http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html Life at UNCCH - Comments en http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html Received excellent, well rounded education. Attending UNC was a great experience.... Sat, 04 May 2013 08:29:24 GMT StudentsReview 830-93655 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 830-93655 830 57 Economics Male Undergraduate Alumnus Class 2000 Positive Received excellent, well rounded education. Attending UNC was a great experience. Sat, 04 May 2013 08:29:24 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html I'm going to divide my comments on UNC-CH into sections. ACADEMIC: Difficult. These guys don't mess around. The thing is, UNC is a flagship research university, so understand what you're getting i... Thu, 02 May 2013 09:30:00 GMT StudentsReview 830-93622 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 830-93622 830 58 Political Science Male Undergraduate Alumnus Class 2000 Advice I'm going to divide my comments on UNC-CH into sections.

ACADEMIC: Difficult. These guys don't mess around. The thing is, UNC is a flagship research university, so understand what you're getting into. Seminar classes (that is, those higher level classes) are much easier to get a good grade in than introductory level classes. Working very hard will get you a B. Working casually/normally will give you a C. The A is basically indicative of mastery or excellence: at least in my experience (Natural sciences and political science), getting an A is a huge achievement. Be warned.

Now that I've talked about the bad, here's the good: like I said, it's a flagship research university. This means your professors are the best of the best. Don't take this lightly: the experience, insight, wisdom, and potential opportunity they have to offer you as a student is immeasurable. If you have any interest whatsoever in research, UNC-CH is a goldmine. It's a rare combination of professors who are exemplary but who also really enjoy engaging their students. Don't underestimate the value of leaving a good impression: I was rejected from a study abroad program, but because I did well in a professor's class, I was able to land the opportunity to assist another professor in his research.

Bottom line academically: be passionate, be committed, and be focused.


SOCIAL: UNC wasn't my cup of tea, but this is a very personal preference. Also, I found my niche, so I definitely wasn't miserable--in a big school, you'll find friends. Join clubs, be social, and make conversation with your classmates. UNC students are easily accessible in terms of conversation and introductions. Having said that, if you'd like to hear my complaints: I felt like, as it is at many college campuses, UNC really favors the indigenous (to NC) and the generally fratty. It's a bit elitist in that sense. The other group I noticed getting the most notoriety was the activist. But like I said, these things are personal and while I didn't really quite fit in here, there's a lot of people here who absolutely love it.


ADVICE FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS: Take advantage of opportunities. Seriously. There's funding opportunities for unpaid internships, study abroad options for dirt cheap, research being done by professors that (if you are good/passionate enough) you may be able to help with. Other than that, just remember to work your butt off.

ADVICE FOR HIGH SCHOOLERS: I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I wasn't kidding about passion. If you can convey your passion, you'll be competitive for UNC admissions. Find what you like, and do things which signal your commitment to excelling in it. Grades are great. Extra-curriculars are great. Being focused is ideal. Your A+ in biology is pretty good, but it's amazing if you want to be a doctor. Same with English. Or History. Understand your coursework, extra-curriculars, and volunteer work as being a stepping stone to whatever it is you want--even what you think you want--to do.

