangibles. Mostly the people you meet and the connections you make.
-What do you want to do after college? Do you want to go to grad school? If so, it'll be easier to get a very high GPA at UNC. On the other hand, you won't have Princeton on your resume. Do you want to live in the South or the Northeast? An Ivy League degree means way more in NYC than in NC.</p>

<p>Basically this is my analysis of my decision and hopefully it can help you- </p>

<p>Reasons I regret turning down UNC: 1. With the current recession, I'm not sure it's worth all the extra money. 2. I decided I don't like the North, hahah. 3. I have a lot more work than my friends at UNC, and sometimes I wish I had a more laidback college experience.</p>

<p>Reasons I'm glad I turned it down: 1. The people I've met. You'll meet smart people anywhere, but there's a much higher concentration in the Ivies. There are annoying super-intellectuals, but most people are just very intelligent. I went Greek and I like to go out a lot, but I had a 20-minute conversation about the economy at a frat party last weekend- I'm not sure if it made any sense, but at the time it was very stimulating and it's nice to know that I could do that with any of my friends. 2. Connections. My friends parents' are politicians, the heads of hedge funds, top executives. And when you're looking for internships and jobs, who you know really does matter.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>

8

<p>I also vote for the Morehead-Cain.</p>

<p>It seems like UNC-Chapel Hill would be a perfect fit for you. It embodies the 'balance' you talk about, and I think that you could really thrive there.</p>

<p>One of the above posters mentioned something about connections. I think the Morehead-Cain offers alumni connections that honestly top even Princeton's, because of the tight-knit nature of the program and its alumni. </p>

<p>I also think the summer (and academic year) funding opportunities offered by the Morehead-Cain and Robertson and similar programs are truly incredible. </p>

<p>And you get all of this, all while graduating from college with NO debt. That truly gives you a tremendous amount of flexibility upon graduation to pursue your own path without any sort of immediate financial worry.</p>

9

<p>Check out how many Rhodes Scholars have come from Carolina. I'm just going off memory here, but I think Carolina's competition with Rhodes Scholars was from Princeton? Forgive me if I'm totally out of the ball park with that - but I think I read that somewhere.</p>

<p>Anyway, a lot of our Rhodes Scholars are Moreheads. Though I don't think there's grooming going on, necessarily, my point is that Carolina has hook ups, too.</p>

<p>As my mom says, and I agree with this, she likes the "end product" at Carolina. My freshman year, I thought a lot of people were a little full of themselves, especially people with scholarships or in the honors program. But over time, everyone mellows out. There's a sense of humility at the school. I'm a big fan of that.</p>

<p>I've never visited Princeton, but I hear the people there are friendly and the campus is beautiful. I think the biggest mistake high school seniors make during the college search is not taking finances into account. Yes, college is a magical land of education and fun and you should choose the right magical land for you, but seriously, you'll do a lot of thinking about the money you're spending, the money your parents are spending, post grad plans based on money, etc. I think that this choice is pretty personal.</p>

<p>The fact that I think this decision is difficult speaks to the value of both schools. So know this - the people who will look down on you for going to UNC are not worth your time. Seriously, in my experience, the people who waste their time blabbering on about the failings of public schools rarely have anything much better to do. You sound like you have your head on your shoulders, so I'm not saying that might be a motivation of yours... but if it is, know that those people fall by the wayside. By sophomore year, no one cares who goes where, they care about what they're DOING there.</p>

<p>Visit visit visit. VISIT.</p>

10

<p>First of all congratulations!</p>

<p>Let me try to give you a real world experience, not conjecture or friendly and thoughtful advice.</p>

<p>My son was in a similar situation in the Spring of 2004. He had been accepted early at Yale (his dream school) and was also named a Morehead winner in early March. After April 1 he also had acceptances in hand from Stanford, Wash U (with significant money) and yes, Princeton.</p>

<p>My S attended an all boys very elite private school with a graduating class of 82. Over 27% of his class matriculated at HYPSM. He was one of seven in his class accepted to Yale and the only one who chose not to attend. The Morehead nomination was a big honor and led to some difficult choices when the other acceptances started to roll in. Once he was admitted to Yale (SCEA) and knew he was a Morehead finalist, he withdraw apps from Pomona, Dartmouth, Amherst and one or two others. We encouraged him to keep his Princeton, Stanford and Wash U apps in for merit money purposes although in his mind, it was either going to be Yale or UNC.</p>

<p>When he became a Morehead finalist he asked one of his teachers who was someone he looked to as a trusted mentor, what he should do if he got into Yale and won the Morehead. His teacher essentially said it was a "no brainer" and that he should take the Morehead. You need to understand that this school lives, eats, and breathes HYPMS from the time you arrive as a first grader and the teacher in question had spent many years at a top prep school in the northeast (Exeter) which is an Ivy feeder so his comments were interesting to say the least. He said that at Yale my son would be one of about 1300, albeit a very talented 1300 while as a Morehead he'd be one of forty (his year) and would be exposed to the best of the best at UNC. He was dead on in his assessment. </p>

<p>After we visited UNC, met the Morehead staff as well as current Morehead Scholars I had an epiphany of sorts and came to realize that the day he entered school at UNC he would have a built-in peer group of kids just like him and would have a staff of professional mentors who were not only interested in seeing him succeed but also highly financially invested in his success.</p>

