So if a kid is lucky enough to get into these 3 colleges (UNC Chapel Hill, UVA, and U Texas- Austin), which would you choose and why?
The kid in question is OOS for all three (from NJ). Full pay. Female. Leaning towards poly sci. Social and fairly outgoing. Does not want a super quiet isolated campus- wants a more urban setting or at least a school where there are places to walk to off campus.
My order would be as follows:
UNC - my daughter went here and we are from NC, so I am very familiar with it. Nice campus - lots of walkable shops and restaurants right off campus on Franklin Street, obviously a great school.
UVA - have never visited but for a poly sci major, there may be benefits to being closer to Washington DC
UT - would not be on my list for many reasons that donāt apply to the college itself, but as far as the college goes, from threads on here it is big and there is not enough housing - so when compared to UNC & UVA, it would not be a consideration unless one loves Texas.
The hypothetical depends on the type of student and what they are looking for.
For me, I would choose UNC without a doubt. UT Austin too big and too restrictive re: womenās healthcare rights, UVA too snooty, UNC is a good size, friendly students, good location.
For a student who wants urban and poly sci - Iād pick UT. Walking distance to the state capital and smack in the middle of the city of Austin which is fabulous.
Three amazing schools- nice decision to have to make. There are several very nice off campus housing options at UT Austin that give first year students the dorm experience, so living on campus is not a must. As a parent, I consider how fast I can get to my kids in case of an emergency. Charlottesville is a flight plus a drive.
They are all good options depending on preferences. I was born at UVA medical center, so that would be my pick.
Where would the student like to live/work post college? Where would they like to intern during college? If student has lived on the east coast for her whole life, what appeals most about going to Texas? How urban does she want? UNC and UVA are very nice large college towns, but they are not urban. Population Charlottesville 45K, Chapel Hill 61K, Austin 960K.
You can walk to shops and restaurants from each campus so thatās a wash.
Austin is more urban. Chapel Hill and Charlottesville are very similar college towns with a lot going on.
UNC and UT would probably have more in state students. UNC accepts only 18% of students from OOS if that is a consideration. I believe UVAās OOS % is in the 30s but not sure on that, so double check. I know UT has that automatic admit for top Texas high school students.
I would look at the merits of the poli sci or any other potential majors at each school.
They are three great choices to have and not sure you could go too wrong at either one. UVA and UNC are very similar.
@bestday738 However, Charlottesville is well within a dayās drive from most places in New Jersey.
All great schools- I am partial to UVA because one of my kidās went there. UNC has a very nice campus in a nice area .
I donāt think a third party should answer this question.
I would say you canāt go wrong.
Iād pick UVA. Closer to DC, nicer campus IMHO, and I just prefer it.
But myself nor anyone else is OP.
They might look at curriculum, outcomes, dorms, food or more.
The student really needs to visit and spend time at each.
Has the student been accepted into PoliSci at UT, or just accepted to UT and waiting on major? Thatās a big one. Tho PoliSci is most likely in COLA (college of liberal arts), which is considered the ādumping groundā - those that are desperate to attend UT, no matter the major.
Iām in Texas. UT is an incredible schoolā¦but itās not terribly safe to walk very far off campus, horrible homeless problem everywhere and housing is a real issue (if you havenāt put a deposit down already, it may be too late to get something decent and/or close).
Austin has a good airport, Texas is in Big 12 for sports, Greek life, cool town (tho traffic is horrendous) and plenty of great food options! The state Capitol is beautiful, but it would be considered a very stiff walk (close by bike, bus or car).
But Iād pick UNC, of those 3, hands down!
Depends on:
If you are leaning STEM, Texas is probably the strongest overall.
All three have excellent undergrad business programs.
UVA and UNC probably are a little stronger in the humanities and social sciences.
All three are very good schools.
I can only speak to UT, although I spent a fair amount of time in Durham, NC and loved the UNC campusā¦ but definitely on the smaller side compared to UT Austin.
