Hi everyone!
I did this around the same time last year, and got some really good questions but it just turned into a “chance me” thread, so I want to do it again. I am a current sophomore at Carolina and would be happy to answer anything questions you have about the school that are non-admissions related. Classes, majors, social life, greek life, the town, anything!
Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for all of us here on CC.
I will be entering as a freshman in the fall and was wondering if you could answer these questions:
1.) How is the rigor of the General Freshman year courses?
2.) What are freshman seminars like? Would you recommend them?
3.) Is the environment on campus highly competitive or are people more supportive of each other?
4.) What organizations would you suggest checking out?
5.) What should I be doing right now to help prepare for my first year?
6.) How has your experience at Carolina been?
7.) What are professors like normally? Have you been able to get close to yours?
8.) Any regrets you have from your freshman year? Or just any advice/tips from things you’ve learned
Ah, sorry for asking so many! I am a first generation student and basically get all of my answers about UNC through this site. I appreciate your guidance!
Is there anything special about the laptops they sell on CCI, we just got a MacBook on our own, then we see on the admission checklist to order a laptop from CCI before May 15, assuming we can just use the one we purchased?
@UNCCH2022 Hey no worries there’s a lot to take in!
@NCburgher I didn’t buy my macbook through CCI, kinda a rip off if you ask me. There’s an apple store ten minutes away at southpoint mall, so if you have any problems you can just take it there (there are buses too if you don’t have a car). Only benefit for CCI is they give you a beaten up loaner laptop if your CCI laptop breaks. Just get applecare for pretty much the same price and get way better warranty options
That- The CCI thing. My sons have used their laptops without issues for almost 4 years now, they’re looking to get new ones. How much of an advantage is it, to get them through CCI? I thought I saw a Best Buy close to the campus, there have to be other repair stores, a well. Would appreciate any input here. Also, is the Honors Carolina housing close enough to everything?
My daughter had the laptop grant. We were planning to get her a new laptop anyway, so we got the laptop through the school and were able to add money for an upgrade.
She dropped her laptop one day and brought it in right on campus to be fixed. They gave her a loaner.
We bought my son a new computer at Christmas the same year he got admitted to school. He received the laptop grant so we added money and he got another computer from CCI. He loves the one from the school plus if it breaks they give him a loaner. Only thing is if you transfer or drop out you need to return the computer. It is yours once you graduate .
Do a lot of people do dual majors? I’ve been accepted as a biomed eng., but I wanted to pursue a compsci major as well.
Also, what is your thoughts on the biomedical engineering program at UNC? Do a lot of people do it, and are they satisfied with it? (Granted, this deals specifically with biomedical engineering which you might have no experience with and might not be able to answer, but any insight is appreciated!)
The same applies for the compsci program at UNC. Do you think that the program measures up to those of other universities like UNCC, NC State, UMD, RPI, and etc?
Thank you for taking the time to help out :)!
Can you comment on interaction with and availability of advisors for guidance to freshman? Also, did you have any problems registering for classes? What were your average class sizes freshman year. Do professors use the iClick device for attendance?
@beezkneez1: While I am not the OP, I will try to answer your questions, at least in part:
(1) The South Campus residence halls are farther away from the academic quad and Franklin Street (although closer to the Dean Dome, it’s a question of priorities). It can be a bit of a hike, but the easy remedies to this are (A) get a bicycle, and/or (B) use the P2P buses (they are free and pretty frequent), here, https://move.unc.edu/p2p/.
(2) My daughter, a current undergraduate, lived in Hinton James (a/k/a “HoJo”) during her first year. Her observation was that the South Campus residence halls have a good bit of esprit de corps; and if you live on South Campus you will typically eat most of your meals with other first-year students, whereas if you live on North Campus, there will likely be many more upperclass students where you eat (although that may or may not be important to you). Another poster once referred to living on South Campus as a “rite of passage”; at times living there isn’t great, but it’s not as bad as many people say. (You don’t go to Carolina for the quality of the residence halls, anyway.)
(3) Some of the residence halls DO NOT have university cleaning services for the restrooms. If the bathroom can only be accessed through a student room – as opposed to access from a common area or hallway – then the university cleaning staff will not clean the restrooms. I think this applies to a couple of residence halls on the South Campus – Manning East/West, and maybe some in Morrison. So depending on whether you want to rely on your self and/or your roommates/suitemates for clean restrooms, that is something to be aware of.
(4) 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 can see what it looks like. There will also be such an opportunity when you attend a first-year orientation session in the summer.
(5) In terms of selecting roommates, my daughter found hers on an entering the first-year student Facebook page; the university also has its own procedure for assigning roommates should you choose that option.
if living on south campus, is a bicycle a must to get to classes?
My son lived on south campus Hinton James dorm and he started with no bike. Two weeks later we had to bring him a bike. It is a long haul. So if you have one you should bring it 
@SungSong
We are deciding between UNC & NC State for Computer Science…really torn on our decision. As you are looking into CS as well, can I ask which way you may be leaning and why?
Are freshman allowed to live in Horton, Koury, and Craige North? Or Alderman and Alexander? I’m asking because these are all central ac, and my son has REALLY bad allergies!
@ParentOf2022 I am in the exact same boat. I asked a similar question in the UNC subreddit. I got some really good advice and information that might help you.
Here’s a link:
www.reddit(dot)com/r/UNC/comments/85gw79/how_is_computer_science_at_unc
Hope it helps!
@ParentOf2022 between UNC and NC State I am 100% for UNC; the main reason, however, is for financial reasons. Although for academics/program strengths I’ve seen a correlation that UNC has a higher ranked CS program than NC State for most ranking sites.
Singsong we’ve seen that, though it seems to have more to do with the ability to take CS courses through Duke…we are completely torn in our decision. So, much do that my DS is strongly considering a 3rd option which was his bottom choice safety school, because he likes the Honors program & figures he can take his Masters elsewhere…we’re going to visit Chapel Hill again on the 15th & hope to get some more information and questions answered then.
@ParentOf2022 Call the CS department and see if your son can sit in on one of the higher CS classes when you are there for admit day. That might help him clarify his decision better.
@Nurse001 it’s going to be on a Sunday…so, I doubt there will be a class in progress 