<p>Since there are so many more students from North Carolina than from OOS, how tough is it for a student who will not have any friends from HS going?</p>
<p>Just don't live in Granville Towers and you will be just fine.</p>
<p>It's not tough at all. OOSers tend to band together sometimes (most of my friends are OOS). In-staters are of course friendly too, and what's cool about them is that sometimes when you meet one in-stater, they introduce you to other friends from their HS, so you actually get to meet a lot more people.</p>
<p>It is somewhat surprising to me that there is so much concern about being an OOS. It's not like the people you meet will have a sign on them. My son transferred in as a junior. Yes, there are people there from his high school, but he socializes with none of them. Again, most of the friends he has made are from NC (of course, being much more of them), but none were people he knew before coming to Chapel Hill.</p>
<p>eadad~could you explain the Granville Towers comment? I'm not familiar with the dorms. </p>
<p>mkm56~we are not from the south, nor do we know anyone who goes to UNC, and S2 (who has just been accepted) has a brother at Duke, which is much more diverse with kids from around the country. Friends who say they know OOS kids who love it are talking about OOS athletes, who have their own "group" with their team, and tend to hang out with those kids, so we have no first hand knowledge of the OOS non-athlete comfort zone at UNC. Just looking for some friendly info.</p>
<p>Granville Towers is a "private" dorm that is not part of the University housing system. It is very conveniently located on Franklin St very close to the academic core but is historically filled (majority but not completely) with in-state students who have been long time friends and want to continue that high school experience. Additionally many of the in-state students are planning to go Greek since Granville is right next to fraternity row. It is a convenient location but the core of freshman live on south campus and the bonding that comes from that shared experience lasts a long time.</p>
<p>Granville also has its own mandatory meal plan which means that your S will either be out of pocket every time he wants to eat with friends who live on campus or will be eating his meals only with the other Granville residents as opposed to students from every residence hall on campus in Lenoir or Rams Head dining halls.</p>
<p>My S is OOS and now a senior....has an enormous group of friends since freshman orientation that are a mix of OOS and in-state students. There should be zero concern about non-athlete consort zone for OOS students....UNC is a very welcoming place and unless your S chooses to isolate himself and stay in his room all the time he should have no concerns about making friends and fitting in.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for that inside information about Granville, eadad! CC parents are so good at helping others with this sort of discussion! </p>
<p>Also good to know that your son has really enjoyed it. Our son is very outgoing once he has assessed the environment--a little shy at first--but then it's very hard to keep him quiet! Also he is very much a "city" kid, so this UNC be quite a change in that regard, as well.</p>
<p>Our S is an OOS freshman who is having a great time. He is basically a pretty shy quiet type but has found a few ECs that have drawn him out. He always seems busy and in fact could not get wait to get back to Chapel Hill. he seems to be making lots of friends with both in state and OOS. He has commented that some of the instate kids tend to be a little cliquey but that would be the case at any state school.</p>
<p>My D is OOS and absolutely loves her first year at UNC. She's not the sort to make the first move on introductions, but has still managed to meet plenty of students -- some in-state and some OOS. She has repeatedly said the campus seems like a small place because she is always running into friends. She said, over break, that after the first 2-3 weeks, there have always been friends to eat with -- she just runs into them on her way to the dining hall.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input LEDad and Leslie99! Those are some of the comments I was looking for to help us figure out which school will be the best for him! He's lucky to have some great choices, and now we have to revisit them and let him sort it out!</p>
<p>Also, be sure to attend the OOS social when you get to school. I met most of my closest friends through that.</p>
<p>I would also like to add that while my S is instate, he is definitely wanting to meet OOS students. The biggest negative he sees about UNC for him is that there will be a lot of kids from his h.s. He's looking for new experiences. He knows some current students there, some of whom hang out way too much with their h.s. friends for his taste. While he has some very good friends from h.s. who will be attending, and he doesn't want to avoid them at all, he really wants to meet new people. </p>
<p>Of my D's friends who attend UNC, there are some who spend a lot of time with the h.s. crowd (yes, most of those friends live in Granville, and most of them are involved in Greek life), and there are others who've made a point to branch out. In her view, the ones who've tried to branch out are having the best experiences there.</p>
<p>irish</p>
<p>where do you live?...what other schools are under consideration?</p>
<p>I'd say you will be fine making friends...but UNC OOS is not for the faint of heart or introverted or easily intimidated person. To make friends you have to be outgoing! HAVE TO.</p>
<p>PS: GetOuttaBuffalo has probably met the entire freshmen class.</p>
<p>:-p</p>
<p>eadad~I have sent you a pm.</p>
<p>I second Heather's comment.</p>
<p>haha o stop it you two know just as many people.</p>
<p>one of my secrets: remember peoples names and things they tell u. u make more friends that way :)</p>
<p>I just want to testify as to how friendly everyone I have already met on Facebook is! I'm having no trouble meeting people, because obviously that's what everyone wants to do. People are very open and friendly and I can tell that I'm going to have a ton of different people to meet up with once I get on campus, both from in-state and out of state. :)</p>
<p>Avantgarden, will you pm me your facebook page? I've been chatting with other people going to UNC on facebook, but I don't know if you've been one of them!</p>