<p>Undecided between the two. Wake may just have the nicer campus, but it seems small. I would be receiving 12,000 per year from Wake making the total cost 32k. I want to major in accounting or finance through the business school. Cost is fairly important as well as sporting events.</p>
<p>I vote for UNC. I know a girl who transferred from Wake Forest to UNC two years ago... She hated how there was no diversity at Wake Forest. It is, from what I have heard, very white and very conservative. It drove her crazy. Plus, UNC has a gorgeous campus and you cannot beat the school spirit! Good luck with your decision. : )</p>
<p>I go to Wake, and I'm probably gonna transfer to UNC next year, so I feel pretty qualified in answering this. </p>
<p>It really depends on what you want. Both have good business programs, the biggest difference being Wake's grade deflation. Calloway is hard. Really hard. Kenan-Flagler at UNC is just as reputable, and I haven't heard anything that negative about how hard it is. </p>
<p>In terms of academics, both schools compare well, but they are 2 very different schools. Wake is small, with a very wealthy student body. The social scene is not only dominated by Greek life, it basically is only Greek life. UNC also has a sizable Greek scene, but it is nowhere near Wake's. UNC is obviously a lot bigger than Wake, meaning that it offers more to do in terms of social life. Also, Wake has nothing that compares with Chapel Hill or Franklin Street. Wake, on the other hand, is essentially in a bubble, as you rarely need or want to venture into Winston-Salem. </p>
<p>In terms of cost, you didn't specify if you're in state or OOS at UNC, but if you're OOS, the costs would be very similar with your aid taken into account. On UNC's web site, they estimate total costs at around $33,000, while Wake estimates total costs at around $45 or $46 thousand. In state, UNC is obviously much cheaper.</p>
<p>Also, if sports is a big consideration, Wake's b-ball team won't be up to snuff for at least 1-2 more years, and besides football and women's field hockey, you could argue that UNC fields a better team in almost every other sport, but both schools have great athletic departments.</p>
<p>Both schools would give you a reputable degree and a good chance at a job after graduat ion. It really depends on what kind of school you want. On one side, you have a private, greek, and wealthy school, while on the other you have a medium sized state school, with more social opportunities, and more importantly(at least it is for me) more economic diversity.</p>
<p>Oops. I totally neglected to mention Greek life. But team_venture described it perfectly!</p>
<p>Academically, and other than Duke, Carolina is the best school in the state. There is not even a close third. Although Wake is a good school, as is Elon and N.C. State, they simply do not come close to Carolina at all. JMHO</p>
<p>Wake is a better school academically b/c of personal interaction, I agree unccharlotte...but that is not to say that UNC doesn't have quality professors. </p>
<p>But for growing as an individual, I would say UNC b/c of diversity.</p>
<p>Pepperdine University has more personal interaction than Wake Forest. Would you say Pepperdine is better than Wake academically??</p>
<p>My mistake. Pepperdine has a 11:1 student to facult ratio. Wake has a 10:1 student to faculty ratio. Hence, I would say that they are both better than Carolina academically. But, I think it is better to look further than that.</p>
<p>....i dont see how having a low student to faculty ratio determines wake forest to be the better academic institution......</p>
<p>LOL! pepperdine > carolina academically? umm...okay.....sorry not trying to sound rude but that doesnt make any sense.</p>
<p>Ok unccharlotte, I was agreeing with u, so u try to prove me wrong...thats cool. no really. it makes u so awesome.</p>
<p>as for the ratio thing, I meant it in the sense that Wake and UNC are about on par academically, but Wake gets the edge b/c of that personal interaction and also grade deflation (u have to study harder)....</p>
<p>I know UNC is academically very prestigious...that is why I am going there. Also, lots of UNC classes are capped (english, foreign lang, math). Wake caps ALL classes at 70.</p>
<p>they are both great schools and which is better is what u make of it. if u go to UNC and try to make relationships with professors u will have a better academic experience than if u just go to class and do assignments.</p>
<p>but please, feel free to annihilate me with ur ignorance.</p>
<p>I do agree with you! I thought that you were talking negatively about the quality of academics at Carolina. Anyways, it appears that is not the case. You made some good points. I would agree that Wake and UNC are on par academically, but Wake gets the edge in that respect. I think that Carolina's basketball team is very important as well. In a sense, it brings a lot of attention for Carolina grads, which is something Wake does not have.</p>
<p>hmm well can you plz explain the pepperdine comment ?</p>
<p>My message about Pepperdine generally: Low student to faculty ratios are not always indicative of a school's success academically. If that were the case, Pepperdine would be better academically than Carolina, UC BERK, UT AUST., and so forth. Many large schools, nevertheless, frequently outperform their smaller school counterparts (on average) on the PCAT, LSAT and the like.</p>
<p>I am out of state.