<p>To be totally honest with you, I think that EAmom and I had the hardest time throughout the process trying to give up the Ivy dream and the thought of not being able to put the Yale sticker in our car back windows. My grandfather was an immigrant who arrived in the US in 1903 with $10 and ended up working in the coal mines of W Va until he died in his forties of black lung, so the thought that three generations later we'd have someone at Yale was making things very difficult for us. It was very easy for us to get over it when we saw how happy and excited he was once he was at UNC and how he was thriving and growing each year. He never regretted his decision and several years ago said that he couldn't even see himself at Yale at that time.</p>

<p>As someone has already said, virtually EVERY winner of the Morehead or Robertson has to choose between HYPMS or the scholarships. In my S's Morehead class (of 43) there were six others who turned down Yale and several others who turned down H and P that I am aware of and even one girl who was a double Stanford legacy!</p>

<p>His roommate at finalist weekend (who was OOS) turned down the Morehead and went to Princeton. They have stayed in touch through the years and he has always somewhat regretted his decision. And to add another perspective, when we were doing move in freshman year, my son had a visitor who was a young man from nearby in NC that he had met at Finalist weekend who didn't win the Morehead. He was heading off to Princeton but truly wished he had won the Morehead. </p>

<p>On a personal note I can't share on these forums all that the support he received from the Foundation staff throughout his four years, but I can tell you that he would have NEVER received that kind of support at Yale or anywhere else.</p>

<p>He had life changing summer experiences, got an incredible education, had an undergrad experience that was amazing, has an enormous circle of friends that he remains very close to and graduated absolutely debt free. He was very well prepared for professional school and is doing quite well as a first year med student at a top ten school.</p>

<p>Echoing his old HS teacher and mentor....it really is a no brainer......</p>

<p>I would be happy to tell you more and respond to any questions via PM.</p>

<p>BTW:Eve Carson also turned down two Ivies to attend UNC and accept the Morehead......</p>

11

<p>Eadad, excellent post, which echoes exactly why I am turning down Yale... And why I am so excited about it.</p>

12

<p>Thank you all so much for your advice--I sent in my acceptance of the Morehead today! I can't wait for the next four years!</p>

13

<p>Congrats on your decision, you won't regret it!</p>

14

<p>Congratulations! It sounds like Carolina is just what you're looking for, and the Morehead-Cain is a great honor.</p>

15

<p>Congratulations! on your More-Head. It truly is an honor, and Congrats on the final decision.</p>

16

<p>Well, you made your decision, so congratulations and all the best! It may go without saying, but...I have to say you must realize what an incredibly extraordinary opportunity a Morehead-Cain scholarship is. It marks you clearly as a member of a small, national elite of accomplishment. You know, no one will ever doubt your abilities or think you got in as a legacy. This can be a truly life-changing experience! Best of luck!</p>

17

<p>UNC morehead...u will have resources at your feet. Never worry about finances...u get so many benefits....congratulations on getting it!</p>

<p>Now UNC is not as prestigious as princeton...but if u do come to UNC and end up doing very well (which is highly likely considering u were an excellent candidate thus receiving the morehead)..u could end up with like a 3.9+ gpa, and AMAZING extracurricular plus life experiences.</p>

<p>at princeton, I doubt u will have the same kind of experience. Yea ull have the prestigious ivy league degree....but thats about it. and about the intelligent convo's and stuff....u will be with tons of people like that at UNC. (esp. morehead scholars)...</p>

18

<p>ns347</p>

<p>While UNC itself may not be as prestigious as Princeton, being a Morehead really is held in the same level of regard (and often more) as attending HYPS as far as grad and professional schools are concerned as well as big time employers. </p>

<p>It's not about the money for most who win it; it's about what the Morehead stands for and the opportunity to do so much good for others and to create a life for themselves that they might not been able to do at other schools.</p>

<p>There are many Moreheads who do not need the money;George Steinbrenner's daughter was a Morehead and his granddaughter was in my son's Morehead class that graduated in 2008.</p>

<p>It really can provide life changing experiences; my son spent 9 weeks working in a clinic in a small village in French West Africa during his "service" summer. Seeing children near death or die from illnesses that a simple prescription that we take for granted would have cured had a profound impact on him and his view of the world.</p>

<p>Those four summer experiential learning opportunities are really the things that help to set the Moreheads apart from a regular HYPS grad in the minds of the grad and professional schools.</p>

19

<p>I say go to UNC; ultimate college-experience, plus a full-ride and the honor of earning they university's most prestigious scholarship. It's not so much where you get your education, but rather what you do with it, that counts. I got into a few more "prestigious" schools than UCLA, but followed the place that proved they wanted me and that gave me the best opportunity to connect and lead amongst my peers, and I have never regretted being here for even a second.</p>

<p>Good luck, and congratulations.</p>

<p>EA: Interesting story, I enjoyed reading it! I also found making friends and connections with faculty, alumni and peers much easier through my scholarship organization at UCLA; truly among the most amazing people I've ever met. Glad your S made the right choice!</p>

20

<p>eadad, I def. agree, morehead is a lot about prestige. but when u talk about those "experiences" over the summer...they would be very expensive to do without having some scholarship fully funding it, that's why the morehead is a good program. not only does it give access to the summer opportunities, it also funds them</p>