<p>My son will be majoring in Computer Science at Carolina for his BS and MS. His top concern in selecting dorm choices is not how nice it is but the speed of the internet speed connection in his room.</p>
<p>Also with his placement credits and probable plans to do the 'BS/MS in 5' (years) program, he will have many classes in Sitterson Hall (across from Carolina Inn). From the campus housing map, this building looks like a long walk from every dorm.</p>
<p>Personally, I always preferred being in a suite room versus sharing a corridor bath and I think he would too.</p>
<p>I'm assuming the campus has Wi-Fi but can students pay extra to get an upgraded speed, hardwired connection in their rooms? I can't seem to find any information on UNC's website.</p>
<p>Any advice appreciated!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Dorm rooms only have hard-wired connections…in 2011…believe it or not. </p>
<p>Common areas on campus usually have wireless but not guaranteed. D’s chem lab does not have wireless. They have to bring ethernet cables to class.</p>
<p>All dorms have ethernet connections. The speed is the same for all, though there might be marginal differences with the large dorms having slower speeds.
All common areas in the dorms have wireless connections. If a room is close enough to a common area, it will benefit from that wireless connection too. But if you don’t have that sort of a room, then you can’t complain, because you’re not supposed to have wireless in your rooms in the first place.</p>
<p>You can’t pay to upgrade your internet connection. Net neutrality for you.</p>
<p>Yes, all Comp classes are in Sitterson. The dorms that are closest to Sitterson are probably the Old East/West duo. Getting into those dorms as a freshman is a tough task.</p>
<p>As for common areas on campus, the chem thing that awayfromitall talks about is the only absence of wireless connections on campus that I’ve heard about.</p>
<p>Keep in min that your son will probably have few classes in sitterson his freshman year and that unless it is his first class of the day it doesnt really matter how close his dorm is to the building. There are also plenty of buses that go right by sitterson to/from south campus.</p>
<p>Freshman don’t really have a choice of were they’ll live unless they do a living learning community anyways.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input!</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve read about the lottery and the higher chances of getting a specific dorm through a live and learn community. But I’m trying to help him narrow his top 3 choices for the housing form.</p>
<p>Through placement credits, he’ll start at the sophomore level in most subject areas. Plus, with the ‘MS in 5’ program and hope (though slim) of getting a dorm he can remain in for more than 1 year, he’ll probably have at least one or two computer science classes his first year. From my understanding thus far of the MS program, it’s intensive in CS classes, possibly from freshman year on.</p>
<p>I’m tickled to hear that all rooms have hard, ethernet connections as Wi-Fi would be too slow since they probably have choke throttles to allow better access for all students. I’m also assuming that the newer dorms are better ‘wired’ than older ones but that’s just a guess. However, blue_box said that smaller dorms are probably a little faster so I’m assuming that each dorm is allotted a finite amount of bandwidth??</p>
<p>I probably need to make a second post but I was also wondering about ‘The Carolina Experience’ located in Koury. My son is a shy around new people and not big on partying (preferring his computers). I thought that, if accepted, this program would be a good ice breaker for him as well as get him in a newer suite dorm. However, I have no clue how time intensive the program requirements are outside of class. I’ve read that some LLCs are and some aren’t but no further details. Like all parents, school work comes first!</p>
<p>Thanks again for your great insight!</p>
<p>MerryWidow: Your son will still have to take COMP 401 in his first semester, and COMP 410 and 411 in the second semester. He can’t take any other courses until he completes that, so his first year won’t be intensive. At all. In fact, if he doesn’t have any programming experience, he’ll have to take 110 first semester, 401 second semester, and 410/411 third semester, before he starts the core CS courses.
Also, although he can declare his major in his first year if he so chooses, he can’t join the BS/MS program until his junior year, where they evaluate his ability to handle the last 2 years based on his previous grades.</p>
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<p>Of course each dorm is allotted a finite amount of bandwidth. Is an infinite amount of bandwidth even technically feasible?
