Choosing between UMich and UNC Chapel Hill

[2016BarnardMom]

My brother went to UMich for undergrad and UNC for grad school. He loves both schools. He roots for the Wolverines in football and the Tarheels for basketball..lol. He said Chapel Hill and Ann Arbor are really more similar than different in culture and feel.

[lynsom]

MY children love both UNC Chapel Hill and UMich Ann Arbor. (we live in the Northeast) Are the two universities comparable in terms of student satisfaction and solid liberal arts education?

[BeachMom21]

I know many people who went to Chapel Hill and they just absolutely sing its praises, that's for sure! The Chapel Hill/RTP area is fantastic, too. I know one person who went to UMICH and he loved it there but he is also from Michigan. The biggest difference b/t the two is probably the weather!

[LBowie]

Just so your kids are aware, UNC has a mandate to accept something like 82% in-state residents. It can be harder than most high quality public universities to get into, because so many out of state students (19,000 last year) try and there are not very many spots for them. I would just caution them to not get too attached. (If they are academic superstars, then it actually seems like an odd choice since the peer group is very good, but not as competitive as, say, at Ivies.)

[intparent]

You really can't go wrong choosing between those two schools! I think they are quite comparable academically.

[ucbalumnus]

How do the finances work out at each school (check the net price calculators)?

[eastcoascrazy]

UNC had the second lowest total COA for my son, second only to our instate flagship. Michigan is much, much more expensive for the OOS student. UNC has been suprisingly generous with grants: for example all but airfair was covered for a session abroad last summer for my son.

UNC "feels" much smaller than it is. The campus takes less time to walk, and has fewer students than Michigan. S has had easy access to professors, has felt welcomed, has found it easy to seek out opportunities for research opportunities. Michigan is huge. We know people at both universities, all of whom are happy, though UNC seems to have an edge on overall daily happiness. The students S knows at UNC are pretty outstanding. One roomate turned down an Ivy for a full ride scholarship at UNC. S turned down UVA and Vanderbilt and Wake. He has friends who turned down Northwestern, Davidson, and Duke for UNC.

UNC does lack some majors. No engineering, which is at NCState. S feels that as a result the math department at UNC is a little weak. (That may just be his personal perception, and nothing based on reality.) UNC emphasizes a liberal arts core curriculum for the first two years.

The weather differences between the two schools is something to think about.

[GTalum]

UNC certainly has it's share of academic superstars. There are plenty of incentives for the best and brightest from both North Carolina and outside to attend. Great honors program. DS is a student and it seems he is getting a great education.

[LBowie]

My point is, if you compare, say, neighboring Duke and UNC just simply in terms of the stats of the students there, Duke students have higher average SAT scores than UNC, etc., yet for an out of state student, they are equally hard to get into! I can think of lots of reasons to choose UNC over Duke because of the campus, vibrant town atmosphere, culture, architecture if you hate Gothic, many things -- I am sure you can get a excellent education there. I guess it is just something to think about -- and to not get too attached to, because it is practically Harvard-hard to get into for out of state.

[NewHavenCTmom]

If memory serves me. I think the charter says that they have to accept 86% of instate d/t the taxpayers dollars... can't blame them. So then, what are the acceptance rates for OOS students who only can fill 14% of each freshman class?? I am no mathmetician, but its quite low...

[poetgrl]

UNC takes 18% out of state. But, that doesn't make it easy to get into. It's not really "easy" to get into In-state, either, given that the size of UNC is about half the size of many of the bigger state schools, as well.

Still, anyone who compares Dook to UNC is talking about completely different things. Duke is considered to be a New Jersey school by most of the kids at UNC, just for some insight. UNC and UMich are comparable, unless you want to study engineering, in which case it is a no brainer, and you have to go to UMich. Also, if a kid is interested in these two schools, he or she ought to also look at UVA. UVA and UNC are practically the same school, in many ways, except UVA has engineering.

Good luck. Both of those are really excellent choices, if you end up with the opportunity to choose.

[Erin's Dad]

This is a little car before the horse. Wait and see if they get in first, then see what the financial aid looks like. UMich out of state will cost ~$50K/year. UNC may be near that depending on FA.

[cltdad]

OOS cost of attendance to UNC is $43K with no FA.

[kathiep]

I agree with Erin's Dad. This is a question for next year - after acceptance. No need to choose now.

[LBowie]

Statistics regarding number of spots at UNC and admission rates are in this article. The out of state (OOS) admission rate is 14% of those who apply are admitted. OK, maybe not "Harvard hard," but pretty darn difficult. I've also read elsewhere (Fiske Guide) that a lot of those out of state spots go to athletes.

chapelhillnews.com | UNC freshman applications soar 24 percent

"...Nearly half of the North Carolinians who applied were offered admission, compared with 14 percent of those from outside the state."

Using US News and World Report data, this puts it EXACTLY at the same rate of admission (for OOS) as Duke, and HARDER than U of Chicago, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Wash U....which are in the 16-18% admission rate range.