<p>OOS student. Should I pick a residence on South Campus or North Campus? I do know that South Campus has the advantage being close to the Dean Dome and more freshman, but I really like the suite lifestyle. Suggestions?</p>
<p>North campus is closer to classes and the dorms are new and much nicer
South campus has more freshman and it is suite style
so basicly you have to decide what is more important to you, location or style of housing....</p>
<p>I would try to get a dorm on North campus. It is a good hike to classes from south campus - just look at the map. It is not flat ground. Have you looked at Granville Towers? It is an easy 5 minute walk to classes on flat ground. It is like two or three blocks to classes. They have suite style rooms(two people to a room with a bathroom between the two rooms-total of 4 people sharing a bathroom) and the price is the same or less.</p>
<p>i thought granville is more expensive....</p>
<p>and ive heard from lots of people that youre kind of isolated from other freshman if you live in granville. and its a big party scene there..more greek life if youre into that</p>
<p>The people I have talked to love it and if you stay there you know for sure you have AC. I do not think everyone goes Greek. There are three different buildings - West-more social, party people, South-not as social, East-I guess is between south and west. There are different floors-academic, non-substance floor, all-female, coed floors, etc. The food is good. I have compared the prices-Granville said they were cheaper last year and this year. I do not think you are isolated, there are like 800 to 1000 people staying there-mostly freshman. Also, have you been there and walked from south campus to classes. You should go and walk the campus, then go to Granville and take a tour. You should then walk from Granville to classes and compare.</p>
<p>Check out the previous threads here and read up on Granville. I don't think you'll like what you find.</p>
<p>Cross posted with Cloying</p>
<p>Not sure where alcook4u got their information but numerous posts over the last four years will tell you that Granville is predominantly in-state students with pre-college friendships. It is the preferred place for those intending to go Greek due to it's proximity to Frat row.</p>
<p>Granville has its own meal plan which will also exclude you from eating with new found friends on a regular basis. I would not recommend living there especially since you are OOS since you would be in a clear minority and in the middle of long term friendships which might make your adjustment to college more difficult. South campus is a hike but it is also the center of freshman living and many will tell you that despite the walk, they wouldn't trade the experience and the friendships made there.</p>
<p>My son has a group of female friends who were suitemates in Hinton James (aka HoJo) freshman year who are still living together junior year and will do so again next year. You can request north or middle campus and will have a much greater chance of getting your request than in previous years becasue they have opened up more of the campus to freshman in the last two years.</p>
<p>One other point is that it is very hard to get back into the housing system if you choose Granville and don't like it. In the past it was almost impossible to do it but now, if you can get back in you would NOT get preferential housing and essentially get what's left over. Live in a dorm.</p>
<p>eadad</p>
<p>I was in Carolina this past weekend. Have you been to Granville? My daughter met two girls this past weekend from OOS. One girl was from Michigan and one girl was from Colorado. They both loved Granville and are going to stay. You make it sound like in-state kids are stuck up-like they are not going to talk to kids from out of state. My daughter is staying with a girl from her high school but they are not friends. My daughter is going to contact the girl from Michigan and see if she wants to be one of there other suitemates. My daughter is not stuck up, she wants to meet other kids and she does not care what state they are from. It sounds like you are just trying to get people to live on campus. I am just saying to look at both places. Do you think that the kids staying on south campus are not going to party, but if they stay at Granville that's all they will do. We walked down Frat Row Saturday evening and they were having a couple parties at a couple frat houses. They did not say a word to anyone walking by.</p>
<p>Granville does have it's own meal plan and it is good, but you can still grab lunch on campus if you need to. At granville, all you have to do is go down stairs and eat. You do not have to go across campus to eat. At granville, you can grab a sandwich in the morning for lunch later. They have it set up in the morning, so you can make a sandwich, grab a bag of chips, fruit, drink -
put in a bag and go.</p>
<p>They have a workout gym, large study area, and are in the process of having a theater room for watching movies or playing Xbox 360.</p>
