North Carolina State University (also known as NC State) is a public university located in Raleigh. It is well-known for its science, engineering, and agriculture programs, and is the largest university in North Carolina by student count and land area. It was founded in 1887, the school colors are red and white, and the athletic teams are known as the Wolfpack.

Notable Locations

• Memorial Tower, aka "The Bell Tower," a stone bell tower located at the northeast corner of Main Campus.
• Carter-Finley Stadium, the home stadium for Wolfpack football games
• PNC Arena, home of Wolfpack men's basketball (in addition to the Carolina Hurricanes)
• Court of North Carolina, a grassy court in North Campus
• D.H. Hill Library, the University's primary library (open to the public during the daytime)
• James B. Hunt Jr. Library, Centennial Campus library (open to the public during the daytime)
• Talley Student Center, the primary student center (currently undergoing major construction)
• Reynolds Coliseum, home of Wolfpack women's basketball and other special events
• Doak Field at Dail Park, home of Wolfpack baseball

The official map for the campus can be found here: NCSU Campus Map

Geography

NC State is located to the west of Downtown Raleigh, within walking distance. It is split into three campuses: Main Campus, where the majority of academic, student life, and administration buildings are located, Centennial Campus to the south, which is mixed between engineering academic buildings and research facilities, and Centennial Biomedical Campus, which is primarily associated with the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Main Campus is primarily located between Hillsborough Street and Western Boulevard, though some portions of it extend south of Western. It is further subdivided into North Campus, from Hillsborough to the railroad tracks; Central Campus, from the railroad tracks to Western; and South Campus, which constitutes everything south of Western but west of Avent Ferry Road. North Campus is primarily academic buildings, including general science labs, whereas Central Campus is more centered on residence halls and other student services.

Transportation

NC State is bounded by several major thoroughfares - Hillsborough Street, Western Boulevard, and Avent Ferry Road. In addition to being easy to access by car, it is also very well-connected by CAT and Triangle Transit - CAT's routes 4, 11, 11C, 12, and 38, and Triangle Transit's routes 100, 105, 301, 303, 305, CRX, and DRX all have stops on or adjacent to campus.

NCSU offers a comprehensive campus bus service called the Wolfline. It is free to ride for both students and visitors. You can learn more about the routes and access the Transit Visualization System at NCSU Transportation. 

If you are visiting campus you will need to use Visitor Parking which currently costs $10 for the day or $2 per hour.

Housing

NC State offers on-campus housing to its students, but does not have the capacity needed to board the over 25,000 undergraduates.  Many students choose to find their own housing options, and use several online resources for doing so.  The most prominent are Craigslist and GoOffCampus, but a google search will likely bring several other suggestions.  The advantage for choosing on-campus housing is that you can be within short walking distance of most of main campus.  There are not many off-campus options that give you that ability, but most of them do offer close proximity to one or more busing options.  Students who spend most of their time on Centennial campus may opt for the new Wolf Ridge apartments.