Hi All,
Just wanted to hear what people think about UNC Wilmington? One of our daughter’s friends mentioned it and she is considering a Marine Bio major there. Any thoughts from locals?
Not local. Nice city - I go for work. Nice campus -my son did a marine bio week during hs. Most the coastal schools in the Carolinas will be good in the major.
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My GD is interested in it for their nursing program - and beach access. Anyone know anything about either?
If I recall, there a river on one side. The beach is a few miles on the eastern side. Nicer beaches are further.
It doesn’t look like a direct admit program. That’s not to say it’s not worthy for her.
it’s a nice small city and has an airport although I’ve not flown to it. It’s 2 hrs from Raleigh and a tad less from Myrtle, both Southwest Airlines cities. ILM isn’t.
good luck.
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I live in Wilmington. Great marine bio program. Close to beaches but expensive to park. Nice city with a decent downtown nightlife. Great if you like the beach. Direct flights on Avelo and Breeze which are nice if you are going the way they are.
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That all sounds wonderful, thank you!
I live in NC and have known lots of UNCW students over the years from my kids’ high school. Everyone we’ve known has loved it. The beach is several miles away, but the campus is not ON the beach. The main drawback for some is no football team but not everyone wants a big sports atmosphere.
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As one aspect to consider, students may experience effects from hurricanes two or three times during their four years in Wilmington.
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Thank you! That’s all super helpful info!
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Understood. She is also looking at U Tampa, so a hurricane plan is definitely on our list of considerations.
I’ve lived here for 21 years and there has only been one storm where I needed to leave. Florence. You should have a hurricane plan with a place your student can go if it is recommended that they leave, but hopefully it won’t be a big concern.
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Was Florence the one that came through 3-4 years ago? UNCW had a lot of damage from a hurricane a few years ago and they closed campus for a month or so. My friend’s son was there then and had to come home until they repaired the damage.
Yes. 2018. It was a huge mess here. I had to leave for 10 days and came back in just before the road I came on washed out.
I think UNC-W is a good fit for a lot of regular kids. My kid is LGBTQ and kind of alternative and she was not interested in it. I’m sure there are some alternative & gay kids there, especially in the film and creative writing programs, but she took one look at campus and was like, “nope.”The kids I have known who have gone there, though, have liked it. Wilmington is a fun city. It does have a good Marine Bio program.
To me campus is ok, nothing special. I am a native NCer though so might be more special to someone not from here. Campus is very flat with a lotta pine trees and red brick which is super common in NC. It’s on a busy 8 lane road across from some boring shopping (Lowe’s, TJ Maxx, Petco, furniture stores, Taco Bell, etc). You would need a car. It’s about a 15 minute drive to Wrightsville Beach, maybe 25 minutes to Carolina Beach.
Interestingly the community college has a much much nicer location in downtown historic Wilmington on the Cape Fear River with lots of funky and cool boutiques and restaurants around.
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Thank you, this is the inside scoop info I was hoping to get from this post. Appreciate the help!
After the Fall 2023 & 2024 entrance classes, Wilmington exceeded their allowance for out-of-state students (OSS). As a result they were supposed to take fewer OOS this year and next. So temporarily the admit rates for OOS tougher than normal.
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Ok, good to know! Is that state regulation in NC? We have an OOS kid at a university in VA and I have not heard of anything like that, but this is very good inside info. Thanks!
So interesting! I am hearing so much about state colleges taking on more OOS students to increase their tuition income. Nice to hear that NC is sticking tightly to the mission of educating the youth of their own state.