Can someone tell this New Yorker what is so great about UNC Chapel Hill? The reputation is up there like a UVA. I hear cHapel Hill is amazing and super hard to get in as a New Yorker. I dont know of any families who go there. Any current students or parents want to tell me what your child loves about it? My high school junior (100 average, 1540 SAT) will likely study liberal arts. How big are the classes? Is it beautiful there? how are the professors? Is it leaps and bounds better than a SUNY Binghamton? I hope I don’t come off as putting down the college. I’m just trying to get more info than what i read on niche and guide books.
My daughter is very happy there. I will send you a PM.
Do any computer science students think that the liberal arts curriculum hinders their focus on their degree? And is it better to study computer science at a more-engineering focused school?
My son is there and will be graduating in May!!! Such a wonderful and caring school!! Good luck.
My son is a BS Computer Science major with a minor in Math. He has really learned a lot and felt the program is very competitive.
Statistically, UNC may indeed attract, on average, better prepared students than any New York public university: https://amp.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9. UNC, at 88th nationally, would find its closest New York counterpart at Binghamton (106).
As a current first year student, it’s extrodinarily difficult to describe just how special of a place UNC is. In such a short time I’ve made friends I’ve felt I’ve known a lifetime and have had experiences I’ll treasure forever. No matter who you are there’s a place at UNC for you and somewhere you can always go. For me, especially, as someone who received offers from higher ranked colleges, I’ve never once regretted or looked back on the decision I made to come here. The campus is one of the most beautiful there is and the classes, though intense and rigorous, coerce you to utilize your mental capacities to their fullest extent. As the leading public school in NC, of course many of your classes, especially first year gen-Ed’s, are going to be huge. There’s no getting around that. However, as you delve deeper and deeper into your major, especially in honors, the sizes are much smaller. However, I’ve never once felt a need to espouse my test scores nor have I felt entrapped in a fiercely competitive environment, a vibe I recieved from many of the other schools I had been considering during my college admissions process. The students at UNC are truly the people you can study with for a draining Calc final or casually grab food with on Franklin Street. There’s so much more I could go on and on about, so please feel free to PM if you have any specific questions.
@Nurse001 @Pastpower How does UNC’s computer science program compare with engineering focused schools such as N.C. State, Georgia Tech, or Purdue?
Class sizes are large at UNC-CH (actually I dislike writing UNC-CH because it applies to Charlotte as well as Chapel Hill–but I did it anyway) according to statistics supplied by the school to US News.
Intro classes can be large …but class size drops as you move on in your major. My D recently told me that she hasn’t had a large class in a long time. She is not a CS major.
THE CS World Rankings:
3 Stanford
5 MIT
6 CMU
7 Georgia Tech
…
99 UNC
…
126 NCST
…
NR Purdue
Ranking doesn’t make sense… UC Berkeley is not ranked which has one of the best CS program in the world,
@DJVD0199 usnews puts UCB CS around 24th in the world which would place it after Cornell about ~15th in the THE WSJ ranking… or 10th in the US.
I am sure you will surely get higher ranked schools for CS, but you will not get a better school in general in my opinion than UNC!! The spirit and committment the schools gives to the kids is amazing!! Any school that you go to and give it your all you will come out with a wealth of knowledge.
@silverpurple. It’s a nice campus, we travelled to visit last year (same trip as UVA) had a funny admissions guy who mentioned apps increasing every year. Great tour guide from OOS, she was charming. Alas, my twins aren’t there, they were waitlisted, then denied (same as their HS salutatorian). Happy at college now! I believe the OOS students are limited to 18% at UNC. SUNY is free with high SATs or room and board only, right?
A few SUNYs give merit money. We have a friend who earned a full tuition merit scholarship to suny Stony brook. I dont know if SUNY Binghamton does full merit scholarships.
My daughter was accepted to the scholars program at Bing…no merit. My understanding is that merit goes to students from OOS…but other SUNY schools give very good merit.
How big are the classes? Varies greatly from small to very large. Just like any other school.
Is it beautiful there? Yes. Great weather unless you love snow and cold.
how are the professors? My daughter just graduated. She loved all her professors accept one. He was a great professor but she just didn’t click with his teaching style. She got to know many of the professors on a personal level. Never had problems with office hours availability. VERY FEW ta teaching a class. Maybe 1 or two. She did choose her courses wisely.
Is it leaps and bounds better than a SUNY Binghamton? Can’t say.
Overall our daughter found it to be a very supportive environment. Competitive but not cut throat.
@noname87 Is the liberal arts curriculum hindering towards students that want to major in computer science? One of the biggest criticisms that I have heard for UNC is that it is not as engineering focused as schools such as NC State or Georgia Tech.
@blazinamazin2023 I really don’t see a situation in which a liberal arts approach to education is “hindering” for a student. If anything it brings a multitude of new perspectives to your possible career track and gives you a pretty unique opportunity to take courses you normally wouldn’t even consider, which only serve to make you a more dynamic individual. Of course UNC isn’t going to have all the same resources State or Tech would have but that really shouldn’t be a determining factor, nor do I think they need to be engineering “focused.” There are many successful and bright comp sci and engineering students here and resources and opportunities are available and plenty, especially in the Triangle area, so long as you’re willing to put in the work to find and apply for them.