<p>If you liked UNC, I don’t see how you couldn’t really like UVA. UVA is also highly selective on the whole, not to mention for OOS students, but its OOS admission isn’t quite as tough as UNC’s.</p>
<p>Thanks guys</p>
<p>OP, what is your intended major?</p>
<p>The reason why I asked this is because, due to their bureaucratic in nature, state universities, in general, are run by departments, unlike private schools which mostly have a centralized function/system. So, it’s not surprising when State Us are strong in some departments but not as much as the others. For example, UIUC is strong in engineering. It’s liberal arts and humanities aren’t as strong however. Strong candidates may consider UIUC for engineering but not for humanities.</p>
<p>
The NRC rankings put Illinois in the top 25 for arts/humanities. While not at the top, it’s certainly quite strong.</p>
<p>^ UIUC is a top school for engineering - certainly within top 12. Many engineering students at UIUC have very good stats - some have even been accepted at elite private schools. Can’t really say the same for their humanities programs however.</p>
<p>William & Mary is the best public school for academics but is probably more selective than UNC so it might not help the OP. UVirginia, Penn State, Georgia Tech would be good options too.</p>
<p>^^^^Why? Because it’s so small and feels like a private school? Berkeley and Michigan are the two best public schools for academics, in that order.</p>
<p>UMich, UNC Chapel, UVA, UC Berkeley, UCLA are all on the same level probably.</p>
<p>Some of them a step lower are SUNY Binghamton, U Wisconsin, U Illinois, Georgia Tech, etc</p>
<p>I’m surprised by all the people suggesting Georgia Tech (3 so far). Can someone explain the similarities to UNC? 
</p>
<p>It might be more useful to the OP if people would put down the USNWR Top Publics list and instead think of what attracts people to UNC – medium size, small college town, strong athletics, warm weather, nice campus, etc.</p>
<p>rj </p>
<p>W&M is in a class by itself. Michigan and Berkeley have better grad programs but they cannot compare for undergrad education. Size matters and they are way too big for my tastes. Like comparing Wal-mart vs Tiffanys.</p>
<p>I actually agree. UVA and W&M are the class of undergraduate public schools.</p>
<p>^^^^Berkeley and Michigan have better programs in virtually every field that they cover compared to W&M and UVA. Ok, I’ll concede colonial/confederate history to W&M. UVA is weak in the hard sciences and engineering. What both are strong in is being small, elitist schools in a state with a fairly large population. The two top public schools in Virginia serve a relatively small number of it’s citizens.</p>
<p>Undergraduate, better environment, and not everyone does science and engineering.</p>
<p>I see what you mean. Why would a top notch school want to excel in the hard sciences and engineering? I mean when you can be strong in so many other areas. Then again, Berkeley and Michigan are still stronger in most of those same areas.</p>
<p>I have to agree with rjkofnovi. UVA and William and Mary tend to cater to a more educated and elite group in Virginia (those being from NOVA and Hampton Roads). They are two public universities that have more in common with medium-sized private colleges such as Duke and Georgetown. Most college-bound VA high school students do NOT enroll in these schools. </p>
<p>Berkeley and Michigan are strong in all fields across the board. They are not just “engineering” schools. If that was the case, I wouldn’t be attending here this fall!</p>
<p>No one denies that Berkeley and Michigan are stronger overall institutions. I do not have time to get in this in depth, but simply, the faculty at Michigan and Berkeley are going to be dealing with graduate students and their own research. This is less prevalent at William and Mary and to a lesser extent University of Virginia.</p>
<p>BTW, William and Mary, UVA, and Michigan have a similar amount of students from in-state, while UCB has about 85% of kids in-state. I do not see the point of calling UVA a regional school. </p>
<p>We are talking about two different things. I am of the opinion that UVA and William and Mary are the two best public schools at educating undergraduates. UCB and Michigan, are the stronger overall institutions.</p>
<p>ten-</p>
<p>You are going to Michigan for Grad school after a Northwestern undergrad experience. Would you trade your four years in Evanston for AA? Aside from Football/basketball, what does Michigan do better than NW for Undergrads? Would love to hear your perspective.</p>
<p>^^^^^"William & Mary is the best public school for academics but is probably more selective than UNC so it might not help the OP.:</p>
<p>Someone did!</p>
<p>Like comparing Wal-mart vs Tiffanys.</p>
<p>I’d say it’s like comparing Neimann-Marcus to Banana Republic.</p>
<p>swish, my comment was in reference to willmingtonwave’s statement that not all students want to do science and engineering. He implied that both Berkeley and Michigan are just strong in those areas, which is incorrect and quite ignorant too. U-M isn’t for everyone, but it does have a highly respected UROP program for students who want to engage in undergraduate research.</p>