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Carolina will begin its first semester all virtual on Tuesday.
The university delayed the start of in-person classes for three weeks citing record COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in North Carolina.
"It's really hard especially to grasp the material and it's kind of saddening because it's your senior year," said Courtney Lohman, who is supposed to graduate in December. "It was a big change from having in-person classes, being around in the community surrounded by a lot of people to now just being in a room by yourself alone with a computer staring at it for eight hours."
Sophomore Veronika Tomaszycki said Franklin Street doesn't look or feel the same.
"I miss campus being super fun and people going out," she said. "It's like a ghost town. There's no one on Franklin."
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NC State University also begins classes Tuesday. They're offering a mix of in-person, hybrid and online for the semester.
Classes in Raleigh conclude April 30 and instead of a full week for spring break, there will be four wellness days spread out through the semester.
"Obviously online schooling is a bit difficult but it's understandable given the conditions," said Trevor Phelps, a freshman from Greensboro.
He has one class in person and stressed that he feels better on campus because he said his parents are high risk.
"I think the weekly testing they're doing is going to help a lot," he said.
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