University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Top Questions

terrific. always busy.

social life is strong to quite strong.

Social life at UNC is only what you make of it. If you stay in your room and don't meet people, you aren't going to have any fun. If you step outside your dorm and look around, you're bound to find something going on! There are on campus organizations for every culture, every interest, every sport, everything! The easiest way to meet people and make friends is to join one, or more, of those groups! Joining a sorority or fraternity is also a great way of meeting people! I didn't rush until my second semester and I've already met so many new people!

North and south campus dorms are really different. I live in Cobb which on more days than not is as quiet as a tomb. This of course is great when you are studying but kind of depressing when you realize that you don't even know your next door neighbor. I have recently started meeting more people from studying and baking out on our floor lobby. South campus is much more ... ummm rowdy ... but is not always a condusive studying environment. I guess its really a preference thing on where you want to live (and of course, where housing puts you!).

The best part of UNC is basketball season. Everyone gets into it and its a lot of fun.

Up at 2am on Tuesday? DJ night at Bob's. Saturday nights without drinking... not so much.

Students are in general very involved, and many students are affiliated with some sort of charity or social cause. Everyone is obsessed with our stellar basketball team and Roy Williams. It is definitely a bar college as far as the social scene is concerned, if you don't have a fake ID you are pretty limited. The Greek scene is pretty active and essentially has its own bars. Frat parties are big. UNC students work hard, but they play hard too. Tuesday and Thursday nights are huge at Carolina.

One of the women I dated as an undergrad came to my campus and went on a date with me a couple of years ago. She seemed so much happier than on her campus the other day. She was so enthusiastic about holding my hand outside. I asked her why she was in such a great mood, and she said that she felt safe here. Safe to be herself and be "out" with me. I think that's the best way to describe my campus. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I am probably doing email! I love getting involved in organizations, so I'm probably planning for an event that's happening that week. There are some people who party all the time, and others that never party. Then there are the people in the middle. I guess I'm the lower end of the scale, but I still go to some parties every month. Generally, we all go out to dinner, to a movie, and then go back and drink or hang out.

The GLBT-SA is one of the largest, better funded groups on campus. We hold an annual weekend-long conference comprised workshops, performers, speakers that tackle intersections of identities and oppressions (homophobia, sexism, racism, classism, ableism) which draws hundreds of people from all over the country. The conservative groups on campus are actually also very active - the college republicans is basically a training ground for student government so they can control our funds. We have a laughably horrible (if it wasn't so stupid and hurtful) conservative magazine called the Carolina Review. The theatre scene is actually pretty great - there are several student run companies that do professional shows (I've been involved in several). The campus is so big, diverse and fragmented, it's hard to give answers to the other questions. I met my best friends through student groups and theatre. Franklin street has lots of mediocre bars and tons of terrific places to eat. Definitely take advantage of food on Franklin, there's anything from Vietnamese to Indian to Thai and lots and lots of Mexican. Franklin st. also have a movie theatre.

I think the social life at UNC is the best of any college in North Carolina. We have one of the largest student bodies and this means on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night the whole of Franklin Street (the street in front of campus with bars and clubs) is hoping. You get everyone 18 to 25 out, you get women and men out, you get straight and gay, black and white. Everyone is out and by-and-large everyone is really accepting. Although certain crowds tend towards certain clubs (i.e., it's not like everyone is all together in one club), everyone is out for a good time and generally no problems occur.