Granville Towers in Chapel Hill (Lenoir, Franklin: hardwood floors, apartment, how much)

[Nelly622]

My daughter is off to college this fall and will be attending UNC-CH. She was looking into off-campus housing at Grandville Towers, but the ratings I found online were not very good to say the least.

Do any of you know of anyone who has lived there during their years at UNC-CH? Would love to hear opinions--good or bad.

I've heard that where you live (on or off campus) makes a big difference as to how much you love/hate college life. I don't want any big mistakes right off the bat. I thank you and my daughter thanks you.

[Hamish Forbes]

One of my kids lived in Granville (I believe that there is no "d" in the name, but I don't remember for sure) for a while abut six years ago. It was OK. Definitely not as good as the better UNC dorms, but definitely better than the worst. Seems to me that it was fairly expensive. Not in a terrific state of repair. He commented a few times about the overabundance of "preppy-ness," which he didn't like all that much.

[elsbells]

I actually lived in Granville my first two years at Carolina. I liked it. Most underclassmen have to stay in the dorms that are extremely far from class (Hinton James, Ehringhaus, etc.) My walk to class took about 10 minutes, compared to my friends who had to walk 30 minutes or take a bus.

Granville has their own dining hall, which was GREAT. I could pop down for a snack anytime I wanted and there was a huge choice in meals. I thought the food was much better than Lenoir (the main cafeteria on campus.)

Granville also has their own parking lot. For campus kids, there is parking lottery and underclassmen can't participate (I think.) At Granville, my car was parked right outside my building, so if I needed to go somewhere I could just hop in my car and go.

I really enjoyed my time in Granville. I lived in the East Tower one year and the South Tower another year. The West Tower was known as the party tower -- not sure if that's changed or not.

The rooms are a decent size, and you only have to share a bathroom with 1 other room (instead of having to share a bathroom with a whole floor of people -- yuck!)

Hamish Forbes -- Sounds like I was in Granville the same time as your son! I agree, lots of preppiness, probably due to the fact that it's more expensive than campus dorms and is known as being a more "elite" place to live.

Nelly, if you have any other questions feel free to ask, since this is something I'm familiar with first-hand!

[talexy1234]

I too am a student at UNC-CH and lived in Granville (no d!) for my freshman year. I definitely enjoyed it, but the price was pretty steep. I think its huge saving grace is location and convenience. It offers everything you basically need - laundry room, rec center, cafeteria, pool, parking, and it's right on Franklin which is close enough to campus to be a quick walk, yet far enough that there are quality restaurants and you can walk home if you've been out drinking.

As far as the quality of the rooms, it was pretty nice but definitely not as nice as some of the dorms in the Kenan community and others (no hardwood floors, etc.). A BIG plus was not having to share a bathroom with a hall full of people. That's something I've thankfully never had to do and something I was hoping never to do in college.

Overall my experience was a pleasant one. It was a nice "freshman" dorm for me so that I could get used to UNC yet still have everything I needed without having to "search."

If you have any questions please feel free to ask! And congratulations to your daughter on her new Tarheel status!

[Francois]

I, too, am a Granville alum, but it was many years ago. I understand they have substantially upgraded since then. I might beg to differ on the "proximity" issue--yes, it's closer than South campus, but North Campus is MUCH closer to the main academic buildings. It also depends on which building your first class of the day is in.

Last time I was by there, I noticed that instead of a cafeteria, they have a "food court". I guess this is standard everywhere now, but "in my day" I think I ate healthier because it was a true cafeteria-style. But college kids are going to eat what they're going to eat anyway.

The one potential inconvenience is that, presuming the meal plan still works the same (all meals included), coming home for lunch can be a pain, if, say, you have an 11:00 class and a 1:00. It's doable, but having to trek back to Granville for lunch and then right back to campus, while your non-Granville friends just grab something at the eateries right on campus, was a little inconvenient. Great for walking off the calories, though! I would recommend a bicycle, since some of the academinc buildings, the libraries, the gyms, etc are at the far end of campus from Granville. This meant that I sometimes didn't go to the library at night like I might have if I'd been in a North Campus or even South campus dorm (any excuse to blame not studying, LOL), because you have to go back to Granville for dinner and sometimes it felt like too much trouble to go back to campus afterwards. But I'm sure the daily routines of college students vary so much now from how we did things back then.

