some questions for current students

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
1

<p>sorry if any of this is search-able, but i have a few specific concerns that i'd rather have answered personally! i recently toured unc and i was left with a few questions. i wasn't very impressed by the tour, both of the students seemed really... unprofessional, i guess? i didn't expect them to be overly serious but they just seemed like they were trying very hard to be bubbly and it was all very over the top and quite frankly, annoying. the tour itself wasn't great either, the student did a lot of walking and comparatively little explaining. he led us through many buildings very quickly without saying ANYTHING about their purpose or even their name until afterwards, and even then, the descriptions were vague at best.</p>

<p>...which brings me to my first question: how are the facilities at unc? from the outside the campus is beautiful, but some of the buildings we toured looked a little run down. is everything up to date? is there anything in particular that detracts from your academic experience? also i forgot to ask our tour guide: are the dorms air-conditioned (not a major concern but AC would be nice!)? how are the dorms in general compared to other colleges you looked at?</p>

<p>how hard was it to adjust to unc and the college life in general, particularly if you came from out of state? did you have trouble making good friends? i was a little overwhelmed when i visited just because there was so much going on and so many people everywhere. i had toured duke the day before and from my first impression i liked the atmosphere there much better, but i realize that things could change once i actually start school. </p>

<p>how is unc holding up to your expectations? i've heard mixed reviews so i'm a little worried. i don't mind drinking, which seems to be what generates a lot of complaints, though i'm sure i'd be annoyed by an outright excessive amount of partying. i'm more concerned academically i guess, since i've heard what a great school it is. how are the classes and professors in general?</p>

<p>and lastly, if you were accepted to both duke and unc, why did you choose the one that you did (i'm also really interested in rice and brown but i haven't visited yet if anyone wants to go ahead and compare to them, too)? unc's price tag is certainly more appealing, and i doubt i qualify for much financial aid, so that's definitely a plus. i'm not going to be applying until next year, but i'm trying to narrow down everything right now so i can focus on other things senior year. :) right now i'm really leaning towards duke between the two but i don't want my decision to be based off of one crappy tour.</p>

2

<p>I am currently a freshman at UNC, and when I took my tour I was also very disappointed. At the time I was positive that UNC was the school for me but the tour was the last step in officially deciding. If I had any doubts at all as to whether I wanted to come here, the tour definitely would not have helped. So I’m very sorry that the tour was also disappointing for you and that you did not get the experience you wanted.</p>

<p>The facilities are very good. The classrooms that I have been in are normal classrooms (nothing too exciting, but definitely not lacking in necessities). The libraries are very nice with couches, huge wooden desks, a ton of computers, etc. There is nothing that I feel like the classrooms or facilities are lacking in, so I guess the lack of a complaint is positive in this situation. All of the dorms are air-conditioned except for one (Ehringhaus I believe, but don’t quote me on that). The dorms are not bad at all. They’re much bigger than I thought they would be and the only real problem with them is their distance from classes. I definitely feel comfortable in my dorm and I plan to stay on-campus all four years, if that’s helpful at all. Dorms from other colleges had living rooms in the suites, kitchen areas in the suites, and sinks in the bedrooms, all of which UNC dorms do not have. It’s really not as big of a deal as I thought it was going to be though, and you really don’t feel like you’re missing anything when living here.</p>

<p>I am from out of state, and adjusting is difficult. UNC itself immediately feels like home, but there are things that you simply will not know coming in from a different state such as some UNC traditions, stats about the sports teams, what Cheerwine is, general facts/geography about North Carolina, etc. Also, a lot of in-state students go home on the weekends (not every weekend, but every once in a while) which can make it difficult for the out-of-state students to get used to being away from home. Everyone is extremely nice and understanding though (and during Labor Day weekend you make a lot of out-of-state friends!) so it’s not a horrible process, just an adjustment. There is definitely no trouble making friends, though. Seriously, everyone here wants to get to know everyone else. People make friends at the dining hall, in the elevators, waiting at the crosswalk, and of course in class and at various activities. It is pretty overwhelming when you first see everything, but after a couple weeks it seems normal and actually pretty comforting because wherever you go, you see someone you know. UNC seems like such a huge school but once you meet someone you see them everywhere and you find out that you’re connected to them in 12 different ways.</p>

<p>UNC is better than I ever thought it could be. Every day there are so many things that I wish I could go to but there simply isn’t enough time. I haven’t been to one party so far and I feel like I have had the most productive, fun, and amazing experience. If you don’t hang out with people who party, then it seems like that whole world of UNC just doesn’t exist (the opposite is true as well). On a daily basis you could go to a guest lecture, a concert, a club meeting, a volunteering opportunity, a dance group, the gym, an intramural, or pretty much anything else you could think of. It truly is amazing.</p>

