North Carolina college tour planning

[Anonymous]

I am from NC and live in DC.

I would drive. Once you get to the airport, rental car, you don’t save much time if flying to rdu. You maybe cut an hour off if everything goes perfectly. Also, there is nothing to sight see wruond those colleges. Just go see the colleges. The places to sightsee in NC are the beach and the mountains and all those schools are in between those.

You could drive to the triangle area, see those schools, and then check out davidson and drive back. I’m not sure how to fit wake in - google map it. It might make sense to fit wake in on your way back from davidson.

[Anonymous]

Elon is really lovely. The students there are really happy too. However, the actual county can be pretty racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from NC and live in DC.

I would drive. Once you get to the airport, rental car, you don’t save much time if flying to rdu. You maybe cut an hour off if everything goes perfectly. Also, there is nothing to sight see wruond those colleges. Just go see the colleges. The places to sightsee in NC are the beach and the mountains and all those schools are in between those.

You could drive to the triangle area, see those schools, and then check out davidson (See Elon on the way if you want) and drive back. I’m not sure how to fit wake in - google map it. It might make sense to fit wake in on your way back from davidson.

Oh wow I just google mapped it. Hah sorry mixed up where wake is. See wake at same time as unc and duke. Then go see davidson. I would not waste too much time at Elon since your kid has 1550 sats. He will likely get in somewhere better than Elon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing to see in Charlotte. Fly to RDU and see Duke and Chapel Hill. Then drive to the others. Davidson is in the middle of nowhere so make sure you don't plan to spend the night anywhere near it.

Davidson is less than a 1/2 hour outside Charlotte

OP: if you can, fly into Charlotte or RDU and out of the other.

Duke /UNC then Wake/ Elon then Davidson. Or reverse. The way the highways work RDU to Charlotte is quite a hike.


I grew up in the nowhere middle of NC and people sending their kids to college at Elon near Burlington blows my mind. What backward armpit of a place. If your kid is competitive fo the other 4 and you are looking at private tuition, they can find a better place to live and a better school to attend. I’d look at NC State instead.

Elon is a decent option if you get little to no aid at other private schools (American/Syracuse/etc). If you're only doing a college tour for one kid it's probably a low safety school.

[Anonymous]

I just did this exact trip in late August with my senior. We drove and stayed in 2 cute AirbNbs.
The schools are an easy driving distance between each other, but tours are scheduled at specific times (usually twice a day) and you should pre-register. We did Duke and UNC, staying in Carrboro. Neither were offering tours then. If you're really serious about these schools, you'd want more time there but we just had lunch and hung out at Duke, then spent the rest of the time at UNC. Chapel Hill is a fun town. (One thing that was cute was a very packed patio at a Mexican restaurant we ate at tended to have tables split by gender - a table of boys, then a table of girls - because it seemed like the freshmen were still getting to know their hallmates then.)
We drove the next morning about 50ish minutes to Elon, and checked in at admissions before doing a self-guided tour via our phone. About 45 minutes farther was Wake Forest, which had tons of kids milling about and lined up for lunch. We made it to Davidson for a 2 pm tour, went to a campus event that night and hung out a bit in the morning before the drive back. I wish we'd had 4 days to get to know the schools better but even in this rushed tour, I learned a lot more about each school and the surrounding towns. Elon isn't far from the Research Triangle but the drive is rural and you'd need a reliable car to get between the areas, for instance. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Here's what I did with my kids:

Day 1: Flew into Charlotte, rented a car, Toured Davidson, Toured & Interviewed at Wake

Day 2:Toured Elon and UNC Chapel Hill

Day 3: Toured & Interviewed at Duke, flew home from RDU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elon is really lovely. The students there are really happy too. However, the actual county can be pretty racist.

You could say the same about any single county in NC. Trust me. I lived there most my life. The larger cities are the same, just more subtle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:never been to NC, plan to go for 3 day weekend in November to see the colleges and do a little sightseeing
Colleges:
Duke
UNC-CH
Wake forest
Elon
Davidson

Any other we should add, DC is interested in the top 50-60 colleges (SAT 1550+
Not sure about major yet)
we are not sure about driving, 7.5 hr one way is a lot for 3 days
If we choose to fly, which airport and where to stay?

Charlotte seems to be the most interesting for sightseeing, is that right?

OP sightseeing? Not exactly sure what you mean by that.

We have lived in Raleigh and one of mine went to NC State Engineering.



Charlotte is not really in your line of sight perse. In other words, it's kind of out of the way given what you are going for. It's closest to Davidson.

Fly into RDU see Duke and UNC and Elon. Then Wake and Davidson. They are about an hour apart. Or Fly into Charlotte and Reverse.

Sightseeing there isn't much. Davidson is a very small town. Lovely but small nothing to do there but eat and a farmer's market. It's a great school but again a very small town. Wake Forest is in Winston Salem I personally love the school hate the town. Then Elon middle of nowhere. Duke and UNC again not much around. UNC has a basketball museum.

