<p>As I try to make my decision, I am wondering what UNC academically has to offer that WASHU lacks. Washu is much more expensive so I feel the education is proportionality equal. </p>
<p>What is UNC's average class size? How are the professors? What is the workload like?</p>
<p>What is the actual cost differential for you and will it put a strain or be a hardship on your family?</p>
<p>Roughly 20,000. I don’t think it will be a huge strain on my family but I do plan on going to grad school so that’s 80k right there. (No merit aid from either school). My parents said they’d support my decision if I choose Washu so i do not believe the difference in life-changing. Thanks. </p>
<p>I’m also still curious about the classes/professors at UNC.</p>
<p>Have you been to visit both schools? There is a big size difference between schools and big weather difference. We live in Chapel Hill and I can honestly say we know many professors from UNC-CH - they are great people. But just like anywhere, you are going to have to make your place at whichever school you choose - there will be good profs and not good profs - good classes and not good classes.</p>
<p>What do you want to major in? And what are the most important aspects for you with your college decision? I was between Emory, Wash-U and UNC for transfer two years ago and choose UNC… Sometimes I kind of wish I chose Emory</p>
<p>Go to UNC. There is no way to justify the $ difference. </p>
<p>Even without it, academics will be equally strong at both institutions, there will be less competition at UNC, the campus, the surrounding town(s), school spirit, and sports/social offerings are all strongly in favor of UNC.</p>
<p>Bruins, why did you choose UNC, and why do you sometimes regret it now? I’m deciding between those three now as a senior, and I’d really appreciate your input!</p>
<p>I kind of feel that I transferred to UNC for all the right reasons and those reasons were satisfied, though I feel that I hurt myself in the long run by challenging myself and not being as successful as I was at a smaller, private school. UNC is a great school. I transferred because I did want a more challenging academic environment, but that is not the only reason. I wanted an actual college, not a “college” without the whole college campus and school spirit. Miami was great, but it was lacking that spiritual and exciting element that large publics like Michigan and UNC.</p>
<p>Though I can say that if you do want to go to a top graduate school, it would be better to go to a school like Wash-U or Emory, where the school and class sizes are smaller. It is hard to establish good relations with your professors at large publics because you are only a statistic, not an individual. They do not care about your individual success, which comes out when grades are determined. You will work your butt off and get B’s (most likely) which will not look as good when compared to that Emory/WUSTL/Duke student who comes out with a nice high GPA, because private schools inflate GPAs, especially the Ivy leagues and elites. </p>
<p>There is a reason that Ivy leagues and elite schools are hyped and the students who go there for the most part come from money. They work hard and get what they deserve, UNC is more representative of the real world, a recreation of the social-class structure.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>If you want to build relationships with professors you can…you just have to work a little harder to do it in the bigger classes…and reach out to them…most really would like to get to know their students…</p>
<p>Not all classes are big either which can depend on your major…my son had a number of classes with 10-15 students in his junior and senior year in one of his majors.</p>
<p>My S attended an all boys prep school that is uber selective and uber competitive. He graduated in a class of 82 of which over 28% attended Ivies, Stanford, MIT and Cal Tech with another 20+ % at schools like Duke, Wash U., U Chicago. Seven, including my S were accepted to Yale alone. They had 19 NMSF in the class and another 32 NM Commended…</p>
<p>He chose to attend UNC (as a Morehead Scholar) which certainly has fabulous perks and benefits but has zero impact on the day to day life of the student involved…in other words, what he experienced every day in class was just like any other UNC student.</p>
<p>He had a large group of very smart, very talented friends, many if not most were not Moreheads…I never heard any of them complain that things were too easy…or not challenging…what you will find at UNC is not the uber competitive environment found at some schools but more of a cooperative competitiveness. That is not to say that it isn’t challenging, just not cut throat.</p>
<p>The one thing that you need to remember about UNC is that you can make it be whatever you want it to be…if you choose to have large classes and remain anonymous that is easily done. If you want smaller classes and professorial relationships, that can be done also…you’re just going to have to work at it to make it happen. Attending a major research university has many benefits that often are not considered when making a college decision but suffice it to say it makes a difference.</p>