What I meant when I said the larger dorms might have slower speeds is that if you have x amount of bandwidth for y people in a small dorm, and you have 3y people in a larger dorm, they might only give 2x bandwidth. So it doesn’t scale linearly. Again, I’m just guessing here, I could be completely wrong, and everyone might have the same speeds. There have been no complaints about it.</p>
<p>I see from your posts elsewhere that your son wants to study computer security. Thats what I’m studying too. I’m pretty sure he’ll be disappointed with the comp sec. facilities offered.</p>
<p>blue_box… you’ve got the inside scoop so please dish!!</p>
<p>My son is sitting for the AP Comp Sci exam even though the course isn’t taught at his school. His IT teacher recommended he take it as she feels he could breeze through it and place out of entry level classes. He has ‘formally’ been taught HTML, Java through his IB class (scored 7 of 7 on programming) and is taking independent, self-study Python this year (says it too easy). On his own, he’s learning other languages; vaguely I remember hearing C++, Apache, HTML5 and a couple of others. To him it’s fun but Greek to me. Plus, he plans to build his own water cooled PC over the summer and I just bought him a $2k Xotic laptop (ouch!). So, in your opinion, how does he compare to other incoming potential Comp. Sci. major students?</p>
<p>What I meant by finite bandwidth is that each dorm is dorm is allotted a percentage of UNC’s total finite bandwidth. As a Comp Sci major, you can understand his concern. Although his school has a fiber optic connection, he’s frustrated with the throttles on both the Wi-Fi and hardwire connections. His rant was something about talking to the school IT head about special access, like creating himself a static IP, tunnels, and other stuff way over my head. </p>
<p>However, I’m also interested in your comment about the disappointing ‘facilities’ offered. I thought Carolina had one of the best MS programs in NC??? He got accepted to the College of Engineering - Computer Science at NC State but his heart is set on Carolina.</p>
<p>I realize he doesn’t declare his major until junior year but I’m hoping he can get a leg up during his first two years and take some higher level CS classes. The UNC page about the ‘BS/MS in 5’ is vague on details. </p>
<p>Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated and invaluable!
Many Thanks… Karen</p>
<p>While the facilities themselves are fine, they aren’t really used for comp sec. purposes, which is what I really want. If I understood correctly, the single computer security class offered at UNC was cancelled every semester in the past 1.5 years. There are 2 professors who specialize in computer security research, but I wish there were more classes in that field.
Having said that, I have found 2 other people interested in computer security. One of them is organizing a “hacker night” of sorts at the end of February. I’m so excited.</p>
<p>A programmer is only as good as his knowledge of the programming languages he uses, and your son seems to know quite a few. I can’t comment on the depth of his programming language; I just don’t know. I didn’t have the APs or IB. I have a comp sci friend who knows MATLAB (not really a general-use language), but he programmed a minesweeper auto-player, which is simple, but also rather cool. I’m trying to program an auto-player for Robot Unicorn Attack (not working out well =( ), its not really what you know, but how you use it.
