Experience NC State and Engineering Open House Review

Colleges and Universities A-Z North Carolina State University
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I thought I would post a review of our trip this weekend and if anyone has any questions I will try to answer.

General conditions:
I originally didn’t have the highest opinion of the facilities at NC State via watching the online pictures and virtual tours. However, I was very pleasantly surprised after our visit this weekend. I had heard the main campus was a bit run down and the only nice area was Centennial Campus. I will say I disagree with those reviews. I found both the main campus and Centennial Campus to be in good condition.

Food:
I found the food to be VERY good in Tally (ate here both days). My boys loved all the options.

Campus Feel:
Everyone we talked to both days were very helpful and offered a honest opinion of their time at State. One student said the bus system is just horrible and another said campus security is not very good in the dorms. Those were the only bad things from the many students we spoke with.

The campus has a small college feel, even though there are 35,000 students. It is a bit spread out.

I will say from our quick visit it seems a very low key campus. Looking around on Friday and Saturday night, not many students were out and about. We drove around and I don’t see the party atmosphere we saw in other college visits.

Campus Programs:
My twin sons are admitted into the Exploratory and First Year Engineering.

My one son in Exploring was very impressed with how much advising the students received in finding a major. My second son in Engineering was equally impressed with all the opportunities available (co-op, internships, and research).

Housing:
The dorms have very little security and I can see some issues arising. However, the rooms we saw are plenty fine and you have multiple options (suite style, hotel style, and double style). Although Freshman are not required to stay on campus, both my boys agreed they thought it was best to stay on campus to get acclimated to college life. The apartment style on Centennial Campus was VERY nice.

Hunt Library:
I have visited no less then 10 colleges and the Hunt Library was easily the most impressive. You have a library with space to actually work vs a normal looking books and desks setup. There were many cubicles with white boards, a 21 foot tv/game room, computer space everywhere, too many conference rooms to mention, and even many music rooms to work on instruments if you like.

I think Ohio State (our next stop on Monday and Tuesday) will have some big shoes to fill to beat NC State.

I kept this very general, so if anyone has any specific questions please ask and I will try to answer.

For example, financial aid spoke and said they expect to get the financial packages out by the first week in April. Trying for April 1 and/or 2nd, but said should definitely be completed by that week.

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@fflmaster this is a very petty question, but could you elaborate on the security as a whole? I am hoping to transfer to nc state if accepted (about 80% committed right now) but I must say I have been looking into security issues with all of the schools I have applied to…im hoping to stay in an apartment on campus but the fact that there is little security in dorms is very alarming to me…

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Of the colleges I visited, they all had a person or people in the lobby checking everyone going into the buildings. Here I didn’t see that.

The one student that complained, said he had two friends have their rooms burglarized due to the simple key process versus a lock code that many colleges use to get into their rooms. He did say some dorms are switching or have switched to a code and hoped that would help keep the rooms more secure.

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I’ve had one daughter who recently graduated from NCSU, and a son currently a Freshman. Both lived in the Tri-Towers Freshman year, my daughter then lived in North Hall for 3 years. Security was never a problem for them. Tri-Towers require key card access to the building at the front door, and/or normal key access to the other external and room doors. However, as an observant parent, I have seen lax students who simply prop open doors, or allow others to pass right behind them without due process. Lock codes, RFID cards, and/or key locks do little good when well meaning residents allow such short-cuts. Short of making each dorm prison-like and allowing only one to pass at a time through one entrance, it is very hard to convince 18 year olds to take security seriously 100% of the time.

Also, my daughter was a College of Design student for four years, meaning she spent all hours of the night walking to and fro the Design Studios on North and East Campus. She found campus police and security always willing to help. Many nights she would call for escort if she felt the least bit nervous during the early AM hours. By the way, even the Design buildings, and some interior rooms, are card access only. But then again, no security system stops someone from passing through a door that is propped open.

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fflmaster, I hope I did not sound to overly negative in the last post. It is simply my observations regarding security over the past few years.

I would add that the rest of your observations during the Open House were spot-on. NC State has fantastic facilities, even the older buildings serve there purpose well…with the exception of horrible Harrelson Hall, which is thankfully coming down this next year :slight_smile: . Your best insight was that NCSU is a low-key campus. And you are right, we found the same to be true. The student body is less up-tight, more relaxed than many other selective schools, of which I would put NC State today. After Freshman year, alot of students are studying Friday and Saturday. Decades ago it may have been a “safety” school, but not any more. From personal experience, I can say that the Colleges of Design and Engineering are some the hardest to get in, and stay in, in the Southeast.

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@klinger wow I must say your post was very insightful. I have heard horror stories about another college I was accepted to so I have now been trying to figure out the safety precautions all schools take. It doesn’t seem like too much to worry about so that is good. I understand that security personnel can’t babysit everyone or give students slaps on the wrists for tailgating but at least they appear to be safe. Thanks for your post

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NCSU is definitely safe. Lock your doors and don’t walk alone at night. NCSU has an escort service for late at night, so use it if you feel uneasy.

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Clarification: when I said “safety” school, I meant that NCSU Admissions is not as easy as it was years ago – i.e., enrollment is more highly selective nowadays. I did NOT mean to imply the school is not safe. Apologies for my use of the word “safety”…poor choice, not meant to confuse.

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@klinger

Let me clarify.

The student didn’t say the campus was unsafe at all. On the contrary, multiple students said to my wife how safe the campus was. My wife mentioned how she was worried about the tunnels

The one student felt the dorm security was lax. He did want to point out how much safer he thought Wolf Ridge Apartments were.