Robertson Scholarship at UNC?

Hi!

I’ve been selected as Robertson scholar at UNC for the class of 2022, and I’m having trouble deciding.
I want to major in political science and CS, possibly going to law school. My other option is an ivy but not the super prestigious ones like HYP. I know the Robertson program provides many opportunities, but I’m not that sure whether I like UNC because it’s not as “prestigious” so I don’t know if that leads to less internship/employment opportunities. And the class sizes at a public university are bigger.
The Robertson program offers a full scholarship, and I would get no money with the other option. But my parents are willing to pay for my tuition, and I don’t want to choose a school just for money. I want to be sure that even if money is taken out of the equation, I would choose the program I love the most and give me most growth.

So my questions are:

  1. How different is being a Robertson scholar at UNC vs a Robertson Scholar at Duke? Is there a gap between them socially and in terms of job opportunities?
  2. Are human resources people at top consulting/investment banking or other firms more likely take a student who is a UNC scholar or from an ivy? How about UNC scholar compared to Duke student who is not a scholar, with all other credentials the same?
    3.If I choose to apply to law school, which option is better to help me get in a top law school?

Thank you so much for your time and advice!!

If you’re not sure that you will like UNC-CH because it seems to lack the “prestige” of an Ivy, then by all means enroll at the Ivy where you’ve been admitted. I suspect that it will be a more comfortable social environment for you there.

I would not go on prestige!!! Have you visited both schools? I can talk all day long on UNC as my son attends and will be a senior in the fall. First of all you will get many opportunities for internships and jobs. All day long he is getting emails from the CS department as that his major for companies coming to campus to recruit.

The one thing that is crazy is you are looking at potential job prospects before you even started your first year. You are very smart to get the Robinson Award but college work is a whole different ballgame.

Just to give you an example. My son was an RA and about 40 kids dropped out 1st year in his dorm building due to the hard classes and pressure. My son was a straight A student in high school just like so many other kids. In college UNC CS department is hard with all the upper level math and it is kicking his butt. So will he walk out of UNC with a degree, Yes he will but will he walk out on top of his class, No not even close. Did he expect it to be so hard, no but it is and most colleges are hard.

My point in all of this is to pick a school you can see yourself at for 4 years if money is not an object. Do not pick for prestige because you might regret your choice. Good Luck!

Have you spoken to other Robertson scholars? That’s who you should ask. Personally, I’m a big fan of these named scholarships with benefits. If you do well, the program will likely provide far more opportunities than an Ivy where you will be competing with a lot more other competitive/top students. My D is a named scholar at another flagship, and I have no doubt she wouldn’t have easily replicated the experiences and opportunities that have been pushed to her at her school had she gone to an Ivy.

Because you want to pursue a career in consulting or investment banking combined with COA not being a factor, I understand your concern. But which Ivy may make a bit of a difference if, for example, you have been admitted to the Wharton School at Penn.

If you are a Robertson Scholar, I am assuming that you are a driven high achiever. Assuming that drive and determination follows in your college career path then all the schools you listed including UNC will give you a world class education with the opportunities you seek.

Will an IVY school open doors a UNC degree can’t? I honestly can’t say. Some say it can for investment banking and some select other Wall street type jobs. I can say that at the end of the day, most doors are opened through your hard work and accomplishments. The name on the paper only goes so far and generally only for the first job. After that, it is all about what your job experience is. I believe that the Robertson Scholar program can provide the opportunities you need to reach your goals if you seek them out.

A few random thoughts:

I strongly recommend you focus the quality and reputation of the program. A school with great prestige is worthless if the quality of the program is lacking. A MIT degree is impressive as **** but is it worth it if you want to study history (I have no idea. I am guessing history is not one of it’s better known programs). The schools you mentioned will have strengths and weaknesses and different personalities. Some are more cooperative and some are more cut throat. Only you can decide what works for you. Some thrive in a cut throat competitive school. Other don’t.

Do not kid yourself that UNC will be a walk in the park. Your fellow Robertson Scholars as well as many other students will be as impressive as you are. You will be challenged and maybe even humbled. My daughter has meet many in this program and felt that they were a sharp group of good kids.

Don’t be too concern too much about class size. Yes some are large, particularly the general education classes. I assume that you have a boatload of APs, so you will likely be able to skip most of you general education requirements with those. Because of this you will be able to take more courses in your field or devote more time to research. This is often not the case at many private schools. Also by picking honor’s courses you can often get smaller classes.

My daughter had no problem getting to know her professors. Many knew her well enough to give strong letters of recommendations. During her four years, all of her professors (with maybe 1-2 exceptions) were full time PHD professors. She was not a CS major so this might not hold for you. This is not necessary true for other schools. I know one IVY has a lot of graduate student teaching undergraduate courses. Not always a bad thing. Carolina is also still known as a school that supports the tenure track with less reliance on adjuncts. They will also hire professors that only have teaching responsibilities.

While my daughter did find the research opportunities were limited in her field, she was very successful in finding related research opportunities outside her major. This led to a great job opportunity in the field she wanted.

While the IVY schools can have strong networks. You will find Carolina graduates everywhere.

One Robertson Scholar I met made a interesting comment. While UNC is a large school, you can make it as small or as big as you want. He had a very specialize field and end up with a tight group of student with common interests. He was a Physic major who was accepted to MIT but choose UNC. I got impression that it was a money issue but he definitely made it clear that he had excellent opportunities at Carolina.

I suggest that contact the people running the Robertson program and see if you can talk to some students in the program.

If you are really concern about prestige then Carolina might not be the school for you. Not because it doesn’t have prestige of it own but going to a school that you feel doesn’t meet your definition of prestige can color your college experience. Some can move on but other just can’t.

For most jobs, the name on the degree does not translate into a higher starter salary or the better assignments. You will be doing the at same work at the same salary as the graduates from the non-IVY assuming you have the same skill set and experience. After that is all about performance.

The Robertson is fabulous and the connections you will make there and invitations to connect with IB opportunities should parallel any ivy opportunity, IMO.

@lotus00 what did you decide? Robertson at UNC? Since you are choosing CS, would like your opinion on that subject. Thanks