<p>I should probably wait til it happens but I feel like just listing some stuff those new incoming freshmen should know about UNC and if you have anything you’d like to add go ahead.</p>
<li><p>Some UNC student should be calling you sometime to ask if you have any questions, if they haven’t done so yet. They did it last year.</p></li>
<li><p>Bring a sleeping bag to C-Tops, its very very very cold in Carmichael over the summer and they don’t give u any real blankets to sleep with. </p></li>
<li><p>In my opinion the weekly meal plan is a waste of money. you will probably find yourself going out to eat over the weekend or ording pizza. Also during WOW(week of welcome) theres a lot of free food. Meals in the block plan (i have the 150 meals a semester, aka 10 meals a week) don’t disappear if you don’t use them in a week. If you have a weekly plan you lose any meals you don’t use during the week.</p></li>
<li><p>Make sure u have money in your expense account. You need money in there if you want to use the laundry machines or get a snack or drink from the vending machine. Or play at the arcade at Ramshead. </p></li>
<li><p>Flex money is cool too, get some of that.</p></li>
<li><p>Join GAA, its woth the money. You’ll find out more at C-tops this summer.</p></li>
<li><p>Do WAFFYs, (wilderness adventure for first year students) its a 6 day backpacking and camping trip in the appalachian with 3 carolina upperclassment and less than 10 other incoming freshmen. Its fun, i did it, and you make some good friends. Carolina offers other programs for new students too, but I recommend WAFFYs.</p></li>
<li><p>There’s a Wendys in the hospital, 2nd floor.</p></li>
<li><p>If you take Econ 10, don’t get Turchi.</p></li>
<li><p>When you get your email account set up, sign up with the facebook. Everyone is doing it. Its kinda a cult. <a href=“http://www.thefacebook.com%5B/url%5D”>www.thefacebook.com</a></p></li>
<li><p>Stuff at the Student Store isn’t cheap, you pay for convinience.</p></li>
<li><p>If you bring your bike, bring 2 locks. </p></li>
<li><p>Don’t forget to sign up for enhancment programs when you move in. Its on the RHA website. </p></li>
<li><p>Chanellos has awesome pizza</p></li>
<li><p>Vel is the coolest person at Lenior and you’ll meet her at C-tops.</p></li>
<li><p>There are free printing labs on campus. Take advantage of them cause you pay for them with your student fees. There is one at the undergrad library, underground of the union, hinton james, Davis and some other places too.</p></li>
<li><p>Learn the lingo: SRC, UL, P2P, U Bus, TTA …</p></li>
<li><p>If you bring you backpack with you to Lenior, might as well put some tupperwear in there and bring some snacks back to the room. </p></li>
<li><p>many intro classes are hard, they’re weed out classes (Chem 11)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I know this is early and some of you might not have a damn clue what i’m talking about but some of you might find this stuff interresting or helpful and like i said before if you have anything to add go ahead.</p>
<p>There are a lot of negative reviews of UNC from UNC students posting at studentsreview.com. The biggest complaints seem to be: 1) Many/most of your undergrad classes are large and impersonal; the teacher does not know you and does not care. 2) Most of the faculty are preoccupied with their grad students and/or research; undergraduate education is not that important. 3) UNC's reputation as a "public IVY" is more than it deserves given the low priority the faculty and administration place on undergraduate education.<br>
What's your take on all this? (anyone from UNC)</p>
<p>I just thought it should be noted that many of the Harvard reviewers complain of the exact same thing, and generally there are a few of those type complaints mixed in with every research university.</p>
<p>well, it's natural that most posts on the site would be negative. we always complain when something is bad but don't bother to say a good word when things are o.k. i'm not a UNC student but it's just a general fact regarding sites like studentsreview.com</p>
<p>Here's an answer for each of those statements.</p>
<p>"1) Many/most of your undergrad classes are large and impersonal; the teacher does not know you and does not care."</p>
<p>most classes aren't large, my Math 31 class last semester had 8 students in it. Foriegn Language classes and english classes are the same size as normal high school classes. Labs are small class sizes and so are recitations (a lot of big lecture classes also have recitations). Intro classes tend to have over 300 students, but that decreases as you go to higher levels, I'd say class size varies but no way is most classes all large. Also professors have office hours and they are happy to see students, thats what they're there for. Most complain when students don't go to see them. Large class sizes are normal at universities.</p>
<p>"2) Most of the faculty are preoccupied with their grad students and/or research; undergraduate education is not that important."</p>
<p>A lot of classses are taught by those professors' grad students and you get a good relationship with them. Research is mainly focused on the sciences. My chem professor was at UNC for the purpose of some research on protien and he was always excited about talking about it in their lectures, but they never let research get too much in the way of their classes. Professors use their grad students to help balance the research work and class work.</p>
<p>"3) UNC's reputation as a "public IVY" is more than it deserves given the low priority the faculty and administration place on undergraduate education."</p>
<p>Ivys don't give a damn about undergrads, those schools really only care about graduate program. Actually at UNC the undergraduates have the prioritiy in everything and the graduates always complain how they have no power or say in anything. UNC has a lot of subject help centers run by grads who really help undergrads a lot if they don't understand something.</p>
<p>I remember seeing those comments when I was in high school, my advice is don't believe them. UNC is a great school and I know you'll love it.</p>
<p>i'm not from the united states, i might go to UNC for a semester next year. in my home university the professors never know your name! we sometimes have about a 100 students per class, somtimes just 8... and i'm just fine with it, who needs special care? i don't think that my HS teachers knew the students' names, why would a university Professor? assuming this "not enough attention" thing doesn't bother me, does anyone have any other good insights about UNC?</p>