UNC Academic Prestige

Hi everyone,

West Coast parent here. My son is choosing between UCLA and UNC. We’re very familiar with west coast schools, but not all to familiar with the East.

Could someone kindly speak to the academic prestige of UNC? I know there are a lot of rankings out there, but I’d like to hear from real people.

My understanding is that UNC is a public Ivy, along with UVA. So how does that work? Do people in the East Cost who want academic reputation shoot for Ivys as well as UVA and UNC?

Does a UNC degree carry weight in Washington DC and New York? and even in the west coast?

My son is thinking about majoring in Computer Science, Economics with a minor in PPE.

Thank you for your time and would appreciate your thoughts and comments.

I can speak for my child- an out of state student from the northeast who attended a large public HS.

My D graduated at the very top from HS but chose not to apply to an Ivy because she did not love most of them and was scared of the pressure. She did apply to 3 private schools just below this level and got into 2- waitlisted to 1. She got into UVA and UNC. She loved UNC and it cost less.

The academics are top notch and my daughter works hard… but she also has time to be very, very involved in her clubs, attend concerts on campus, etc. She is close with her professors, has (is) been involved in research, has been invited to two special events so far to speak and present, and has a great internship this summer. We wanted strong academics with balance ( high strung kid) and we got it. There are UNC alums in NY as my D has spoken to them and gone to events sponsored in restaurants where they go ( and where food is named after UNC which is very cool). We went to a local event in Manhattan where recent grads spoke and they were all employed. I don’t have more specific info.

If you live in Cal you are in a predicament because UCLA is also outstanding and is likely cheaper for you. Please PM me if you have any questions.

What do you think the pros are of UNC as opposed to UVA (besides cost)?

Yes, a UNC-CH carries weight in NYC and DC. I cannot comment for the west coast since I am not from that area. However, UNC-CH is nationally known.

Like the west coast, the east coast is not homogenous. I am originally from the NE and many in the NE will dream of going to the Ivies and put the Ivies on a pedestal. Many will also look at UNC-CH and UVA both for their prestige, lower cost and more importantly for the quality of education. Many will look down at the their our state schools even though some of them are excellent. I am now living in NC and it seems that the dream of many kids is to go to UNC-CH. We take great pride in our state schools. In addition, there will be many kids at UNC-CH that got accepted at the Ivies or had Ivy type stats and choose UNC-CH. Many due to financial reasons.

I see UNC and UVA as similar schools, with UNC costing less. I don’t think you will go wrong with either, and should compare majors and overall fit.

@pac12bound - UNC a really good reputation. The OOS tuition is a pretty good deal (lower) among peer institutions. However, if you have in-state tuition at UCLA I’d strongly consider in-state tuition at UCLA over out of state tuition at UNC.

One other point about CS at UNC - my daughter is a CS major at UNC. She loves it. In addition to offering a BA or BS in Computer Science, UNC offers an option to stay for a 5th year and earn a combined BS/MS in Computer Science. Might be worth a look.

@DevilStick Thank you! That was was very helpful. Fortunately, we good a good financial aid package where UNC will cost about $3,000 more per year. So it’s not too bad. There are other intangibles. My son loves college basketball (he played in high school was a 3rd grade boys basketball coach for our city league). In addition, the feeling that I get is that he might like the student life better at UNC (heard UCLA is intense and competitive).

Could I ask a question about CS? Did your daughter need to apply to get into the major? In other words, is it competitive? Or did she just declare and all they require is a GPA requirement or something.

The BS/MS combo sounds good! Thanks for the tip!

@pac12bound My daughter picked CS on her application and entered as a CS major. However, I believe becoming a CS major is simply a matter of declaring it - unlike majors such as business with a separate school and application process (e.g., Kenan-Flagler).

However, if he wants to do the BS/MS program he’d apply in his junior year - there’s info on the CS Department web site on requirements. The BS requires more math compared to the BA option. With the projected shortage of computer engineers I think the BA option is perfectly fine.

