<p>I'm curious as to what factors put UNC-Charlotte into the Top 10 of National Universities on the US News and World Report list of Up and Coming Colleges? I can understand how many of the other schools made the list, but am not sure what is going on at this school to warrant this honor.</p>
<p>What are the major developments/changes at this school?</p>
<p>They’re going D-I in football in a few years.</p>
<p>no idea. It is not highly regarded by the students at my high school in NC.</p>
<p>It’s a mystery to me as well. I find it hard to believe that a Tier 2 (1AA) football team which will not begin play until 2013 caused a bunch of Deans and Provosts in 2008 to rank it among the most up-and-coming National Universities in the United States.</p>
<p>Clearly, something else is at play, but I can’t put my finger on it.</p>
<p>Any takers out there?</p>
<p>I know they’ve really improved their facilities and have worked hard to diversify their campus. However, I don’t have any details as to what they’ve done to achieve these things. Any current students out there who can provide some input here?</p>
<p>They have been upgrading their engineering school facilities.</p>
<p>I live in NC, and most kids I know settle for Charlotte instead of choosing it.</p>
<p>That being said, for those seeking work in the finance sector, it is a great place to be. Charlotte is famous for being the “banking capital” of America, with high-profile companies like Bank of America and Wachovia calling it home – and seeking interns.</p>
<p>This all sounds rather bleak to an OOS student who has been admitted but now has to interview for a place in the architecture department. What is it that makes IS students feel they are settling? Academics not highly rated? Is it more of a commuter school?</p>
<p>Anyone-- why is UNC Charlotte considered a “settle” school rather than a “choose” school?</p>
<p>The only reason students consider it a settle school as opposed to a top choice is because there are alternatives available. If you want to study humanities and science, chapel hill is great. If you want to study engineering or design (including architecture) ncsu is better. With those great alternatives, it only makes sense that charlotte is knocked down to second tier. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean it isn’t a great school. My girlfriend is applying to their architecture program too, but is dying to get into ncsu’s more prestigious program.</p>
<p>As someone who has seen the Engineering facilities at both UNC Charlotte and NCSU, I was far more impressed with UNC Charlotte facilties. State of the art equipment and some of the coolest things that I have ever seen.</p>
<p>I spoke to a relative who is an academic at a CC Top 10 university and he said, without my asking, that he has heard UNCC is coming up in the world. I’m just throwing that out there because it may be that this is a school on the rise and those who get in now will reap the benefits in the future…</p>
<p>Im currently a student at UNCC, and while it is changing, it definitely still holds on to the reputation of a commuter school (I should know, I am one). As far as everything else goes, I didn’t even apply to Chapel Hill, though looking back now I think I could have gotten in. I guess it depends on what you want to study. I am studying accounting, and chapel hill only has a general BSBA route. Plus, since I grew up here and still live here, its somewhat easier for me to get internships. Just my personal experience though.</p>
<p>dsteve27, thanks for your perspective. I wonder how an OOS student will feel at UNCC, like he’s the only one left on campus when all the commuters leave on Friday night? DS liked the atmosphere but was only able to visit for a day and didn’t get to see the school on a weekend.</p>
<p>I am currently a second semester sophomore in the Mechanical Engineering and Physics dual major program at UNCCharlotte. Charlotte is a much better school than people give it credit for. Ironically, more people from over seas know about it than people in the U.S. Engineering wise we have great programs. I originally was going to go to NCSU for mechanical, and felt the same way originally (settling) about coming to to Charlotte. Fortunately, you learn that the program is comparable, and in a great many ways better than NCSU’s. NCSU has the advantage of a long reputation, but it wouldn’t surprise me if over the next few years/decade that UNC Charlotte’s program will out rank state’s. We also have a serious motorsports engineering program, the largest precision metrology lab in the country. We are kicking out some of the highest amount’s of patents at any college in the U.S. (can’t remember the exact number).
Our physics program is also top notch, one of the 5th in the country.</p>
<p>There are a lot more students who live on campus than you would believe. I don’t, but I’m 27 and own a home, so yea. You definitely would not be the only student left on Friday night. I have a number of classmates from out of state. Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Georgia, etc. All states that have very good engineering schools, but have chosen to come to UNC Charlotte.</p>
<p>Now I can’t speak too much for all of the other programs at UNC Charlotte. I know their business program is good. As for anything else, all I know is that my friends who went there and got degrees generally have been really successful, which is part of the purpose of going to college in the first place.</p>
<p>It’s a beautiful campus, and it is a growing campus. They are adding more dorms to try and keep up with the growing student population. Approximately 4,800 students live on campus, or about 20% of the entire student population. I don’t know the exact number, but a large number of students live in apartments just near campus.</p>
<p>It’s so inexpensive, also. Even for out-of-staters, the price seems quite reasonable.I would like to hear more positive things about it, as it’s a safety school for my daughter and we have not visited yet. She was accepted EA.</p>
<p>Another reason why UNCC is rated as an up-and-coming university is the first-rate reputation of its School of Architecture. It’s not as old as NC State’s architecture program, but by most standards, UNCC ranks as having the best architecture school in NC. The facilities are amazing, the professors are incredibly dedicated and the students are first-rate. Sure, the campus may lack the ambiance of an older university, but for architecture students, it’s not a factor: they’re working so hard, they don’t have time to waste on other things.
Applicants to UNCC architecture have to go through a rigorous application and interview process. Levels for SAT and GPA are the highest among incoming freshmen.
