UNC v Wake Forest?

[toomuchhype]

On Coolness factor, I'd pick Wake...

On Law reputation, you PROB. have to go with UNC.

Explain ... Chapel Hill is pretty F-ing cool...

Wake is cooler than UNC.  However, I'd agree that Chapel Hill is cooler than Winston.


Wake is a closer knit community than UNC.  (W&L is a decent comparison, though concededly a better school.)

From pure numbers alone, you should find more UNC grads in all North Carolina markets and so UNC should at the minimum appear to dominate the market.  Based on law school alone (and the matriculation numbers LSAC provided), UNC enrolls 229 and Wake enrolls 150.  Over a decade, this results in 800 more attorneys from UNC and will make UNC, from a number standpoint, appear much more prominent.  Also, factor in that more UNC grads want to stay and do stay in NC, then the prominence becomes even more pronounced. Even with that said, I consider the schools on par in terms of overall career prospects.

One thing people overlook is the true price comparison.  Wake offers a lot of money not only to the high-numbered prospectives, but also poorer students.  This can make COA very similar.  Additionally, Winston is cheaper to live in than Chapel Hill.  (I'd guess $100-200 cheaper per month for a similar apt.)

Nonetheless, UNC is still a great deal at ~$28k/yr for COA as an in-state student.  I think Wake's COA is around $38k.  It's a stretch to say that Wake is worth th extra $30k unless of course somehow they offer you a scholarship or loan scheme that dampens the cost difference.

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2) Small school with a good football team and a respectable bball program (considering the conference and all) = cool

Their football team has been historically poor-to-mediocre, though it certainly has seen some improvement in the past year (not sure if this is sustained improvement, though). However, their basketball team has been absolutely embarrassingly poor for two years and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. In fact, with the exception of a few good years in the mid-90s and the early part of the current decade, their basketball history is also fraught with mediocrity - they've only been to one Final Four in their entire history (and this was in the 60s, when Billy Packer was playing for them). Carolina's basketball team is perennially outstanding, and the recent hiring of Butch Davis suggests that the football program will see improvement similar to if not greater than what Wake experienced this past season. Plus, if you like baseball, Carolina's baseball team has been experiencing quite a bit of success of late (hope I don't jinx them tonight by saying that)!

3) Law Students get free tickets to sporting events.

Also true at Carolina.

5) Demon Deacon is cooler than Tar Heel (why would I want Tar on my heel? sounds annoying).

I may be biased, but clergymen don't exactly scream "cool" to me. Tar Heel, by the way, is an allusion to the bravery of the actions of North Carolina's soldiers during the Civil War - which may or may not be "cool," but is, in my opinion, more fearsome than a church official.

Also, another mark in Carolina's favor: Chapel Hill >>>>>>>>>> Winston-Salem (not so much a college town, and the university isn't really integrated into it)

You're nuts. It's not a deacon, it's Demon Deacon. One of the best mascots ever. You'd be more afraid of a group of losing soldiers than an evil (possibly crazy) deacon? A Demon Deacon?

[Captain]

BTW, Tar Heel is a reference to the fact the NC's colonial niche was producing tar, that was used in merchant ships. They may have also used it as a Civil War nickname, but the origin is older.

Still DEMON Deacon... c'mon... unless the Deacon has sticky heels, he's cooler.

[BlueHeaven07]

BTW, Tar Heel is a reference to the fact the NC's colonial niche was producing tar, that was used in merchant ships. They may have also used it as a Civil War nickname, but the origin is older.

Still DEMON Deacon... c'mon... unless the Deacon has sticky heels, he's cooler.

http://www.unc.edu/about/traditions.html#tarheel <- The university's official explanation of our nickname. There are lots of stories about where the term comes from, and,  regardless, it does have its basic origin in the fact that tar was one of NC's primary industries. However, I do think that if we're going to discuss the origin of the term as the university's nickname, we should go with the explanation that it provides for its choice (especially since it supports my explanation...added bonus ). Besides, I think it's neat that our nickname has some of our state's history behind it and wasn't pulled out of thin air.

And this is scary?? Ha! 