A lot of companies come to UNC looking for students for internships, I would encourage him to apply in his first year itself.</p>
<p>UNC does have one of the best MS programs in NC (there’s not much competition, really, UNC-CH, NC State, and Duke are the 3 powerhouses), but its not ranked nearly as high nationally. And unfortunately, within UNC the major research projects do not include comp sec: [Research</a> Project Areas (UNC-CH Computer Science)](<a href=“http://cs.unc.edu/Research/ProjectIndex/]Research”>http://cs.unc.edu/Research/ProjectIndex/) Even UNC Charlotte has a better focus on comp sec. than UNC-CH.</p>
<p>UNC does allow you to take 1 class at either Duke/NC State every semester, so your son can take a comp sec. class there. I’ll probably take advantage of this next semester, but I sure as hell wouldn’t attend NC State full time. I would go to Duke if I could afford it though.</p>
<p>As for the higher level classes, I suppose he could work out something with the professor teaching the classes, but I’m not sure. Thats not something I can answer.</p>
<p>I’m in the Carolina Experience living learning community right now. I’ll start out by saying, I love living in Koury, I love everyone on my hall and I’m really happy I signed up for this. Also, the program might be totally different next year because the current community director won’t be here and he sort of dictates what we do in the program. Anyway, all of that being said, it is DEFINITELY a bigger time commitment than they made it out to be when I was signing up for it last year. We have weekly meetings, a couple required events every month and some random things we have to do (like blogging about stuff we do, which is just obnoxious, and I’m a journalism major SO yeah). But, I really like knowing everyone on my hall, and I think I ended up with a better roommate/suitemates than I would have gotten in another dorm. Also, there’s definitely still partying that goes on, but I’m sure it’s nowhere near what it’s like in other dorms. If you have any more questions about it, just PM me!</p>
<p>Wow, this thread popped up on my Google Alert and I felt a real need to weigh in on the discussion. I will tell you up front that I work for the Dept of Computer Science at NC State…full disclosure! </p>
<p>First, I want to say congratulations to Karen on your son’s acceptance into UNC. To say it is a fine school is an understatement. You mention that your son was also accepted into NC State’s computer science program, but that his heart is set on UNC. Contrary to the unfounded and elitist “I sure as hell wouldn’t attend NC State full time” comment by blue_box, I will not say anything derogatory about the UNC program. What I will offer you and your son are the strong points that NC State’s computer science program has to offer, all of which are conveniently packaged in the department’s Future Student page at [NC</a> State Computer Science: Future Students](<a href=“Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University”>Department of Computer Science at North Carolina State University). In particular, I recommend you watch the 2 minute video, accessible via the “Why NC State” graphic.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, NC State’s computer science department is not only the largest in the state (over 650 undergrads and 550 grad students), it is one of the largest in the nation. This equates to a broad curriculum where students can focus their studies in specialized areas such as networking, security, cloud computing, analytics, etc. We even offer a concentration in game development, as we are the lead institution in working with and supplying the growing (40+) gaming companies in the area. Our size and quality of our graduates help attract the very best in career options. Little known fact - NC State is THE leading supplier of new grad talent to IBM and Cisco, world-wide! And the companies that aggressively target our students include all the expected names from the RTP area, and national powerhouses like Microsoft, Google, Apple, etc. These companies provide almost $1M a year in support that goes right back to support faculty and students. Our facilities are 2nd to none, and our Centennial Campus location, which houses over 70 different companies, makes interning a breeze. We literally have kids walk out of class, cross the street and work a couple hours at Red Hat, and return for another class. </p>
<p>NC State is the science and technology flagship in the UNC system, often overlooked for all its strengths, as we stand in the shadow of UNC-CH…absolutely a great academic institution. Contrary to the elitist approach of blue_box, I opt to point out our strengths and allow you and your son to decide the program that best meets his needs. I invite you both to attend our Open House on March 19th, where you can tour the facilities and speak with our faculty. I think you will be quite impressed!</p>
<p>Best of luck with your decision!</p>
<p>Pakbackr -I’m sorry if I sound elitist here. I’m generally the first person to criticize UNC on these threads (unless keepittoyourself beats me to it), but I acknowledge I did sound a bit arrogant in my last post. In my defense I acknowledged that NC State had a better computer security program, which is what I want to study. I also said that due to the strength of the program at your school I would take classes there during the semester. Even though traveling is really, really inconvenient, I’d still do that because its worth it.</p>
<p>The reasons I wouldn’t go to NC State have absolutely nothing to do with the strength of your computer science or engineering departments, rather its the size of the department, location, gender ratio, and the “engineering” label that I do not like. </p>
<p>I don’t criticize your department anywhere in my post, and I’d never do that, because its commonly acknowledged (here, at UNC), that if you’re serious about being an engineer, you go to NC State/Duke, and not UNC.</p>
<p>EDIT: And from now on I’ll be more diplomatic with my posts.</p>