Also, I don’t get the sense from my daughter that the CS program is cut throat. The CS professors do things like make “test programs” available to student to help them check their projects. My daughter is still in her first year but she already tutors her classmates for some extra pocket money. (Some of the introductory CS classes are a popular way for non-CS majors to fulfill a gen ed requirement.)

I’d agree that with a differential of only $3K per year it’s reasonable to choose either UNC or UCLA. Both are great schools so he’s in a good place.

@DevilStick Thanks for your comments again! Another plus for UNC is that it’s semester system. My son talked to a lot of Bruins at Bruin Day and they said the quarter system is brutal. Semester seems more manageable and allows some time to breathe.

Also, he is interested in history, politics and philosophy too. I heard that UNC and East coast schools might bet better because there is a longer history there than the west. Also, there’s the proximity to DC. So he might double major or just do a minor in CS

That’s the thing, I feel there’s more flexibility with majors and minors at UNC. That’s the feel.

Also, he’s been west coast all his life. I think he wants something different. Four seasons!

@pac12bound I’m not familiar with the quarter system, but UNC seems pretty flexible about double majoring and having a minor. My daughter is considering a couple of minors in addition to CS. You can choose up to three majors/minors as I recall.

DC will be a bit hard to reach as a first year (no cars allowed), but I suppose if he rents or brings a car out as an upperclassman he could visit DC, colonial Williamsburg, Monticello, etc. Or maybe that’ll be his cover story for taking road trips to visit the women’s colleges in NC/VA (haha).

If you and your son haven’t visited Chapel Hill (distance, etc.), you might check out the video below to get a sense of what the campus is like. Not as good as an in-person tour but better than nothing. I checked out a few videos on Youtube and this one seems like the best of the bunch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNsUh5l4fJE

@pac12bound: To clarify, is your son currently a senior in high school, who is choosing between UCLA and UNC to matriculate in August 2017?

If your son wants an urban campus, he will not get it in Chapel Hill. But Chapel Hill has its charms, although it may be a bit of a leap of faith for your son without seeing the campus in person.

Student academic life at UNC is not competitive in the way that I think you describe for UCLA. I have a first-year at UNC who seems to be pretty happy there.

I just hope that there will still be college basketball at UNC after the NCAA gets done with its investigation/adjudication; I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

@gandalf78 Thanks for the reply. Speaking of the basketball program…is there a good possibility that sanctions might come?

My son doesn’t want an urban campus. We live in a small college town in CA so he won’t mind. I don’t think setting matters so much as the quarter/semester system and basketball.

@DevilStick Thanks for the reply. My son and wife are going to visit next week, so he’ll get a feel for it. thanks for the video!

FYI, next week is the last week of classes. However, it is really a nice time to visit. Pollen and allergies has been bad recently but hopefully the rain will clear things out.

Chapel Hill does have four seasons but the winters tend to be very mild.

As far as the cost difference, CH does try to keep the costs down. The meal plan are flexible from no meal plan to full meal plan. They have an excellent and free bus system so living off campus after Freshman year is very doable. I believe dorms are now open during breaks (except XMAS) so it is possible to stay on campus during breaks. You will need to verify this.

@pac12bound: I don’t know about the likelihood of sanctions; the allegations regarding lack of institutional control are the ones with the most potential for bad results.

Here is a Raleigh newspaper’s overview of things right after new/revised allegations came out back in December: http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/unc/article122420449.html

My son picked UNC! He loved his visit. Just submitted his SIR. Thank you everyone for your help.

Congratulations!

@twogirls Thank you! Your PM helped. I’m looking forward to moving him in. The other plus is I’m moving my ffamily to VA this summer, so he’ll be closer (that might have factored into his decision too). He can come home for the holidays.

My son fell in love with it also and is attending this fall. Best wishes!

@pac12bound Congrats! Glad he was able to make a visit to help his decision.