University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Top Questions

Everyone is at UNC. Chapel Hill gets this name for being the liberal bubble in the conservative southern suburbia, and this isn't false, but so many groups, so many streams of thought are incredibly well-represented. A keystone of the student's relationships with each other is their willingness to understand ideas other than their own. This isn't just friendliness, because you'll certainly get into your share of academic, ideological, or theological arguments - but UNC students share the understanding that the process of rubbing our ideas up against each other is the way that we become more intelligent scholars, more complicated thinkers, a more whole people.

enthusiastic, liberal, mostly open minded

I'm a liberal, white, straight female, so at UNC I was in the majority in every way. Therefore, it's hard for me to comment too much on diversity, but I definitely felt like minority groups didn't feel out of place. Some racial minorities assimilate with everyone else on campus, but many others form their own groups, so there's definitely a lot of self-segregation on campus -- blacks hanging out with blacks, Indians hanging out with Indians, etc. But that depends on the individual's preference. If a minority student feels the need to have extra support, there are tons of campus organizations that allow you to hang out with people like you. Some groups include Black Student Movement, GLBTSA, College Republicans, Muslim Students Association, etc. Almost all students dress casually to class - jeans and a Carolina t-shirt with Rainbow flip flops is the standard. Most students (82{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}) are from North Carolina, because of state law. A lot of out-of-staters bond with other out-of-staters because of shared common experiences and the ability to join the Out of State Students Association, but after four years, I couldn't really tell you which people in my classes were in-staters and which were out-of-staters, which to me is a good thing. I would guess that most students are from the middle to upper middle class at Carolina, but you can't really tell with most students unless they try to flaunt their wealth. One great thing about Carolina is the Carolina Covenant, which allows low-income students to graduate entirely debt free. Since Carolina isn't ridiculously expensive to start with, in general you have no idea what kind of economic background students are coming from, which is a great difference between college and high school. Students are extremely cause-oriented. Students are passionate about everything from politics (lots of Obama backers for sure), Darfur, labor rights, immigration, and women's rights. It's definitely a left-leaning campus. There's a great desire at Carolina to travel and make a difference. Tons of people study abroad while in school, and tons more join organizations like Teach for America and the Peace Corps after graduation.

Don't come to UNC if 1) Your mind is closed, or 2) You don't like interacting with others different from you. You will meet all sorts of students, although most are from North Carolina. Any type of person is guaranteed to meet other types that offend them, as there is no "typical" UNC student. Don't sweat it. There is a great deal of political awareness, but pretty much all sides are represented.

Like I said before. It is extremely diverse. Not dominated by one group alone. All I can say is that the students are some of the best people I've ever met. I have made friendships here that will last a very long time.

The student body is very diverse. There is anything anyone could want to be involved in. I loved being involved in sports, while others loved being in their sorority or fraternity or other group. If you are looking to get involved in something its not hard to find something. Most of the students are from North Carolina so many of them know each other. The town of Chapel Hill in general is liberal, so it is only natural that the campus is a refelction of that. Most of the teachers are moderatly liberal, but the student body is a good mix.

I sure UNC has a person from every culture, race, religion, and background possible getting along together at this school! Everyone interacts and wears whatever they want! Most girls are gorgeous and wear dresses and some people ride skateboards. There are definitely more girls than guys! Lots of students have wealthy alumni parents and lots are here solely on scholarship. Most everyone here has been successful in there life and will continue to be after college, no need to talk about it because almost all fall under that category.

I think most UNC students are socially aware and try their best to follow the "Carolina Way" which is "excellence with a heart" to quote our late 2008 student body president, Eve Carson. This means that we strive to do our best in whatever we are doing, but we don't forget that there are less fortunate people. UNC is full of people who are willing to lend a helping hand to others and excel in their studies so that they can use their skills to help solve some of the world's problems. The student body is also very open-minded and diverse. We all people from all over the world and different groups of students do interact and work together.

Again, cf. above. Politics are by all means far to the left. No one censured/oppressed/etc the opposing opinion (except in the minds of a foolish few) but it does tend to be hard to get your point across in an environment where you represent a scarce minority (simply because there is no one to lend a friendly ear). Students typically go out of their way avoid stepping on any discriminatory toes (race, religion, orientation, etc), but it is taken nearly to the point of ridiculousness in the way that it often will limit conversation. Most UNC students would rather sweep away all the differences between religions, races, etc rather than actually investigate, understand, and come to terms with the differences inherent in those subjects. Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury comics of the mid 70's paint that picture better than I ever could... Just because students have a sharply liberal bias means little except in their own minds. Racism/sexism/etc is much more than a political philosophy; it is a way of life, and than tidbit is missing from the majority of students not only at UNC, but elsewhere as well

My high school was all white and, although I hate to say it, racist towards all other types of people. I never had anything against any other race, but upon coming to UNC, I must say I was surprised at the racial diversity. I took one survey my first semester of college asking how often you communicated with someone of another race and after thinking about the question, realized that I spoke to people of different races almost constantly throughout the day. A BIG change from high school for the better. I honestly do not know which class is most represented on campus. No one asks and no one cares. I think that everyone is treated equally regardless of their class or race. (Most students are from NC though. I have met a few out-of-staters (NY and CA) who weren't happy here.)