<p>I’ve been called worse!</p>
<p>Ladies, now now…:D</p>
<p>Oh wow… that was a lot more than I was expecting. I guess I’ll start off by saying thank you to everyone who contributed, it did provide some helpful insight, even if some of it did cause a bit of a stir. Thanks eadad, especially!</p>
<p>keepittoyourself- I respect your input, but judging by your posts, it seems like you and I are very different in the way we chose to look at something. If I do choose to attend, I’ll go with a positive outlook and won’t let the negative things dissuade me from a great school. I may be wrong, especially since I don’t actually go to UNC, but like I said before, I know I’m a friendly person with good social skills, so the points I raised by starting this thread wouldn’t affect me as much as they would, say, someone who is shy and insecure. I was merely curious about take on this particular aspect of life at UNC. Also- I hope no one takes that the wrong way. It’s just that I know for a fact the way people look at a social scene is influenced heavily by their personality (duh). A shy person who hates sports may find such a spirited university a terrible place, but someone who is outgoing and friendly may love it. So, in a roundabout way, I guess I’m asking for the opinions from the latter- since I identify more closely with them.</p>
<p>However, the issue I’m now concerned with is demographics. I’m a minority- yet I’ve grown up and been raised in a town in New Hampshire (translation: lots of white people… insanely so. I can safely say there are, 20 students, tops, who are minorities in a 500 person graduating class). I identify more closely with white people. Don’t get me wrong- I’m very proud of my heritage and don’t deny it, but in all honesty, I’ve lived like an average american my whole life, and most people don’t even know I’m not ‘white’. It’s only when I tell them that they notice the subtle differences, but I don’t think I’ve ever been treated differently by any of my peers because of my heritage. In fact, a lot of them love that my accent sometimes come out when I get really excited and find it cute (I only have one because I was taught my native language simultaneously with english).</p>
<p>Will I have a hard time finding that at UNC- especially in the whole greek scene? I know I shouldn’t take certain posts here seriously- but that one quote about it being hard to have a good social life if you’re a minority really worries me. I can’t imagine social segregation- mainly because I haven’t been exposed to it. The few minorities in my town have integrated themselves just fine, I guess mainly because there are not enough people to create ‘a group of blacks/asians/hispanics/etc’, so that’d be really weird to me.</p>
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<p>Fixed.</p>
<p>People who post here are still students or have the knowledge to address the questions asked. Well, not everyone, but enough. Don’t discard everything that’s said, a lot of it may have truth, but it’s better to find out for yourself</p>
<p>fRace04 - I have lived in North Carolina for 15 years. Before living in NC my ties were to New England (with many relatives in New Hampshire). I have met wonderful, accepting people in both places and I have met unaccepting, ignorant fools in both places. You will meet both types of people all over this country (and the world). When we first moved to NC I didn’t think I would fit in. I’m not a racial minority, but I am a religious minority. I told myself there are nice people everywhere and approached our move with that mindset. I was right. My entire family has made lifetime friends who enrich our lives daily. My son will be starting at UNC in the fall, along with a few other friends from his school. These are outstanding young men and women who have been raised with strong character and acceptance of diversity. It sounds like you are an outgoing confident person with a positive approach to life. You will make friends.</p>
<p>xMastemah- you’re right, thanks.</p>
<p>BuandBC92- thank you! I have that same mindset, so I’m a little more relieved to hear new englanders can make it out there =P I guess I’m not so much scared about the school as I am about the big change… but that applies to any hs student going off to college. Thanks!</p>
<p>fRace04: good, you seem like you have a level head on your shoulders. UNC can be a really fun place, and I didn’t mean to suggest that it’s a bad university or anything.</p>
<p>I’m a contrarian, and in a thread about my other college, I would be the one pointing out flaws there too. So take what I say on board, but remember that many others disagree.</p>
<p>The only mild tension I have seen between out of state and NC people has been during tuition increase negotiations-- out of state people (sometimes) feel like they are getting take advantage of. Then they will complain, and mention their higher average SAT scores, and the NC people will voice some resentment. But this is rare, and as I said it is the only time I have ever seen state background be such an issue.</p>
<p>There is a huge variation in ability at UNC. The top 10% or so of students are extremely clever – as mentioned, many of them have turned down more prestigious universities, and are very smart. As an out of state person you are likely to fit in with this group. There are also a lot of (forgive me) pretty stupid people here-- up to a quarter of the undergraduate population, I’d say. But once you get into your higher-level major classes, this becomes less of an issue.</p>
