<p>He was just responding to something I brought up.</p>
<p>Also, prospies, don't look at the grammar on my post as an indicator of the brains here. I was typing faster than I was thinking.</p>
<p>Haha, I grew up a Duke fan...</p>
<p>^^^^??????</p>
<p>I think all of these posts speak volumes to how important a good college fit is for a student. UNC was not a good undergraduate fit for me many years ago (I don't really care much for sports or large crowds of people) but was an excellent academic experience.</p>
<p>Years later and I found myself pushing D toward it b/c it is so much cheaper (instate) than the LACs she applied to. Reading the posts of students who are not happy has reinforced what D and several of her teachers said - "don't go to UNC, it is not a match for your personality". We will end up paying more (fortunately the LACs have offered enough scholarship $$ to make only it 5-7K a year more than instate).</p>
<p>To the students that are not happy: please consider transferring. It is okay for Carolina not to be a fit. Look at what you know about yourself and choose a college that better matches you. It is troubling to see you endure college rather than enjoy it. You'll have plenty of time to face endurance when you are saddled with responsibilities and may have to stay with a job longer than you like. Additionally, you would be helping someone out who has their heart set on UNC by freeing up the spot!</p>
<p>hornet,</p>
<p>I have realized this. I hope it works out at Wake Forest, because it seems like the perfect place for me. I was waitlisted during freshman admissions (yet somehow got into UNC OOS) and never got off of it. I love sports, but I had never been to a big school and now know I hate large crowds and huge classes. I really hope it works out .. more than anything.</p>
<p>Ahduke,
Wake sounds like a much better match. I hope you are able to go.</p>
<p>Many of you have probably heard this before--my son transferred in to UNC as a junior after spending two years at Wake. Though the academics at Wake were great as was the administration, socially UNC has been a much better fit. Just goes to show as hornet (and another poster too) said--it's all individual. For my son Wake, which is heavy on private prep school students and very centered on Greek life, just did not ever feel comfortable.</p>
<p>When in high school, he absolutely refused to even look at UNC as he too was afraid it would be a continuation of high school (we are IS), didn't want large crowds, didn't want large classes, thought Chapel Hill was too "hippie".
Now that he is there he has found he loves the diversity (always interesting), the large classes (just in some perspective requirement courses) were fine, profs are still approachable (just a little harder to meet with than at Wake), being able to walk and bike all over town was an unanticipated big bonus, businesses are supportive and cater to the students, and NONE of his friends are people he knew in high school. In short (too late for that)---many positives. Probably the only complaint I hear from him is that parking is at such a shortage and sometimes he goes to an office that has moved locations because of new/renovating construction.</p>
<p>Okay, well for the record I know an OOS male from the north who LOVES UNC. He is very happy and well-adjusted down there with lots of friends. He picked up a new sport which he plays at the club level, I believe. He never wants to come home. I think he may be staying there this summer in his apartment.</p>
<p>I was also told of a girl who went there a few years ago (from my school), but the fit was not for her. Like everyone else has said, it's a personal thing. :)</p>
<p>I have to say that during my first semester, I had a little bit of trouble adjusting, and didn't really feel like I had found a good group of friends. However, I managed to really settle in in the spring, and it wasn't really that anything substantial had changed, other than that I had adjusted. I think UNC is absolutely excellent academically, and the mood here is just generally happy. Now, it's certainly not the best fit for everyone; if, as ahduke says, you'd like a very conservative student body or a small school where most people know each other, than UNC is not the place for you. However, I do think that there is a great diversity of people here; it just sometimes takes a little looking to find the sort of people you're looking for. There are tons of organizations which are always looking for new members, so that's a good way to try to get settled in. Anyway, I know that I don't regret coming here OOS at all; I'm very glad I chose UNC over Brown. The key thing to remember in my mind is that there are tons of options here, so that I think almost everyone can find something for them (though it may be difficult at first). Hope this helps.</p>
<p>thanks gattican!</p>
<p>Short answer: No. </p>
<p>I mostly agree with Ahduke, while I am by no means conservative. (If anything I encountered the opposite issue, though my qualms were not primarily political) I disagree that being a female OOS makes it easier.. It might if you fit into a certain type of girl or are a partier or enjoys frat parties etc.. that was not me.</p>
