UNC schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>Im a sophomore at a prestigious Australian University that ranks easily in the top 20 in the world for liberal arts.</p>

<p>I recently got accepted to exchange at UPenn; however, they turned around last minute and said they may not be taking any students next semester. I got deferred to my 2nd choice UNC, Chapel Hill; the same thing happened.</p>

<p>Now I have to apply to another school in the UNC system; however, am totally unsure and was hoping that sombody, anybody would have some advice on which ones are best academically and in terms of social life.</p>

<p>This is the only semester of my degree that I can go, and I would hate to miss out.</p>

<p>I have been looking at:
Appalachian State (they seem to have an amazing art history program, which is one of my majors)</p>

<p>East Carolina University (seems to have a nice campus, good student life however, am a bit reserved about its rep.)</p>

<p>UNC-Asheville: seems nice and artsy. Little bit concerned about the campus and reports I hear that it is a little hippy? </p>

<p>Greensboro-
Wilmington
and
NC State</p>

<p>Does anybody know anything about these schools and their reputations? Especially in terms of student life and what kind of experience one would have there?</p>

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>Okay…so this is a semester abroad thingie for you? You aren’t transferring permanently? Why the deferrals? I find that strange. </p>

<p>AppState is a good school, about 15,000 students in a small mountain community. It does have very strong programs, but it also has a hefty party crowd. </p>

<p>UNC-Asheville is highly regarded. Asheville is larger than Boone, where AppState is located, with more to do. UNC-A is a strong liberal arts college. Yes, the kids tend to be a bit more hippiesh, but not all of them are that way. Wilmington is a very good school and gaining recognition. But its on the coast and its a “beach school”. Lots of party animals there too. Be careful. </p>

<p>NCState is in Raleigh, the state capital. Its the heart of tobacco road, the fearsome foursome of the ACC: UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, NCState and Wake Forest. Big time sports environment. Spring will be basketball season and its ravenous there.</p>

3

<p>I’d choose NC State for the best mix of academics/social scene. After that, UNC Wilmington.</p>

<p>I’d throw out UNCG because, though it’s gotten better, it still has a strong reputation as a commuter school. I like App a lot, but Boone is very small, and quite frankly you might get bored. </p>

<p>My sister is an art history major at UNCA. The program is good, but courses fill up very quickly with juniors and seniors (and super seniors) due to the limited number offered and them being capped at 20 students. It has a very different feel from the others and is much more like an oversized liberal arts college than a university. Athletics and the social scene are more muted than at some of the others.</p>

4

<p>This sounds sketchy. First of all, liberal arts applies to undergrad only, and there is no world ranking of undergrad institutions. Second, when schools in the US accept a student (regular, transfer, exchange, etc.), it will not eat its words. And why would “a sophomore at a prestigious Australian University that ranks easily in the top 20 in the world for liberal arts” such as you want to exchange at Appalachian State, East Carolina University, UNC-Asheville, Greensboro-Wilmington, and NC State. You sound like a ■■■■■.</p>

5

<p>UNC-Wilmington: Hot girls, great social life (you’re living at the beach, after all). Wilmington is a cool city. I’m sure you’d have a lot of fun there. Academically, not as well-respected as some of the other non-flagship campuses, but it is getting there.</p>

<p>App State: Great, cool school. Lots of support for the football program, and in a wonderful location. This would be my choice out of the schools that you have listed.</p>

<p>ECU: G-vegas. Enough said. </p>

<p>NC State: Good people, although they can get to be annoying at times (they’re obsessed with other schools in the area). Raleigh is a great city. Sports have been crappy lately, but are improving. Mainly known as an engineering and agricultural school.</p>

6

<p>UNC-A would be my first choice and has a great art program with small class sizes and well regarded academically. Out of the non-flagship schools, it may be the most liberal but it is North Carolina which is generally pretty conservative. If you want a school that is large with emphasis in sports, NC state is your best bet. UNC-W has the best weather. App and UNC-A are cold, cloudy, and snowy all winter but great places to go if you like mountains and skiing. UNC-G suitcase school. ECU is good for medical stuff and partying.</p>

7

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>The deferrals? Well my university and the two US universities have exchange agreements that they will send x amount of students each semester. As it turns out my university has been sending out more than have been coming in to these schools and they have had to cut down…or cut completly for this semester! (Chapel Hill got a new exchange director_) No ■■■■■■■■, haha.</p>

<p>Secondly, I am a little unsure why I would want to exchange at these schools either. But I am not going as much for the academics, but rather the experience of it. Sometimes, even if just for a semester can we worth it. I would hate to look back and say I didnt do that because I am an intellectual snob.</p>

<p>I considered doing study abroad; however, my majors won’t work at any of the universities in the states with my core requirments here.</p>

<p>As far as the academics go, I have read over reports from previous students at these universities and they say that the academics cant even compare to our final exams. So I guess having a strong social scene is really important to me.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info on appalachian. It sounds like a great school, love love love the art history and curatorship programs. However, I am a little scared that i will get bored.</p>

