The University of North Carolina - Charlotte

I accepted a scholarship to attend UNCC. I was an English major for three semesters before I was accepted at UNC Chapel Hill.

NOTE: UNCC is NOT UNC Chapel Hill. It does not resemble it at all. The UNCC English department sucks bigtime. The literature curriculum is a rehash of high school. Many of the teachers in the Eng. Dept. are self-absorbed and in constant battle with each other. They gripe about each other and the department in class.

Some faculty members are/were married to each other. Good luck figuring out which ones, because if one hates you, the other one will hate you too.

Want to major in literature? Forget it. Kiddie Lit abounds.
Looking forward to your first writing class? Forget it. You'll be taught by semiliterate graduate students and teachers who couldn't get jobs in WalMart if they begged BUT they manage to get teaching jobs. Hmmmmm... What's wrong with this picture?

Advice: don't waste your time or your money on this school. The state is dumping money into campus capital improvements, but it's the same lousy faculty.

Administration and bureaucracy: now this is fun. You'll deal with recent graduates of UNCC who are secretaries who harbor antistudent attitudes. You won't be able to make ANY direct contact with the administrators. If you manage to get a call through to a dean or assistant dean, your call will go unanswered.

Are you white and curious about AA lit? Be prepared to repent for the sins of your forefathers. It isn't worth it.

Campus security? A Joke. Parking? Be prepared to walk a mile to class for the first few weeks of Fall semester.My experiences with this school and its English department were very very bad. Stay away from this school, no matter how attractive the offer.

1st Year Female -- Class 2010

Campus Aesthetics: B, Education Quality: F

I graduated in '04 as an English major then became certified to teach in Mecklenburg County/NC. Guess what? Meck County wouldn't hire me even though I had high grades.

I didn't like my department chair, his wife, or most of the teachers. A few teachers were accessible, but most really didn't want to be bothered-- especially my "counselor." It wasn't as though I was demanding. Finding things out in the department was difficult. Certain info (e.g.,info regarding grant money and assistantships for grad school) is guarded.There is no real literature department, I found out. After I was there three years, I started to get a bit worried by thre limited curriculum, and though i intended to go to graduate school (at UNCC) I decided to take my BA and certification and try to get a job. One year without work (even though there is a teacher "shortage") and I decided to go to grad school at UNC. I really feel cheated by UNCC. Though i did a lot of reading on my own, I think that the English department should call itself the "Kiddie Lit" department and drop the pretense of being a real English department. The intellect isn't there, and the curriculum CERTAINLY isn't there either. Good teachers don't stay long. It was sad.

4th Year Female -- Class 2004

Campus Maintenance: A, Education Quality: C