<p>I too did what I could, joining various groups, but I encountered the same situation--that many people joined groups with friends, etc. Not only that though, I found that the most publicized groups seemed to the masses who choose to identify themselves in certain ways... I would loved to have become politically active, but College Republicans and Young Democrats didn't appeal to me, as I don't define myself as either. Campus Crusades... not for me. </p>
<p>My own experience though..</p>
<p>It appeared that there were party animals/heavy drinkers on one hand, and campus crusaders on the other hand, with not much in between. </p>
<p>I was also amazed by even the superficial homogeity I encountered on campus. Girls wore polo shirts (sometimes with fake pearls, often with large earrings), jeans, rainbow sandals, and a designer (Coach, etc.) or Vera Bradley bag. If they are feeling more casual, they wear a jean skirt with a "carolina girls: best in the world" logo. Guys wear polo or lacoste, or Tshirts with logos about popular bands/outdoors events/frat events, khaki shorts, rainbows or loafers, sometimes sunglasses w/ croakies (usually the frat members), sometimes a UNC or bass pro shop logo hat.
I was literally in awe with how precise and overwhelmingly common these cookie cutter appearences were. I felt like by not doing the same (even if I have a somewhat similar style, I don't like wasting money on all the brands), I was excluding myself. Never had I found relative nonconformity to be a handicap until then.
When I came for orientation, at least half my group was wearing carolina blue polos or lacostes, so they were on their way to fitting in already, and I felt like I had excluded myself by not conforming to the exact style of everyone else. On a positive note, there was another person in the group who did not conform to this exact style (by not conform, I DO NOT mean we were gothic or punk or anything remotely like that, I literally mean didn't conform to this precise template. I am still probably considered by many to be relatively "preppy") We gravitated toward each other, and are now good friends.</p>
<p>Classes were huge and the impersonality was overwhelming. I did very much enjoy my first year seminar (small class) and highly reccomend that experience. despite visiting advising and CWS and career services I found little assistance gaining direction or finding a place.</p>
<p>Strangely, I was actually impressed at the lack of "frattiness" at UNC, but maybe I came in with lower expectations in that regard. It is, however, a public school in the South, so just make sure to visit so that you can try to get a sense of its extent.</p>
<p>Also, a point on class sizes. I can certainly understand how it could be overwhelming, but do keep in mind that language classes, math classes, and almost all upper-level classes are fairly small. The classes that are large tend to be intro classes in which simple knowledge-gaining is the primary goal, rather than in-depth discussion.</p>
<p>This is not so much to refute goheels as to point out that, as with everything else, different people have different experiences, and it's important to assess a school personally.</p>
<p>"I think the reason UNC is perceived as such a happy campus is because the people who thrive here tend to have the enthusiastic-happy go lucky-carefree-ditsy-partying personality, and so it is in their nature to express their happiness loudly. i could be wrong"</p>
<p>As a student here, I could not agree more with your interpretation of why it's perceived as such a happy campus. That is definitely the type that appears to thrive here.</p>
<p>I agree that intro classes are like that, but to be clear, I came in with a ton of credits, so many of the classes I took weren't intro. Some of them were however to satisfy various Perspectives requirements, and some of those seemed to have the same dynamics as Intro classes. I've definitely seen class size decrease after declaring a major, since I have more direction and specification.</p>
<p>On the class size issue, if you have any AP credits you are going to bypass many of the large classes.</p>
<p>Freshman year after having scored a 5 on the AP BC calculus exam, my S was placed into an advanced calculus class. It was taught by a tenured Full professor (who spoke English) and had between 45 and 50 students in it. By contrast, his best friend from HS who was at U Penn taking the same course, was in a class of 300 plus, taught by a TA who could barely speak English.</p>
<p>I am just trying to illustrate that everyone will have had similar experiences with big classes even at the Ivies...where incidentally you can get to junior year and not have yet had a class taught by a professor...we know people who have had that happen to them......</p>
<p>I just spoke to my S and asked him about his experience with class sizes. In four full years he has had a total of three (3) classes over 100 students and none after sophomore year. In the past two years his classes have ranged between 10 and 18 in size and last semester he had a class with 7 students in it.</p>
<p>Like gattican said, "different people have different experiences."</p>
<p>95% of freshman return is the stat I read.