<p>eadad if you have not visited Granville Towers, then you should not be putting negative stuff out there if you don't know anything about it. Granville Towers is a nice place and a short walk to classes and you will still meet a lot of people not just in-state students. There were quite a few out of state kids there Saturday. Do not believe every post you read on here? I would say contact someone who lives there now and ask some questions.</p>
<p>I don't know about Granville being filled with all in-state kids; I'm not sure that's accurate..though I do know a lot of in-state kids who chose to live there. I do think that some students like to stay there, because there's a parking lot where you can have a car. Most people I know who chose to stay there also wanted the maid service. (Yes, Virginia, there's maid service.) I will say that I know someone who went there to visit a friend last year and couldn't wait to leave. This person claimed the whole place smelled like a mixture of beer and vomit (charming, I know), and there were empty beer bottles and liquor bottles all over the place. Maybe this was after a big weekend, and the maid service was on strike or something. That's always possible. Granville does have a reputation for being noisy and a big party scene, but maybe that's just exaggeration. Maybe someone from Granville will post and give the real scoop. </p>
<p>To my mind, the downside is the difficulty of getting back on campus if you ever wanted to do so. So many of the dorms have been renovated and are really nice. I do suspect you'd find more of a mix of different types of students in the dorms, rather than in Granville. Once again, just my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Yes, there are out-of-state students there and yes there are students there who start out not knowing anyone, however the fact is that the majority of students who choose to stay there are already in pre-formed cliques and plan on going greek together and they are some what isolated from the rest of the freshmen. I know this because I know at least 20 who all live/d there and that is was they have said. Yes, they have a maid service and are suit style but from what I have heard they are also really old, grungy dorms I personally will not because I want to form a life away from my high school friends and I don't plan on going greek.</p>
<p>My d visited Granville and was not impressed (she corroborates the 'smelly' thing). She said the only advantage she saw was not having to go outside her dorm to eat on rainy days, but that quickly turns into a disadvantage when you realize you are required to buy the Granville eating plan...and then pay again if you want to eat on campus with your friends. She often grabs a bite between classes with friends at the on campus eating facilities, so everyone should bear in mind this would be an added expense. After visiting, she was given quite the rush by the Granville staff...many long distance followup phone calls from staff trying to get her to commit. But as an oos student, something just didn't feel quite right about it to her. She filled out the honors housing form and got her first choice which was a South campus directional dorm....and says that the rooms/facilities are much nicer in the directional dorms (as well as at many other dorms) than Granville. (Not trying to be inflammatory, but many students do refer to Granville as a 'dump'. I'm offering NO opinion on that statement; this is just a first hand observation.)</p>
<p>If you are interested in going Greek, it would probably be a good thing to live at Granville. You'll meet other people interested in rushing and location is close to frat row and not too far from the other frats/sororities on the other side of Franklin. </p>
<p>If you are not going Greek, the advantages to South Campus are the close proximity to the Ramshead (dining, food market, state of the art gym, and the End Zone which is a two story sports cafe with arcades, plasma tvs, etc) and the freshman social scene. (And I like it that the campus police station and medical center is down there too...but that's a parent thing.) The distance to classes is not bad at all. My husband and I walked it so many times during Parent Orientation...you quickly get used to it. It's mildly hilly for those used to flat land, but nothing major...and the walk IS through a very beautiful area of the campus. We used to live in Golden, Co...the Chapel Hill terrain is nothing compared to Rocky Mountain foothills. If you don't want to 'keep in shape' ;) by walking, you can always catch the bus which is running a constant loop through campus. </p>
