<p>Not sure if this is the right forum in which to post my question. My DD has just finished her freshman year at a small (5,000 students) university in a town where there really isn't much to do. She really wants to transfer to a university with football, school spirit and great academics. She did really well her freshman year: Deans list, Alpha Lambda Delta freshman honor society and great roommate/new friends. She stumbled upon ECU (OOS) and was really excited about the education program, the seeming spirited student body and the size of the campus. She applied on a whim and we are awaiting a final decision. I, however, immediately began searching out student reviews and am blown away by the low rankings, as well as negative comments on every other website. I found two reviews by alumni "blaming" the university's poor reputation for their failure to find jobs! I am shocked by all the negativity. Not being from NC, I am having difficulty trying to separate fact from fiction. Is this school truly a party all the time atmosphere with weak academics? I have tried to search on CC but most of the reviews and comments are several years old. Can anyone give me further insight before she makes a decision?</p>
<p>By CC standards its a pretty weak university. It’s ranked 181 by US News and has an acceptance rate of about 70 percent.</p>
<p>Thanks @Vikingboy11. I have seen all the rankings, I am really looking for anyone’s personal experiences with the university. DD’s current university also has a fairly high admit rate, so I am not so much concerned about that number, unless with such a large university it means that the vast majority of students are not really “college ready?”</p>
<p>Most of the schools in the UNC system are quite sound, with the Chapel Hill and Raleigh campuses standing out. From what I’ve read there’s a lot of activity (new facilities, etc.) going on at ECU. Your child will likely be fine at ECU and prepared for success.</p>
<p>If you’re considering ECU, also look into Appalachian State which has a completely different personality but still good spirit, a small but nice college town, and a variety of ECs. </p>
<p>I think picking a college is not just about rankings or prestige, but I also consider value. I think most states have good state colleges, so I am not a fan of paying out of state tuition for an equal education value. It just doesn’t make sense to me to pay extra for the same product. However, many students make the choice to pay OOS tuition for a college that has personal value to them. The two aspects you mentioned about ECU were strong school spirit and a good education program, but these are found in many colleges, probably some in your own state. Another consideration is if the cost is reduced by any merit or financial aid, in which case there is a financial value. Assuming you are paying full OOS cost, what is it about ECU that makes that extra investment worth it? </p>
<p>You mentioned student body college readiness as a consideration. Admission criteria are a part but another factor is the 4 and 6 year graduation rates. A rate of <50% is considered a significant indicator that many of the students are not able to graduate. This number can also be affected by students transferring or leaving due to financial or personal issues, so not all who leave are not doing well academically, but a low graduation rate is of concern. ECU’s graduation rate for 2012 is cited at 33% for 4 years, 58% for 6. First year student retention rate is 78%. Appalachian state as mentioned has grad rates of 40% (4), and 66% (6) with a freshman retention rate of 88%. One could conclude that a student would be happier and more likely to graduate from ASU. UNC Chapel Hill’s statistics are grad rate: 76% (4), 89% (6) Freshman retention: 97%. </p>
<p>You say your daughter is doing well academically, and if you are paying full cost, would you consider aiming higher? Not only for prestige or ranking, but to get the best education value as well as find a place where your daughter will fit the other students academically. You also want her to be happy. Not to simply be critical of ECU, but I would urge you to consider schools in your home state that may offer you at least the same value at in state costs. Students are naturally attracted to colleges that are not familiar to them, but ECU has the same amount of partying and weak academics as any other state school with similar statistics. You will just pay more for it OOS.</p>
<p>I am familiar with colleges in the region, and while the NC state colleges are all pretty solid, ECU is not one that is held in highest esteem. For discussion, I will leave out UNC since it is so very popular, but NCSU and App State are some of the schools good students are happy about attending. For other state universities, I know of happy ( and good) students at University of South Carolina, Clemson, College of Charleston, UGA, U Alabama, Auburn. These state colleges also have honors programs that your daughter might qualify for. School spirit and football is also really big at some of them. I can’t choose for your daughter, but spending another year at the school she is now, and applying to some of these schools, as well as your in state public colleges might give her more choice, and a better value for your OOS dollars. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. I think we have come to the conclusion that she will stay where she is for another year and then try (again) to transfer to an in-state school. She is at Longwood University in Farmville and although it is a beautiful campus, she is just not all that happy there. There’s not much to do on weekends, except attend frat parties - ugh. She has also mentioned that a lot of the students there are not really doing very well academically. To me, that sends up a red flag.</p>
<p>She very involved in many clubs/organizations, and embodies the “school spirit” in high school and she really misses all of that. She applied to transfer to James Madison University for the fall of 2014 and was waitlisted. She was very upset and of course once the notification came out, it was too late to try to transfer anywhere else in state. As I said, applying to ECU was on a whim. Maybe after having more college classes/grades to add to her transcript, the possibility of transferring to a larger in-state school will become a reality for her. </p>
<p>She can still apply to many of these schools:
<a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/research/research-data/College-Openings/Pages/College-Openings-Results.aspx”>http://www.nacacnet.org/research/research-data/College-Openings/Pages/College-Openings-Results.aspx</a>
Among those:
Contact Appalachian State to see if they still have spots. Same thing at UNC-W (no football, but cool beach town with lots to do & school spirit centered on other sports).
UMW (in-state) is MUCH stronger than Longwood academically and still accepts transfers. Being about 1h from DC there would be more to do than in Farmville.</p>
<p>I like UNC-Wilmington also, but what about other Virginia colleges such as George Mason University?</p>
<p>George Mason no longer has free spots for Fall 2014. 
Richard Bland of William and Mary is accepting transfer applications! And if your daughter does well there, she can get into William&Mary (or UVA)… talk about a step up from Longwood! :)</p>
<p>She was accepted to GMU for the fall of 2013. Unfortunately she didn’t care for the campus at all. She was actually accepted to several of the in state schools, but found fault with each one of them. It was a spur of the moment decision to visit to Longwood in March of 2013, and she did really like the campus and tour. When she got into the honors college and a merit scholarship, the deal was sealed. We will see what the future holds for her now. </p>
<p>She can still try and apply to these colleges that still have space, then see whether she prefers to attend one of them or stay at Longwood…</p>