Most students who are accepted to both programs choose UNCC’s architecture program over that of NCSU.</p>
<p>The Charlotte University City that surrounds University of North Carolina at Charlotte has a pretty high crime rate. That helps to make the school experience a very exciting one. The school has invested a lot of money in things like a high tech SWAT and communications, and a 45 million dollar football stadium things that will cost students and taxpayers more and more money in time. That tends to impress the media.</p>
<p>My kids were about ready to begin school there, but in July, we decided to dip into our 401K and send them elsewhere. They’re sitting out a whole semester while they await acceptance to better and safer places to attend school. </p>
<p>For more info about the crime near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte take a look at this website. It helped us to change our minds.</p>
<p>[Thinking</a> of Attending UNCC? Think Again!: For Those Who Are Considering Attending UNCC](<a href=“http://thinkingofattendinguncc.blogspot.com/2012/06/for-those-who-are-considering-attending.html]Thinking”>http://thinkingofattendinguncc.blogspot.com/2012/06/for-those-who-are-considering-attending.html)</p>
<p>Scroll through the entire blog. It’s all published reports from other media.</p>
<p>ConcernedWorried–do you have nothing better to do that bash UNCC? Really…you revive a thread that is over TWO years old just to rant about UNCC? The only two posts that you have ever made on CC are the two you have made with the same intent of airing your negative feelings about the school. And as support you cite a blog that is more than a bit odd. </p>
<p>What is your preoccupation with the new football stadium? Every public and private university that I have visited in the last 3 years (about 15 different colleges in 6 different states) has had ongoing construction–including some very major projects. And given the statistics about crime (which seem to be high near many state universities in NC, check the headlines in Raleigh this month for UNC CH and NCSU) I am glad that, according to you, UNC Charlotte has invested in SWAT and communications</p>
<p>By-the-way, I thought you said in your other post that your daughter was admitted and attending UNC Chapel Hill. I hope that is correct and that she has other alternatives than UNC C because she will clearly not be happy there given your strong feelings about the school.</p>
<p>I found this forum while looking for news about the girl who was raped at UNC and came across that article, and three other articles about UNCC (and then I came across this forum). There were THREE rapes at UNCC during 2012, all of which were reported by local news and the school newspaper. Despite the fact that people want to delude themselves into believing that UNCC is a “Great Bang for the Buck”, UNCC remains a third-tier university. (The insanely-priced football stadium may bump it up a notch, but that doesn’t do much for the academics). I grew up in Charlotte. I did undergraduate studies there, then I moved on. My parents still live there, so I visit every year or so, and I am quite familiar with the area. </p>
<p>The campus is, indeed, attractive, but that doesn’t mitigate the fact that many undergraduate classes are overcrowded despite the capital improvement expenditures. The school’s admissions standards are comparatively low, so almost anyone who applies is accepted. The problem with accepting almost everyone is that you get ALL types of people, some of whom are criminals. (The school’s own crime reports bear this out). Three rapes on-campus in one year point to a very big problem, especially when one considers the fact that two of the rapes happened in the girls’ dormitory, and another occurred at 5:00 pm in the bathroom of a well-traveled classroom building. </p>
<p>While the campus is quite attractive, the areas immediately surrounding it are blighted and crime-infested. One can very easily get a big bang and lose his bucks and never even attend a class at UNCC. If one lives in a nearby apartment, he may be sharing an apartment with drug-dealing non-students.</p>
<p>Though LHSCary calls ConcernedWorried’s response bashing the school, everything mentioned in his/her response is true. The blog that he/she mentioned is, admittedly, crime-oriented. That tends to take the gloss off UNCC’s 24/7 PR machine’s stories about the school’s impending glorious breakthrough. I highly recommend the blog that Concerned mentioned. In case the link is broken, I’ll publish it again: </p>
<p>[Thinking</a> of Attending UNCC? Think Again!: For Those Who Are Considering Attending UNCC](<a href=“http://thinkingofattendinguncc.blogspot.com/2012/06/for-those-who-are-considering-attending.html]Thinking”>http://thinkingofattendinguncc.blogspot.com/2012/06/for-those-who-are-considering-attending.html)</p>
<p>So what DOES make UNCC an “Up-and-Coming” university? Those who must have a football team associated with their degrees may find the addition of a stadium and a bunch of guys running around chasing a ball quite attractive. Those who like pretty landscaping will surely appreciate the campus. Unfortunately, neither of those do much good for the student’s studies. UNCC has a fairly good (but limited) engineering program because the state dumped a lot of money into it to make it the “MIT of the South”. MIT it isn’t. Besides, a university cannot base its reputation upon one program alone.</p>
<p>If you want a cheap bachelor’s degree, UNCC is the place to go. If you aspire to attend a good graduate school after your undergrad studies, UNCC isn’t such a good choice because UNCC isn’t so highly regarded by other schools, not even NC schools. Foreign students and out-of-state students pay entirely too much for what they get, especially when one considers the fact that the university is a commuter college, a suitcase college where the majority of the on-campus population pack their bags on Thursday and go home to mommy and daddy. The rest go home after each class, leaving the on-campus population to twiddle their thumbs for the weekend or chance it and go off-campus to the “uptown” area where the expensive restaurants and bars are, then take a city bus back to campus that goes through THE WORST part of the city. I understand that UNCC now has a bus running from campus to uptown and back because it realizes just how bad the trip through North Tryon is. </p>
<p>On a positive note: the foreign teachers are actually very good, and their supposed problems with the English language are blown way out of proportion.</p>