This guy is way more fierce:



(yeah, not technically a Tar Heel, but he's what we actually trot out on the sidelines rather than a gigantic blue foot)

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This is way more aggressive than a stupid blue foot, or a ram or whatever UNC has.

[seacotton]

Also, another mark in Carolina's favor: Chapel Hill >>>>>>>>>> Winston-Salem (not so much a college town, and the university isn't really integrated into it)

I ditto that. Winston Salem even runs a distant second to GREENSBORO which isn't saying much. It can in no way compete with the social and cultural scene of Chapel Hill. Everything from live entertainment, an organic arts scene, cheap liquor, loose zoning laws that allow public inebriation and a pretty involved "academic" community kicks Winston's arse.

What can I say?  I'm 7 years out of UG and it has been at least 5 years since I thought of living in a college town as desirable.  If that is what you are looking for, fine.  But there are plenty of advantages to living in a small city instead.

[naturallybeyoutiful]

@ OP -

UNC School of Law trumps Wake Forest.  Period.   

[seacotton]

@ OP -

UNC School of Law trumps Wake Forest.  Period.   

Yeah.  Period except LSAT, employment percentages, F/S ratio, $/student, bar passage, US News, etc..

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

36 55 3.5 4.0 3.39-3.77 158-164 15.2% 20.1 63.8% 90.2% 83.4%/NC 71%


Wake Forest University (NC)

36 55 3.0 3.6 3.19-3.71 161-165 30.0% 10.5 74.3% 95.9% 92.6%/NC 71%


But yeah, otherwise UNC totally trumps Wake!

[Captain]

@ OP -

UNC School of Law trumps Wake Forest.  Period.   

Yeah.  Period except LSAT, employment percentages, F/S ratio, $/student, bar passage, US News, etc..

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

36 55 3.5 4.0 3.39-3.77 158-164 15.2% 20.1 63.8% 90.2% 83.4%/NC 71%


Wake Forest University (NC)

36 55 3.0 3.6 3.19-3.71 161-165 30.0% 10.5 74.3% 95.9% 92.6%/NC 71%


But yeah, otherwise UNC totally trumps Wake!

I would also like to point out that Wake Forest's Law Dean wrote me an email to tell me how much he loves Villanova. SUPERBROWNIEPOINTS right there.

Of course, they followed that up with not offering me any scholarship.

[BlueHeaven07]

@ OP -

UNC School of Law trumps Wake Forest.  Period.   

Yeah.  Period except LSAT, employment percentages, F/S ratio, $/student, bar passage, US News, etc..

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

36 55 3.5 4.0 3.39-3.77 158-164 15.2% 20.1 63.8% 90.2% 83.4%/NC 71%


Wake Forest University (NC)

36 55 3.0 3.6 3.19-3.71 161-165 30.0% 10.5 74.3% 95.9% 92.6%/NC 71%


But yeah, otherwise UNC totally trumps Wake!

It is really no secret that UNC has a better reputation in North Carolina than does Wake Forest, US News notwithstanding. Truly, since the majority of both schools' graduates work in North Carolina, that should be of concern to you. As was said earlier in this thread, the blip in the rankings is just that - a blip. The law school has a very capable new dean who has a firm plan for improving the law school (and, of course, its US News ranking). The drop in the rankings was caused in no small part by the upheaval that accompanied the law school's lack of a dean for the past two years prior to the hiring of Dean Boger, as well as by the limited financial resources that the law school was dealing with. The law school has a plan in place for adding many new faculty members, and has been appropriated more funding by the university and, possibly, the legislature at some point in the near future. I highly recommend reading Dean Boger's analysis of the rankings drop before making a decision based solely on what the magazine says (you can find it located here: http://www.law.unc.edu/pdfs/usnewsstatement.pdf).

The flavors of the two schools are very different, from the law school itself to the campuses of the universities and their respective locales. I really don't think that your career prospects will be significantly affected by choosing one over the other, so, of course, the traditional advice would be to go where you feel most at home. I must add, though, that from my own experience, I have never personally known anyone to go to Wake Forest who was accepted by UNC (and, having spent the majority of my life living in NC, I've known a lot of people in this situation). Take that for what you will.