<p>From the UNC website:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There’s much more as well:</p>
<p>[UNC</a> News - Facts About Carolina](<a href=“http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/30/97/]UNC”>http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/30/97/)</p>
<p>The opportunities are there for the taking…and you can not only get a great education but have a great undergrad experience and a lot of fun while you’re at it.</p>
<p>That does help a lot, thanks! :)</p>
<p>How many of those Rhodes scholars were Moreheads?</p>
<p>I’m trying to make this same decision. I think WashU definitely offers stronger academics and it will be easier to get a world-class education there. That’s not to say that you can’t get a great education at UNC, but there you’ll probably have to grind it out to get it while at WashU it’s made readily available to all students. Also WashU isn’t dead socially, my sister is a senior there now and the student body definitely has a lot of fun (good greek scene) and the area around the school (the Loop) has fun stuff to do. UNC definitely has it beat with sports and probably for overall social experience (I wouldn’t know.) They’re both great places I don’t think you can go wrong. Still its a tough decision and its killing me haha.</p>
<p>Royals you correct my friend. You will not have to go a long way to get a world-class education and it will pay off in the the long run. UNC you work hard to get A-'s and B+s, it’s quite sad. And the majority of students do not get jobs post graduation. I really do not see all the hype in a degree from UNC anymore.</p>
<p>BruinsJEW,</p>
<p>after reading your posts these last few days, I’m beginning to feel a little sorry for you. Maybe it is harder for YOU to get good grades, a quality education, relationships with professors, but that doesn’t apply to all of us. </p>
<p>I can sympathize with you: I’m an out-of-state transfer student, originally wanted to go a to a LAC or smaller private university, but I ended up here. To add insult to injury, I was a finalist for Yale’s Eli Whitney Program, a program with about a 4% acceptance rate. I was one of 20 out of 500 applicants called to New Haven for the final interview. In the end, about 6 students were chosen, I wasn’t one of them.</p>
<p>So, after being rejected from Yale and half a dozen other colleges, my choices came down to very few: Notre Dame, Howard University, and UNC. I chose UNC. However, every now and then I ask myself: If I almost got into Yale, than why didn’t I apply to John Hopkins or Duke or Williams or Berkley or Northwestern? How did I end up here–at UNC. I must say, for the first several weeks at UNC I was quite depressed about this possibility: that maybe I was too good for UNC. Well, I have news for you–I’m not. </p>
<p>Most, if not all of my classes have been very intellectually challenging and rewarding. And, being that you are so concerned with the pedigree of your education, I can confidently say that over half of my professors are Ivy-league/Oxbridge educated. But, then again, I’m a Classics major, and UNC’s classics department is one of the best in the world, so I might be an exception to the rule. </p>
<p>I’ll admit, I still occasionally have my down moments, and there are a number of things about this school I don’t like: looney sports scene (varsity athletes are worshiped like gods), lack of diversity, etc. However, when I sit in a class led by a world-renowned Roman historian or an economist who was head of a delegation to China or a writer who’s published bestsellers, I am reminded of the fact that I am at an elite school.</p>
<p>UNC is no Yale. But it is, historically, a very well-respected school. Just check out its peer-assessment ratings. If I’m correct, we are leaps and bounds above WashU and not too far behind the likes of Berkley and Northwestern.</p>
<p>[National</a> University Rankings | Top National Universities | US News Best Colleges](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities)</p>
<p>Those rankings put Washu at #13, one spot behind Northwestern and nine ahead of Berkeley.</p>
<p>UNC is #30.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t know how much difference there is between quality with these schools at the top but there’s no way UNC is leaps and bounds ahead of WashU</p>
<p>royals, I was referring to UNC’s peer-assessment score, indicative of UNC’s reputation among other academics. No where in my post did I say UNC was ranked higher or was “leaps and bounds” ahead of WashU in the US News rankings, only the peer-assessment score.</p>
<p>oh, that ranking system is partly based on pas</p>
