University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Top Questions

I make an effort to attend class and to get to know my professors, at least to the extent that we say hello when we see each other on campus. I think that little bit of effort on my part has drastically improved my aademic experience at UNC because professors are willing to help me when I need it. The students that I hear complain about their professors or their classes are the ones that skip class all the time or that show up but don't engage at all. Professors notice that, and don't respond kindly a lot of the time. Students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class, particularly about big issues like the presidential race, human rights, gender issues, etc. The policy department is wonderful because they are very willing to work with students. I love that there is a Major's Union for students to express grievances or to make suggestions to make their UNC experience even better. I feel that the majority of UNC's academic requirements are valid and important, but I think that the requirements for visual and performing arts are a bit ridiculous. A student should be able to test out of the requirement with an audition and/or theory test.

The intro level classes can be gigantic or there can be twenty people in them depending on the subject. Some of the lower level classes are taught by grad students but the classes are always good. It is a large university and the professors won't always know your name, but they want to. Students who go to the professors office hours almost always do better in the class. The academics of the place allow you to excel if you want to but for those who want to cruise through college there are also the Poli-sci and anthropology departments.

Some of the classes are way too large, but then others are so small they are impossible to get into. They need to offer more sections of highly sought after courses--especially upper level biolog classes

There is a large variance in class size at Carolina, I have taken a 400 student Biology 101 class and then I had an 11 student English 102 class directly after. Obviously my Biology instructor couldn't learn all 400 of our names, but my English class became a fairly tight-knit group. My favorite class was a First-Year Seminar that I took called "Think, Speak, Argue". This class was geared toward building argumentative speeches, we ended the semester by organizing a public debate, and we had several in class debates. I had a blast and the professor was amazing.

Academics are hard, only 23{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students are admitted, and teachers demand excellence. If you are coming here to earn all A's... don't bother. What you will learn in the classroom is more significant then letter grades obtained.

Professors are pretty sweet. Don't like the grad student ones so much. Don't generally care for TAs; they're kind of arrogant. I have one favourite professor and we're totally hanging out even though I don't have class with her next semester. I don't know what the education is geared toward, but it shouldn't be toward getting a job, it should be for learning. And I think that people get way too caught up in the getting a job thing.

Some professors are wonderful. Its harder than it seems to form good relationships with professors because lots of lecture classes are huge and there are some classes you dont need office hours and you dont really end up getting to know them. lots of professors make class too hard. and miserable. students are very competitive and its hard because everyone is always stressed out. Academic requirements are outrageous. i have so many compliants about them. education here is geared toward getting a job.

It is pretty difficult to get accepted but depending on your major, I havent found too many of the classes here too hard or unmanageable.

Most classes that are intro classes are large lectures. However, I never felt like I was lost in a big classroom. The professors do a great job making sure they are available during office hours for any questions etc.

In smaller classes, the professors know everyone's names. In larger classes (200+ students), the professors do not. If you go to office hours however, they will learn who you are & what your name is. My favorite class & most unique class I have taken is American Studies: Birth & Death with Professor Marr. He was AWESOME. It was so interesting. We learned & discussed literally everything about anything that had to do with birth & death. My least favorite class was statistics. My professor was hard to understand & he flew through the material. Also, I just don't like statistics. Class participation is very common in smaller classes..language classes, first year seminars, etc. Students are competitive with themselves. Test grades are never curved, so I don't compete with other students to get the better grade. I just compete with myself to make a good grade. I am a nursing major doing all my prerequisite requirements. The nursing school is the top program in the country, so I am really excited. I don't spend time with professors outside of class unless I need extra help on something & I go to office hours. UNC has a lot of academic requirements, but it's a liberal arts school, so that is expected. It is hard to meet all the requirements before you graduate though. The education is geared toward qualifying people to get a good a job AND for learning for its own sake. We wouldn't be required to take classes about stuff that has nothing to do with our major if the education wasn't made to make us more well-rounded people.