<p>I like the look of Wilmington, but its website isnt really promising for me. Is it a well regarded school?</p>

<p>Also do you think I would get bored in Asheville.</p>

<p>So far my choices are:</p>

<p>UN State
Appalachian, Asheville (equal par)
Wilmington.</p>

<p>Im a communications (more wanting to focus on journalism), art history, marketing major; yes, a tripple major degree.</p>

<p>I am so devestated Im not going to Chapel Hill.</p>

8

<p>p.s my institution in Australia is not a liberal arts college; it is a large public research university that ranks highly in the world. The SAT scores required to get into my degree were over 2340, so Im rather proud. And, yes they do rank arts programs and I believe we ranked around 17th in the world.</p>

9

<p>Chapel Hill is prestigious because its really hard to get in. But academically, I have to say its not really that much stronger than the other schools. I know kids at Chapel Hill who say they are a bit disappointed in some of their classes. </p>

<p>College in the US is not the same as anywhere in the world. We are very much into the social scene and sports. Then again, at plenty of schools its work hard;play hard. </p>

<p>Academically here, its what you make of it. If you want to work hard and engage the profs, they will be very receptive to that. If you want to sit in the back of the classroom, contribute nothing, get a “gentleman’s C” and be done with it, its up to you. </p>

<p>You can fret about one school or another til the cows come home. In the end, you have to just make the plunge.</p>

<p>Appalachian is not a boring place. Lots of kids have cars there and do stuff on weekends, go hiking in the mountains, fishing, or drive into Charlotte or Hickory or Winston Salem or Greensboro. Long weekends they even trek to the beach…though its a long drive from there. Sports is huge at Appalachian, though american Football is the biggest and its in the fall semester. If you think you like their program, then do it. There is also express bus service into Winston Salem and Greensboro. There is plenty to do in Boone, its just a small college town. </p>

<p>Asheville is larger by a bunch than Boone, and has more tourists. It has art galleries as well. The Spring Semester at both schools starts in the heart of Winter, in January and runs until May. It is likely to be cold and snowy…and skiing is a big thing at both schools. You can ski often until March if there is enough snow. </p>

<p>Or you can go to NCState and be in a large city, with Duke and Chapel Hill nearby (and trust me, they are very protective of their turf and don’t particularly like each other). Being an exchange student means you wont be lumped into that same turf war…but just dont go around NCState talking up Chapel Hill. It wont go over very well. </p>

<p>Make your pick and go with it. And then close the book and focus on that one school and what you can do while there. </p>

<p>There are highly intelligent people at all these schools. Some of them with SAT’s above 2200 on scholarships. Not everyone, but a healthy number. </p>

<p>World rankings, by the way, are some of the most disrespected and dubious. Too much shenanigans and payola going on. I am sure your school is very prestigious. </p>

<p>NCState is a major research national university. 29,000 students. Its got some amazing programs, but its also very large. Some kids prefer the close relationships of a small liberal arts college like UNC-Asheville, where sports is not a big thing. Some prefer a big school. You decide.</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>This just really isn’t true unless you want to be an engineer. I’ll leave it at that.</p>

11

<p>Thank you ghostbuster for the logical advice.</p>

<p>I guess I need to decide what I want from the experience, of which I am totally unsure.</p>

<p>I go to a large state university with over 40,000 students–so any of these schools are going to feel smaller.</p>

<p>I love Appalachians academics, but am scared I will get bored. I have also been told that the housing is not that great and from what I can see the campus does not have a wow factor either (Im an art history major, its allowed to count).</p>

<p>I think UC state would be the right choice for me in terms of social life; however, after looking further into course descriptions cannot see their subjects working in the long term for me.</p>

<p>Ashville seemed like the halfway mark between these schools, but academically does not really have anything that I could study that I could not at my home institution.</p>

<p>I guess I agree with you in that I need to pick a school and go with it.</p>

<p>academics–appalachian or student life at NC state??</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>As someone familiar with both schools, Appalachian’s location makes up for any downsides that its campus may have. Also, NC State is widely considered to have one of the most uninspiring campuses in the whole state (just about every single building is made of brick). </p>

<p>For the record, though, I have a lot of friends at both schools and they all love where they are.</p>

13

<p>Why would a student at a top, world class Australian university want to go to a middling state school in NC for a semester? I certainly can understand going to Penn or UNCCH, but any of the others? I don’t get it. If it were me, I would just turn it down.</p>

14

<p>I am going for the experience. I will have friends exchanging in Miami, Wisconston and Boston so will be able to go and visit them. Not the academics. Also I am aiming to get into graduate law school and exchange, no matter where you go also looks good on an application. University in Australia is very different to that in the US. All universities here (bar a few) would be considered ‘commutor schools’ there. I want to have that whole experience of living on campus, frats and sororities, sports, clubs etc etc.</p>

