<p>Hi,</p>
<p>We're making a trip to NC to look at University of NC Asheville - are there any other state schools we should visit. Appalachin is also on our list.</p>
<p>Any general comments or thoughts about state schools? Are any known for anything specific?</p>
<p>Well, it appears that you will be in Western N.C. If you were to come a bit east, you could visit UNC Chapel Hill, and N.C. State.</p>
<p>Sorry, don't forget UNC-Charlotte, which is closer to your western visit.</p>
<p>Agree with quopoe. NCSU really known mostly for engineering and sciences, but the humanities depts are also really very good, too. UNC-CH is the flagship, and is an incredible university--strong in many, many depts (has no engineering)--just a wonderful school, great campus, and near-perfect college town. You should try to visit both as Boone is only about 3 hours from Chapel Hill/Raleigh area.<br>
UNC-Wilmington (at the beach) is strong in marine sciences.</p>
<p>The whole UNC system is worth a look basically (minus Pembroke IMO), the only one not mentioned was UNC Greensboro.</p>
<p>UNC-Greensboro has a very strong English/Creative Writing Dept. (not sure what the other strong depts are)
I forgot, too, that NCSU has a very good design school as well.
East Carolina, in Greenville has some outstanding depts, especially the visual and performing arts (but you are stuck in Greenville if you go there . . . )
NC School of the Arts in Winston Salem-- amazing performing arts school.</p>
<p>C'mon Jack...G'ville is the cultural center of eastern NC. They don't call it G-Vegas for nothing. I'm from a tiny town in eastern NC and couldn't wait to leave and go to the city of G'ville which I dearly loved. Go Pirates!</p>
<p>Other strong (and unique within the system) departments at NC State include Textiles,Natural Resources (includes all kinds of environmental type stuff), Forestry, Agriculture, Food Science, Wood and Paper Science (hardly anyone has heard of that but those kids get great jobs after grad.), Architecture (also at UNCC) and Meteorology (also offered at UNCA). S is a rising Jr. and loves Raleigh and NCSU. </p>
<p>I have heard that UNC Greensboro is very good for music and interior design and nursing.</p>
<p>Nobody mentioned Western Carolina. It's a small state school but in a very remote location. Good for some kids but not for ones who need a lot of nightlife/entertainment. Kid across the street from us just grauated from Western and loved it there. Others I know say it's boring.</p>
<p>Anyone know anything about UNC-Wilmington?</p>
<p>Oops, sorry about the slight to Greenville, PackMom. I knew there had to be some people out there who love Greenville.</p>
<p>northeastmom: UNC-Wilmington is pretty much at the beach; students love it-- for obvious reasons. I know they are strong in marine science, and they have a strong creative writing dept, including an MFA program, but I'm not familiar with what else is there.</p>
<p>jack is right about wilmington-- its very nice, on the water, great place to live...but its got some strong academic areas--</p>
<p>unc chapel hill is probably the best-- and definitely the hardest to get into for out of state</p>
<p>Be aware that all NC state schools now require 4 years of math to apply
(one year beyond Alg 1, Geom, Alg 2). Our school district only requires 3 to graduate so some students found out too late that they could not apply to some of these schools. For those students that are really not as strong in math this could be a consideration. Good luck with your search!</p>
<p>smcnair, Do you know any other areas that Wilmington is strong in?</p>
<p>I am asking about UNC-W b/c we might go to Holden Beach over the summer or in Sept., and might be able to see UNC-Wilmington at that time. When looking at mapquest it looked to me like Holden Beach and Wilmington are an hour apart by car. It seems like a good opportunity to see the school. If there are any other schools within an hour of Holden Beach, please post that information. Thanks.</p>
<p>PA Mom: Most kids finish up with Calculus, at least, and I'm pretty sure most finish up with Alg 2 as a sophomore (and, if on a fast track, as a freshman). Do Pa schools not require this? What about entry into Penn State? I would have thought Penn State required more math than that. I'm just curious. Only going through Alg 2 is not a lot of high school math, typically.</p>
<p>Actually, in our school district the "fast-track" kids take alg 1 in 8th grade and then will finish up with calculus their senior year ( although only 3 years are required to graduate). The students that are college prep, but maybe a little less mathematically inclined, start algebra 1 in 9th grade and finish with pre-calc their senior year.
