The facilities are surprisingly first-rate for a small school.  For example, the biology department has an electron microscope ?  most unusual for such a small campus.  Public access computers are all over the place.  Academics are top-rate, make no mistake about that.  I know a girl who did very well on her SATs in a college-prep curriculum and was rejected by UNCA.  It seems like the admissions standards get tougher every year.  Enrollment has expanded comparatively little over the years compared to WCU and ASU.

That said, I saw a number of bright kids so consumed with social activism that their academics suffered (shades of UC Berkeley in the 60s).

For a school with such a supposed free spirit reputation, I found the professors quite regimented.  Every course I took had a syllabus and every instructor stuck to it religiously.  We knew exactly what was expected of us from one class to the next.  Still, the professors are very caring and generous with their time.  I consider myself quite bright and hardworking, but it was a challenge to maintain good grades there.  They?ll definitely push you.

There is a certain amount of hypocrisy, however.  Despite all the talk of ?diversity?, UNCA is as white as the driven snow.  I?m almost certain UNCA is the least diverse campus in the UNC system.  In fairness however, there are few people of color in the mountain region of NC, so it might be difficult to recruit minorities to attend college so far from home. 

Through my studies at UNCA, I learned how to speak, understand, read, and write Spanish.  I also learned a great deal about the history, geography, and culture of Spain and Latin America.  Some might say, ?Well, duh!  Doesn?t everybody who majors in Spanish everywhere learn that??  Based on my interaction with people with Spanish degrees from other colleges, my answer is ?No.?

Count me among the 74% majority who would definitely attend UNCA again.