The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

UNC, when compared to my other prospects in 2001 including Duke, UC-Berkeley, Yale, and Columbia, was the best school for the price. Admittedly, the aforementioned schools are ranked higher and offer a better academic program, but Carolina is indeed a worthy peer who achieves such standing at a cost affordable to practically everyone. I was accepted into all of the above schools except Yale and chose to come to Carolina because I believe that they are in touch with middle-class America as well as academic excellence. My experience thus far has proven to be a great and difficult one.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2005

Surrounding City: A+, Friendliness: F

The reason I decided to review the University of North Carolina on this website is because it seems that only the very few people who had a bad time at Carolina voice their opinions and subsequently misrepresent this amazing institution. I applied to and was accepted to the University of Virgina, Wake Forest University, and Northwestern, and given the opportunity to decide where to go again, I would never waste the money to go to any of the other universities; not to say they aren't great schools. In a nutshell, the academic experience I've encountered at UNC is the hardest I've faced in my life. Not only do you have a large array of classes to choose from and majors to pursue, but each class, with the exception of a few, is extremely diffucult. Teachers do not hand out A's and students are forced to perform well from their first semester to be able to compete for acceptance into the various nationally-renowned undergraduate schools (i.e Business, Public Health, Journalism). For those reviewers who complained about being just another student, I am not really sure how or where they requested administrative help, but I have never had a problem with contacting who I need to or being pointed in the right direction. I've been able to have phone conversations with the Deans of certain schools/departments, arranged by an informal email. For those of you worried about rankings and reputations, the reality of such publictions is that rankings are never accurate as they are not specific to the individual; one's experience is subjective, personal. UNC-Chapel Hill is and has been considered one of the top 5 public institutions in the nation. Kiplinger's rated Carolina as the #1 educational value in the nation two years running and people include UNC in the category referred to as the "Public Ivies." One of the few reasons why public schools like UVA are 'ranked' higher than UNC is because we still only accept around 18% of all out-of-state applicants, whereas Virginia accepts around 35%. Our professional and graduate schools are amongst the highest ranked in the nation (i.e. the School of Medicine in #5 in primary care). I cannot say more about the quality of this university. The school's appeal does not end at its academic prowless. From sports to Greek life to student-run organizations, there is no limit to the things one can do here. The school provides an extensive selection of intramurel sports at all competitive levels, movie showings, music performances, and anything else you could imagine. There are over 20 IFC fraternities, 8 Pan-hellenic sororites, several historically African-American fraternities, and countless other themed greek organizations. The proximity of the town of Chapel Hill is another characteristic that most other schools do not share. Famed Franklin Street provides a convenient break from campus and also offers a large selection of restuarants and activities. And though they rant and rave about how great their school is, Duke students can be found in Chapel Hill almost any day of the week. From August to May, there is always a sports team to watch and attending abasketball game in the Dean Dome is an experience like no other. Finally, being such a liberal town in a conservative state offers many different viewpoints on current politics. I could go on forever about how great UNC is, but ultimately, one's college experience is what they make of it. I have been nothing but thrilled with my career at Chapel Hill so far and its unfortunate that other reviewers did not. The University of North Carolina deserves to be considered (and has proven to me to be) one of the best schools in the nation.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2006

Education Quality: A+, Individual Value: B+