<p>Many people here will find your accent ‘cute’ – in fact you will likely get asked about it very often, to the point of annoyance. I’m a bit of a curmudgeon about this, though – I know that it bothers others less.</p>
<p>Perhaps the final bit of advice I’d give you is that, as you’ve seen here, you should never, ever sound less than 100% in love with Carolina, which is perfect in any way. People don’t take kindly to even minor slights :P</p>
<p>Eh, the tuition will continue to hike if people mumble but agree to keep paying it.</p>
<p>Time for a bit a revolt, I’d say. :D</p>
<p>As far as out of state tuition goes, I think they’ll keep increasing it so long as it’s below that of the top public colleges (especially Berkeley and Michigan) – they wouldn’t want to do anything that threatens their ‘best value’ ranking, and since UNC is not quite as good academically (by most accounts) as those places, they will, if they are smart, preserve their price advantage over those places.</p>
<p>In a student panel at Explore Carolina on Friday, someone asked about the ratio. The students (all girls) said, “oh, you’ve read the times article!” and went on to point out its flaws (small sample size taken from a bar, girls who were drunk, journalist looking desperately for a story). The admissions rep in the back of the room said, “By the way, the ratio has been uneven for the past thirty years and represents our applicant pool” and all that. </p>
<p>Personally, I am not looking for a guy anyway (I’ve been dating my boyfriend since 8th grade). you can count me out of the population of girls!</p>
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<p>Interesting – seems like none of them really answered the question! Seems like they are just shooting the messenger. Who cares that the girls were drunk? In vino veritas.</p>
<p>They are right that it reflects the applicant pool, though. Unfortunately I don’t think this is a problem with an easy solution.</p>
<p>It’s funny, though. People always tell male prospective students that the ratio means that their dating life here will be very advantageous (‘heaven for men’)</p>
<p>… but those same people deny that it is disadvantageous for women.</p>
<p>But if one’s true, the other has to be.</p>
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<p>Heh. It’s not un-advantageous if you’re smokin’ hot and have wits about you. 
The ratio isn’t big enough to leave THOSE girls unattended…I think.</p>
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<p>Oh but it is! Yes, the very most attractive and desirable girls will have little trouble finding men at UNC. But, they will still have a bit of a harder time than they would have with a 50:50 ratio. It’s disadvantageous in this sense that it makes things harder than it would have been.</p>
<p>To use a stupidly crude metaphor, the shortage of men raises the price of men. Even if you can still afford one, you have to spend more than you otherwise would have, or settle for a lesser quality product.</p>
<p>And there are indirect effects-- it’s often observed that the ratio and subsequent power disparities turn a lot of the men into arrogant players, and damage the self-confidence of a lot of the women. </p>
<p>So the most attractive are not really totally immune from the effects. But you are right, the effects will be mostly felt a bit lower down the scale.</p>
<p>Current students, would you say that relationships/interaction with students at NC State or Duke (if not taboo!) are common? Would those men be hard to come by or too far away? And yes, I know NC State guys have Meredith girls.</p>
<p>It’s not all that common. NC state is just a bit too far away, though there is a bit of dating.</p>
<p>I know a couple of Duke-UNC pairs – it often starts when the Duke guys come to Franklin st to get drunk.</p>
<p>Check out the first paragraph!</p>
<p>[Lexington:</a> Sex and the single black woman | The Economist](<a href=“http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15867956]Lexington:”>Sex and the single black woman)</p>
<p>It’s really not common for people to date people at Duke or State unless they’re dating from high school. There just aren’t too many Dukies hanging out over here and State’s farther than you’d think when a lot of people don’t have cars.</p>
<p>So noone every answered me, and I really want to know – are the racially exclusive fraternities/sororities the ‘elite’ ones?</p>
<p>I would just like to throw it out there that I visited UNC this past week and was very very worried about the gender ratio…however I did not notice it at all. I saw alot of guys. I went to the blue white game and more guys were there than girls actually.</p>
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<p>It honestly will depend on who you ask. Some are considered to be and some aren’t…they are certainly elite in their own minds but it’s absolutely not the case in the overall Greek world. …but in all honesty, this goes on at every school that I know of…even the few Ivies that still have a Greek scene…or at Princeton with their dining clubs…this doesn’t make it right, just reality.</p>
<p>There are many students on campus however who actually do fit the target profile who wouldn’t be a part of those same organizations if their lives depended on it…because of not only their racial make up but also because of the many other factors associated with those groups that they as individuals don’t hold as desirable attributes. </p>
<p>You need to finally put this to rest; the honest to God truth is that many/most people on campus do not want to be a part of those organizations even though they could be and frankly, most don’t care.</p>