How is UNCC campus different from NCSU? Does it seem as overwhelming and huge as NCSU’s campus?
It’s more suburban. UNC-C is not in the middle of Charlotte like NCState is in the middle of Raleigh. IKEA is right near UNC-C, though.
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You can use Google map street view to walk campuses. It is pretty cool. They are very different campuses and different cities.
NC State is such a part of Raleigh and Hillsboro St, while it does sprawl out to the beltway. There are other colleges near campus and Raleigh has a college town feel while being the state capital. Charlotte is a city with a lot of colleges in and around it…even over the border in SC. But for some reason Charlotte still never feels like a college town. The campus is 20 minutes or so outside of the city with no traffic…there is always traffic. Some like being out of the city, but having access to it.
NCSU is a self-contained campus surrounded by an active part of the city. Students can walk off campus and be in the middle of plenty of things to do on all sides. There are tons of places to eat, shop, hang out, used book stores and much more. During the fall, students are a short shuttle ride to the NC State Fair which is a lot of fun for students from further-out parts of the state who may have never attended before. Downtown is very close, especially if biking, and there is a lot more to do there. The campus has a variety of old buildings (many renovated) and newly constructed buildings.
UNC-C is a self-contained campus in the suburbs of Charlotte. It is a very appealing campus, but there isn’t really anywhere a student can walk to as on NCSU’s campus. Walking to downtown isn’t feasible, but there are regular bus and tram rides directly from campus into downtown Charlotte where there is a lot more to do. These are easy and relatively quick rides. The campus seems very “new” as in a lot of new buildings and almost no older/classic buildings.
Both cities have an abundance of other colleges of all types, from LACs, smaller private universities, public universities, and HBCUs. Both are large cities with employment opportunities while in college and after graduation, and internships. Both campuses will have student interest in sporting events (football/basketball/baseball/etc) though NCSU will have a higher level of interest. I’d say the student bodies at both universities are very similar.
If choosing because of the campus and surrounding areas, it will come down to whether or not the student wants to be have off-campus activities immediately adjacent to campus or if the student is fine with a short ride to access off-campus activities. Otherwise, I’d say the campuses are similar in most ways that would matter.
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The light rail now connects UNCC with the city of Charlotte so students can hop on and easily go into downtown Charlotte or the newly hip areas of Plaza Midwood, NoDa & South End, which I think is very appealing. I believe the light rail is free for UNCC students, but don’t quote me on that.
IMO, UNCC is the prettier campus and much less spread out than NCSU (which has several separate campuses). Both are in and adjacent to very appealing cities with many opportunities in the banking, health & tech fields. It seems like many recent college grads end up in Charlotte after graduating and end up staying here to raise families.
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