<p>Another consideration is travel for OOS students- RDU is about a $20 cab ride to Chapel Hill .I think that the options at Charlottesville are probably more limited.
I will agree that a visit is really the only way to tell , as both are excellent schools.</p>
<p>
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have specifc concerns about the UVA student body -- perhaps too snobbish and preppy?
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</p>
<p>No more than any other top school I've visited.</p>
<p>hey jack
not ludicrous and not biased (since I did not matriculate at either) but it is an opinion and it is based on 25 years of hiring alums from both schools at the undergrad and grad levels. Although remnants of the perceived differences between UVA and UNC are evident in US News and Word Report peer ratings (with UVA a bit higher), yes they are very similar these days. However 20 years ago, UVA was much closer to an Ivy alternative and UNC was more like a soccer camp. The Hootie and the blowfish set you back another 5 years. What will ultimately keep both schools from moving into top 10 lists (undergrad) are the 80% of in state students. Not that you re not all that, but you can t compete with Ivies that take 15% across the board.</p>
<p>FYI - Hootie and the Blowfish are from the University of South Carolina . LOL</p>
<p>These are both excellent schools, so either is a great choice depending on the individual. It really seems that where you will be happiest and develop your talents and skills is so much more important than where the school is on some list or other's perceptions of the quality.</p>
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I know of several people who had considered UVA but crossed it off the list immediately after visiting, so I agree that a visit is definitely needed.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Would you care to elaborate why?</p>
<p>PopiEph: What?? I think your assessment of UNC-CH 20+ years ago is a fiction all your own. And you say you're not biased?? Once again, your comments are biased AND ludicrous. </p>
<p>I could tell you what I know about UVA from 20+ years ago as I spent plenty of time on that campus, but it doesn't seem worth it. Suffice to say, I've never seen so much partying and drinking in my life--neither before, nor since. Has that changed much?</p>
<p>And what do you have against Hootie and the Blowfish, for heaven's sake? I don't think they have a connection with UNC-CH, though they did play there a few times. I did have a good friend, though, who lived beside their agent for a number of years. I think he was a very nice neighbor. :)</p>
<p>I think both schools are pretty similar, and you can't go wrong with either both academically or socially. I agree that you have to visit both schools to decide which university is a better fit and which is more affordable.</p>
<p>Regarding UVA's reputation 20 years ago, I have to second PopiEph. I do know from talking to people up here in the Northeast that the old school Ivy establishment was more keen on UVA than UNC. Over the years, there has been a lot of cross-pollination between Virginia and the Ivies. Many of UVA's successful Law grads went to an Ivy undergrad, and plenty of UVA grads have gone on to attended Ivy League grad programs. </p>
<p>I'm a member of the UVA Club in NY, which shares a clubhouse with Yale and Dartmouth. (UVA's the only public school to be "in residence" at an Ivy club up here.) And eventhough UNC in many ways is more recognizable now because of say its basketball team, many old school Ivy grads don't know much about North Carolina. For example, a couple of years ago, when someone from UNC called the Yale Club to see if they could join, the Yale director was like, "UNC? What's that?"</p>
<p>Globalist: I suspect the comment from the guy at the Yale Club was tongue-in-cheek. (And I suspect he would say the same thing if someone from Princeton telephoned. ;)) </p>
<p>I'm not taking away UVA's reputation from 20 years ago as UVA's reputation has always been solid--as has Chapel Hill's. However, to suggest that no one ever heard of Carolina in the NE, and that it is now only recognizable from its basketball team is, once again, simply ludicrous. Statements like that make you sound incredibly silly, ignorant, and just plain dumb, unless you're trying to be funny-- in which case, it doesn't translate all that well here. You need to do your homework on Carolina. Bless your heart . . .</p>
<p>"However, to suggest that no one ever heard of Carolina in the NE, and that it is now only recognizable from its basketball team is, once again, simply ludicrous. "</p>
<p>Yeah. We know that there is already another Carolina school that is only recognized in the NE because of basketball. (..and the team stinks this year so far) :)</p>
<p>In actuality, my S went to a "top NE prep school". He applied and was accepted (out of state) at both UVA and UNC. Both were recognized and touted by the GC's at his school as good choices. Without the Morehead, he gave the edge to UVA. He was nominated as an Echols scholar at UVA.</p>