<p>I cannot say enough about how wonderful my classes and professors are. The ones that I have are actually excited about teaching and will do pretty much anything to help you learn the material. There isn’t a lot of work (assignments) but there is a lot of reading and studying. Overall though it is very possible to do all of your homework, study, and have a life (and free time!). Definitely use Rate My Professor though, it helped me find some of the best professors on campus (and it doesn’t even matter what the class is about as long as the professor is excited enough about it).
I was not considering Duke because when I visited I did not like the atmosphere. It seemed pretty gloomy and cold while UNC seems more bright, warm and friendly. That is clearly my own opinion though. Also I have talked to people who go to Duke and they seem to spend all of their time doing work or studying (at UNC we also have lives…). Good luck on your decision though! Feel free to PM me with any questions!</p>

3

<p>The crappy tours seems to be a common problem. I can’t answer all of your questions, but I’ll try.</p>

<p>Everything is not up to date, but its close. Some buildings, like Phillips Hall (the math building), look terribly old inside. That’s not necessarily bad, just old.
All dorms will be airconditioned by next year. This year Ehringhaus is the only dorm that’s not fully air conditioned (its about 50% AC).</p>

<p>Because UNC is like 83% instate, most people come with their pre-formed friend circles. So if you’re out-of-state, it can be rather hard making friends / adjusting. Additionally, whenever there’s a 3+ day holiday, most instate people go home, and it becomes empty. </p>

<p>Academically, the university has (in my eyes) lived up to its reputation. Also academically, Duke (IMO) is better. If you want the public school feel, then UNC would be for you.</p>

4

<p>Wow, to be honest, I felt the exact same way about Duke. I honestly felt like everyone there was looking down at me.</p>

5

<p>thank you for the replies so far, they were very helpful! :)</p>

<p>(we actually went through phillips hall and that was mainly what made me ask, so thanks for addressing that blue_box.)</p>

6

<p>

I’ll put in a plug for the Duke-over-UNC decision, since obviously no current UNC students decided that way. I applied to UNC primarily as a safety school, and I was dead set against it because virtually all of the other AP/IB kids from my high school were going there. I chose Duke primarily because it was more affordable than UNC after scholarships and aid and much more affordable than my top choice at the time. </p>

<p>After taking a few classes and working with professors at UNC, I developed a much higher opinion of it than I had in high school, and it’s currently one of my favorite universities. I outlined a few differences in another post:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064720969-post24.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1064720969-post24.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In many ways, they really are pretty similar. The major advantages for Duke are a smaller and more uniformly excellent student body, more money (compare Perkins and Davis…), and smaller classes. Students are required to live on campus for three years, which is either a plus or minus. Duke’s major disadvantage is Durham, which is definitely underrated but still not as nice as Chapel Hill.</p>

<p><a href=“i’m%20also%20really%20interested%20in%20rice%20and%20brown%20but%20i%20haven’t%20visited%20yet%20if%20anyone%20wants%20to%20go%20ahead%20and%20compare%20to%20them,%20too”>quote</a>?

[/quote]

I can’t comment on Rice, as I never seriously considered it. I’d choose either Duke or UNC over Brown, however. I wasn’t impressed with the cramped campus, and it seemed very quiet. I also prefer warm weather when possible, so that played a role.</p>

7

<p>wow, my tour sucked too! lol. But anyways, to answer your questions:</p>

<p>-facilities are great imo, and, at times, can be quite damn inspiring: i.e. Wilson Library, Graham Memorial (which is so nice some Dukies come there to study), Morehead. But, you also have your buildings that aren’t too inspiring: Davis Library (if you like 60s/70s architecture, this is your place), undergraduate library (though the green chairs are nice, but the outside of the building, ugh), Greenlaw, Hamilton Hall.</p>

<p>-Regarding how hard it is to adjust to social life at unc if you’re out-of-state, well, it’s kinda hard to answer that because if you come here you’ll have different circumstances than me. I kinda have everything working against me: I’m out-of-state junior transfer student; I live in just about the farthest place from central campus (Odum Village, a place full of Grad students, internationals, and other transfers who never show up to community events), and my roommate doesn’t live far from home, so is often gone. But you, on the other hand, will be coming in as a freshman; so you HAVE a huge advantage (one that I wish I had) to make friends. From my observations, out-of-state students do fine finding friends (but unfortunately, I can’t say the same).</p>