<p>FYI on the amenities..... My d's dorm has central air/heat, lounges with big tvs, floor kitchens, study lounges in quiet zones, and is wireless. The laundry facilities are nice, though she wishes someone would give the dryers a tuneup so that it doesn't cost $5 to get a load of jeans dry. (I'm sure they will over the summer.) The common areas have a lot of wood paneling, crown moulding, pretty carpet, designer touches. The rooms are big as dorm rooms go...she and her roommate were able to separate their beds, fit a couch and book shelves in the room with their desks and dressers and still have walking around room. The suite bathrooms serve four students and look like a mall or a health club bathroom (that's the only thing I can think of to describe them). Decent drawer storage, two sinks with gooseneck faucets, those giant, noisy toilets without a tank in a handicap-sized stall, a small private step out dressing area by the shower, and best of all, a window. The shower has a shelf built into the tile and the dressing area has towel hooks. I'm sure the amenities vary, but everyone may want to wait until they get to their dorms before buying all those bathroom organizers at the Bed Bath and Beyond. </p>
<p>Btw...I don't equate 'cliquish' as 'stuckup'...and I don't think anyone was trying to say that. Imho, cliques are just a natural thing where no one is going out of their way to be rude. But it can be hard to break into a clique sometimes...it's a situation that has the potential to be less than ideal for a freshman from oos, especially if they are the only student from their high school attending UNC. My d is the only student from her entire school district of over 70,000 kids attending UNC and one of perhaps only a couple dozen from Houston. I think Granville would have been a big mistake for her.</p>
<p>More on the Ramshead here....</p>
<p><a href="http://www.food-management.com/article/8451%5B/url%5D">http://www.food-management.com/article/8451</a></p>
<p>Campus recreation</p>
<p><a href="http://www.campusrec.unc.edu/Facilities.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.campusrec.unc.edu/Facilities.htm</a></p>
<p>alcook</p>
<p>First off, if you have followed UNC posts you must know that I try very hard to offer objective information based on the first hand experience of either me personally or my S.</p>
<p>Yes, I have visited Granville, and at first I too thought it might be a good option for my now UNC junior son. The things I stated were based on what we were told four years ago by upperclassmen we knew and have been since reinforced by my S's personal experience and that of his friends and acquaintances.</p>
<p>I never said it was exclusively in-state, nor did I mean to imply that in-state students were stuck up because I KNOW that is far from the truth. </p>
<p>kkeefe restated what I was saying perhaps more clearly by saying that there are many pre-formed cliques (their words) as you recall, I said friendships, who have chosen to stay there with the intent of going Greek. This is a FACT that I have heard for four years now from my S and many of his friends. </p>
<p>I honestly have NEVER heard one positive about the place other than location. I was simply stating what I have heard and was hoping to let the OP know that as an OOS student their options for meeting more OOS students (if that is important to them) would be greater in the dorms simply due to the isolation of Granville both from an after class bonding perspective and from the dining perspective. I am sure that most parents would not be happy if their child was spending large amounts of money eating ON campus when they already had a meal plan.</p>
<p>I was not berating your D's choice and certainly wish her well at UNC and also truly hope that Granville turns out to be all that you believe it to be.</p>
<p>One other thing I also noticed in looking at the following map of campus recreation facilities....all are located pretty far from Granville. When looking at the map, the South Campus dorms are located along Manning Drive near the intersection of Paul Hardin and Manning and Bowles and Manning. My d's is actually located just below the Rams Head along Manning and there is a walking path that connects that area to the Rams Head and the Football Stadium. She enjoys soccer and the soccer fields are very close as well.</p>
<p>Hey I live at Granville....alcook4u I guess I can just kinda repost the emails I sent you, though hopefully sound less rambly than in them.</p>
<p>I think I've gotten the full college experience at Granville (albeit with a few more frat boys/sorority girls than on campus). They've had quite a few activities that have been cool...casino night, bingo night, a hypnotist...and the themed dinners, however random they may be are kinda amusing (the guys from high school and I find them entertaining at least). A lot of people from my high school stay at Granville so it's kinda become the thing to do for people from my high school. I've lived at Granville for 2 years on the "substance free" hall. The distance to campus is much shorter and on level ground than living on south campus....believe me I've walked it several times after getting the bright idea to visit friends and not use the bus system. The dorms on north campus and by the stadium are in pretty convienient locations it seems, but s. campus seems like its waaay away from the rest of life and going back between classes would be rather in convenient in my opinion. Aside from a few random classes/recitatons that are in south campus dorms (none of which I've had...they're easily avoided) all of the classes are pretty much around Polk Place (the big grassy area in front of Wilson library--the fancyish one with the columns in case you're as confused with the building names as I was by this point in the decision making) or immediately across south road in Wilson, Carrington and Coker for biology classes if you're a science mjr.</p>