<p>Yeah in my major, most of my classes are not taught by world renowned professors. To say the least, a lot of majors are Ph. D students, which I find unacceptable for the reputation of a world-class university. Out of state students should not be paying absurd tuitions to be taught by individuals who do not even there Ph.D. It’s not just me that feels this way. I have many friends who’s parents went to schools like UPenn and Duke undergraduate and feel that they made a wrong decision. As a transfer, I thought I made the right decision, but I feel that I may have ultimately screwed myself over. </p>
<p>It’s all subjective, but the truth of the matter is that UNC does not deserve the prestige that people place on it. Outside of North Carolina and the Southeast region of the United States, UNC is not sought out to be so AMAZING. The only reason that it is so HARD to get into as a freshman is because of the flawed state policies that mandates an 82% (or whatever it is) quota for instate students.</p>
<p>I’m just trying to pass on my opinion to posters, because they do want to know how different people feel. And as an out of state student who has absolutely no financial aid or scholarship, I do not feel that the out of state tuition is worth it. I do not feel that out of state applicants should waste their moneys on large, public schools like UVA, UNC, UCLA and UCB, because you’d get a much better education and larger opportunities at smaller, prestigious private universities such as WUSTL and Vanderbilt. You get more bank for your buck in the long run at a smaller private… that’s all I’m saying</p>
<p>bruins: not to be rude, but your education really depends on you…no one else. You cannot blame the environment or even impersonal treatment you might feel you receive at a large school. Face the fact that ONE DAY you will go out in the world, and you will not have your elite little friends and that close tight community you expect like a private uni…a large public obviously teaches you much more.
I am actually quite glad that some smart people thought to open their gates for good public schools. However, these public schools did not become the prestige they are by themselves…they were titled this by the smarts of the student body. In addition, I see it completely ridonkiduculous to pay 40-50k a year for a private school. From what I’m getting…you think that the only institutes that deserve praise are these money hungry private schools (I for one think that a lot of bright but people who don’t have enough mula -or just don’t want to pay- would totally hate if great publics like unc and ucb disappear).
Also, if you flunk or don’t do too well in a private…you’re not going to get a job either (same w/every other institute-- no special treatment there). I am sad that some ppl think that sports craze and a college feel is just absurd…I guess that just depends on your personality…you should have done your research before coming to unc. UNC has a reason for being this hardy about this topic…
Royal: You cannot just look at rankings…and by the way…the rankings are actually based on research…which take place mostly at grad level. So your argument that the OP should attend washU for undergrad due to its #13 rank…is completely absurd. As far as WashU is concerned, a year ago, I read a post on WashU where a sophmore was discussing how cut throat the environment is in the science level. Based on this, I would much rather prefer the nice southern nature of UNC.
As far as all things considered, research is really accessible. I have experience, and I know that UNC tries its best to provide for every concerned individual. In fact, people will actually go out of their way to try to connect you up with research if you really want it and are competent for the project.
Lastly, although UNC has a lot of people to attend to, the faculty members are really calm and inviting. When I went to explore carolina, the administration seemed willing to help and become your guide. Financial aid is a little tight, but the uni does its best to compensate citizens. In addition, the tuition rate is low for instate, and moderate for OOS students. You can practically get your money back after undergrad, granted that you went into a quality wise department that taught you a lot. I understand that individual attention is needed for education; however, in private schools…I think the professors might be more concerned with research than teaching (I got that impression when I visited duke and jhu). This might be the case with UNC. If teaching isn’t great in either public nor private…I would choose public b/c atleast I’m not having to pay so much when I could receive the same treatment elsewhere.</p>
<p>If you’re OOS, go to WASHU! Don’t listen to others. UNC is just as cut throat in the sciences, as is Duke and WASHU. Southern Hospitality does exist, but not in the classroom. My children if I live in North Carolina will be Bluedevils. There’s a reason that the students who go to Duke follow their parents footsteps and carry the family name, and the reason that only a portion of UNC students make it BIG… it has to do with the opportunities that Duke has to offer versus UNC. </p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>