@ParentOf2022 Maybe if time allows you can stay over and catch a Monday morning class. I know your son is struggling with his decision. I will tell you my son was accepted into both schools as well but his major was Political Science at that time which was a no brainer as UNC was a better match. I will say that if we had known from day one that he was going to change his major to CS we probably would have went with State. By no means does he regret his decision as he loves UNC and the CS department but NC State is known for technology. His classes at UNC are very challenging and right now he is in a class that he just made an app for the EE class. He was offered a grant to make it public. He doesn’t have time for that at the movement put plenty of opportunities. It is really how much the individuals child wants to put into learning at whatever school they choose.
Your help is really appreciated. I am a parent of a freshman. Obviously too many questions. For now four questions.
1- At least for the first year, we want him to stay in a hall/hostel that is away from too much activity. I was reading that some halls house athletes and those must be too noisy or busy. Any suggestion which hall is good.
2- Some halls get the bathrooms cleaned. In others, students have to clean themselves. Which is better and what is the criteria that some a cleaned others not?
3- For dining which meal plan is better. Normally how often students eat in the dining halls? He won’t be cooking on his own and for the first year we do not want him to be distracted for that. Obviously unlimited meal plan is waste of money.
4- He is in biology major. What is the average cost for books in first semester or any semester? Can he buy from Amazon and from where used books are available?.
Thank you…
@UNC1st: In regard to your question about which bathrooms get cleaned, my understanding is this: 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 (the university does not want its staff going through student rooms to get to the bathrooms). I think this applies to a couple of residence halls on the South Campus – Manning East/West, and maybe some in Morrison. You can probably figure this out by looking at the floor plans of the residence halls. In regard to which option is better, ask yourself this: Does your son clean up his bathroom now? Does he want to rely on himself and/or his roommates/suitemates for clean restrooms?
Regarding the residence halls, most but not all first-year (and they are not called “freshmen”) students live on South Campus; 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. You might call the Student Housing office to ask if there are residence halls that have conditions; or perhaps there is a living-learning community or residential learning program, here, https://housing.unc.edu/housing/residence-halls/residential-learning-program-houses that your son can get into. Here is a link to Carolina Student Housing: https://housing.unc.edu/residents/future-residents/first-year-students; it may have some answers to your questions.
In terms of roommate selection, there is this from a UNC-CH blog: “Many students use Facebook and the official class page on Facebook to search for a roommate who would be a good match. You can also choose to use the random roommate generator through the Carolina Housing portal.”
With regards to the meal plan, I think that my daughter while a first-year student had either the Block 120 plan or the Block 100 + $200 Dining Flex plan. I think that you can purchase additional “swipes” with the Flex plan; but I invite someone to correct me if that is not the case. My daughter ate in the dining halls mostly during the week; and ate out on Franklin Street or in Carrboro some on the weekends.
What’s it like for OOS? Since UNC is so heavily concentrated with NC students, will OOS find it difficult to acclimate? and make friends?
OOS parent here…
My D felt out of place at first, but that was due to her personality rather than anything else. By October she was fully engaged and had friends from NC and all over the country.
@3mamagirls: Early on, my OOS daughter seemed to say that “everyone was from Charlotte or Raleigh”. Soon enough, however, she found lots of friends and acquaintances from both North Carolina and OOS: some were from her residence hall, some were from classes, some were from other activities on campus.
Usually the first or second weekend after classes start in the Fall, there is a huge activities fair that is held on campus which provides opportunities to engage with lots of different students. My daughter found an activity or two through this fair that allowed her to expand her social circle even further beyond classes and her residence hall.
My D initially said “everybody is from NC and they all know one another from HS.”
Yes, most are from NC, but it’s a big state… Again, once she developed some confidence she was fine and made plenty of friends- in and out of state.
My D was there today and just loved it. I think she could acclimate. Now she just needs to get in as an OOS… easier said than done.
What’s the lowest possible cost of living at UNC? (how low in price can off campus housing go?)
Living off campus means you live in apartments and pay for 12 months. There are plenty but Chapel Hill is expensive. I think minimum rent (1BR, 1BA in a shared place) including utilities could range minimum $500 per month to anything depending on location and age of apartment complex. Search https://www.chapelhillrent.com
My D lives off campus. This year they pay $600 per month with about $35 each month (per student) for utilities. Next year they are moving and will be paying $500 per month with extra for utilities. Some of the apartments can be closer to $700… depending on location.
I think it’s difficult to find an apartment within walking distance for less than $500 a month plus utilities.
Living in Chapel Hill/Carrboro/Hillsborough is possible as there is free bus service, runs frequently on weekdays, less frequently on weekends. Paid by town and University. Its safe, clean and convenient. After first year students tend to live off campus. Share an apartment or a house with other students/friends, but you also have to furnish the place. Bus commute from these places will be 20-30 minutes. A lot of people are moving to NC so commute time is increasing a lot and its not like it used to be 5-7 years ago.
One thing that will help with housing costs is try to work for housing 2nd year you are there. If you become an RA you get free housing which saves you over $7,000 year. I will tell you it is not hard to get if you are a personable person. Applications open in December. There are other housing jobs that you get free housing as well. Some you don’t get free housing. Plenty of ways to gets costs reduced after 1st year.
@Nurse001 ,Thanks for the good information. Hope the new students can get all that information (ways to get housing costs reduced) once they are there.
@Essel , if your son has serius allegeries you can apply for an accomdation through the disability office. You will need medical documentation. You might also want consider a dorm on north campus which would be closer to the main classrooms.
As for the bathroom question, generally if you are in a 8 person suite (like Hinton James) or a coordor style dorm then the staff cleans the bathrooms. If it is a 4 person suite with a “jack and Jill” bathroom (like Horton) the they do not.
Would you know how many Computer Science students there are total?
and how many in each class/grade?
Also, looking for info on salaries for Comp Sci graduates and which companies are hiring them?
Niche list graduates at 139…I’m not sure if that’s non undergraduates (masters/PhD) or number that graduate each year with a BA or BS. I have heard beginning classes are around 100 students in auditoriums.
Please comment on the Career Services department. Have you used them yet? What has been the help provided? How has your career advisor helped you?