I get good grades and do so without studying too hard. I think wake might be better because not many people know others, so friendships are created that way. UNC is a lot of people who already know each other which would exclude me somewhat because I am out of state. I definitely want to party but don't want to have my grades suffer from that. Because I am out of state the costs will be fairly similar. I think I am going to forget about Carolina and just make a decision between UVA and Wake Forest. </p>
<p>Wake seems like it has a lot more connections than does Carolina regarding jobs after graduation, it terms of the business school. (Accounting for me)</p>
<p>EFlo: While I know Wake Forest is an excellent school, I'd just like to point out a misconception that's been stated here. For in-state students, Wake Forest is often an easier admit than is UNC-CH, though I'm not sure why that is, since their average SAT scores, GPA, etc., are similar. My guess is that UNC-CH's admission process might be a bit more "holistic," though I don't know that for sure. I know they look seriously at those essays (and quality of writing). I have known many students over the years who have been accepted to Wake Forest, but not to UNC-CH. So, in our neck of the woods, Wake is often considered an easier admit than is UNC-CH. </p>
<p>And don't make the mistake of thinking that Carolina doesn't have connections w/regard to the business school (or with any other school on that campus). Carolina casts a very long shadow. Again, Wake Forest is an excellent school, but because of its size, their alumni base is much, much smaller. It is also much less diverse, economically and racially/ethnically. </p>
<p>At any rate, all the best with your decisions!</p>
<p>unccharlotte--thanks for clearing that up, sorry for any misunderstanding</p>
<p>Having visiting both schools when I applied to college a couple years ago, I would still pick UNC in a heartbeat. Wake is not only small, it is actually TOO small for me. I've heard over and over that going to Wake is like four more years of high school. There is zero diversity and very little to do outside of the Greek system. Winston-Salem is not at all a good city for college students. While the truth might be that Wake academics are on par with UNC's, UNC has much more national prestige (examples of this would be UNC's inclusion in the "Top Universities" category on this message board, and UNC's inclusion on Newsweek's "New Ivy" list). Most of the reason for this (aside from basketball) has to do with the fact that UNC produces a much larger body of meaningful research than Wake does. This, along with UNC's diversity, size, and involvement with the state really makes it feel like there is a lot going on when you're on campus. You feel like you are the center of the action of the state of North carolina, which is not a feeling you get at Wake. UNC also has much nicer facilities (gyms, cafeterias, libraries, dorms) and better sports, as well as many more options and opportunities socially and extracurricularly. You'll find that while the average profiles of incoming classes are pretty similar, there is much less deviation from that average at Wake. What I mean by this is that you'll find there to be many more really brilliant people at UNC than at Wake, and many more students who have turned down schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton to be there. </p>
<p>So what exactly are the advantages of Wake? The only thing I can think of is the size. It is definitely easier to have small classes and get to know professors at Wake, though with more effort you can get to know almost any professor at UNC. It's not that hard to have small classes at UNC either as long as you choose carefully. While the size of UNC might be overwhelming at first, I really see it as an asset, as managing Carolina will require you to become much more proactive and assertive than going to Wake will. </p>
<p>As for the comment about Wake being prettier--I guess this is accurate if you like looking at tanish brick buildings that all look exactly the same. Come spend some time on the UNC Quad on a day like today and see if you still think Wake is prettier. Wake's campus was all built about 50 years ago too, and the campus has none of the history that UNC's does.</p>
<p>To top it all off, Wake is significantly more expensive, even for OOS students.</p>
<p>Luxlibertas mentioned how better the facilities are at UNC. I couldn't agree more. Wake's dining hall is atrocious, most importantly the food. Also, Wake's gym, which is not the Miller Center, is by far the oldest in the ACC, as it is over 50 years old. The Miller Center may be nice, but Wake's actual gym is an old and dank cave. </p>
<p>However, Wake's library and dorms are both very nice, and I wouldn't go so far to say that UNC's are better. ZSR may be a little confusing at first, but it's a nice library. And my freshman dorm at Wake is well sized, at about 13 x 8, and it has a built in sink.</p>
<p>I will agree with most of what lux posted. Wake's students do seem to be fairly homogenous academically. UNC students seem to cover a wider range. </p>
<p>Winston is most definitely not a "college" town as Chapel Hill seems to be. UNC also has bus service throughout the town plus with Raleigh and Durham. It's location makes visiting several other schools very easy.</p>
<p>IMO both schools are highly respected, though the graduate school is larger at Carolina and thus most likely receives more recognition through the many various programs.</p>
<p>Wake does have great interaction between professors and students--don't believe you would ever be in a class where your prof didn't know you as an individual. It is a beautiful campus and by being a "closed" campus has very low problems with theft, etc. Someone has to be very determined to walk onto campus after the gates close for the night (one can drive in during daylight hours). Guess another advantage of Wake is parking is not an issue like it sounds like it is at UNC.</p>
<p>Just a follow up to the comment I posted about UNC having more top students than Wake--I did some research and found out that in 2005, UNC's freshman class had 138 National Merit Scholars. Wake's freshman class had 9. Obviously this has a little to do with the size of the two schools, but even if you look at % of class that are NM Scholars, UNC's comes out to about 3.5% while Wake is 0.8%. In other words, UNC's class was about 3.5x bigger than Wake's but had over 15x the number of National Merit Scholars.</p>