University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Top Questions

Some people dislike UNC because they've heard of how large the classes are, but personally, I love large lectures. It lessens the pressure to do the reading on time and attend class, and recitations are usually really helpful and I've had some brilliant TA's. But there are certainly options to take smaller classes if you want. UNC is very academically driven and classes are very difficult, but I feel like the campus has a strong "work hard, play hard" mentality. There's a good mix of the social and academic elements of college. Any major in the sciences is going to be very difficult, but if you want an easy major, choose something like Psych, Comm, or Exercise and Sports Science. If you're going to be a poli major, I'd definitely recommend a class with Andrew Reynolds. Poli 130 (intro to comparative politics) was a great class and he doesn't grade very harshly. Additionally, I'd recommend Ehrman's New Testament class (reli 104) for EVERY student at UNC. It has impacted my life more than any other class. You may not like Bart, and the class isn't very easy, but you'll never be the same after you take it. Plus he's semi-famous (best-selling book, plus he's been on The Daily Show, Colbert Report, Animal Planet, CNN, etc.). Also, for incoming freshman, I'd recommend taking a freshman seminar. I took a really weird one, but I made some great friends in the class. It was a wonderful experience.

Class sizes are large, but in my upper level classes it would have been easy to know most of my professors. They get to be an ideal size where it is easy to know some professors, but also where you can get by unnoticed.

The best. If you don't like big classes, don't come here because that is what almost all the introductory classes are except for the languages.

Professors here are the best in their field... but you have to seek them out sometimes (grad students teach a shocking number of lower-level classes). Again, UNC is so diverse that every class is different. Most students participate, some don't. Most students study, some don't. Some students view UNC as a way to get a job, and others view UNC as a place to learn. Sorting out which group you feel comfortable in is hard. Students are rarely competitive, though. UNC's general education requirements are frustrating.

I was a Communication Studies Major. It was awesome, it's a great department and you get to engage with all kinds of other academic disciplines in your studies. It really changed the way I thought about the world.

Academics here are definitely very different from high school. I am now a senior and possibly 2 of my professors from my 4 years know my name. This is of course, partially because I don't go to office hours, etc...but when you go to school full time and work full time, you don't have time to force someone to get to know you.

I made straight A's in high school, graduated top 10 in my class, and am considered an average student. I graduated with above a 4.0, here I have to WORK to get B's. It's difficult. But I love my professors and I know the sacrifice of attending a rigorous academic institution will pay off. The profs here are fantastic. Many theories I learned about in high school were created by my professors here, at UNC.

There are a lot of large classes at UNC, this can be difficult during your first years. However, that being said, you can develop close relationships with professors. It is all about what work you put in.

Unbeatable.

Many classes are HUGE. Even classes in your major are larger than at many other schools. Even many of my higher level English courses would have 35+ people in them. Teachers don't get to know their students very well for the most part. Not as much class participation occurs in larger classes. Classes tend to be good at encouraging learning.