<p>I'm having a real tough time choosing between these two public ivies. I am a resident of Virginia, and therefore am leaning towards UVA due to the price. Not to mention, my parents like to throw in the UVA is 2nd public university and UNC is 5th. But I really like UNC and have heard great things. I am looking to do premed. Can anybody give me some good benefits of going to UNC over UVA. Remember I"d be paying upwards of 30k vs. 18k. I'm having a real tough time.</p>
<p>There's no reason to pay more to go to UNC, plain and simple. If it were the other way around, I'd say the same thing.</p>
<p>You have two great options. If you want to go to med school, save the $ and choose UVa. My sister goes to UNC(in state) and has had a great expierence, the thing she loves about it is the diversity. </p>
<p>UVa would be no different...choose UVa and save your $ for med school.</p>
<p>Both are great schools and despite whatever ranking you read, you would be hard pressed to differentiate between the two in terms of real academics. UNC's medical school is currently ranked #2 for Primary Care education. The science departments are quite strong with a lot of premed students enrolled. </p>
<p>Probably the biggest differences are in three non-academic areas: </p>
<p>1) Student body mix-UVA has more OOS students (approx 30% to Approx 18%) and in particular more from the northeast.</p>
<p>2) UVA has far more dependence on the Greek scene for social activities and overall is a "preppier" environment ie seersucker and white bucks.</p>
<p>3) Chapel Hill and Franklin Street delivers more as a college town as far as things to do, town/gown relations etc. This last point is subjective but my S has friends at UVA who always want to visit UNC and when he has gone the other way was far less impressed with things to do. He came away with the feeling that too much of the social scene revolves around drinking.</p>
<p>"3) Chapel Hill and Franklin Street delivers more as a college town as far as things to do, town/gown relations etc. This last point is subjective but my S has friends at UVA who always want to visit UNC and when he has gone the other way was far less impressed with things to do. He came away with the feeling that too much of the social scene revolves around drinking."</p>
<p>You're misinformed or underinformed. UVA doesn't have Franklin Street, but it does have the Corner, the Downtown Mall, Barracks Road, etc. The greek scene is big here, but so are bars, theater and musical performances, volunteering activities, restaurants, etc. There's no shortage of things to do. I've heard similar things about Chapel Hill, too. My suggestion still stands that someone from NC would be better served going to UNC and someone from VA would be better served going to UVA.</p>
<p>UVa is the slightly better school. Slightly prettier campus, slightly better academics, slightly nicer city.</p>
<p>UNC does have more girls, though ;) .</p>
<p>UNC certainly does a better job through the Admissions process, if that's any indication. We had a very unimpressive information session at Virginia, and, although my son was admitted, the communications from UVa has not been terribly impressive in terms of style or personality. The UNC courtship has been impeccable: more intelligent than any of our schools (with Rice being the nadir!). It made the decision easy. Plus, all that overly precious lingo: "the grounds," "Mr. Jefferson," etc. Puh-lease! And you really can't beat the Carolina Inn and Carolina Crossroads. Best restaurant beyond the French borders, in my book. In truth, though, they are both wonderful places. These are just the reasons (along with a nice scholarship) that UNC seemed the better place to us.</p>