Wake Forest and how it's viewed, especially in NC

[Anonymous]

It is a shame that wake has become so unaffordable to so many.

When I attended (98 grad), it was a relatively reasonably priced private college (about $20k/year all in). I had applied to several northeastern privates that were priced higher than wake at the time.

There is no way we could afford to send our children there at current prices.

[Anonymous]

It's viewed pretty easily in North Carolina. Most easy to see in Winston-Salem. Further out you may need binoculars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like UNC , but it seems like a 1/3 of every NC high school's graduating class gets accepted to UNCCH. Reject most OOS kids which gives the impression they are more competitive than they are with admissions. Then the OOS kid asks his new in-state classmate "you got accepted with those stats!?". Still not sure what major or field they really rank high in.

Where are you seeing 1/3 of EVERY NC high-school gets into Chapel Hill? There is no way ANY school in NC is sending 200ish kids to CH. It's more like 25 out of a class of 500-600.

CH in state acceptance is around 40%.

Acceptance rate is different than number of kids that actually attend.

I'm a graduate of an NC high school and went to UNC (and was a NMSF and top 10 percent of my class kid).

No way 1/3 gets in -- but everyone in the top 10 percent got in, and a couple others did as well. We sent 40-50 students there out of a class of 600. our valedictorian and salutatorian both went to small liberal arts colleges, but everyone else in the "AP classes' cohort went to UNC (except the engineers, who went to NC State).

the 40% acceptance rate, then, is because most of the kids in my high school knew if they had a shot at UNC. it's feels very transparent. So, if they were an average student who is in the 40 or 50th percentile of the class -- you don't apply to UNC. You know you are not getting in. You apply to other state schools, like "East Carolina University"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake is looked as the rich kid school.

Interesting to note that UNCCH is 85% North Carolina residents, but WF is only 20% North Carolina residents. obviously that’s because it’s a private school, but it leads to different dynamic than half of your high school being on campus with you.

Well UNCCH legislates that it’s 85% NC residents. It’s impossible for it not to be.

Of course, that wasn’t a dick. Just a fact of how it is. But it’s similar to do which only has 15% North Carolina residents. I think it’s really hard to compare UNC versus wake when it’s more like wake versus Duke.

The truth is that NC has very good public universities and residents are not always willing to pay for private tuition when there are plenty of good in state public options (same thing in Virginia). So you won’t see super high in state state for Wake or Duke because NC kids are going to Chapel Hill, NC State, UNCC, ECU, etc. Same thing with UVA, VT, JMU, W&M, VCU, GMU vs UR, W&L, etc.

The state mandate of minimum 85% allows more NC residents to attend certain schools (Carolina, NC State and UNCC) but it’s more than that for why NC kids prefer Carolina over Duke or Wake. Wake is a perfectly fine school. It’s got a very preppy, a bit conservative, heavy Greek and big drinking culture reputation for social life. Academics are good. not sure Winston is happening.

VA resident here and I agree with this. My kids wouldn't even look at U Richmond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake is looked as the rich kid school.

Interesting to note that UNCCH is 85% North Carolina residents, but WF is only 20% North Carolina residents. obviously that’s because it’s a private school, but it leads to different dynamic than half of your high school being on campus with you.

Well UNCCH legislates that it’s 85% NC residents. It’s impossible for it not to be.

Of course, that wasn’t a dick. Just a fact of how it is. But it’s similar to do which only has 15% North Carolina residents. I think it’s really hard to compare UNC versus wake when it’s more like wake versus Duke.

The truth is that NC has very good public universities and residents are not always willing to pay for private tuition when there are plenty of good in state public options (same thing in Virginia). So you won’t see super high in state state for Wake or Duke because NC kids are going to Chapel Hill, NC State, UNCC, ECU, etc. Same thing with UVA, VT, JMU, W&M, VCU, GMU vs UR, W&L, etc.

The state mandate of minimum 85% allows more NC residents to attend certain schools (Carolina, NC State and UNCC) but it’s more than that for why NC kids prefer Carolina over Duke or Wake. Wake is a perfectly fine school. It’s got a very preppy, a bit conservative, heavy Greek and big drinking culture reputation for social life. Academics are good. not sure Winston is happening.

VA resident here and I agree with this. My kids wouldn't even look at U Richmond.

This is the case for most of the US. The vast majority choose their state flagship if they can get in.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of rich families at Wake these days, but that is the case at most private colleges. Notably, Wake is not in the T10 for wealthiest student bodies.

I don't see this as a negative, I think it translates into better job placement (again, at any private). People tend to look favorably at schools their kids attend, and I know Wake asks parents to encourage their firms to hire Wake grads, particularly in regions where Wake wasn’t as popular a decade or two ago. Wake is sending a lot more kids to NYC these days, for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wake is a Duke safety. And there is no shame in that. I have heard some say that Wake is what Duke was 25 years ago - work hard play hard - while Duke has turned into more of a nerdy pressure cooker. So Duke parents who want their kid to have their college experience send them to Wake (or if they can't get their kid into Duke).

