The Future Winner Among State Us is…U North Carolina?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>With apologies to (IMO) highest quality and most undergraduate-focused state university in the land, W&M, the consensus Top 5 State Us are UC Berkeley, U Virginia, UCLA, U Michigan and U North Carolina. Of these, I think that U North Carolina may be the best positioned financially to improve its position among top American universities. </p>

<p>Unlike the other highly ranked State Us which face enormous challenges (exploding budget problems in California, serious endowment losses at U Virginia, crumbling economy in Michigan), U North Carolina’s finances are sound and the state’s economy, from which it draws over 80% of its students, is comparatively diverse and strong. It is one of the few publics that offers 100% need-based financial aid to eligible in-state AND out-of-state students and its Cost of Attendance is, by far, the most attractive of the top ranked publics. IMO, U North Carolina’s comparative financial and structural advantages position the college to attract higher quality faculty and students and provide more services to its students. </p>

<p>So, top students, if you are looking for reasonably priced state universities as possible college destinations, I urge you to put U North Carolina on your list of colleges to consider.</p>

2

<p>Definitely true. My guidance counsler told me that I’d probably have a better shot at getting into Duke than UNC from out of state.</p>

3

<p>they are definitely bringing up the caliber of in-state acceptances as well. Kids from my school (small private) with 3.5-3.7 unweighted gpa’s and 1900-2100 SATs can’t really count on it as a safety anymore. apparently NCSU is doing the same thing (but on a lower level)</p>

4

<p>I definitely agree. I put UNC on my shortlist for graduate school above Berkeley, UCLA, and Michigan partially because of funding availability and the influx of recruited professors.</p>

5

<p>

What are UNC’s current bond ratings? Are they at the highest possible? If not, why not?</p>

<p>How’s UNC’s current endowment compared to the other top 5 state universities? Why does it come in a distant 5th?</p>

6

<p>I graduated from an NC high school, although turned down UNC-Chapel Hill for a small LAC because of pure preference. Although I definitely plan on coming back home to North Carolina for a UNC graduate or professional program. Cheap, cheap tuition for a very prestigious research university.</p>

7

<p>This is very true. I’m from NC and it’s getting tougher every year for average kids to get in unless their athletic recruits. Each class is getting better in many respects. The price tag is also very attractive around $6,000. The academics and faculty are also very strong. It’s location is very great (it’s located in the Research Triangle). Let me put it this way, If UNC-Chapel Hill isn’t on your list it should be for many reasons.</p>

8

<p>It’s too bad they farmed all the engineering programs out to NC State…</p>

9

<p>What’s the weather like there in the late spring and early fall?
I’m familiar with the mid-Atlantic, can just about tolerate the winters, but would hate a climate that gets any more hot and muggy in the other 3 seasons.</p>

10

<p>While UNCC is a wonderful college, if said “top” student has the stats to get in OOS, they’d also get into plenty of wonderful private colleges, some with merit money. But even so, UNCC is a relative bargain for OOS.</p>

11

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<p>This is true, but few private colleges ranked in the top 30 can offer the combination of academic and athletic successes that are enjoyed by UNC students. One that does immediately come to mind is Vanderbilt. However, most of the top-25 private schools are smaller and don’t have the big-time sports scene that UNC has, so that could be a factor if the hypothetical applicant was deciding between UNC OOS and, for example, Emory.</p>

12

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<p>What has Vandy had athletic success in? Their football team went to and won its first bowl game in like 20 years. Their basketball team didn’t even make the NCAA tournament this year and I’m not exactly
sure if it even made the NIT. I know their baseball team was pretty good a few years ago, but for the most part, Vandy’s athletic success is sporadic.</p>

<p>USC is probably the best multi-sport private in the top 30.</p>

13

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<p>Heh sounds kind of like Tech. They can’t start new programs at will even if they would undoubtedly skyrocket in reputation from being attached to the school. I’m sure UNC would have a well-reputed engineering school within 5-10 years of starting one.</p>

14

<p>

The same could be said about any public university. :confused:</p>

<p>As a correction, UNCC is UNC Charlotte.</p>

15

<p>

Not really, UNC (if you are referring to UNC) is especially difficult. Not the case with Michigan or Virginia.</p>

16

<p>UGA has gotten harder over the years. I would def. add it to the list.</p>

17

<p>GoBlue,
I’m not sure about the bond ratings, but I’m not too sure that they are that impactful to the undergraduate students that might attend a public college as an OOS student. Bond ratings probably have more meaning to the university as a whole, particularly the grad programs which often have a high fixed cost, don’t get a ton of tuition revenue and require ongoing financing. Undergrad education is probably mostly covered from tuition, sometimes at significantly higher cost for OOS students. </p>

<p>As for financial things that would be relevant to a prospective undergraduate student, I ask the following questions in making some comparisons of these highly rated publics. </p>

<ol>
<li>What does the school cost for an OOS student? What is the % of OOS students and is there scope for increasing their numbers?<br></li>
</ol>

<p>Cost of Attendance for OOS students, % OOS</p>

<p>$29,629, 18% U North Carolina
$37,202, 28% U Virginia
$41,222, 4% UCLA
$42,752, 10% UC Berkeley
$43,009, 32% U Michigan</p>

<ol>
<li>For students with financial need, what is the average size of the financial packages that are offered?</li>
</ol>

<p>Avg FA Package for OOS student, % of COA for OOS student</p>

<p>$18,568 , 63% , U North Carolina OOS
$21,935 , 59% , U Virginia OOS
$21,607 , 52% , UCLA OOS
$21,868 , 51% , UC Berkeley OOS<br>
$20,971 , 49% , U Michigan OOS</p>

<ol>
<li>What is the percentage of need met for the lower-income OOS students?</li>
</ol>

<p>100%, U North Carolina OOS
100%, U Virginia OOS
85%, UC Berkeley OOS<br>
80%, UCLA OOS
62%, U Michigan OOS</p>

<p>I think that the California schools may be under real financial pressure to maintain these levels of aid. </p>

<ol>
<li>For the Faculty Resources measurement done by USNWR, how do these schools compare on a national basis with other national universities?</li>
</ol>

<p>50th, U North Carolina (was 50th in 2008)
35th, U Virginia (was 36th in 2008)
33rd, UC Berkeley (improved from 38th in 2008)
42nd, UCLA (was 42nd in 2008)
72nd, U Michigan (declined from 69th in 2008)</p>

18

<p>UNC is much harder to get into out of state than in state. I think some of my classmates who have UNC as their dream school don’t realize how lucky they are.</p>

19

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<p>Well yes, and no. IMO, UNC is the HARDEST top public in which to be admitted OOS. Thus, for the masses, it ain’t worth the app fee. A couple of years ago, Princeton Review used to joke that UNC was harder to get into than Duke from OOS.</p>

<p>Bcos they accept so many more OOS (%), UVA is an easier admit than UNC for OOS. I’d guess that Cal was similar to UVa. Then UCLA and then Michigan. (Heck Michigan is easier OOS than Cal is instate.)</p>

20

<p>^^^^That’s because Michigan has about 10 million people in it, compared to over 37 million in California. Cal and U-M are about the same in undergraduate enrollment. UVA and UNC have no where near the UG enrollment of Michigan. I mean how can you compare a public university in terms of difficulty in admission to a school that enrolls 12,000 less undergraduates every year like UVA does to UMich? Or a school like UNC that has 8,000 fewer students at the undergraduate level? Naturally Michigan is going to have a higher acceptance rate. Just like they have a higher amount of highly ranked departments across many more disciplines than UVA and UNC.</p>