Please Help!!! UNC vs. Wisconsin vs. Maryland

eadad
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:20:17 +0000

Went to undergrad in Wisconsin and know UW well and my son is a UNC grad.

There’s a much larger Jewish community at UW and it has been that way for many years…back in the 70s when I was in school, there were a great number of Jewish students from NY/NJ enrolled at UW. The campus is nice in a Big Ten school sort of way…by that I mean that many are so similar looking that they are almost interchangeable. The on campus lake right behind the student union is certainly an attraction that most others don’t have. Madison, like Columbus and Austin has a large and very active bar scene. Be prepared to learn to like to drink brandy since it is the number one alcohol consumed in Wisconsin…everything is made with it unless otherwise specified…brandy Manhattan, brandy old fashioned, brandy sour (for whiskey sour), side cars, etc…

UNC has a more interesting, and in my opinion, much prettier campus…the red brick Georgian buildings set among the tall trees and hills make it much more picturesque and “quaint” for lack of a better description. There may not be a prettier setting for a college football stadium anywhere in the US and while not as big as Camp Randall, KFS is much cozier and offers a great game day experience. While the campus is large and spread out, the much smaller student body makes the school feel considerably smaller than at UW.

There’s a much more active and vibrant live music scene in Chapel Hill if that is something that matters. Unlike Madison, Chapel Hill and UNC are much more intertwined and interdependent …Madison would exist almost as is w/o UW…not the case with Chapel Hill.

I would not be concerned about satisfying core requirements, as others have said it’s pretty easily done. There is an active Hillel and as others have said, call or email them if you have true concerns…they often do things in conjunction with the Duke Hillel as well which broadens the overall Jewish community.

Both schools are very liberal…I think overall you will find a more welcoming student body at UNC than at UW…the people are just friendlier. Most employers and ALL grad and professional schools know how hard an OOS admit at UNC is…I think that alone should be something to seriously consider…I would also think that even at OOS rates, UNC is a better bargain than UW OOS rates…

At UW you are about 3 1/2 hours to Chicago and a little over an hour to Milwaukee if you need to get away while at UNC you are about three hours in either direction to the ocean or mountains and 3 hours to Charlotte…

Academically, UNC is a higher rated school…the Kenan Flagler business school is a top ten undergrad school and UNC is historically well thought of in the social sciences as well.

There is NO comparison when it comes to weather…there are far more days of blue skies and outdoor activities at UNC…cold is one thing but biting cold along with endless days of gray skies can really start to work on your head…if you don’t know better it’s not a big deal… but here the nod goes heavily to UNC.

Academics UNC
Campus UNC
Size of Jewish community UW
Weather UNC
Prestige of degree * UNC * by perception of grad and professional schools
Cost difference ??? but would think it favors UNC

You can’t go wrong with either school but I can tell you this from my personal experience/perspective…I wouldn’t want a “do-over” in Wisconsin but would love to have one at UNC…

good luck…let us know what you decide