The End. Thu, 02 May 2013 09:30:00 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html I would like to focus in this comment on telling you guys about the people working for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Not professors or TAs (I was generally satisfied with them with ... Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:55:34 GMT StudentsReview 830-93163 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 830-93163 830 58 Political Science Female Undergraduate Class 2012 3rd Year Negative I would like to focus in this comment on telling you guys about the people working for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Not professors or TAs (I was generally satisfied with them with a few exceptions), not students and the surrounding environment (those were quite controversial as well).
Since I am an international student, several times I had to ask for guidance on issues such as employment search, work visas, etc.
The Career Services at UNC are a joke. Career counselors never helped me with anything. Most of the time they were inaccessible to me, and whenever I had a chance to schedule an hour long appointment with them by about two-three weeks in advance, they could not answer my questions and finished with me earlier, not to mention their condescending tone and complete lack of empathy and interest in their job. Whenever I had a questions that had to do with my employment search, people working there just did not know the answer, and these were not super complicated questions that a qualified career services specialist must know, especially at a university that always brags about being so high quality! For example, I asked about my prospects of finding a job sponsored by a work visa in the US. They had to call another office, the office of international students and scholars, where counselors did not know the answer either because it had to do with jobs, a specialty of university career services. I was left without an answer at the end.
One time at the ACADEMIC ADVISOR COULD NOT SPELL WORDS CORRECTLY on a form that I asked her to fill out. The words like "practitioner" and "field." I am an international student, and I know English much better than her!
Another time I called the international students office and asked for one of their employee's advice, and she spoke with such a condescending tone I thought she's going to say that I should just go home to whatever country I came from. She was absolutely unable to help me with my question, she was obviously just trying to get rid of me as soon as possible, like she had better things to do.
For the $38,000 a year that an international student pays to go here - this plays isn't worth it. The service is horrible, the food is nasty, the students are incredibly stupid and close-minded, and the surrounding town is boring and pathetic.
The professors and some TAs are the only good thing about this university. If you really like studying and getting as much as you can from that, you'll be okay.
The bottom line though: reconsider going to UNC. You will waste those precious 4 years of your life. Especially if you're an international student. Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:55:34 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html For starters, I can say that the whole "racial tension" bit from other reviews is junk. Although Carolina is in the South (and yes, there are definitely still issues to be worked out for everyone to ... Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:06:00 GMT StudentsReview 830-93053 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 830-93053 830 6 Biology Male Undergraduate Class 2007 4th Year Positive For starters, I can say that the whole "racial tension" bit from other reviews is junk. Although Carolina is in the South (and yes, there are definitely still issues to be worked out for everyone to get along), you'd have to try really hard not to learn a million things about the world around you and the many, many different perspectives of its student body. As a naive kid that grew up in rural NC, I am so thankful for the chance to befriend and get to know people from all races, orientations, backgrounds, etc etc, and just having the chance to listen to different people's stories and their point of view on things. I feel that I am a better and more compassionate human being because of it.

As a Christian, I can tell you that this is a unique opportunity for you to grow in your faith while learning to get along with people that quite possibly, completely disagree with you. The college missionaries that work here (check out Chi Alpha, IV, or Cornerstone) are a resource that is worth more than pure gold in helping you to make decisions for yourself...in fact, if you're considering a career in ministry, I would even challenge you to get a 4-year degree at Carolina and use one of these great campus ministries as a launching point for your career.

As a BS Bio major, I can tell you that the intro courses (intro to bio, intro to chem) are weedout...do everything possible to take these anywhere else or come in with AP credit (or just be a genius who can outsmart a class of 200+ students) so your GPA stays intact. Once you get out of the really big classes and start into the more focused classes, the quality of education skyrockets. I have never worked harder for an A (or sometimes a C) in my life, but the academic rigor prepared me very well for the outside world. I ended up switching fields and went into IT/management, instead, but I can tell you that the quality of my work, my writing, math skills, everything, is so much more polished and sharp than people I've seen come out of other institutions with greater student loans and no real skills to show for it. The catch: If you definitely want to go to med school (dental school, etc, also), there is a GPA game to play and it may be better to go to State or ECU where you will get the educational base you need, but will run into less cut-throat competition and you honestly have a better chance of a better GPA, and then go to Carolina for Med/Dental.

For people not necessarily looking at grad school: If you can ace the weedout classes and *do lab research*, the sciences @ UNC are top notch (bio, chem, etc). I've also had friends go through their comp. sci, school of journalism & mass. comm., and business school and all of us are a) employed b) successful and c) our degrees were well-worth the investment.

If I had to do it over again, I would definitely go back to Carolina (but given my career choice, would maybe have picked a BSBA from the Business school as my primary major and maybe minored in Bio, instead). Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:06:00 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html I wish I had never come here. This is the worst place in the country. The students are barbaric, and the English faculty is horrible. Avoid this place.... Sat, 15 Dec 2012 02:55:29 GMT StudentsReview 830-91008 Copyright 2013 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 830-91008 830 17 English Male Undergraduate Class 2000 Negative I wish I had never come here. This is the worst place in the country. The students are barbaric, and the English faculty is horrible. Avoid this place. Sat, 15 Dec 2012 02:55:29 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/NC/UNCCH_comments.html