<p>I've been accepted to both UNC and UVA and I'm really leaning towards UNC (if i go then my friend will probably go to duke). Except whats bothering me is that people seem to describe UVA with the word "elite" and while UNC also very highly regarded, they make it sound as though UVA is harvard and UNC is "hillbilly" or something (i don't mean this in any way, its just that all those college guides give that impression).</p>
<p>Since im not american i wouldn't know. How is UNC perceived in the US? Everybody calls UVA the "elite" public school and I know that UNC is just as good, but somehow it's not described as "elite" (even though its older than UVA as well). Is there any reason to this and is UNC just as highly regarded as UVA is the US and outside the US?</p>
<p>I’m from North Carolina, and personally, around here UNC is considered more elite than UVA. Especially in recent years, it’s become considerably more difficult to obtain acceptance to UNC. From what I’ve grown up hearing, UNC is just as, if not more elite than UVA.</p>
<p>Oh, and I forgot- not only is the education fantastic, look at the location. UNC is between two major cities in NC, so there’s always something to do. And you can’t beat Tarheel spirit :)</p>
<p>UNC has a very low international student percentage. I’ve read that carolina people are very friendly but would I really have no trouble at all among 80 percent north carolineans and 19 percent of out of state americans?</p>
<p>No doubt that UVA is better school overall, but not by a lot. It depends on your major and both schools arr top5 public schools. You can’t go wrong with either school.</p>
<p>painholic, I would be willing to argue with UVA being a better school overall. I don’t think there is really that much difference between UNC and UVA other than UVA is perceived to be slightly more prestigious. </p>
<p>As for fitting in being out of state, you should have not problems. I am OOS and I have had an amazing time at UNC. Where you are from comes up once when you first meet people, but after that it is pretty much forgotten. Some people do come to UNC and stick to their high school friends, but most people from NC are eager to meet new people.</p>
<p>does the major matter that much (i heard UNC’s journalism is absolute top though)? i plan on studying psychology and practically every college has that major. Some ranknings put in UNC and leave out UVA and some ranking does the exact opposite. That’s the only thing bothering me really, if both were not on any ranking then it’s UNC for me all the way. But some like UNC and some rankings like UVA so im kind of between two roads??? what do i do?</p>
<p>I don’t know where this idea that UNC and UVA are equal comes from. UVa’s endowment is much larger than ours and almost every one of their programs are more prestigious than UNC’s. Is it like the difference between UNC and Harvard? No, but it does exist.</p>
<p>That doesn’t necessarily mean that UVa is all things for all people but they are only equal in the eyes of biased UNC students. Just remember that prestige isn’t everything.</p>
<p>If you would like a look at school spirit, take a peak at [WRAL.com</a> - Raleigh News, Weather, Triangle Traffic and NC Lottery](<a href=“http://www.wral.com%5DWRAL.com”>http://www.wral.com) and watch the video of Franklin st. last night!</p>
<p>I’m sorry but you guys are delusional. It’s fine to say that UVa and UNC are on par academically, because they are, but to say that UNC is actually more prestigious than UVa is just laughable. </p>
<p>The statistic about OOS acceptances is just dumb, that percentage is put there by legislation and in no way means that we have better OOS students, in fact it is the opposite because of this low number.</p>
<p>If you want to work on wall street or in business UVa is regarded as a “target” school by most firms, UNC is hardly a “semi target”. That means that a lot of schools like UVa, Mich, Harvard, Princeton etc. get put in a completely separate pile of resumes that get preferential treatment and UNC gets lumped in with all the other non-target schools. It’s not impossible to break into wall street from UNC but from UVa it is a hell of a lot easier. </p>
<p>Is it impossible to do well at UNC? No, UNC is a fabulous school but let’s at least try to be somewhat unbiased when someone comes here looking for truthful answers.</p>
<p>hahah. Thank you very much for all your replies. They have been very helpful but a bit confusing as well. I know that it’s impossible to ask for a completely objective view (if youre in UNC youre bound to be a bit more favorable to UNC and vice verca).</p>
<p>Just looking purely at academics, as in how good the classes are, how well the teachers would teach (and how much they have a grip on what theyre teaching), the variety of classes etc. looking at that, would i get a great education in both schools? The person above talking about business and wall street and how UVA is much better scares me a little. Im planning on psychology but still. That kinda scared me…i didnt think that UNC might have a big hole…</p>
<p>My question is: If i cloned myself and one went to UVA and the other went to UNC and we had exactly the same GPA, performance etc. which one would be more likely to get into a good grad school(would the admission be less happy to see me from UNC since UVA is what they call, “elite”?)?</p>
I, for one, do not consider myself biased. I’m neither a UNC student or a UVA student (I go to a top 10 private) but recognize that both are fantastic schools.</p>
<p>
The feeder ranking is useless. Basically it’s the number of students from each university at elite programs divided by the number of students at that university. </p>
<p>A USEFUL ranking would measure the success of applicants from each university – in other words, the acceptance rate from each university. UNC may send fewer students to elite programs than UVA, but it may well be that it simply has fewer students applying to those programs. </p>
<p>
Neither. They’re peers. For graduate school purposes, nearly all the top universities are treated the same. I say this as someone who went through the horrible experience of graduate admissions this year. :eek:</p>
<p>I have no problem with just saying that UNC and UVa are comparable schools and pretty similar in a lot of ways but to say that UNC is definitely better than UVa is just silly, which is what a few people were saying. Whether it is accurate or not UVa is viewed as a more prestigious school than UNC by most of the rest of the world who isn’t a UNC student, hell most of my friends who go here will admit that. Having said that, prestige is only so important. Once you’ve gotten that job or internship it doesn’t matter one bit.</p>
<p>There are a lot of reasons to choose UNC over UVa but perceived prestige is definitely not one of them.</p>
<p>ive talked to some people, and pretty much all of them want me to choose uva over unc. even a unc graduate who was thrilled when i got in to unc told me to pick uva. so from my experience with family and friends (im in jersey btw), uva is definitely seen as more prestigious. im also probably going to major in business, and uva seems to be the better candidate in that specific respect.</p>
<p>at the same time, part of me still likes unc <em>slightly</em> more than uva. not sure why, i just get a better vibe from unc. still waiting on uva financial package and im gonna visit both schools to make my final decision. </p>
<p>good luck and pm me if you would like to talk more about this. i could go on and on lol</p>
<p>If you’re planning on going into business ESPECIALLY on Wall Street (such as it is right now) UVa is by far the best choice unless UNC is somehow way less expensive or something.</p>
<p>The recruiting at UVa is almost on par with the ivies, KF gets very little love form Wall Street. If UNC and UVa are so similar, as everyone apparently on this board wants you to think, then go to UVa simply because your career prospects will be better.</p>