My Thoughts on North Carolina (And College)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey everyone, I just got back from North Carolina and I want to give you my initial impression:</p>

<p>-What a beautiful place. Coming from Boston, where I'm pretty used to hot weather, North Carolina, and especially the Raleigh-Durham area, was nice and mild. The humidity wasn't as bad as I expected it, either, but it was definitely noticeable</p>

<p>-It was so green there, and the trees were full and nice to look at. Based on what I had seen, it was an overall clean state</p>

<p>Raleigh-Durham Area:</p>

<p>My main reason for traveling down South was for college visits. After flying down, I spent the first day in this area and toured and met up with some of my friends at Duke. It was just as beautiful a campus as I expected. Great architecture and facilities, beautiful quads, and nice people... but it was maybe a little too spread out for my taste. I thought I went to a spread-out boarding school, but you need to take the bus to get from your dorm to the main campus at Duke. Besides that, very little to complain about.</p>

<p>Winston-Salem / Charlotte Area:</p>

<p>I spent the next day looking at Wake Forest and Davidson, which were both physically smaller than Duke. Whereas Wake Forest only had a few thousand less students, Davidson was about 1/5th the size of Duke, with only 1,700 students. Both schools looked very nice, and I was particularly impressed by how nice and technologically advanced the dorms in Wake Forest were. Later in the day, I returned and did a 10-mile run through the Wake Forest cross country trails and around the campus. I got great vibes and a good feel from the campus and the students, and my interview went spectacularly well, so I just may apply to Wake Forest, a school that I had previously heard little of. On the other hand, Davidson is a little too small for my taste.</p>

<p>Chapel Hill:</p>

<p>UNC was big. Very big. It far and above exceeded my expectations as a public institution, though, and the presenter at our info session was by far one of the most outspoken and dynamic speakers I have ever seen at a college. The campus was beautiful, as expected, and surprisingly clean. I could tell that UNC was very proud of its sports (As were most DI North Carolina schools), especially after seeing the football stadium and other athletic facilities. I also got a nice look at the Chapel Hill downtown area. All in all, UNC was fantastic, and I feel that the only downside I saw was parking. Between student cars and students walking around campus, parking and traffic could be pretty bad. Like Duke, UNC counteracted this with a great public transportation.</p>

<p>Yeah. That's my North Carolina experience. I hope to go back soon!</p>

2

<p>Good luck. All great schools. Don’t underestimate Davidson. Btw, the President of Davidson was just named the new Chancellor of the entire UNC System. That speaks volumes about the quality of institution that Davidson is.</p>

3

<p>CBatch – I’m so pleased that you enjoyed your visit! I’m very fond of all of the NC colleges.</p>

<p>ghostbuster – Impressive, but I’m not surprised. When I visited for the admitted students’ day years ago, he was horrified that they ran out of the t-shirts shortly before I could get one. I thought nothing more of it, until I received a package in the mail with a shirt and a signed letter of apology! Davidson is a wonderful school.</p>

4

<p>

that’s called an endorphin rush. :slight_smile: I imagine you would have had the same wonderful morphine derived feelings running around inner city LA around USC hehehe</p>

5

<p>^^^^^ true dat! LOL. But I can assure you that South Central LA is a different world than bucolic (as in somewhat rural and laid back) North Carolina. Endorphins notwithstanding. I wouldnt jog around the Watts even in broad daylight.</p>

6

<p>The reason that NC loves college sports so much is it didn’t receive its first pro sports team until 1988, and the only pro team in either the Triad or Triangle is hockey which isn’t a traditional sport the state follows for obvious weather reasons.</p>

<p>Coming from Boston I think you’d probably have a better Freshman experience at Wake or Duke which have many, many students from the area. At UNC people often hang out with their high school friends at least initially and being out of state you might be kind of an odd man out initially (Bostonians kind of have a brash personality that takes southerners a little while to adjust to), however being unique can also work in your favor socially so who know.</p>

