College Visits to NC

[pklein09]

I'm headed to UNC Chapel Hill, NC State, and High Point University Nov 7-10, visiting in that order.

I need to figure out where to stay Nov 7 and 8 - somewhere near UNC Chapel Hill and NC State. I'll stay with friends in Winston-Salem when I visit High Point.

Any suggestions on where to stay for those first nights? I got leads on good BBQ - Allen & Sons near Chapel Hill and The Pit in Raleigh.

Thanks!

 

[Eureka]

We have family in Durham and were down a few weeks ago visiting them and UNC with my DS. We have stayed at a La Quinta in Durham before. It should only be a 15 min drive from there. Q Shack BBQ is also very good

 

[cassie58]

We visited NC State, Duke, and walked through UNC's campus this summer(son is now applying to all 3). We stayed closer to NC State at Springhill Suites in Raleigh, and stayed w/family in Chapel Hill close to UNC(which is where walk through came up, since we were right there and they are Master's alumni so pro UNC and anti Duke!) before heading to Duke next day. Durham(where Duke is located) is probably a good midpoint, since my cousins say they're about 20 min. to Duke from Chapel Hill, and we drove from NC State(morning tour) to Duke's Engineering Tour in the afternoon in about 25-30 min(since only offered on weekday, and then had regular tour on Sat). We were originally going to stay in Springhill Suites in Durham to be close to both until we got offer to stay with cousins. We do have a cousin who works for Marriott, so we get a reduced rate, so we chose their hotels - others may be cheaper for you. You could also choose two different hotels if you like to be closer in the morning for getting to tours, one in Raleigh and one in Chapel Hill. Great schools - we also have a cousin who graduated from High Point a few years ago and really liked it. Lots of cousins in there - weird! BTW, see you are from East Windsor - lived there till 2nd grade when we moved to Bordentown, and that's where our Marriott cousin lives!

 

[Lvsdisney]

The LA Quinta is good. Try to stay near Southpoint as that's the nicer area in Durham. Not sure if you're from the south, but I'm in the northeast and anytime im down there I get Zaxbys. It's a better chick fIL a in my opinion. Zaxbys sauce is delicious!

 

[pklein09]

Thanks for the suggestions. These visits are for DS16 - a junior and the youngest of 4. He wants chemistry/chemical engineering and he wants to run for a D1 school....which leaves the field wide open. He does not want to stay in NJ, so we're starting with NC. Duke is out...very competitive. Should have tried UNC Greensboro, but we don't have enough time.

Older 3 were much easier....one school and done. I have a feeling this will be a tough search...and a long one....

Maybe we'll give Zaxbys a try...we like Chik Fil A. I've seen the signs on our way to Disney, but we've never stopped in.

 

[cassie58]

Same here for the leaving NJ part - computer science so looked at CA schools, and NC schools along with a few others - hoping for NC over CA! He was hoping to play soccer, but knows D1 schools are a longshot, so focusing on just his major now. It will be who accepts and gives the most money for choices !My brother and sister-in-law live in AL, and my nephew also loves Zaxby's.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Thanks for the suggestions. These visits are for DS16 - a junior and the youngest of 4. He wants chemistry/chemical engineering and he wants to run for a D1 school....which leaves the field wide open. He does not want to stay in NJ, so we're starting with NC. Duke is out...very competitive. Should have tried UNC Greensboro, but we don't have enough time.

Older 3 were much easier....one school and done. I have a feeling this will be a tough search...and a long one....

Maybe we'll give Zaxbys a try...we like Chik Fil A. I've seen the signs on our way to Disney, but we've never stopped in.

My son applied to Chapel Hill!! He is Chem E/Chemistry and we live just outside Philadelphia. We are going to Virginia Tech in two weeks, and we were going to try to fit in UNC, but I don't think it will work. He is said we would go there if he is accepted as it is the farthest from home. We are now playing the waiting game as he finished all his apps on October 3rd.

Good luck to you!!​

 

[pklein09]

Thanks, dvcfamily41801! I'm trying to get the visits done during his junior year to cut down on some of the craziness his senior year.

 

[Eureka]

Thanks, dvcfamily41801! I'm trying to get the visits done during his junior year to cut down on some of the craziness his senior year.