<p>-Professors are top notch and the best in their fields. You may even have a couple “celebrity” professors (those who’s work is so well recognized, they’ve built just as strong reputation outside of the classroom). My professors here never cease to amaze me. I’m often saying to myself: “Wow, this person is just about the smartest I’ve ever met.” Then next week another professor amazes me and then I’m saying the same thing, lol. Watch National Geographic or History Channel; some of the professors in the Classics and History departments are often on there. </p>

<p>-Lastly, I can’t answer your final question, because I didn’t consider Duke, though, I did get into a comparable institution–Notre Dame. Why didn’t I choose ND? It’s in Indiana; I’m from there and had to get the hell out. The campus is beautiful, but it’s in a crappy town–same with Duke; Chapel Hill>Durham. The amount of aid UNC provides their students is ridiculous–it was cheaper for me to go to UNC than my state university, IU. And, UNC has an awesome newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel (which I write for :slight_smile: ) and is often voted the best college newspaper in the country and has won numerous awards. Plus, if you want to get into Journalism (but not major in Journalism, like myself), it’s the next best thing to getting an actual internship at a “real” newspaper–though you could call the DTH real, being that it generates its own income and pays it’s editors and is independent from the school </p>

<p>All in all, UNC is a great school, but it isn’t perfect. What do you plan to major in btw? Because that can be a big deal. Some departments are highly prestigious and comparable to Ivy leagues and higher ranked schools, some not so. (Journalism comes to mind for the former…)</p>

8

<p>I am very surprised to hear that you all had crappy tours! My daughter and I did a two week college tour last spring and the UNC info session/tour was our favorite of all the schools we visited. I thought the video played at the info session was outstanding, made me want to go back to school and I am over 50! One thing I do remember is that my daughter felt the school was huge. She spent last weekend at Carolina and one of the first things I asked her was about the size. She said it didn’t feel huge at all, that it was the perfect size. </p>

<p>As far as Duke vs. UNC, I got the same impression of Duke as whiteandnerdy and UVAorBust. Duke didn’t feel warm or inviting to me at all, although my daughter loved the architecture. We spent quite a bit of time on both campuses and the students at UNC were so much friendlier! They were walking in groups, talking and laughing. We also visited several different offices and everybody we encountered was nice and helpful. When we were at Duke, most of the students we saw looked like they were rushing to get somewhere and there was very little eye contact. Oh, and the food at UNC was outstanding! The best we had and we ate on the camous of 6 or 7 schools.</p>

9

<p>Fishymom, are you instate? And if you aren’t, does your daughter plan on joining a sorority?</p>

10

<p>We are not in state, we are from South Florida. My daughter has not decided whether or not she will join a sorority. She is a recruited athlete and is not sure she will have time given her practice schedule. She loves UNC but has not made a decision yet. I have my fingers crossed for Carolina!</p>

11

<p>I see. I ask, because these people:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>are usually in-state / part of the Greek system. Tis how it is among the guys, and I think its like that a lot of the time among the girls too.</p>

12

<p>I walk in groups, I am not in a sorority or did I know any of the people I hang out with before I came to UNC.</p>

<p>So don’t assume that to fit in you must be in-state or in a sorority. For the most part when I meet someone my first questions are where are you living?/what is your major? not are you in-state or are you out-of-state. Most people don’t care where you are from as long as you a friendly.</p>

<p>Sometimes my OOS friends don’t get some of the local stuff but it just makes it more fun to show them. Like I got to introduce a friend from Texas to both Bojangles and Cookout, it was great. : )</p>

13

<p>I, too, walk in groups with people that I did not know before coming here, and I have not gone Greek. I also have several new out of state friends that are having no trouble fitting in here. I went on four tours before coming, and I must say that they did range in quality. My last two were amazing (and what made me decide to come), but the first two were somewhat mediocre. If you get a likely letter and get invited to Tar Heel Shadow, definitely take advantage of it because it changed my entire outlook on the school. Duke actually gave the worst tour of any school I visited. There were the unfriendly, haughty students, and then there was the matter of that ghastly “freshman campus” that they banish the first year students to after enticing you with the stunning Gothic-style of main campus. I can understand why it appeals to some, but it just didn’t appeal to me.</p>

14

<p>

“Ghastly”? Don’t be ridiculous. East dorms are no less attractive on the outside than most of Carolina’s (say, Aycock or Mangum) and are typically considerably nicer on the inside. It’s not inferior because it has Georgian architecture; it’s just different. One of my favorite spots on Duke’s entire campus is the gazebo behind East Duke on East campus.</p>

