Hi. We need help deciding between UNC-Ashville and Guildford College for an African American male. They both seem like great schools. Any thoughts?
Only you can decide which college is best for you. Consider affordability first and then academic and social fit.
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I know students that have attended both. In a broad way, I think a student who was happy at one could also be happy at the other.
Aside from one being public and the other private, and $, I’d say the next most significant difference is location. GC is in a large city, and while not immediately downtown (like UNCG) it is close enough to have full access to all a city that size can provide. Meanwhile, UNCA is in a smaller city, and Asheville will feel a lot different than Greensboro.
Also, while GC has about half the enrollment of UNCA, GC has approximately 250 more African-American students than UNCA. If you think your student would be fine on either campus, there are no concerns either way. However, if being on a more diverse (or less diverse) campus is important, that is something else to consider.
If your student is the sort that would spend 95% of his time on campus, the differences in location might be minimized. However, if your student might spend a large portion of his free time off campus, he should investigate and see whether he would prefer the attractions of Greensboro or those of Asheville. The cities each have their great points, but there are stark differences in several ways.
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If you want a college that has a good deal of diversity then consider NC Wesleyan. Another option is UNC Pembroke. I do agree with other posters – cost should be a consideration. Asheville is a very progressive city and the school is very liberal. Fayetteville State could be another possibility.
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Greensboro is a great small city. There is also an airport there, if that matters. One of our kids did a summer music festival there for two summers and loved being there. IIRC, they stayed in Guilford dorms.
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I think both are great options! Greensboro will have more diversity, but Asheville is a great college town. I have visited UNCA for work in the past and loved the faculty and students I met there. It seemed like a close-knit and supportive environment. I do really like Guilford, too. I am familiar with the campus and have friends who have taught there and have heard a lot of positive things. I would just caution you to really investigate what the current situation with finances is and specifically how that would apply to the chosen major–how big is the department? How many students are currently in that major? Are faculty tenured/tenure-track or mostly adjuncts/lecturers? That answer may reveal enough to give you an idea of what may or may not happen with that department if finances get tight again as they were very recently. I will say that the new president they brought in is well-respected and everyone was really excited to see him take over, so I think people are hopeful that they can overcome the financial challenges they are facing and I think GC is addressing those concerns very well right now.
Since you’re looking at Greensboro anyways, I would encourage you to check out UNC-Greensboro too. I know it is MUCH bigger compared to UNC-Asheville but they have some great student success initiatives there and do a good job of making it feel smaller than it is.
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I’m in NC and have visited both schools. Definitely saw more black kids at Guilford although it is majority white. I think two of our tour guides at Guilford were black males.
Will he have a car? Both schools are a little removed from shops and restaurants and stuff although there are a few you can get to by foot, but not the most fun part of either town.
Greensboro is a much more diverse city than Asheville. Much higher black population overall. I believe is a non-white majority city. There are more whites than any other group, but the other groups put together are greater than the white population.
Does he have any idea what he wants to major in?
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Thanks for your insights. He would like to major in biology. I believe that major would have survived the cuts.
I’ve never visited UNC-A or Guilford, so I can’t provide a response based on personal experience. After having read some of the posts from other commenters, I did a little bit of digging to get some more context. I will share it here for others who are not as familiar with these schools, though this is likely not new to you, @wmo2.
Size
- UNC-A: 3200 undergrads
- Guilford: 1200 undergrads
Racial Demographics
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UNC-A: 2% Asian, 5% Black, 8% Hispanic, 74% White, 4% 2+ races, 5% unknown, 1% non-resident alien
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Guilford: 6% Asian, 26% Black, 13% Hispanic, 47% White, 4% 2+ races, 2% unknown, 1% non-resident alien
Concentration of Bio Majors
- UNC-A: 41 biology majors in most recent graduating class (5.6% of class)
- Guilford: 27 biology & 9 biological & biomedical sciences (other)…36 total for 13.6% of class
Faculty
- UNC-A: 72.8% of faculty are full-time
- Guilford: 56.4% of faculty are full-time
My thoughts on the above information:
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UNC-A is almost 2.5x the size of Guilford. Does your son think that 1200 will feel like too few students by the time he is a junior or senior? Admittedly, I believe a good percentage of Guilford students study abroad which could also change the feel of being on campus all 4 years. And for many people, an enrollment of 1200 feels perfectly fine.
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I am racially mixed (part black) and spent much of my formative years in schools where I was a small minority and never thought much of it, and ended up at a college that was not that dissimilar. I currently work at an institution that has a much larger percentage of blacks, perhaps up to 50%. Although I never consciously realized that I felt certain constraints or a need to prove myself while in settings where I was a much smaller minority, having the experience with a much greater portion of the population as people of a similar color, I now recognize that I did. Thus, if I had a chance to talk to my 17-year old self, it’s something I would definitely bring up (though who knows if the 17-year old me would have believed me).
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Both bio departments seem to be good-sized. Looking at the faculty’s interests, is your son drawn to certain faculty members more than others? Are there any members doing research that interests him? Would he prefer having a larger portion of his school studying the same subject as him (probably more electives…but more competition) or a smaller proportion with a wider array of majors present?
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I have a preference for full-time faculty (if they are tenure-track faculty, not contract instructors). But what are the professors doing at Guilford? Are they part-time and then working in industry and sharing those experiences with the students? Or are they trying to cobble work together from Guilford, UNCG, and maybe Wake or Winston-Salem to get enough work? The answer would definitely sway my opinion.
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Just wanted to come back and add that Asheville is a very fun and beautiful city especially for folks who like the outdoors. Lots of great hiking and other outdoor opportunities. Very hip and funky. Lots and lots of tourists in pretty much all seasons. My D22 is just down the road at Warren Wilson so we have been going to Asheville a bit more this year. I liked UNC-A when we toured there. I like Guilford too. Our niece went there and loved it.
Apply to both and visit some more when you can. They are different enough that I bet one will feel more right.
Would he be interested in UNC-G? We also toured there and I came away favorably impressed. NC A&T has a great rep too.
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