University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Top Questions

UNC is very academically oriented, which is why it has such a great reputation throughout the country. But many of the majors that are offered don't really allow you to become close to professors unless you make a sincere effort to do so (participate in class, visit during office hours, etc.). In psychology especially, most of the classes I took were taught by grad students and not professors, and when I did have a professor, the class was so large (100+) that it was unlikely that I would form a bond with a prof. Overall, the more specific the class/subject, the likelier it is that you'll have a professor and a small class to become close to him/her. But there are several departments in which you can become really close to your professors, most of which are specialty schools within UNC (School of Business, School of Nursing, etc.) I'm a current grad student in the School of Social Work and am very close to all of my professors. Studying habits vary by individual, but most people do a lot of studying during the week, and a lot of partying on the weekends.

It is very easy to get to know professors here, and as long as you're taking a class that you find remotely interesting you should do well, because the teaching staff at UNC is definitely one of the highlights here(there are some benefits to being one of the largest public universities in the country!). You can pretty much accomplish whatever you want in class as long as you put forth effort.

Professors are nice and attentive. If the class is big, you need to make sure that you have the attention of the professor. This especially applies if you are not a major or are an underclassman. Professors always appreciate you coming for help or just asking questions.

There is a great selection of courses and challenging academics at UNC. The honors courses offer small classes with excellent, enthusiastic faculty. I never would have survived organic chemistry without the guidance of these great professors! I also surprisingly enjoyed my honors genetics course. The honors courses were the most exciting classes I took. The history of rock and roll was also a pretty popular course with an awesome professor. In my experience, the professors are as involved as you want them to be. They all hold office hours and encourage interaction, but it's up to the students to pursue this option.

UNC has a pretty good range of professors, meaning you get some great ones who are passionate about their students and get into your life, and some that are more focused on their personal research and are more disconnected. There's a pretty strong inter-professorial push to stimulate the student's thought, so you'll rarely see a professor who truly doesn't care. The most important thing is to find a mentor - someone who you can get into their field and care about their passions and who will temper and direct your own energies. This applies to every major, every practice. Get into the department, find a mentor, get serious, and fall in love with what you do.

decent for the most part.

For the first two years, everyone is part of the General College and you mostly take intro classes and classes that fulfill your perspectives to give you a well-rounded education. One cool thing is that freshmen are encouraged to take a freshmen seminar, which caps at 20 students and is on a random interesting topic, so you really get to know a great professor and a great group of students. All language classes and intro English classes are also really small. Other classes vary, with the big lectures like Econ, Chem, and Bio having about 400 students in them. I had some great classes my first two years (The World Since 1945, History of the New Testament) and some not so great classes (Intro to Statistics). Some people hate having perspective requirements (i.e. a science w/ a lab, a philosophy, an old history, etc.), but I think it's important to be well-rounded, and there are a lot of course offerings to fulfill each requirement. Plus, you can get out of a lot with AP or transfer credit. For example, I never took a single science in college, because I got credit with AP Biology in high school. How much you study really depends on your major. Get ready for long hours in the lab and long hours studying if you are a science major. Get ready to write a lot of papers if you are majoring in some of the humanities like Poli Sci or History. My major at Carolina was Business Administration. Business is different from a lot of majors on campus because it is a professional school, and you have to apply your sophomore year to get into it. The average GPA is 3.5 to get in, so it's definitely pretty competitive. Once you are in, you take the vast majority of classes at the bschool on south campus, rather than on main campus where most classes are. A lot of people have a love/hate relationship with the bschool. Drawbacks of the bschool: it's a lot of classes and a lot of work, so you don't have as much time to spend on main campus any more; it tends to be frattier than most majors; it's slightly more competitive since a lot of people are out to get the top jobs at the investment banks and consulting firms. In general though I loved being in the bschool. For one thing, only about 330 people are accepted into the bschool, so over the two years, you get to know a lot of the same people really well. The business school is its own little community within UNC (its own cafeteria, computer labs, campus, etc.), which I loved. The facilities are great; it's definitely one of the most high-tech, comfortable places on campus, since the buildings have only been around for 10 years and because rich alumni give us a lot of money. The best thing though is the professors. I took 16 or so classes at the bschool over my junior and senior year, and only in corporate finance did my professor not get to know my name. In every other class, there's a lot of class interaction, and the class sizes are pretty small, so you get to know your professor pretty well. Plus, these are never TAs; these are real professors which awesome credentials. I seriously loved almost all of my professors. They are very encouraging and open to meeting outside of class, and they genuinely care about you, offering career advice and staying in touch with you after graduation. The business school is more oriented toward job placement than most majors, since a lot of companies come to recruit business majors. This is especially true for business students interested in things like finance, accounting, and consulting. The bschool offers workshops and mock interviews and all kinds of things to help prepare you.

The academics can be intimidating: most of your fellow students are VERY competitive, and the faculty tends to chum the waters with higher standards than elsewhere. But most folks are more than just book smart-- you'll find yourself talking about Schoepenhauer or the situation in East Africa with others, even casually! Most of the professors are very nice and very passionate about their work, which leads to discussions and meetings outside of class. Take advantage of it. UNC is a research university, so don't expect to be getting learning for learning's sake, or simple job training. The impetus to learn lies with you the student, so you will get as little or as much out of your college experience as you put in. (And your grades will reflect it).

UNC is a tough university. You work hard and you play hard. You've got to find that balance or you won't be successful. Work loads are hefty, but manageable. Professors are exceptional.

The Academics are challenging, but the professors really care that their students learn and understand the material, (In my majors anyways) They are most always avaliable for help outside of class. Participation in class is expected in all classes but a student rarely recieves any credit for it. Students here are interested in many things. Many student are involved in several different extracurricular activites and do engage in intellectual converstations outside class, particularly about the enviornment. When you leave UNC its unfortunate that most of the majors will not set you up to be prepared to send you straight into the job market. For the most part, further education is needed.