7

<p>^</p>

<p>Good to hear!</p>

8

<p>Very good analysis of the NC schools. Duke has an amazing campus and the Duke Gardens are quite unique. Wake seems like a nice school and has recently attracted more New England students. With a very large in-state student population, Carolina has a more southern feel. Davidson benefits by being one of the best LAC’s in the South with a strong basketball tradition.</p>

9

<p>Glad you liked North Carolina; hope you decide to come back here soon.</p>

10

<p>CBatch- Your post was very nice to read- we always enjoy our time in NC. As a matter of fact, heading down to drop off DS2 to college on Sunday, then five heavenly days in Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach I live at the Jersey Shore, but do not enjoy going in the water because people get strange summer illnesses here, some are saying it is the water even though officials say it is clean. Plus, it is so cold, like melted ice! NC is another story, and I hope they keep their ocean pristine. I am very partial to Winston-Salem as well, it is a charming little city. My son loved Wake Forest, and keeps telling me that it is constantly improving. Good luck!</p>

11

<p>CBatch - As a Wake alumnus, I’m sure my homies would love to start developing a pipeline from Phillips Academy! :slight_smile: I would concur with your assessment of the various campuses as well. UNC is outstanding as a public university - I’d take it or UVA over Berkeley or Michigan because of their moderate size. But I’d think that the in-state focus of the campus (83% of the student body by regulation) may be less appealing. Duke is geographically in NC but culturally in the northeast. I’m sure you’d love it. It’s hard for me to be objective about my own Alma Mater of course, but Wake is a special place. If you weren’t very familiar with it until recently then you probably don’t follow collegiate sports, but it’s remarkable to have the school spirit of a large megaversity embedded in an institution that has the feel of a somewhat larger than average liberal arts college.</p>

<p>Now if Davidson is too small for your taste, then it’s too small and that’s that. But FWIW, I’ll share that while I bleed Old Gold and Black, if I had it to do all over again I’d try first to get into Davidson. In my era it was all male, and that’s not what I was seeking. But today, it’s just one of the most distinctive campus climates in America. The quality of interpersonal relationships there - student to student, student to faculty, townspeople to students and faculty - seems almost unsurpassed. You can walk into that remarkable Student Center with the indoor pool and fitness center, the basketball arena, and the state-of-the-art theatre attached off of it, and on any given night find people around a piano, a faculty member chatting with students in front of a fireplace, cookies baking in one of the cafes. And academically, I’d have to believe that it’s the equivalent of any college in America. My eldest just graduated from an Ivy, and while she was thrilled to get into that school, choosing it meant turning down Davidson and foregoing evenings in that Student Center / theatre / pool / arena. It was a painful decision for her.</p>

12

<p>CBatch - My d is a sophomore at Davidson. We are from Boston (well sort of,
via New York). Like you she came from a NE boarding school. She toured
Wake and seemed to like it (a high school friend of hers will be a freshman there this fall) but fell in love with Davidson more or less from the get-go. She didn’t look at
Duke or UNC so I can’t speak to those schools. However I would encourage you not to write off Davidson solely due to its small size. My d has met many wonderful kids from all over the country. Gadad’s above post describing the strength of interpersonal relationships appears to be right on so far.
It is indeed small however there are many ways in which a student meets new
people all the time, in classes, frats/eating houses, student organizations, etc.
Students are always coming and going from study abroad too. It’s a special place.
She and her dorm mates spent half the summer counting down the days until school
started up again last week. (So much for quality time with good ole’ Mom and Dad lol!)</p>

<p>Feel free to PM me if you have specfic questions about anything. Sorry to see
President Ross leave to run UNC. I’m sure the new President will be equally impressive as well.</p>

13

<p>

</p>

<p>The Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) have a surprisingly loyal and growing fanbase. I had heard that that the number of Canes fans is growing and when I went to visit UNC I saw a large number of people wearing Canes t shirts, and quite a few cars with Canes liscense plate frames and decals. As a matter of fact, they were just awarded the NHL All Star Game for this upcoming season in part as a reward for their strong fan support. </p>

<p>But you’re right, college sports (especially basketball) are king in NC.</p>