<p>The rooms are the same as the model rooms (ie they're pretty nice) (but they do appear smaller once you cram all your stuff into them--(the fact that I overpack for life probably doesnt help that at all), but then again what room doesn't do that). Beyond that it's basically just how you decorate, freshman year I lived with two different girls, the first girl and I had everything all bright and in springy colors (our room was very girly :), we had soooooo much pink stuff in there ), I kept the same stuff with the second girl but she brought next to nothing and what she did bring was all dark so the room had a very different feel to it. Personally, I don't see a need for an on campus meal plan at Granville. I eat in the bottom of Lenoir for lunch most day (I <3 fast food) but most of the guys just run back between classes and grab something from the Agora (short walk + already paid for). I've been to the top of Lenoir a few times with friends and I like the food at Granville better myself (my friends seem to like the Agora food better also) (Not sure, but I think you can pay cash to eat in the Top of Lenoir or Rams Head if you do feel like trying it on occasion--haven't tried that, usually just use a friend's meal plan and take them to the Agora for a meal in return) Freshman would probably vary from year to year and hall to hall---last year I was the only freshman (there may have been one more/she may have been a transfer...not really sure) on my hall (also substance free) but this year I'm one of maybe 5 upper classmen (all sophomores) on a hall full of freshman (also substance free). The only negative I can think of is the large Greek population (I live next door to some very loud very drunk frat boys and wannabe sorority girls on the substance free hall), due to the proximity to frat court, but aside from during rush you really don't notice that they're Greek (you could end up next to loud people wherever you're at, Greek or not). But overall, Granville is great! Having the Agora downstairs is so much more conveinent than running across campus to dinner and for grabbing a quick breakfast before class (especially when you're not a morning person). Also, with the smaller more inclusive feel you see the same people a lot and can find random people to eat with that you just get to know from seeing so often. I have the unlimited plan (my mom thought I'd starve otherwise) but it does get its use (I eat breakfast and dinner there with the occasional lunch depending on my mood and go to late night frequently...it's also nice so you can just run and get ice cream or a snack without feeling like you're wasting a meal since you're not eating). (as crazy as my schedule is with class, lab, band and a billion other crazy things, the pretty much constant access to food makes eating at odd times easy too). As far as towers go, I definitely like the personality of south, it's quieter than the other we're still social, just less drunken ramblings in the hall). From friends I've heard that west can get pretty loud and crazy at times, and I'm not the sorority girl type of girl so living in east isn't really my thing either. South seems to be a pretty good mix of people though, so just because we're quieter, you wouldn't be getting stuck with a bunch of bookworms or anything. The RA and the residents do seem to set the personality of the hall though (I know pretty much everyone on my hall this year thanks to the very outgoing freshman, but knew maybe 5 people on my hall last year--they were a lot quieter). </p>
<p>Oh, and just about the in-state/out-of-state relations....one of my best guy friends at Granville is from out of state (have quite a few oos friends actually, just closer to this one in particular), though he blends in so perfectly with our group from home you'd never know he hadn't been with us since the rest of us met as kids. It's a welcome change to have the new face in the crowd....we've even "adopted" a few of the freshman on the guys' hall and some of the other suitemates of our hs crew and now you'd never know as an outsider who's been friends since we were little and who just joined the group in August.</p>
<p>I'll stop rambling now....promise :) Any more questions about UNC or Granville? I'll try to help if I can (if you email me I'll be more likely to get them in this lifetime...I don't always look on here)....procrastination is amazing.</p>
<p>I cannot tell you all how imperative it is that you do NOT live in Granville Towers. Don't do it.</p>
<p>D is admitted into the honors program as a freshman. We know nothing other than posts about housing and that she has option to choose an honors roommate. She is not interested in greek life, not really into parties. Can you get into a suite if you opt for an honors roommate? (She’s not sure about this just considering as an option)</p>