Freshman questions!

Hi, so I’m 99% going to be attending UNC as an OOS student next year, and naturally, I have a bunch of questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  1. I initially put down BME as my intended major, but after some thought, I've been debating between sticking with BME or switching to biology (I can switch right?). I intend to follow the premed track, so I'm unsure about which one would be most beneficial. I know the biology department at UNC is very well-regarded, but I haven't heard much about their BME program. Does anybody have any experience with it?
  2. What premed opportunities are there for freshman? I would love to take some sort of EMT course, volunteer at a nearby hospital, shadow, etc.
  3. Are freshman able to conduct research? I hope to study in some sort of biology lab, but I'm afraid that if I choose BME I won't have as many opportunities to conduct research in comparison to a biology major.
  4. What freshman dorms do you recommend? I definitely want to be part of the social scene, but I also want a nice, quiet place to study at times. I've heard a lot about HoJo, but Koury also seems nice and calm. Any tips?
  5. I just read about Carolina Kickoff and it seems really cool, would you recommend it?

Feel free to pose other questions!

I know honors is having a medical “shadowing” weekend this summer for like $200.

@enjoytheshow Unfortunately I didn’t make it into honors, maybe next year though!

It is not difficult at all to get involved in research regardless of major. You don’t officially declare one until sophomore year and many have unofficially switched several times during their freshman year. If you are interested in BME I would discuss it with your advisor when you meet with him/her. The BME program is a joint program with NC State and my family member who graduated still keeps in touch with his professors in the program.

FWIW, here is an excerpt from a thread last year that addressed the question “Granville Towers vs. South Campus”:

“I lived on South my first year and the walk is not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I have heard numerous freshmen that lived at Granville complain about a feeling of social isolation. It’s also not that much nicer than a well-maintained, newer dorm like Koury/Hardin/Horton, to be totally honest. If it was me, making the decision with the info I know now, I would never ever pick Granville as a freshman. Especially because there is a LOT of construction going on right now, that I am not sure would be done by the time you come in the fall. Definitely go with South Campus; it’s kind of a freshman rite of passage, lol. You want Koury or Hardin or Horton or the other one (you’ll know what I mean looking at a map; there are four identically shaped buildings all together on South). Hinton James (aka HoJo) is a high-rise dorm and a nightmare when the elevators go out (not that that is often or anything) and just generally has a bad rep, as it is also the farthest from everything.”

In terms of distance, while the South Campus residence halls are farther away from most of the academic buildings (although closer to the Dean Dome, if that is important to you), there is the P2P bus service which if pretty good about getting you to the other parts of campus and Franklin Street. It is also my sense that the South Campus residences halls have a good bit of esprit de corps; and if you live on South Campus you will eat most of your meals with other first-year students, whereas if you live on North Campus, there will be many more upperclass students where you eat (although that may or may not be important to you).

Some residence halls have rooms off a corridor as opposed to suites. What I was told last summer at the first-year orientation by someone from the residence hall office is that no university cleaning service will be provided unless the restroom can be accessed by the cleaning staff without going through student rooms. To put it another way, not all suites are created equal in regards to cleaning services: if you are in a suite of rooms off a corridor that connects the common restroom with the outside door (such as at Hinton James a/k/a “HoJo”, Craige, or Ehringhaus), then bathroom cleaning services will be provided by the university; otherwise, the students will have to clean up their own bathrooms (because the university doesn’t want to have cleaning staff going through students’ rooms in order to get to the restrooms). I don’t know about the North Campus residence halls, but this was why my first-year student chose to live in a place such as HoJo/Craige/Ehringhaus rather than some of the other residence halls on South Campus. So if cleanliness (yours and/or your suitemates) may be an issue, the type of room arrangement is something that you might want to consider.

If you have not yet attended an Admitted Students Day, there will be an opportunity at that time to tour a “model” room at a South Campus residence hall, so you and your parents can see what it looks like. There will also be such an opportunity when you attend a first-year orientation session in the summer.

In terms of selecting roommates, my first-year found hers on an entering first-year student Facebook page; the university also has its own procedure for assigning roommates should you choose that option.

Insofar as Granville Towers goes, it is closer to Franklin Street and the fraternity houses; my sense is that many (if not most) of the residents there are or will become involved in the Greek system. There are others who have better knowledge and more informed opinions about Granville Towers than I do.

I think that most of your studying will be done in a library, as opposed to a residence hall.

I’ll address a few of items on your list.

  1. Major Choice - As mentioned above, BME is a joint program with NCSU. You can check it out and decide later. Unlike some schools, you do not have to meet a strict schedule at UNC to stay on track. They work hard to make sure you finish in 4 years, even if you change your mind. Majors are switched all the time in the fist year or later. I assume BME would be more time sensitive but you will have plenty of time to sort that out.
  2. Dorms - My DD lived in Horton (across the street from Koury and laid out identically) and really enjoyed it. Her suite members have remained friends throughout her stay at UNC, living together off campus later. Rooms are big and are set up as two room suited - 4 people share one bathroom. High rises (like HoJo) are set up in 4 room suites/8 students. Housekeeping maintains bathroom & shower facilities in the 8 person suites but not in the 4 person ones. Koury is about 40 years newer than the high rises but all of the older dorms have been renovated.
  3. Carolina Kickoff - My DD attended and had a great time. There are many OOS kids attending and it is a great way to meet folks, learn about UNC traditions, find your way around and generally have a good time. Another benefit is that you get to move your stuff into the dorms a few days prior to the other first years - a huge help to parents! Again, you will meet people at CK you will stay in touch with throughout your time at Carolina.

Congratulations and best of luck to you!