I went to Western! Feel free to PM me!
There's also another GCer (carebearwcu) that's currently an Alpha Chi there, and there's an Alpha Xi on here too (AXiBeBe or something).
Yes, there is LOTS of drinking and partying, as there is nothing else to do in the mountains. I swear -- it's like going back in time twenty years. But the administration is trying to do away with that, esp. now that most of the fraternities have chosen to live in the new on-campus Greek Village.
Not everybody is going to give it a negative review, either. I had a great time there as an undergrad. It just depends on your personality.
I think Western's reputation has improved in the past several years. I've heard from some people that it isn't a very good school, and I've heard from other people that it's a great school. It just depends on the program. I know that my undergrad degree program in Business Admin & Law is the only one in the state, and it's an excellent program. It IS in the NC university system, which makes it as good of or even a better school than some of the top schools in other states.
UGA is definitely academically superior to WCU. However, I'm sure tuition at Western will be way lower, since Western has the lowest public school tuition in the state of NC.
ETA: The campus is BEAUTIFUL! I had a friend from back home visit another friend of ours at Carolina, and she was pissed when he told her that my campus was way prettier.
ETFA: In addition to trying to clean up the drinking environment, the administration is really stepping up their efforts to "raise the bar" acadmically, as they have been since I started there in '97. They currently have the only graduate program in Entrepreneurship in the country, which is being used as a model for many other schools, and I know that they beat some other top schools (such as Harvard) in a recent entrepreneurship competition.