<p>
Oh please, UNC can’t hold Duke’s jockstrap when it comes to academic reputation or prestige.</p>
<p>The biggest difference is that the bricks that the buildings are built out of are darker at UVA than at UNC.</p>
<p>^^^That about sums it up. But there is less “attitude” at UNC than at UVirginia.</p>
<p>UNC and UVA are very similar in terms of everything. Sports, academics, location, prestige, etc. UVA ranks 24 and UNC ranks 28. Not that big of a difference. UVA and UNC are equally very diverse. UNC has more females than UVA in terms of male to female ratio. UNC is also more generous when it comes to financial aid and scholarships. I haven’t been to both campuses, but from the general consensus UVA and UNC are basically equals. Visit and determine which one you like. That is the only way. Not everyone has the same experiences. Its better to get a feel for both universities.</p>
<p>Ring of Fire: If I lived in NC and had to choose between academic prestige and money, I would choose money. You could save so much money from going to UNC. UNC is very prestigious in its own regard. It has a top undergraduate program as well as very prestigious graduate schools. Duke does have a better reputation, but money + prestige and comparable academics(UNC) is better than prestige and slightly greater academics(Duke) ; unless you are getting a scholarship from Duke.</p>
<p>The average department at UNC ranks well above the average for UVa. UVa’s stars are the law and business programs only one of which serves undergrads. For such a “highly ranked” school UVa has few outstanding depts–say ranked in the Top 15, especially in sciences and engineering. </p>
<p>While Duke has built itself from an also ran school in the 70’s to a very good one today in many areas the UNC faculty are very good. UNC depts that outrank Duke include Chemistry, Comp sci, History, Psychology and Sociology</p>
<p>I recently spent some time in Charlottesville. I like the campus and area immediately surrounding it. After that- I was not impressed. (I’ve been there before). The traffic is horrible all over town. Every parking lot was impossible- and this was before the students arrived. My family who lives there said traffic is always bad. There are some nice things- an urban trail that basically loops the city and lots of good restaurants. There is a LOT of urban/suburban sprawl. I would NOT retire there, although the reason I was there was because it is now the final home for some elderly family members.</p>
<p>Personally I love UVA. It is the ideal college. Nice weather, historic campus, great academics, perfect size, and ACC athletics. That is the only school I wish I had applied to in addition to my future Alma Mater. Every time I visit UVA I just think to myself “Bravo Mr. Jefferson, on such a well done institution.”</p>
<p>
Even I, who have a rabid loyalty to my school, would not go that far. In all honesty, Duke is by itself in North Carolina and one can make arguments for all of Davidson, UNC, and Wake Forest being #2. But clearly Wake Forest is number 2.</p>
<p>History must be served here. Mr Jefferson started the first non-faith based University in the U.S. (Harvard was a “church school” initially). Carolina is beautiful also but…
Recommendation? Choose “The University”. ( If you’re not sure which one that refers to, or have a problem with a little bit of the “attitude”, which is true, both as a student and as an alum, then God made the sky “Carolina Blue” for you.</p>
<p>
Indeed. UVA is young compared to UNC.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Clearly? Last I checked we were tied in the USNWR rankings, which apparently are the damn law on this site. I understand your WFU bias, though, just as I have my Carolina bias.</p>
<p>Academically UNC > Wake Forest.</p>
<p>Prestige UNC> Wake Forest.</p>
<p>I would take Wake over UNC due primarily to size and that prob the bottom 40% at UNC couldnt get into Wake. Thats several thousand people surrounding you and detracting from the prestige. Its tough to be exclusive when there are 18000 of you.</p>
<p>
Relax, I said I was kind of joking. As I said:
We just all have our personal preferences.</p>
<p>U of Virginia is very strong in the Liberal Arts, but not so much in the hard sciences. The administration is working to change that.</p>
<p>
Carolina is hardly less selective or less preferable than Wake Forest. There is virtually no difference in selectivity, and UNC has a considerably higher yield.</p>
<p>SAT-M
UNC
620-700
30.2% 700+
52% 600-700</p>
<p>Wake
630-710
32.1% 700+
54% 600-700</p>
<p>SAT-CR
UNC
590-690
24.6% 700+
50.2% 600-700</p>
<p>Wake
610-700
25.8% 700+
56.8% 600-700</p>
<p>ACT
UNC
26-31</p>
<p>Wake
27-31</p>
<p>Class Rank
UNC
79% Top 10%
96.3% Top 25%</p>
<p>Wake
64% Top 10%
91% Top 25%</p>
<p>(Continued)</p>
<p>Yield
UNC
In-state: 61.5% (3201 of 5209)
OOS: 31.6% (664 of 2100)
Overall: 52.9%</p>
<p>Wake
With ED: 37.0% (1124 of 3041)
Without ED: 31.2% (753 of 2411)</p>
<p>Freshman Retention
UNC 96.5%</p>
<p>Wake 94%</p>
<p>In regard to post #40 by kwu, many of the very “top” students in Virginia have not “fled to top privates.” UVa remains the top choice for many of the top Virginia students(in both public and private high schools in Virginia) for various reasons.</p>
<p>“I recently spent some time in Charlottesville. I like the campus and area immediately surrounding it. After that- I was not impressed. (I’ve been there before). The traffic is horrible all over town. Every parking lot was impossible- and this was before the students arrived. My family who lives there said traffic is always bad. There are some nice things- an urban trail that basically loops the city and lots of good restaurants. There is a LOT of urban/suburban sprawl. I would NOT retire there, although the reason I was there was because it is now the final home for some elderly family members.”</p>
<p>I had the same conclusion when I looked at it for future retirement. Plus it’s not cheap.</p>
<p>GQ has UVirginia ranked number 25 in the country!!</p>