My DS is a junior too. UNC was the first visit but we plan to do a bunch more this year. I want him to see a wide variety of campuses before he decides where to apply. We’re in MD and he has already decided he wants to apply to UMD College Park which is less than an hour away, but we need to look at a couple other state schools and some smaller liberal arts places too.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Thanks, dvcfamily41801! I'm trying to get the visits done during his junior year to cut down on some of the craziness his senior year.

My DS is a junior too. UNC was the first visit but we plan to do a bunch more this year. I want him to see a wide variety of campuses before he decides where to apply. We’re in MD and he has already decided he wants to apply to UMD College Park which is less than an hour away, but we need to look at a couple other state schools and some smaller liberal arts places too.

We did all of our visits except Virginia Tech and UNC prior to end of Junior year. I couldn’t imagine trying to do all of them now. His top choices are Delaware which is an hour away. I’m good with that!!

 

[PlutoPony]

In general, NC state schools are tougher to get into for out of state students. Unlike most other state's state U's, NC limits their OOS admits to 17-18% - vs the more common 30%+.

My son applied to Chapel Hill!! He is Chem E/Chemistry and we live just outside Philadelphia. We are going to Virginia Tech in two weeks, and we were going to try to fit in UNC, but I don't think it will work. He is said we would go there if he is accepted as it is the farthest from home​

FWIW, UNC-CH is not known as an engineering school - it's the "doctor-lawyer" school in NC. But they should be strong in chem.
VT is more highly regarded in engineering. (full disclosure, have a son at VT in engineering but we looked at NC schools as well). Hope you like VT!

 

[dvcfamily41801]

In general, NC state schools are tougher to get into for out of state students. Unlike most other state's state U's, NC limits their OOS admits to 17-18% - vs the more common 30%+.


FWIW, UNC-CH is not known as an engineering school - it's the "doctor-lawyer" school in NC. But they should be strong in chem.
VT is more highly regarded in engineering. (full disclosure, have a son at VT in engineering but we looked at NC schools as well). Hope you like VT!

We knew that about UNC. He was also considering Pharmacy so that was why he was looking there. I know he is real excited to visit VT! Any suggestions on anything we should check out? Thanks!!

 

[trenty]

My son is first year Pre-pharm at HPU. Beautiful university; brand new pharmacy program/building.

 

[PlutoPony]

We knew that about UNC. He was also considering Pharmacy so that was why he was looking there. I know he is real excited to visit VT! Any suggestions on anything we should check out? Thanks!!

Go in the new Engineering Building - it's right on Prices Fork Rd, the road you should come in on. There's a big Rolls Royce airplane engine hanging in the lobby as you come in. And the meeting rooms are in a pod "hanging" straight ahead of you when you come in. NICE building.

This is a pretty campus imho. Lots of land and green space, buildings are mostly Hokie Stone. Many are old but the insides are nicely updated/renovated in most cases (unlike what we saw at NCState). Hopefully you're doing a guided tour. It's probably the best way to get an overview of campus quickly, then explore what peaks your interest. Tours start at Burress Hall, which is kind of center of campus (at least the academic part). In front of it is the Drillfield, one of defining points of campus. HUGE grassy area 2 football fields long. Having that kind of open space in the center of campus is nice. At one end of it are the Pylons, read the VT website about them before you go. Town of Blacksburg is nice albeit small. Relations between town and school are very good, as are relations between students and VT police. Weather is changeable, be prepared for anything.

Let me know if you have questions now or later

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Go in the new Engineering Building - it's right on Prices Fork Rd, the road you should come in on. There's a big Rolls Royce airplane engine hanging in the lobby as you come in. And the meeting rooms are in a pod "hanging" straight ahead of you when you come in. NICE building.

This is a pretty campus imho. Lots of land and green space, buildings are mostly Hokie Stone. Many are old but the insides are nicely updated/renovated in most cases (unlike what we saw at NCState). Hopefully you're doing a guided tour. It's probably the best way to get an overview of campus quickly, then explore what peaks your interest. Tours start at Burress Hall, which is kind of center of campus (at least the academic part). In front of it is the Drillfield, one of defining points of campus. HUGE grassy area 2 football fields long. Having that kind of open space in the center of campus is nice. At one end of it are the Pylons, read the VT website about them before you go. Town of Blacksburg is nice albeit small. Relations between town and school are very good, as are relations between students and VT police. Weather is changeable, be prepared for anything.

Let me know if you have questions now or later

Thank you so much!! We are going for the Open House but will arrive the day before so we can walk around and check out the area around the school and will stay overnight.