My experience at UNCW

[user3578]

I was going to write a long detailed post, but instead…

-The physics department lacks professors invested in their students and their teaching. They only care about doing research which makes sense because UNCW gets more money for research than for teaching.
-I am taking humanity and science classes. All but 1 of my teachers are so mediocre in their work.
-I am the type of student that is ahead of the class, seats in the front, raise his hand and loves to go to class. All that died at UNCW. I have only one class that is worth going to, and trust me I am very good at identifying which classes deserve attendance.
-There is almost 0 diversity. Every classroom or common area you look you at 98% of the people including students, teachers and staff are white white white, yellow white.
-I am a transfer student and I am not going to continue my studies there because it is honestly not worthy. I rather to stop and transfer to another college.

[ITBgirl]

@AriannaSo Wow, thanks for sharing your experience. May I ask where yo transferred from and what year you are?

[Coloradomama]

Do you think there are better students and professors at Chapel Hill versus the Wilmington campus?
Diversity does not matter in learning. Thats a made up ranking standard, thats supposed to be about socially altering your experience, but in fact many cities in the USA are not diverse either. So what does diversity really do for you anywhere in North Carolina? I bet your school reflects Wilmington but if it does NOT, look to public K-12 education in North Carolina as what you should change. Beef up K-12 and more African Americans will go to your school.

[user3578]

I am sophomore and transferred from a community college in Florida

[user3578]

Coloradomama, I made 5 points and you focused on 1. That tells me you are not here for interest but just to hate.
Diversity does matter because it clearly shows there is discrimination in the college admission and hiring of teachers/staff processes which is important for all minorities to LEARN. FYI, I am not African American.

[DecideSomeHow]

AriannaSo, I’m sorry you are not happy here in Wilmington. But I believe your characterization of UNCW is a little off. I encourage you to review the data at the following links.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/unc.wilmington.oirp#!/vizhome/UNCWFallEnrollment5-YearTrend/Demographics

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/newhanovercountynorthcarolina

The current enrollment at UNCW does reflect the local community, and if anything is slightly less white.

If you still feel there is an issue, maybe give these folks a visit, and express your concerns.

https://uncw.edu/diversity/about.html

[milgymfam]

Thank you for sharing your experience. My daughter is considering UNCW, though it’s at the bottom of her list. Always good to hear all perspectives on a school. We’ll be visiting soon, so I guess we can add our own observations.

[chickenma]

@Coloradomama In the UNC system, the schools are independent of one another. So, Wilmington (or any of the others) would not be considered another campus but more a completely independent school. Each campus in the UNC system has it’s own personality. As a NC resident and product of the UNC system, I would not compare UNC-W to UNC. UNC is extremely selective, even among NC residents. Wilmington is selective but not nearly as much as UNC resulting in a much more relaxing environment. Each student can make what they want out of their education no matter where they go to school. I have one child who found her place at NC State and another at App State. My youngest will attend UNC-W in the fall.

[cptofthehouse]

One of my highschool classmates has a daughter who graduated from UNCW. It was not her first choice. She had the numbers for the most selective schools, but did not get accepted to her first choices and this school offered her close to a full ride. She never looked back. Graduated at the top of her class, went in to a grad program at Stanford. Loved her years there at UNCW. So, some people do enjoy the experience.

Focus on research is something I’ve seen at many universities. Something to watch for, if it’s a peeve of yours.

That does not mean your views are not valid. Some schools are just a bad match for some people. Focus on high grades and look for an alternative. You are going the right direction. If you can find a better fit that will accept you and is affordable, go for it

[EconPop]

Hi 3578. Thanks for your input on UNCW.

My son is considering UNC Wilmington as one of his options for 2020. It’s in-state for us and has decent academics. Also, the location is nice.

We are a little concerned about the striking lack of diversity on the campus. That seems to be an issue with many of the mid-enrollment public NC universities. Appalachian State, Wilmington, Asheville and Western Carolina all have very little diversity. Meanwhile, Charlotte, Greensboro, and ECU have impressive diversity. Diversity on a college campus is important, in regards to faculty and staff. In the real world, we come into contact with people from diverse backgrounds – it only makes sense that that should also be the case in higher education.

It’s hard to read between the lines of some posts here. There are repeated praises for the “feel” of Boone, Asheville, Western Car and Wilmington, yet repeated cautions for the feel/quality/safety of Charlotte, Greensboro, and Greenville. We’ve found the best solution is to visit as many campuses as we can to make up our own minds. We’ve already visited several campuses and he’s found something to like about all we’ve seen so far.

Any more opinions you can offer about Wilmington?

[EconPop]

Decide Somehow, to clarify, I think you made a mistake in posting the county demographics. UNCW is not a “county” college, it is a public university for the benefit of the population for the entire state of North Carolina. A more apt comparison would be the demographics of UNC Wilmington with the state of North Carolina’s demographics.

NC is approximately 30% minority, and up to 37% minority if the “White Not Hispanic/Latino” option is used. UNCW falls far short of that, as do AppState, UNC-A, and Western Carolina. NCSU and UNC CH do a good job of matching that. Charlotte, UNC-G, and ECU have proven to be very inclusive in their enrollment.

This is less a matter of criticism than a topic of concern for those who consider diversity important in a university setting. For those who do not consider diversity important, it is a non-topic.

[DecideSomeHow]

I think you made a mistake in posting the county demographics.

Maybe so, maybe not. Depends on what I was trying to say.

The OP stated

There is almost 0 diversity. Every classroom or common area you look you at 98% of the people including students, teachers and staff are white white white, yellow white.

The demographics I provided showed this statement simply was not true, and that UNCW does not exist in a fishbowl of zero diversity. And if the OP felt I was wrong, I encouraged them to visit the diversity office.

[EconPop]

I guess my greater point was that the OP was stating her opinion of her experience at UNCW. She related what she saw while she was a student there and how that situation made her feel.

In response, she was told that her feelings about diversity were unwarranted because “diversity does not matter in learning”, that diversity is “a made up ranking standard”, that African-Americans in NC need to “beef up” their academics to be worthy of UNCW.

The OPs statement of her experience was further invalidated when you suggested that her opinion was “a little off” and that she should visit the Diversity Office at UNCW for guidance. Also, I felt she was further slighted by the misuse of the county statistics which further attempted to invalidate her opinion. I don’t say that to say you acted with malice. Just that your statements repeatedly say that what she saw was not what she saw, and that her subsequent feelings about the experiences are somehow wrong.

In case the OP was still keeping an eye on this thread, I wanted her to understand the flaw in the data comparison you presented. I wanted the OP to feel her opinion is justified and validated.

My apologies if you felt threatened by that attempt.

[Leigh22]

Sorry your experience has been so disappointing. I think this is a great post to show students how important it is to really research a school before committing.

[DecideSomeHow]

My apologies if you felt threatened by that attempt.

This is the internet, Everyone has an opinion. No worries here.