UT has an incredibly diverse student population and all political persuasions. The campus is very active and being in the capitol offers a lot of opportunities that one might not have at some of the other schools. I would not make a school decision based on the current legislative leaningsā¦ things change; but go where she will have the most exposure to internships and relationships that will help her career in the future.
My D went to UNC (OOS). She was accepted to UVA (OOS) but liked the vibe better at UNC. They also gave us a much, much better price.
Not accepted yet. This is a very theoretical question.
Yes, we put down a housing deposit. Canāt imagine a freshman having to live off campus. I think thatās crazy.
I think itās fine to protect your housing but the only one that can make a decision like this is the student. One might stand out or they might not like any etc.
Many a kid decides neither doors 1-3 but door 4. Has the student been to the three ? If so, what do they think ?
āOff Campusā could be Callaway House, which is private, but literally steps from campus, and tbh, most of the close āoff campusā will be nicer and newer than some dorms.
Texas A&M canāt guarantee student housing for all incoming freshman either. Itās fairly common at the large universities.
UT is quite diverse-youāll find a little of everyone & everything! Students love itā¦or they donāt.
Agree with others, has she physically toured the campus? That would be a deal breaker.
Iād visit all three and decide. UNC and UVA are similar, but I prefer UVA/Charlottesville over UNC/Chapel Hill. Being from out of state, and particularly from the north, I would also choose UVA over Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill is about 12% out-of-state students, and more than a few (and perhaps majority) of those out-of-state students are legacy admits whose parents settled outside of North Carolina but in the south. A couple of years ago, UNC sent out a legacy admission letter saying their legacy admit rate was over 40%. UNC has very passionate alumni and my guess is a lot of those legacy admits accepted. Every UNC legacy kid I can think of that got in has gone.
Texas has a different vibe from the other two. Big city versus small town. Much larger student population. Quite a few students live off campus their first year, etc. it, however, suffers from the same thing as UNC as Texas undergrad is almost all in-state.
Of the three, UVA will be the easiest to get into out of state based on historical results if you are not a UNC legacy. Iāve heard reputation wise UVA is stronger than UNC, perhaps because of the more out-of-state students driving admission stats up. Thatās just based on comments Iāve heard over the years from hiring managers but obviously varies by individual student.
A student who gets in all three is likely going to get into some top 20 schools as well. Itās what I call a good problem to have!
OP, have you noticed how personal most of the responses are? born there / went there / my politics / distance from where I live / reverse snobbery / etc.
Cumulatively, they give you your answer: none of them are materially better than the others in absolute terms, so as @tsbna44 said what will matter is how this particular student responds to each campus.
re: the housing challenge at UT- itās fine as long as you get out ahead of it. There is great private college housing available, but you need to apply in January-February. You may not know about the result by then, but the applications are just $5-700, which shouldnāt be a problem for a full-pay family.
As all three limit OOS students pretty severely, this has to be in the category of a parlour game.
We are also from the north and we found UNC to have a more familiar vibe than UVA. That just goes to show how subjective this process is!
UNC does have fewer OOS students, but they do have an OOS student association that plans trips etc. It took my D awhile to get used to most students being from instate (this was tough at first), but she did make friends from all over the country, including many from NC. She also remains very friendly with several professors.
As far as which school is ābetterā (including Texas), my feeling is that they are all excellent. I donāt place one way above another, academically speaking. My D has friends who were political science majors who had internships and jobs in DC.
I went to both UNC (dental) and UVA (undergrad) also lived in Chapel Hill for over 20 years. Daughter got into UNC (IS) and UVA (OOS), she will be walking the Lawn in Cāville next May.
Never really considered UNC as a viable option. She would have gone to Carroll at BC before UNC if she hadnāt gotten into UVA. Iāve always felt UNC is the beneficiary of a policy about OOS student % which skews their acceptance rates.
I know nothing about UTā¦