Ashville and the surrounding area in your time schedule are not really done but would have been the best for sightseeing.

Raleigh would be second. But that is east of where you will be.

Ignore the trolls about UNC all of mine got in. It's a great school, mine just wanted more engineering strong schools. And do not get me wrong it is hard to get in but one does not know til they try.

You said you lived in NC so were in state when your kids got in? No one from our NoVa public get in, do I’d echo not getting your kids heart set. One look at Naviance shit that down for mine. Love love love Chapel Hill, make sure you spend a night there, great restaurants.

No my kids lived in MOCO when they applied to college. Public MCPS HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Elon is really lovely. The students there are really happy too. However, the actual county can be pretty racist.

You could say the same about any single county in NC. Trust me. I lived there most my life. The larger cities are the same, just more subtle.

Agreed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drive to Durham/ Chapel Hill and do Duke and UNC in one day. Unless you want to see NC State there is no reason to go to Raleigh. I would stay in Chapel Hill, it’s nicer than Durham. Next day get on 15-501 to Elon and then you could drive over to Wake Forest in Winston and do those 2 in a day probably and spend the night there. Then day 3 drive to Davidson.

You might want to consider on the way back hitting Virginia Tech if you’re interested in that school. You could take 77 to 81. FYI lots of speed traps on 77, and because there aren’t many drivers on it to self report Waze doesn’t always warn you.

Agree with this. The drive from the DMV to Duke is maybe 4.5 hours max. So drive down in the morning, visit Duke and then head to CH. If you decide to stay in CH then book a room at the Carolina Hotel. It is old school charm and has a standout restaurant, too.

I also agree with the suggestion re VT. It is right on the way. Just be aware that 81 is a trucker heaven so lots of 18-wheelers going 80 to keep your life interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte is far from the Research Triangle Area.

Flights are pretty regular from National to RDU. It's a little over an hour flight.

We stayed at the Inn & Golf Club last summer while touring Duke. We were supposed to stay at the JB Duke but they had to close due to COVID issues. Both properties are nice, but the JB Duke is a more modern style. They're convenient for walking around. Durham is pretty "foodie" these days. Monuts has great donuts & bagels. Pizzeria Toro is good.

My kid didn't get into UNC.

No one got in from his school and eight kids applied, all with super-high stats

. I recommend that you check the scattergrams before your kid applies. Someone got in years ago but they were a legacy and Morehead-Cain scholar.

Don't know much about the other colleges. Have a good touring trip.

That's strange, our public has about 10 got in last year and 15 the year before, acceptable rate is around 25%

[Anonymous]

The admission rate to UNC-Chapel Hill last year from APS was 10% - 11 out of 110 applicants. Duke was about the same - 11%.

Maybe it was better elsewhere in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte is far from the Research Triangle Area.

Flights are pretty regular from National to RDU. It's a little over an hour flight.

We stayed at the Inn & Golf Club last summer while touring Duke. We were supposed to stay at the JB Duke but they had to close due to COVID issues. Both properties are nice, but the JB Duke is a more modern style. They're convenient for walking around. Durham is pretty "foodie" these days. Monuts has great donuts & bagels. Pizzeria Toro is good.

My kid didn't get into UNC.

No one got in from his school and eight kids applied, all with super-high stats

. I recommend that you check the scattergrams before your kid applies. Someone got in years ago but they were a legacy and Morehead-Cain scholar.

Don't know much about the other colleges. Have a good touring trip.

That's strange, our public has about 10 got in last year and 15 the year before, acceptable rate is around 25%

They love certain OOS high schools. That's been covered here before.

[Anonymous]

We flew to Charlotte and were struck with the easy drive (20 miles) to Davidson. I highly recommend staying at the Davidson Village Inn. It is quaint and a very easy walk to the college, as well as several excellent restaurants. That place got us considering college in the south, which we have ruled out up to then.

Having said that, it seems to be a very hard admit, at least from our W school in MC, MD.

Sorry, but we did not go to UNC on the same trip. The scale is so different (and probably pace of the scene) that I would be surprised if your child likes both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlotte is far from the Research Triangle Area.

Flights are pretty regular from National to RDU. It's a little over an hour flight.

We stayed at the Inn & Golf Club last summer while touring Duke. We were supposed to stay at the JB Duke but they had to close due to COVID issues. Both properties are nice, but the JB Duke is a more modern style. They're convenient for walking around. Durham is pretty "foodie" these days. Monuts has great donuts & bagels. Pizzeria Toro is good.

My kid didn't get into UNC.

No one got in from his school and eight kids applied, all with super-high stats

. I recommend that you check the scattergrams before your kid applies. Someone got in years ago but they were a legacy and Morehead-Cain scholar.

Don't know much about the other colleges. Have a good touring trip.

That's strange, our public has about 10 got in last year and 15 the year before, acceptable rate is around 25%

They love certain OOS high schools. That's been covered here before.

Exactly. Some school yes, for some reason. Our school in LCPS nope. We have kids who have been denied that are at Ivys. They Just Do Not Like our school lol