<p>Thanks Cuse0507. I really like the look of NC states campus. Do they have a really strong campus life? From the pictures it looks rather like Chapel Hill.</p>

<p>Its the being so isolated that scares me away from App. I love their academics, but do they have a party crowd.</p>

<p>Just wait, would there be more students living away from home at App. because of its location; thus a stronger student life.
I’m not really that into skiing or mountain climbing, so that part does not really appeal to me.</p>

<p>Also, I will admit I am rather picky about housing. Does anyone know anything about the housing at either? </p>

<p>In terms of student life, do you think on the day to day I will have a similar experience at both schools? (considering I will be away for all the breaks).</p>

15

<p>p.s I like to work hard, party hard; but also have some down-time inbetween.</p>

<p>I am coming from a large city and cite fashion, art and ballet as my main interests.
I just hope that helps a bit in determining what kind of person I am and which school is the best ‘fit’ for me.</p>

16

<p>Man if you’re gonna go to the states for the experience, why the hell would you limit yourself to North Carolina. It’s not that special. Go to California or New York. Even U of Miami in Fla. Get the party scene and a decent school. Certainly as good as, and probably better than the other UNC schools you mentioned.</p>

17

<p>“The SAT scores required to get into my degree were over 2340, so Im rather proud. And, yes they do rank arts programs and I believe we ranked around 17th in the world.”</p>

<p>This is totally bs, and you are a ■■■■■. Stop wasting time. No program at any school (not even at Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Oxbridge, LSE) hit a median of (not to say require) anything close to a score of 2340 on the SAT. Australian schools (even Australian National University and University of Melbourne) are way down on the list of schools international students want to attend (it usually serves as backups for rich students who can’t get into Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Oxbridge, LSE, etc.). Do you want to bring out some other ridiculous “fact” about your school or your degree program so we can better help you decide which one of Appalachian State, East Carolina University, UNC-Asheville, Greensboro-Wilmington, and NC State you should exchange at?</p>

18

<p>Excuse me IvyPBear–or whoever you are, clearly there is a lot of ignorance going on here. You all clearly know nothing about the Australian university system, so please dont be rude or make ignorant comments without the required knowledge.</p>

<p>Australian universities work very differently from the US, in that you don’t get accepted into a BA or a BS as a whole; rather a very specific degree program. The score for my degree program on the Australian scale was a score of over 98.85 out of 100 or above (i.e you ranked in the top 1% nationally), the department translates this score on the US SAT scale to that which I cited. I would post the university website online where it actually says this, but there seems to be a lot of people around here who really like to tear down universities; and for the most part my university also exchanges with Duke, Harvard, NYU, UCal, Upenn and Georgetown, so I really dont care what you think about my home instiution. OK?</p>

<p>I applied and got into Chapel Hill but they have cut back their study abroad/exchange program, and they got a new director and cut the program.</p>

<p>By the time they told my home university all the deadlines had passed for other schools next semester. Great work Chapel Hill! This is the only semester of my degree that I can go because I am a triple major; so I am left with the UNC schools. I cant even do study abroad because of my majors.</p>

<p>I was really upset for a long time about having to go to UNC. It is certainly not my ideal choice of school for the States–But it is what is on offer. I would hate to miss an experience because I was too young and foolish to see what was really being offered.</p>

<p>Ille be spending spring break in Miami with friends from Umiami there and interning in NYC over the summer.</p>

<p>All I wanted to know was about the campus life at both schools and which could offer an exchange student the best experience.</p>

19

<p>""are way down on the list of schools international students want to attend (it usually serves as backups for rich students who can’t get into Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Oxbridge, LSE, etc.). “”</p>

<p>The only other ‘ridiculous fact’ I would love to bring out about my school is not everything in the world is about international students or the schools they want to go to. Yeah your not paying as much here, so you probably wont get the same experience as a domestic student, australian universities are mostly commutor schools and internationals are just easy money in the bank…
If my university wasnt that great academically, I dont think we would exchange with the above said schools.</p>

20

<p>“The score for my degree program on the Australian scale was a score of over 98.85 out of 100 or above (i.e you ranked in the top 1% nationally), the department translates this score on the US SAT scale to that which I cited.”</p>

<p>There’s where you error-ed. Know that national test scores are not translatable. Not even people who scored among the top scores (99.9% percentile, which 2340 is in) from India (whom I know at UWC) would claim that they scored in the 99.9th percentile on the SAT. I went to UWC, of course I know everything that a student would want to know about schools in Australia. This thread is sad. Either you are exaggerating by drawing comparison between Australia and the US or you are ■■■■■■■■. If you are not ■■■■■■■■, there are American schools that can offer better academic and life experience for an obviously very high “caliber” student such as you. If you can’t even ask the people in you school who went on these exchanges how their experience were, I’m not going to waste my time anymore. I’m out.</p>