Then there are the bright kids that just aren't strong in math and stop taking math their senior year because they have "met the graduation requirements" .Many colleges that are not the super-selective only require 3 years of math so they are fine. However, NC passed the requirement in 2006 that all state schools ( regardless of the level of selectivity) need the 4 years of math. My d had looked at UNC W and found out that she could not have appy, although with her stats they had told her she had a good shot at the Honors program.( not seeing her full transcript and knowing that she only had 3 years of math) Kind of weird. Fortunately it was not one of her top choices anyway.
My d was accepted to Penn State main campus with 3 years of math. She had strong SAT scores and a GPA as well as good ec's so I guess it was not an issue. Now I have D2 who is looking at schools and refuses to take that 4th year of math - and she is a PSAT high scorer. Go figure. Fortunately neither of them were looking to go to highly selective schools.</p>
<p>I should have added that neither of my d's plan to major in the sciences - one communications and one art - so higher level math shouldn't be an issue. </p>
<p>I know that kids looking at Chapel Hill will surely need at least pre-calc to be competitive, but wasn't sure if they knew that they would need beyond algebra 2 for one of the lesser known NC state schools. : ) </p>
<p>note- GC did tell D1 that she would limit her choices by dropping math after Alg 2- but it was not enough incentive to suffer through another year I guess. LOL</p>
<p>PA Mom: Thanks. That's pretty much the route here, too, though there is a faster track that finishes up with Calc in the junior year. The middle "fast track" finishes up with Alg 1 in 8th grade and calc in senior year, like your school district. </p>
<p>I know that the UNC system always required more than the NC high school graduation requirements, so I believe that's why they made a change-- so that all the NC high schools would meet the UNC system requirements--something like that-- which is a good thing--I think. I'm still surprised, though, that Penn State requires only 3 years of math.</p>
<p>Rightfit: Our D is planning to visit about 5 or 6 NC schools and we will or have already visited Appalachian University in Boone NC, UNC-W in Wilmington NC, Gardner Webb University in Boiling Springs which is a private school and her first choice so far, UNCC in Charlotte close to where we live, Mars Hill in Mars Hill NC about 18 mi. from Asheville, NC, Wingate University in Wingate, NC right outside of Monroe, UNC-Chapel Hill located close to Durham/Raleigh area, and NC State which is in Raleigh, NC. We might also visit Campbell University a small private school located in Buies Creek, NC, and Elon University also a private school located in Burlington, NC. You might want to check into UNC-Greensboro, and Brevard College too. There are some awesome colleges in NC which offer reasonable tution, chances to study abroad, very qualified, experienced, and personable professors, and an environment that is academically challenging and condusive to your child making long-lasting solid friendships during their college years. Good Luck!</p>
<p>My D's guidance counselor said she encourages the students to take up to precal unless they are going to major in math in college and then they should finish with calculus. D will take precal next year as senior and if she needs to take calculus will wait til freshman year in college where there are better teachers teaching it. She will be an education major and plans to teach middle school english so probably won't be taking higher than precal anyway.</p>
<p>Sorry to have changed the course of this thread.
I wanted to add another funny kind of note- PA requires 4 years of Physical education to graduate but 3 years of math?? LOL Not that PE's bad -I do think it is important- just not more important than math. : )</p>
<p>
[quote]
Nobody mentioned Western Carolina. It's a small state school but in a very remote location. Good for some kids but not for ones who need a lot of nightlife/entertainment. Kid across the street from us just grauated from Western and loved it there. Others I know say it's boring.
[/quote]
I spent an awesome summer at Western, so I'll put in a good word for it. Yes, the surrounding area was a bit boring (we fought to go to the Wal-Mart), but WCU has been making strides to improve this.</p>
<p>The area around Western is absolutely gorgeous, and the campus itself is rather attractive. Sciences are strong, especially biology and geology. The location lends itself well to field research, and it's the only university I know of that has an archaeological dig in the middle of its campus. Students have the option of eating at the food court (various vendors) or Brown Cafeteria, and the food was fairly good. The gym/athletic facilities and the student union are well-equipped and heavily used. The library has most of the books a student would want or need, and an interlibrary system with other western NC universities provides books that WCU doesn't have. </p>
<p>Appalachian State is certainly worth a look. It has the best college town I know of (including Chapel Hill). App State has had a reputation for teacher production, and it's strong in most liberal arts majors.</p>
<p>northeastmom- Education and psychology are also strong/popular at UNCW.</p>