I did like living there--it was seen as the "hotel" of dorms--and yes, it's right by Franklin St. so for going "uptown", very convenient. But depending on what her major is, if her main building is down near "The Pit" or the gyms, there may be times when Granville feels like a long way away. But if she's a Math major, Phillips Hall is very close to Granville.

Thus, having hemmed and hawed, I will say that yes, I can recommend it

[carolinacool]

I actually didn't live in Granville Towers. I was one of the poor non-elite who spent all four years on campus. LOL But just curious, is there a particular reason she's looking to live off-site? I graduated in 1997, but I know UNC has made extensive renovations to several dorms and built several new ones that I hear are supposed to replicate apartment-style living. As I said, I didn't live at Granville, but we would walk to restaurants in that area regularly and it always seemed a bit far-flung to me. The parking is a great, great perk, though. Back in my day (I sound like I'm 80!), freshmen could not have a car in a campus lot. I got a permit my sophomore year, but I was assigned to a park and ride lot. Having a car nearby would be a huge, huge plus and probably worth the expense.

[Nelly622]

Thanks to all for your input. It's nice to read positive feedback considering that everything I read online was pretty bad. My daughter hasn't made up her mind yet, but she heard that nearly all freshmen get housed in the far south end of campus which looks like it will be a long way for her since she plans to double major in math and biology. We went to look at the model dorm down there, and it just seemed really far away and separated from where she would be attending classes. She hoped Granville would be closer and more convenient.

BTW, she keeps telling me that Granville is about $2,000 per year less than on-campus housing (for a standard double room). Not sure how she calculated that (but she's the math wiz, not me), although it might have to do with meal plan selections.

So, big decision to make. She doesn't want to be in a "party" dorm (although she does like to party--just when and where she wants). A lot of the negatives I read about Granville had to do with loud noise and constant parties.

Again, thanks for all your input. It was a big help.

Any more input from others would be appreciated also!

[carolinacool]

Oh, OK. Well, you're probably right about freshmen. My first year, I was assigned to Cobb, which is on North campus and at the time was all female. And I knew other freshman girls who were scattered around North and Middle Campus, but most were down South. It is a bit of a walk, but most everyone I knew just got used to it and really didn't seem to mind as much. And as someone upthread said, so much depends on your schedule. As a freshman, she probably won't have a lot of classes in Phillips Hall and whatever the biology building is (can't remember!). And it might not be her first class of the day. But that is a valid concern.

That said, I find it hard to believe that Granville in now cheaper than campus housing for a standard double room! Maybe less expensive than the new apartment-style buildings, but I would think double rooms are still less expensive on campus.

[talexy1234]

Well, you're going to find parties all over, no matter where you go. I was in East and it was pretty reasonable as far as noise level. West was the one notorious for partying, but I think that that is gradually starting to change as well.

[Francois]

That's odd that most Freshman end up on South campus, because I read recently in the alumni magazine ("recently" being 3-2 years ago) that they were considering reserving the North Campus dorms (or many of them) that are the closest to campus, for Freshmen only. The rationale being that with so many new distractions as a college Freshman, at least not having a long, long uphill walk to your 8 AM class might make you more inclined to go to class. Of course, upperclassman would gripe that the choicest dorms on campus were allocated to Freshman, but I DO see the reasoning behind it.

If she will be a Math major, Granville is very close to the Math/Physics building! I was a Math major my first two years, and I'll never forget the day I had a Physics exam, was already sitting in class, and realized I had forgotten my calculator! Severe panic, but I dashed out the building, down the road to Granville, got it and made it back in time before the exams were passed out. If I had lived on South Campus or even Mid-Campus, I wouldn't have been able to do that!

I have a hard time believing Granville is cheaper than on-campus housing, since it includes meals, unless they now require on-campus residents to have a meal plan as well (which they well might).