UNC open house

[Bookworm]

Did anyone attend this past weekend's open house at UNC? I could not because I was at USC's (why can't they plan these things!) Any general impressions? I am hoping to visit the second week of April (the seventh or so) and to make a decision very quickly after that!

Anyway, any impressions on the following: How easy it is to find internships, where they are, and how much they pay? Where do the graduates end up, and where does the school have deep connections outside of NC? Did the students seem happy? Any disgruntled students? Specifically, anyone look deeply into the design and transportation concentrations, especially Carolina Transportation Program?

Thanks loads!

[foxymohommed]

i attended. i will be going to unc in the fall. they had panels of alumni and current students. all of the alumni were in the NC area, but they all said they knew a lot of people in their class who weren't in NC. the dept head talked about the extensive alumni network and listed chicago, SF, seattle as places alumni go afterwards. i got the impression that it will be fairly easy to find a good summer internship. they dont have a dedicated staff member to internship/job opps. but starting this year there is a student who will do it as their pt-job. i thought all the students i met were happy there, pleased witht he school and that it was a close-knit group who got along together. but i figure unhappy students stayed away this weekend. i wanted to know more about the design concentration but the prof. who heads it up is gone all semester so i was bummed about that. students couldnt really answer some of my ?s about it but i was lucky to talk to an alumni about it who answered some. most people were concerned about funding and they really just said, wait a week, we're sending letters. wish they could have done that last week so we could have asked other questions.

sorry to ramble, but those are the impressions i got! hope it helps!

[Mud Princess]

FWIW, I'm a graduate of the planning program at UNC (assuming you're talking about Chapel Hill?).

Interesting to read that graduates go on to Chicago, SF, and Seattle. When I was there (late 1980s), a lot of graduates moved on to jobs in D.C. and Boston. UNC alumni are all over the country, not necessarily concentrated in NC. And there is definitely a strong alumni network which helps in locating jobs and summer internships.

[PlannerGirl]

I work with a number of UNC alum in the DC area

[Tasha]

I also attended the UNC open house this past weekend - and I 2nd everything that foxy said.

Other things of note:
1. 85% of out-of-staters get in-state tuition their second year (the graduate school even has a class on how to do this)
2. RAs are handed out on a per-funding basis by the prof that got the funding & every applicant no matter what year is judged against one another (so most go to second years)
3. They have a list-serv that posts job opportunities and such that could pop up at various times throughout the semester
4. Some students had found internships at companies throughout the area (that I am assuming are paid, but that wasn't clear)
5. Big time stress on taking classes at other universities (Duke & NC State) at no additional cost - it seemed like a lot of students did this
6. Small core of classes means that you can "specialize" in more than one area - and you also have the opportunity to test out of required econ & stat
7. During the 2nd year, there is a required "workshop" in which a small cohort (7 or 8 students) work with an outside client to solve a problem. This is in addition to the master's project (summative evaluation of work - can be related to your summer internship, doesn't have to focus on NC)

Sorry to go on...if anyone has any other questions, let me know.

[Bookworm]

Thanks everyone! This is great info.

[note to self]

I'll be going to UNC in the fall, but was not able to make it to the open house. I definitely appreciate hearing the reports back from those who attended. Sounds like it went well!

[urbanleopold]

Anyone know if GIS is required for all specializations at UNC? I remember when I visited last fall they said the GIS class was a bit overcrowded (heard the same complaint at Penn), and I'm considering trying to take GIS and get it out of the way beforehand (I might defer). It sounds like stat and econ are required for all specializations as well?

Nice to hear about the in-state tuition option...Didn't even have a clue about it til recently, and I'm probably going to end up at UNC.