University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Abby

Class: Senior
Major: Journalism
Gender: F

High School: Providence High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

UNC is very much a school that people fall in love with after coming here (if they didn't already come a die-hard Tar Heel fan). You will grow to cheer your heart out for the basketball team, to hate Duke, love the town as it is completely based around the school, and realize that our campus really is the most beautiful when you go visit friends at other schools. It is a large school but can be very small if you want it to be. There are thousands of organizations to get involved in ranging across the most diverse of interests. By senior year people realize that most everyone is connected to each other through random friends because everyone is involved in so many different things. People are real go-getters and entrepreneurial in their academic and social endeavors. UNC really provides the resources for students to follow their passions, whether through study abroad, fellowships and grants, bringing speakers, starting clubs, etc. Chapel Hill tends to be considered the liberal bubble of NC and is very politically active. For NC there is a much larger LGBT population and they are openly accepted. Students tend to complain the most about having to deal with registration and advising as it is such a large school and getting in to see people can often be difficult. Everything is automated and they try to cover it via internet, but sometimes it is necessary to speak to someone in person which can be a pain.

Academic Life

Everyone must take general college requirements which cover a variety of liberal arts areas. These freshman classes are almost always large lecture classes with a few hundred people and recitations. Professors will not know your name until you get into classes with 50 people or less which happens as you progress into a major and more specialized classes. They usually make themselves very accessible to students though with office hours and try to really make sure that you are learning. Students are very competitive but don't really talk about it. Everyone studies regularly but then will meet up with friends for socializing. There are classes that cover just about everything it seems and also special topics classes within each department that change every semester. Within the Journalism School, professors get to know you quickly because you most likely will have them more than once. Building a relationship with them is very beneficial because they will help you find a job and want you to do well after school due to its high reputation. The Journalism School is very much career based learning, but other departments are not at all like that and are based on learning itself.

Student Body

UNC's students are very diverse, but your interaction depends on what groups you choose to involve yourself in. The Greek community is very much white, preppy, affluent, and socializes within itself for the most part. There are also an abundance of religious and ethnic heritage organizations that allow everyone to feel apart of a group. The LGBT community is known for being large in consideration for being in the South and has a strong organization and social network within itself. The majority of students though fit into the generic "college" look with jeans, tshirts, flip flops/tennis shoes for class. They are mostly middle class from suburban backgrounds. But many students break out of their cookie-cutter mold backgrounds through their years here and really change in terms of finding themselves and their passions. Some student stereotypes that one might see are the athlete, sorority/frat-star, generic "college" student, hippy do-gooder, etc. Most students are liberal and are involved in some group of their interest.