What do you think about NCSU compared with DUKE and UNC?

[mcnuonuo]

I got an admission from NCSU.

According to the rank of USNEWS, NCSU is not so good compared with UNC and DUKE.

I am an international student, so I am wondering how locals think about this university..

[Acy]

I'm a senior at UNC, but virtually my entire high school class went to NCSU or "State" as it's called colloquially.

In short, NCSU is generally thought of as a "technical" school, and is considered the best choice for those seeking a career in Engineering, Computer Science, Agriculture or Veterinary Medicine. It's business school (or School of Management, I believe it's called) also deserves mention, though it is often overlooked because UNC's top-ranked Kenan-Flagler Business School is 20 minutes down the road.

In terms of popular perception from an in-state point of view, it is seen as perfectly respectable to attend NCSU to study one of the aforementioned subjects, but UNC and Duke are seen as far superior in Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, etc. If someone is studying Political Science at state, the chances are that they either received a significant scholarship or were not admitted to UNC.

Students at State tend to view UNC as elitist and sometimes deride its alleged lack of strength in practical sciences. This is a huge misconception however, as UNC has world-class chemistry, biology, and medical programs, along with the #1 public health school in the nation. We also have a nascent biomedical engineering program in the "Applied Sciences Dept.". You have to take my opinion with a grain of salt, since we are talking about my soon-to-be alma mater, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that UNC is broadly seen as more prestigious and more exclusive than State.

I don't know nearly as much about Duke, but I do know that UNC and Duke have a very "robust" rivalry in virtually every sphere from academic to athletic. UNC students like to deride Duke's elitism in much the same way that State students do UNC. Most at UNC believe that the education received at Duke is basically on par or below UNC's for triple (or more) the cost. However, I am certain that if you choose to attend Duke, you will NOT be disappointed with the education you receive there.

If you are interested in engineering at State, I can put you in contact with a friend in the Industrial engineering department who could answer specific questions that you might have.

Best of Luck!

[emmm]

Well . . . I was surprised to see so many people applying to NCSU, as I had never heard of it before (oviously a state school, but not one of the "big names" in my experience). So, my conclusion was that it's either doing really effective marketing overseas, international alumni were doing a great job selling the school when they returned home, or it has really great programs that I know absolutely nothing about. And I wasn't sure which was true, but I suspected that it the school really did have a great reputation nationally in some field, that I would have at least heard it mentioned before reading these postings this year. However, I was willing to consider that it had at least one great program that I just did not know about because it was not in my area of interest. Duke and UNC, on the other hand, DO have national reputations, but again, I know nothing about the quality of their specific programs -- just have the perception that they are highly-thought of schools. Hope that helps (I live on the west coast, but spent 20 years on the east coast -- to give you a sense of geographic reach of the schools' reputations). Still ,this is just one person's admittedly ignorant perception -- you should try to find out from people in your field how respected the program you're admitted to is.

Edited January 28, 2011 by emmm

[mcnuonuo]

I'm a senior at UNC, but virtually my entire high school class went to NCSU or "State" as it's called colloquially.

In short, NCSU is generally thought of as a "technical" school, and is considered the best choice for those seeking a career in Engineering, Computer Science, Agriculture or Veterinary Medicine. It's business school (or School of Management, I believe it's called) also deserves mention, though it is often overlooked because UNC's top-ranked Kenan-Flagler Business School is 20 minutes down the road.

In terms of popular perception from an in-state point of view, it is seen as perfectly respectable to attend NCSU to study one of the aforementioned subjects, but UNC and Duke are seen as far superior in Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, etc. If someone is studying Political Science at state, the chances are that they either received a significant scholarship or were not admitted to UNC.

Students at State tend to view UNC as elitist and sometimes deride its alleged lack of strength in practical sciences. This is a huge misconception however, as UNC has world-class chemistry, biology, and medical programs, along with the #1 public health school in the nation. We also have a nascent biomedical engineering program in the "Applied Sciences Dept.". You have to take my opinion with a grain of salt, since we are talking about my soon-to-be alma mater, but I don't think it's a stretch to say that UNC is broadly seen as more prestigious and more exclusive than State.

I don't know nearly as much about Duke, but I do know that UNC and Duke have a very "robust" rivalry in virtually every sphere from academic to athletic. UNC students like to deride Duke's elitism in much the same way that State students do UNC. Most at UNC believe that the education received at Duke is basically on par or below UNC's for triple (or more) the cost. However, I am certain that if you choose to attend Duke, you will NOT be disappointed with the education you receive there.

If you are interested in engineering at State, I can put you in contact with a friend in the Industrial engineering department who could answer specific questions that you might have.

Best of Luck!

thanks very much. I just got a rejection from Ohio state which is my dream school.....so sad...

[mcnuonuo]

Well . . . I was surprised to see so many people applying to NCSU, as I had never heard of it before (oviously a state school, but not one of the "big names" in my experience). So, my conclusion was that it's either doing really effective marketing overseas, international alumni were doing a great job selling the school when they returned home, or it has really great programs that I know absolutely nothing about. And I wasn't sure which was true, but I suspected that it the school really did have a great reputation nationally in some field, that I would have at least heard it mentioned before reading these postings this year. However, I was willing to consider that it had at least one great program that I just did not know about because it was not in my area of interest. Duke and UNC, on the other hand, DO have national reputations, but again, I know nothing about the quality of their specific programs -- just have the perception that they are highly-thought of schools. Hope that helps (I live on the west coast, but spent 20 years on the east coast -- to give you a sense of geographic reach of the schools' reputations). Still ,this is just one person's admittedly ignorant perception -- you should try to find out from people in your field how respected the program you're admitted to is.

Thank you for your help