It has a national reputation and places kids well but they will have to hustle a bit more to get really good jobs.

+1 I went to Duke in the 90's and Wake was definitely a peer school. If, for example, your dad happened to work at Duke and so you wanted to strike out on your own unlike your two sisters, you'd probably choose Wake. https://goduke.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/lindy-frasher/556

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake is a Duke safety. And there is no shame in that. I have heard some say that Wake is what Duke was 25 years ago - work hard play hard - while Duke has turned into more of a nerdy pressure cooker. So Duke parents who want their kid to have their college experience send them to Wake (or if they can't get their kid into Duke).

It has a national reputation and places kids well but they will have to hustle a bit more to get really good jobs.

+1 I went to Duke in the 90's and Wake was definitely a peer school. If, for example, your dad happened to work at Duke and so you wanted to strike out on your own unlike your two sisters, you'd probably choose Wake. https://goduke.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/lindy-frasher/556

???

Coach K’s daughter is a unicorn. Her choice in the 1990s is not an indication of anything other than her own, personal preference.

I, too, was at Duke in the 90s. Wake was not a peer school. At all. Still isn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone who has lots of family in NC and went to UNCCH I would say that most people would view Wake as behind UNCCH and Duke and ahead of all other schools in NC except perhaps Davidson, but that is a liberal arts college. I don’t know any people who look down their noses at Wake and I have several UNC and Duke alumni as relatives.

No dog in this race, but in what way is UNC behind Wake?

The PP explicitly said "most people would view Wake as behind UNCCH and Duke."

Wake may be ranked behind UNCCH in USNWR, but it really isn't behind in how graduates are viewed or opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake is a Duke safety. And there is no shame in that. I have heard some say that Wake is what Duke was 25 years ago - work hard play hard - while Duke has turned into more of a nerdy pressure cooker. So Duke parents who want their kid to have their college experience send them to Wake (or if they can't get their kid into Duke).

It has a national reputation and places kids well but they will have to hustle a bit more to get really good jobs.

+1 I went to Duke in the 90's and Wake was definitely a peer school. If, for example, your dad happened to work at Duke and so you wanted to strike out on your own unlike your two sisters, you'd probably choose Wake. https://goduke.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/lindy-frasher/556

???

Coach K’s daughter is a unicorn. Her choice in the 1990s is not an indication of anything other than her own, personal preference.

I, too, was at Duke in the 90s. Wake was not a peer school. At all. Still isn’t.

OP asked about opinions from people "in NC," not people who went to Duke from OOS and who had no knowledge of what we were all discussing in high school in NC at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake is a Duke safety. And there is no shame in that. I have heard some say that Wake is what Duke was 25 years ago - work hard play hard - while Duke has turned into more of a nerdy pressure cooker. So Duke parents who want their kid to have their college experience send them to Wake (or if they can't get their kid into Duke).

It has a national reputation and places kids well but they will have to hustle a bit more to get really good jobs.

+1 I went to Duke in the 90's and Wake was definitely a peer school. If, for example, your dad happened to work at Duke and so you wanted to strike out on your own unlike your two sisters, you'd probably choose Wake. https://goduke.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/lindy-frasher/556

???

Coach K’s daughter is a unicorn. Her choice in the 1990s is not an indication of anything other than her own, personal preference.

I, too, was at Duke in the 90s. Wake was not a peer school. At all. Still isn’t.

+1 Duke has always had more brainy nerdy types

[Anonymous]

If in-state and were fortunate to gain admission to Duke, then hello Durham unless one prefers bad basketball then UNC-CH.

[Anonymous]

WF is basically a school for out-of-state rich kids that want a respectable private college outcome, but didn't have the stats for a T20.

WF is a great school, but within NC, it's viewed below Duke and UNC. No NC resident will pay the tuition difference for WF if they're already in at UNC. However, quite a few NC residents will pay extra cost for Duke over UNC for prestige reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WF is basically a school for out-of-state rich kids that want a respectable private college outcome, but didn't have the stats for a T20.

WF is a great school, but within NC, it's viewed below Duke and UNC. No NC resident will pay the tuition difference for WF if they're already in at UNC. However, quite a few NC residents will pay extra cost for Duke over UNC for prestige reasons.

Generally agree. Duke has been making a big push in the last few years to attract local kids - I forget the details but I think kids from the Carolinas get better aid packages than other kids - I think it is a full ride of HHI is under $150k. There is also the BN Duke scholarship which I believe is a full ride for local kids with some other programming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If in-state and were fortunate to gain admission to Duke, then hello Durham unless one prefers bad basketball then UNC-CH.

Then on to Davidson!!