The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

I am an out of state student. In all honesty if i could chose all over again i would not come here. I found it pretty difficult to meet people. Most of the people, while friendly, come here with a truck-load of their high school friends with whom they primarily hang out with. in my experiance i had no trouble stricking up a conversation with new people on the elevator or on the way to class but the school was so HUGE you get lost in crowd and never seem to see them again. My main dissappoint in the school lies in its tremendous size. As an out of stater i thought i had done my research.. i had bought into all the publicity mail the admissions deparment mailed home.. classes are capped at 20 in certain departments.. big school resources small school feel... i pictured UNC as a progressive, small feeling school.... however when i arrived in the fall i found it did not feel small at all.. professors didn't know i existed, i joined numerous student groups and still felt disconnected, the frat scene was overwhelming... overall-- too big, too many rednecks, too preppy

1st Year Female -- Class 2008

Campus Maintenance: A, Faculty Accessibility: D

I would just like to warn any prospective students (especially out-of-state ones) that UNC-CH is not as good as the glowing brochures make it out to be. Don't be dazzled by the school's so-called repuatation; that reputation is in free-fall right now, thanks in part to faculty who care more about their arcane research interests and various left-wing causes than they do about teaching. I came to UNC-CH as an out-of-stater, thinking it was some wonderful "public Ivy," and so proud that I had gotten in, when the acceptance rate for out-of-staters was around 5%. As it turned out, I could have stayed in my home state and probably have learned more. UNC-Ch may have prestige, but it's really like any other large, public university. Students have few opportunities to interact with faculty -- actually, few classes are even TAUGHT by faculty. TA's seem to do most of the teaching. If you see a professor, he/she will be that little dot holding a microphone at the end of the lecture hall. And if you're in the sciences, get ready for HUGE classes and TA's who cannot communicate in English.

These problems are common to all large public institutions, but it is annoying that UNC-CH considers itself to be so wonderful when it is really just another factory-like school that treats students like they're simply sources of revenue. No one is intersted in whether you learn or nor, or what your goals or aspirations are. You're just a tuition check to them. This may sound harsh, and I'm sure some people had great experiences at UNC-CH, but I am just speaking from my own experience, which was dreadful. And yes, I tried my hardest to stand out and not be a number, but eventually you get tired of beating your head against an indifferent tower. UNC-CH is just not a happy place for undergraduates, and I wish someone had warned me before I went there.

So please think twice before going to UNC-CH. Consider going to a really top-notch liberal arts school -- the attention from faculty and opportunities you have there would make the poor souls at diploma factories like UNC-CH turn green with envy!

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000

I graduated from UNC three years ago -- and I really wish I hadn't gone there. I can't speak for other departments, but my experience in the History department was absolutely dreadful. In general, the professors there aren't interested in undergraduate students. Most of the classes are huge impersonal lecture halls. I was a senior before I had a class under 50 people. When I did try to talk to professors, they were by and large extremely rude and condescending. It was such a disheartening experience that I considered transferring several times. The school is a vast machine with a huge bureaucracy that is maddening to navigate. UNC exists for professors -- it is a place for them to publish, to get tenure, to hold conferences, etc. UNC does not exist for its students. It is a horrendous place at which to be an undergraduate it you want a high-quality, personal education. Maybe things have changed since I went there, but I doubt it. It has probably gotten worse.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000