When you walk through the towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, you see rainbow flags, signs welcoming nursing mothers, signs welcoming all people regardless of who or what they are. That is the vibe in the town of CH (and Carrboro), which merges with the campus.
There is also an area off campus where frat houses are, but they are easy to avoid if that’s not your thing. Greek life is not huge. It’s there if you want it, and it’s easy to avoid if you don’t.
As noted, the town of CH sort of merges into the campus, and it is not unusual to see families with kids strolling the campus. The campus feels liberal, but it has a slightly more conservative feel than the town, which is directly across the street.
On a very typical day you might see the UNC Young Democrats who are out there speaking, you will see students walking to church or to the local Hillel, and you will see kids in the International Students Organization eating lunch outside. There’s a mix of different people, languages spoken, etc. My kid had friends from all over…she was in a research group with students from all over the world. She had roommates who went to church every Sunday, and these roommates were also interested in the Jewish studies class she was taking (one signed up). For the most part (there are exceptions everywhere) it’s a really nice campus with nice people.
Basketball is big, but it’s very easy (and not uncommon) to be a science nerd engrossed in research, as well as a basketball fan.
It’s the kind of place where you can bike ride with your professors, go to their home for dinner, or hang out with them after class. My D remains very friendly with 2 of her profs.
Just responding to your comment that Duke is more “white boy frat culture” than UNC. Statically, 20% of UNC’s student population is in Greek Life, while only 10% of Duke’s is. Similarly, while UNC is 60% non-Hispanic white, Duke is 43% non-Hispanic white. So Duke is meaningfully more diverse than UNC. Chapel Hill itself (the community) is 72% non-Hispanic White while nearby Durham is 49% non-Hispanic white.
Politically, 74% of Chapel Hill voted Democrat in the last Presidential election while 80% did in Durham.
93% voted Democrat in Berkeley, with 4% voting Republican (in NC most who didn’t vote Democrat voted Republican).
One needs to have a high tolerance for the homeless population if one attends Berkeley. Note the University recently unveiled plans for homeless housing right next to student housing, in People’s Park.
UNC is about 20% Greek, but it’s a big campus and it’s easy to avoid. I have seen different percentages for Duke ranging from 10-30%.
Duke absolutely does have more of a “frat boy” feel than UNC. The vibe between the two schools is different. Nothing against Duke- it’s one of the best schools in the country.
The 10% comes from Duke itself, so unless they are being dishonest…
“Today, about 10% of the undergraduate population finds their home in the fraternity and sorority community.”
FWIW, Berkeley has about 20% in Greek life, so comparable to UNC, When I was at UCLA, also a big school, you definitely felt the presence of Greek Life on social culture and collective influence in some major activities. 13% of UCLA students are in Greek Life.
Greek life is not dominant at UNC and you don’t really see it much. That being said, it’s there if you want it.
UNC, being a state school, has less geographic diversity than Duke. Interestingly, when we were at Duke we were told that the majority of their students were from NJ (not sure if that’s still true). A school with a strong northeast presence would not be very diverse to us (geographically speaking).
My daughter welcomed the economic diversity at UNC.
I think your data is off on Duke because a bunch of the frats had to move off campus after getting busted for having parties during COVID. It was a big thing locally. Duke housed the frats in university owned buildings prior to that. I am pretty sure (not !00%) that all the UNC frats and sororities have been off campus in frat or sorority owned housing for many decades. Duke had dorms dedicated to the frats. Nothing like that at UNC.
It’s never been true (at least not in our lifetimes) that a majority of students at Duke come from any one state.
Presently, NJ is the fifth largest contributing state. NC is the first, followed by California, New York and Florida (collectively covering a lot of US regions).
It’s definitely true that the majority of students at UNC, which is one of the schools in question, do come from NC. Only 18% of undergrads can be from out of state by law.
And as you may have surmised by this thread there is a bit of a rivalry between UNC and Duke, heightened by tonight’s basketball game!
Not sure what the stats are on in-state vs OOS at Berkeley, but might be worth looking up if that is something that might matter to you.
I think the main thing to do is to try to visit. UNC and UCB are both excellent schools that could get you where you want to go as far as grad school. I would think it would come down to the nuances of the individual programs, $$, and vibes.
The 2019-2020 (pre-COVID-19) common data set says 3% of men join fraternities and 8.5% of women join sororities, but with a footnote “This data is based on reported rosters; actual numbers may be higher”. I recall that some previous years several years ago had numbers like 11%.
UC Berkeley revokes recognition of 3 fraternities due to hazing activities says that “UC Berkeley now has 58 recognized CalGreeks fraternity and sorority organizations that are active on campus, with about one in 10 undergraduate students who participate in them, as well as five other fraternities and sororities that are starting chapters.” In addition, there are 11 fraternities and 1 sorority that have unrecognized-by-the-campus chapters in the nearby off-campus area.