Pleasantly surprised by Queens Univ. of Charlotte

Parents Forum
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<p>D and I recently visited several NC schools, including Queens Univ. Queens was something of a last minute addition; we were visiting Greensboro schools (UNC-G, Guilford and HPU) and, at the suggestion of a dear friend, UNC-C. We had a late flight on our last day, so I scheduled a tour of Queens, figuring that we would/could cut the visit short if the school didn't "feel" right. In the end, we stay on campus for close to 4 hours: D toured, was interviewed, met with profs and a coach, and ate lunch with a couple of students. </p>

<p>The campus is in a beautiful (and by appearances, quite affluent) neighborhood with a very suburban feel. Most of the school's buildings are red brick structures of no more than 4-5 stories tall and the campus is fairly compact (it probably takes no more than 15 min to walk across campus). In addition to standard dorms, the school offers apt-style living several blocks from the campus. </p>

<p>The school is just a few minutes from downtown Charlotte and a bus stops nearby. Charlotte, however, is a sprawling city and there are lots of malls (one with a water park) and other activities in the out-lying areas for which one would need a car.</p>

<p>Queens is a former women's college and women still out-number by more thn 2:1, but the gender imbalance wasn't really apparent. The students were predom clean-cut and perhaps a bit more conservative in appearance than on the northeastern campuses we visited - - more boys w/ crew cuts, more girls dressing up, there were certainly boys w/ long hair and girls who were casually dressed, but not apparent hippie element. Everyone on campus was friendly.</p>

<p>The dining hall offered standard fare - - three pizza selections, salad bar, sandwich fixin's, hot entrees, fries and, to D's delight, several tasty veggie options. The faculty and admin take lunch the dining hall with the students. We observed students with Greek gear (hats, t-shirts, etc.) sitting with those who were not members of frats/sorors. (I thought D would be turned-off by the entire Greek thing, but she immed clicked with girls from a particular sorority). The black students sat together at one long table, but the were comfortable breaking off to talk to students at other tables and other students were not at all hesitant to stop by the black table to chat. </p>

<p>All in all, it was a very pleasant visit and we all enjoyed our time at Queens more than we expected. D felt that the students were certainly tolerant and accepting, but she worried that there just might not be enough students like her (pink hair, piercings). And while a car isn't absolutely necessary, a student w/o a car might be limited socially. Still, Queens offers much of what D wants - - small school, attentive staff, a non-language based inter-disciplinary study abroad program, reasonable black enrollment, warm weather - - that it remains on D's list and, as a result of the vist, probably moved up a few notches.</p>

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<p>Nice review…next year there will be a new food service company. So, the food will be new and exciting! My daughter finished a very successful freshman year and can’t wait to return “home”.</p>

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<p>nyc, Thank you for the review! We hope to visit late this summer. This school is on our radar. </p>

<p>What do you mean about not having a car is socially limiting?</p>

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<p>There is some public transportation in the area–maybe buses and also a light rail system in Charlotte–it goes to quite close to South Park Mall though I don’t know how that relates to the Queens neighborhood.</p>

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<p>Queens is a beautiful campus in a very nice area. The pink hair and piercings, while not completely unknown in the South, would tend to make a student an anomaly and draw stares. Preppy would be the dominant style mode at all these campuses (maybe less so at Guilford). But to find a NC school with kindred spirits - or at least similar style preferences - you might want to take a look at UNC-Asheville.</p>

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<p>gadad, we have UNC-A on our radar too. How much do you know about it? How does the high % of commuters, and non-traditional students impact campus life? Why do they have such a low 4 year graduation rate?</p>

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<p>My niece is graduating this weekend from Queens. She thoroughly enjoyed her time there as the President’s Scholar or whatever it’s called and spent a couple of semesters abroad. She’s the intellectual type (can I say that without sounding silly?), turned down Carolina, Wake and Furman, among others - obviously she concentrated on Southern schools. I would characterize her as definitely NOT preppy at all - more a Boho thrift shopper. Anyway, she loved it, and I remember her talking about her first campus visit in much the same way the OP did. And she has had pink streaks in her hair and currently has a nose piercing, so what does that say for preppy?!</p>

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<p>zimmer, that’s encouraging. What is her major/majors?</p>

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<p>Thanks Zimmer07 - - was your niece the only boho thrift shopper on campus? I’m from assuming from gadad’s post that it’s too much to expect that there were no others w/ pink hair and piercings.</p>

<p>And gadad, I too would like to hear more about Asheville (but I don’t want to hijack the thread, so please PM me if you don’t want to post here re: Asheville).</p>

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<p>Since we’ve got >1 interested on this thread, I’ll respond here but try not to hijack.</p>

<p>State universities below the flagship (e.g. UNC-CH) and land-grant (e.g. N.C. State) level often have obligations to serve their local region’s population, even if they have a special mission (UNC-A is the state’s public liberal arts college). So you’ll have some returning students, some part-timers, and some who are looking to go locally for a couple years, live at home to save funds, and then transfer to the flagship or the land-grant. Does it water down the campus life experience? Yes, somewhat. But Asheville, NC is a resort town in a beautiful setting with a significant “bohemian” population that enjoys the outdoor cafes, the public concerts, etc., so UNC-A has some nice student life options beyond the campus.</p>

<p>Some public liberal arts colleges like Georgia College & State University have targeted the same types of students who seek private LACs and placed into effect first-year on-campus residency requirements, which save the limited spots in each class for those who really want the full campus experience. The difference is significant in the area of campus life.</p>

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<p>gadad, thanks. I hope you won’t mind I’d like to move your post there, and others please to the UNC-A alphabetical board to discuss UNC-A. Thank you for responding. Sorry, that this went off topic!</p>

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<p>Thanks - - I had forgotten that there was a UNC-A board.</p>

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<p>I graduated from Queens in '86-it went coed in '87. I received an excellent education (nursing) Southpark mall is 5 mins away-before I had a car I took the bus and even had a job near the mall.</p>

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<p>schlagowsky, thanks for posting. I have a couple of questions as they apply to my son. Would you mind if I sent a “personal message” to you?</p>

<p>How did you like this school, and how well known is it in the south? We are from NJ.</p>

<p>Is a car necessary, or can you deal and get by without one? </p>

<p>I read on the Queens sight that they are the #1 producers of RNs in NC.</p>

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<p>“What do you mean about not having a car is socially limiting?” </p>

<p>As I said, Charlotte is s sprawling city. There is bus service from the campus to the downtown area, but the many malls on the outskirs of the city are a very popular destination and most require a car (the one that is on a publc bus is a favorite w/ local teens - - and thus unpopular with the college students).</p>

<p>I’d say a car would be desirable, but not necessary.</p>

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<p>nyc, I see, thank you.</p>

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<p>I loved it-no car was no problem. I did have one my senior year because I had to make home visits for community nursing.</p>

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<p>schlagowsky, thank you.</p>

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<p>Any reason this thread is in the Parents Forum rather than College Search (where it might be more widely viewed)?</p>