<p>Anyway, most Duke students would say that East was actually a reason they chose Duke! Living in close quarters with other freshmen for a year is a great bonding experience. Although you have your own dining hall and library on East, everyone also uses the main library on West, eats in the Great Hall or other dining places on West, and has classes and clubs/organizations/sports on West – so they’re not exactly “banished” to some far off campus like Oxford at Emory. East is a whopping 15 minute walk or 2 minute busride from West (i.e. no longer than it takes most UNC students to walk from Hinton James to class or Franklin). </p>

<p>It’s rather depressing to see how many people disliked the tours at Duke. I had the reverse experience; I was bored out of my mind during the presentation at UNC because they kept bragging about how selective it is, especially for OOS students, but I’d already been admitted by that point anyway. I did like the tour, though the only things I still remember about it were the guide pointing out Davie Poplar and the Pit.</p>

<p>Any prospective students need to take the “Duke students are unfriendly” comments with a huge bucket of salt. I am not going to dispute opinions, of course, and I’ll take their word that they came across some rude individuals. The vast majority of Duke students are an enormously friendly lot, however – check out the visit reports, where the friendliness of Duke faculty and students gets rave reviews.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/duke-university/comments7.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/duke-university/comments7.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/duke-university/comments8.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/duke-university/comments8.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>I took the LSAT around Duke yesterday and then walked around that square… agghh what’s its name? It had a little record store and El Rodeo. I was really impressed!</p>

<p>I think the main thing is that Duke and Carolina are just really different in terms of campus life. I feel like I’m in a different universe when I’m ever around Duke, but not necessarily in a bad way. If I could compare the schools as concisely as possible - Carolina: Big, booming. Duke: small, elite. That said, I wouldn’t choose Duke over Carolina for academic reasons (or vise versa). Unless you’re not into the engineering opportunities at Carolina and want something more traditional, but for everything else, Carolina trains you well. I think the choice really just comes down to feel and cost.</p>

<p>I hate reading that people don’t like our tours - I haven’t given one since the summer, but it makes me want to go shadow tours and see what’s going wrong. If you ever feel that way, DO talk to someone about it while you’re there. We’re always trying to become better and the tours have seen a lot of changes in the past few years (shifting focus to more experience-based rather than fact-based, lengthening) and I know everyone who works there really appreciates genuine feedback.</p>

16

<p>You can’t go wrong with UNC or Duke. However, here are some things you should consider:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>UNC will give you a better all-around college experience. Chapel Hill is considered one of the best(if not the best) college towns. Franklin Street is awesome. Not nearly as much stuff to do at Duke.</p></li>
<li><p>Duke has 80 percent out-of-state, a lot of Northerners. UNC has 80 percent from state of North Carolina. </p></li>
<li><p>Duke will give you better connections in terms of getting to know people with parents who may own a business or be an executive.</p></li>
<li><p>Athletics: UNC’s football team is better, but the basketball teams are both great.</p></li>
<li><p>Cost</p></li>
</ol>

17

<ol>
<li><p>The bell curve is a lot more squished at Duke: though the smartest people at UNC and the smartest people at Duke are as smart and hardworking as each other, more or less, there are a lot more dumb people at UNC.</p></li>
<li><p>Frats and sororities have a better time of it at UNC, so I hear. The Duke ones don’t even really have houses, right?</p></li>
<li><p>I think UNC has better architecture. Duke is nice-looking, but I despise faked or copied buildings.</p></li>
<li><p>The facilities at Duke are about a million times better. UNC has some good stuff, but it’s uneven. Perkins/Bostock library at Duke blows Davis out of the water.</p></li>
<li><p>Duke is more international. You are much more likely to meet foreign students there (and not just exchange students who are just there for a year or a semester).</p></li>
<li><p>Duke has a bigger name outside NC, though inside NC it is widely hated.</p></li>
<li><p>The disparity between the wealth of the university and the surrounding areas is much more pronounced at Duke. Many students (unreasonably, in my opinion – they should have a bit more courage) at Duke are afraid to walk in many nearby areas. There are pockets of poverty in Chapel Hill, but they are more hidden from the university.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>keepittoyourself</p>

18

<p>I take issue with #9. Davis Library is the largest library in the state of North Carolina, and while it may not be as beautiful as Perkins/Bostock, it has a LOT of stuff. Also, Wilson Library has one of the premier historical document collections in all of the United States, particularly when it comes to southern history. It is a widely known fact that if you want to write a book about a historical event in the south, you have to come to Chapel Hill and visit Wilson as part of your research.</p>

19

<p>I wasn’t talking about the research holdings, which are great at UNC but not likely to be too relevant to most undergrad students. I meant the work environment and quality of the furniture, and overall pleasantness of the Duke libraries. Sorry I wasn’t clearer.</p>