We are in state NC and my daughter went to UNC. She has several, very close out of state friends (from NY, FL & CA, if it matters). My observation during her time there was that they were very welcoming to out of state students. UNC can sometimes feel like 13th grade, with all of the in-state students there, many of whom know each other - so meeting OOS students is exciting.
I will say that you have to make the effort as well. If you’re very introverted or shy about meeting people, it will be more difficult.
She was also in a sorority and had a great experience as a member (all of her out of state friends were in sororities as well). The rush process can be an emotional one (at almost all large, southern universities, not just UNC) so you should be prepared for that. Again - if you are comfortable with putting yourself out there and meeting new people, you should be fine.
Both the business and the journalism schools at UNC require separate applications (unless you’re one of the few, lucky auto-admits). I don’t know about the difficulty in getting into the journalism school but getting into Kenan Flagler is difficult. You’d be competing against many who will already have internship experience - so take that into consideration. You could major in econ, which is not in the business school, and still do extremely well in job market. Lots of KF & econ grads work in NYC.
Weather is definitely better in Chapel Hill. Long, windy winters in Chicago & South Bend.
I agree that visits will help. Good luck - great options all around!
ETA - I thought I read that Northwestern is phasing out Greek life as well?