I cannot state my experience as I AM NOT A STUDENT.
Some students are happy/some are not.
Some realize they dont' have the degree they want.
Some want to be closer to home.
There are a variety of reasons including financial for people leaving.
Check the admissions office for stats on how many fresh return. I believe that number is very high into the 90-95% range...for the 4200 admitted. Then also look at transfer students....plenty trying to get in.</p>
<p>I transferred to TWO schools before settling on my original choice and going back and from that point on I was as happy as a lark. Sometimes people need to mature into COLLEGE.</p>
<p>Just to add on, I am currently sitting out on the quad on a beach towel in a dress, listening to music, and writing a paper on a topic that I find extremely interesting. Really, life here feels perfect right now. :)</p>
<p>Would I choose to go to UNC over again? Without a doubt.</p>
<p>Until my junior year of high school, I had no desire to go to UNC. In fact, I wasn't even planning to apply to UNC. It was a visit to Chapel Hill that entirely changed my mind. When I first set foot on campus, I knew that I wouldn't go anywhere else. It sounds cheesy and kind of ridiculous, but that's what I felt. The more I learned about Carolina, the more I wanted to attend. The icing on the cake was winning one of UNC's scholarships-- there was no way I was turning down a nearly-free education at one of the country's finest schools. I decided on Carolina.</p>
<p>Like many here, my first year wasn't great. I was in Hinton James and felt kind of lost as I tried to meet new people and get the hang of the academics, which were much more rigorous than my high school. I was never the happy-go-lucky carefree type of person described earlier and it took me a little longer to adjust to college life. Spring of my freshman year was a vast improvement over the fall- I'd started to build a life for myself in extracurriculars and friends outside my high school group. I still wondered if I'd made the right choice, though.</p>
<p>Fall semester of my sophomore year started out very poorly- among other issues, I chose the wrong roommate and was, in a word, miserable. A few weeks into the semester I knew I'd have to leave, so I did-- I decided to spend the next semester abroad. A change of scenery (and a big attitude adjustment) was just what I needed. I returned to UNC the summer after my semester abroad and fell in love with Carolina again. My junior and senior years were among the best of my (admittedly young) life. I was occasionally frustrated with certain things about the school, but I know that I am a better person for having gone to UNC. I don't think I could have become the person I am today without Carolina. (Of course, not knowing me, you really can't judge if that's a positive or negative for UNC-- I'd like to think it's a positive!)</p>
<p>The moral of the story? If you're not happy at Carolina, change something. Go abroad. Take a semester off. Transfer, if you really feel like you could NEVER be happy at Carolina. At UNC, an undergrad has at his or her disposal all the tools necessary to change lives-- his or her own, or any number of others. </p>
<p>I think Governor Sanford sums up my feelings pretty well... except, of course, he was fortunate enough to learn from Frank Porter Graham while he still lived. </p>
<p>"What we learned at Chapel Hill was not chemistry and economics and mathematics. Those were the instruments of learning. We learned, we absorbed, with Frank Porter Graham as our master teacher, that solid tradition, those hopes of this university born of the beginnings of a new nation, values this great university continues to nourish -- freedom and liberty and tolerance, the search for truth, the defense of dignity, courage to arrive freely at convictions, and the personal courage to stand for those hopes and truths."</p>
<p>-- Terry Sanford, Governor and U.S. Senator, in his University Day Address, October 12, 1987</p>