Hi, I am applying to University of North Carolina to the Economics program through the Regular Decision slot this year and am hoping to get in!!
Stats:
3.86 WGPA(Had a concussion my sophomore year, and my grades all tanked bad for a semester, wrote an essay on it)
SAT: 1380, 740 on Math 640 CR/W(34 on English)
Numerous ECs from Officer of NHS, to captain of basketball team for 2 years
111 community service hours
Strong LOR
Good Essays
Out of state, but no Financial Aid Request
Private school that does not rank, but would be classified as top quarter
Please PM me if any more info is needed, as I am nervous to find out!
Generally, the chances for any OOS applicant to UNC-CH are somewhat problematic due to the highly competitive nature of OOS applications there: UNC-CH admits OOS applicants in numbers that are calculated not to exceed 18% of an entering freshman class. See “Undergraduate Admissions” on Page 2, here: http://www.admissions.unc.edu/files/2013/09/Admissions__Policy.pdf. As a further example of the difficulty for OOS students to be admitted to UNC-CH, the entering Class of 2021 had a 14% acceptance rate for OOS applicants: http://admissions.unc.edu/apply/class-profile-2/.
If you look at the UNC-CH Common Data Set, under Part C7 it states that standardized test scores, application essay(s), letter(s) of recommendation, and the rigor of your high school record are “very important” academic factors considered for freshman admission, whereas GPA and class rank are “important” academic factors considered for freshman admission. Extracurricular activities, talent, and character/personal qualities are considered as “very important” non-academic factors.
Further, Part C9 of the Common Data Set for UNC-CH gives the median 50% for both SAT and ACT scores, as well as the percentage of the entering first-year class falling within certain ranges of SAT and ACT scores; Part C11 gives the percentage of entering first-year students falling within a range of unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, and Part C12 gives the average high school GPA of first-year applicants.
By way of comparison, our OOS high school usually has 8-10 students who apply, and 1-2 students who are admitted, each year to UNC-CH; and, with the exception of legacy students, our admitted students have SAT scores of 1490+ and weighted GPAs of 4.4+. These successful applicants also were involved in extracurricular activities that showed commitment over time (no “drive-by” ECs), and demonstrated leadership in the school as well as their ECs. Other kids in our city who I know were admitted to UNC-CH recently also had similar academic statistics and non-academic characteristics; and all of these kids were “unhooked” in admissions parlance (i.e., not a recruited D-1 athlete, or a URM, first-generation college student, etc.).
Having stated all of the above, your SAT score and GPA are, in my opinion, a bit low for you to be very competitive for admission as an OOS applicant, unless you have a “hook” working for you. If you have good essays and letters of recommendation, that will help. Another factor to consider – which likely works against you – is applying RD, since most (around 2/3) of the applicants to UNC-CH are EA, and a good number of spaces are filled in that round of admissions.
Admission to UNC-CH as an OOS applicant is a tough nut to crack. Best of luck to you.