<p>I wish I knew what jack was talking about. UNC has made great strides in the past 20 years, or maybe what's happened in the past 20 years is that people outside the South have recognized the great strides that UNC made before then. Either way, 20 or 30 years ago very few people outside of Carolina would have considered UVa and UNC as equivalent undergraduate institutions. At my Northeastern prep school, UVa was a popular alternative to places like Cornell, Penn, or Michigan for students who wanted a research university but didn't qualify for Harvard etc. In my day, it would have been considered equivalent to Stanford, probably (Stanford's reputation has come up a lot, too), and maybe a half step above Duke (ditto). UNC was simply not on the map until 10-15 years ago.</p>
<p>JHS:<br>
I'm sure UNC "has made great strides in the past 20 years" in many areas--as have lots of schools, and certainly including Duke and UVA. I would hope that any university would continue to "make great strides" across the board. UNC has been ranked as a top public for many, many years, however. To suggest otherwise is simply incorrect. I don't have the US News rankings from the mid-80s, when they started doing the rankings, but I <em>believe</em> UNC was ranked as a top public then as well. As an aside, I knew people who attended both UVA and W&M 20+ years ago. At that time, many of those people I knew <em>chose</em> W&M over UVA, and had tried to get into UNC but couldn't. </p>
<p>As I said, I have no problem recognizing that UNC "has made great strides" in the last 20 years--in many areas--and that's a good thing. To suggest, however, that it was "like soccer camp," and no one in the NE had ever heard of it, is--once again-- simply ludicrous. There's no other word for it, really. </p>
<p>I will just add here, again, that the main impression I had of UVA (25+ years ago), was the level of partying and drinking. No one answered my question about that earlier, but I am curious. Is this still a problem there?</p>
<p>I can't imagine that the current level of partying and drinking at UVA is any different than the current level of partying and drinking at UNC.</p>
<p>Nor, I daresay, any different from that at Duke, sokkermom. ;) (And neither UVA nor UNC has made recent national headlines regarding partying and drinking!) Rather, my point was UVA's reputation as a serious party school 25+ years ago. I simply wondered if UVA had made any "strides" in recent years to curb that reputation, well-deserved or not.</p>
<p>^ I agree jack. There is probably no difference in the level of drinking at UNC and Duke. I also believe that there are students at all campuses who do not drink, or those that drink responsibly, and those that may not drink responsibly.</p>
<p>This thread was about UVA and UNC though. :eek:</p>
<p>My S visited UNC and UVA both during his college tours three years ago. Of the two, he personally observed a much higher level of partying (drinking and pot) at UNC than he did at UVA.</p>
<p>One of them will probably feel better... if it comes down to both when the decisions are in, make a trip and see.</p>
<p>sokkermom: I could have predicted your answer, and I would have expected no other from you. </p>
<p>Both UNC and UVA are fine public universities (and have been for a long time). The main difference is in feel and atmosphere. I agree with soccerguy . . . Make a trip and see.</p>
<p>Gee jack. I could never have guessed that you would bash a school that wasn't UNC. That was pretty predictable too. </p>
<p>....."I would have expected no other from you." ...PLeeeze jack , do not ever pretend that you know me. You don't. :)</p>
<p>sokkermom: I may not know you personally, but I do know how you will respond whenever UNC is mentioned. :) And for your information--if you read this thread--you will see that I never "bashed" UVA. When ludicrous statements were made about UNC from 20 years ago, I did add--in all fairness--what UVA's reputation was 25+ years ago--from knowing people there at the time and from personal experience. :) </p>
<p>As I stated twice before, they are both fine schools and have been for some time. I think the choice of which to attend, if accepted, would depend on "fit" and whether one is in-state for either of those schools. Both are extremely difficult admits from out-of-state.</p>
<p>^ Don't be so sure. We own property in NC. My high school daughter would love to go to school there. Would I encourage her to apply? Absolutely.</p>
<p>(Particularly if we could somehow retire there and get in state tuition!)</p>
<p>Believe it or not, the shade of blue really doesn't matter to us at all.</p>
<p>Not that it's at all relevant, but...
[quote]
In my day, it would have been considered equivalent to Stanford, probably (Stanford's reputation has come up a lot, too), and maybe a half step above Duke (ditto). UNC was simply not on the map until 10-15 years ago.
[/quote]
The very first US News rankings, published as "Rating the Colleges" on November 28, 1983 by Lucia Solorzano and Barbara E. Quick, consisted of a survey of college presidents. The results:</p>
<p>1 Stanford<br>
2 Harvard<br>
3 Yale
4 Princeton
5 UC Berkeley<br>
6 Chicago<br>
7 Michigan<br>
8 Cornell
9 UIUC
10 Dartmouth
11 MIT
12 Caltech
13 Carnegie-Mellon
14 Wisconsin
15 Brown<br>
15 Columbia
15 Indiana
15 UNC Chapel Hill
15 Rice</p>