The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

I have had great and wretched experiences here at UNC. I'm close to completing my second year, and I have had some awesome classes here. I think what has impacted my education most is having teachers that I feel I can talk to. I rarely go to office hours, but there are a few teachers (professors) that are very interesting and have really gotten me into their subject matter. I'm a Spanish and International Studies major, so I take all kinds of classes.

One of the best things about international studies is the ability to basically customize the major and take whatever you want in almost any department and have it count toward something.

After spending nearly two years in Chapel Hill I have to say I am ready to get off campus. I never had a big problem with the residence halls since I lived on north campus the whole time. I have had air conditioning, and I don't really feel the need to have socialized in the freshmen dorms.

UNC has the ability to really isolate someone who isn't outgoing or comes here without any friends. I came in with a lot of people I knew from high school, most of them jerks, and my best friend also came here. What you need to understand about college is that for some people, times change. I'm no longer best friends with that person, I have been able to move on.

What really has amazed me is that so many of my former classmates haven't really moved on. Perhaps their bonds were stronger or they just never grew out of being rich and liking the friends they could buy. I am not Greek, and I know a lot of Greeks that are huge assholes, and a lot of them are really nice people. UNC has an active arts scene, so it's nice if you dance, sing, or act to find a group (there are lots for each interest) and make friends there.

If you are not outgoing, UNC will drive you nuts. You WILL lock yourself in your room and be miserable because everyone else is out having fun. I was never much into clubbing, so I don't really go to Franklin Street, but food on Franklin Street is nice. If you are a vegetarian, don't get a meal plan because the salad is horrid and never gets replaced, and the only other really nutritious things they serve are fruit and pasta. You don't want to eat pasta with three day old marinara five days a week.

Study abroad! I have heard so many people say it is a great experience, and I am headed to Spain for a year this fall and spring. Studying abroad will open up your mind.

Try not to be overwhelmed by the other students' opinions. There are some people who are crazy about their opinions and will argue them to death, and they're very confrontational about it (conservatives and liberals). As for UNC being insanely liberal, the carousing from conservative students has only gone up every semester I've been here where they whine about how they are treated differently or whatever. Most of my professors have asked me to listen and decide for myself.

As for a wretched experience, it's very hard to know what you want to major in when you get to school. The science departments are overwhelming with the work and I found them very unapproachable. I was a chemistry major for four weeks, and then I changed to Spanish and found a much lighter attitude. It was much less of a grind. In the math class I took when I was a freshman, I had a teacher who had a very thick Eastern European accent. I didn't have a problem understanding him, but almost all my classmates complained that he spoke too fast or too thickly with an accent and that impeded their learning.

I don't think I'd choose a different university at this point since UNC hasn't been the best to me, but it hasn't been the worst. I went to UNC because it was the most affordable choice for me, and I knew that if I came here I would have a lot of options to major in. My brother came here and offered me this advice: always have an open mind. College is not going to be what you expect it to be, you must take things as they come. I have one best friend who has been wonderful to me and I never knew her before UNC. Ignore people who arrogant because of what they have been given or where they come from. We are all just people, and you must respect that. Also know that college is not only about academics, and some of the people in the science areas are going to have heart attacks by the time they reach their junior years. If you are able to keep a level head, you will survive and even flourish at UNC.I also have to say that I didn't have a typical freshman experience. I lived on north campus and had very few perspectives to fill because I came in with 50 hours of AP credit.

2nd Year Female -- Class 2007

Campus Maintenance: A+, Scholastic Success: F

Yeah, so I posted sometime last year...and I'm not taking back any of the comments I made before. I will add though. I am a biology major, like the tabs says, and to be honest I was not having fun. It felt like I was being a drone, not because that's the way the dept. works so much as I just wasn't interested. I had debated switching majors my freshman year, but decided not to b/c I had so many credits toward a biology major. This year I added a second major, exercise sports science, and love it. I realize that not switching freshman year was a mistake for me, b/c my passion for the subject wasn't there. I could've saved myself a lot of trouble. The teaching is still the same for the most part, but it's just something I'm more interested in, worth thinking on a deeper level about than biology. I think some people's dissatisfaction comes from the fact that they have settled into a major because that's what they wanted to do before they came in and that's what they are going to get a degree and when they learn more they find it tedious and boring. They don't want to think any deeper about the subject matter, and settle for memorizing the material and coming out with the good grades. My advice to everyone, at any college, is to explore your options as best as you can. Simply switching majors and finding something you truly love and can see yourself doing in the future can make the experience so much better.

My other comments...yes Carolina has its share of cliques, plenty in fact, but in a school of about 20,000 people, you can't expect everyone to know everyone else, and no doubt most of us have formed our own but we just don't want to label them as such. People wander outside their circles as well. Let's face it, a lot of that has to do with perspectives. I thought for a long time about how I didn't know very many people, and I was sad about it for a little while. But then I think about all the people that I do know on a very personal level as opposed to a superficial level, and these were going to be the people stayed in touch with anyway not everyone else. On top of that one of my friends commented on how it seemed like I knew everyone on campus...no where near the truth, but you might not think you know a lot of people, but others think you do.

There are a lot of liberals here, true, but there are also plenty of conservatives. Take it from a liberal whose been surrounded by conservatives since freshmen year when they were my suitemates and now they are some of the life long friends I've made during my time at Carolina.

As far as social life goes, sure there could be a better one if UNC was situated in a bigger city, but it's not. But it's not that bad, it can't be if people from NC State and Duke are coming here on the weekends. But don't be surprised if Franklin St. isn't as big you expect. You do the things that typical college students do go to bars, clubs, parties, and events on campus.As far as job porspects, I think it's uncertain for everyone unless you take the initiative to line things up for yourself. Don't rely simply on the name of the school and the GPA to get yourself an interview. Make sure you have gotten to know people who can give you references, get your resume out early, take advantage of University Career Services (a wonderful thing to help get a job, simply by posting I've had at least 5 companies approach me regarding job openings). Although you shouldn't solely depend on it, the name UNC-Chapel Hill does carry weight.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2005

Social Life: A, Education Quality: B

I was at UNCCH on a full fellowship in the German graduate department. I thought I would make friends with the other graduate students, but I found them to be arrogant. I also found them to be intolerant of intellectual diversity, e.g. intolerant of one who was curious about white separatist and nationalist thought. This was strange, since "tolerance" was being preached on campus, and nobody was harming anyone by what they thought.One positive note about UNCCH: Davis Library was wonderful, and encouraged intellectual diversity in all its glory through its extensive collection of books from the right, from the left, from the center. But, I fell into a deep depression, and left UNCCH after one year, never finishing the doctorate that I thought I would get.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000