<p>I am a white male who currently attends a community college in New Jersey. I am currently 23 and want to transfer in for the Spring 2014 semester, which I will be 24 by then. I transferred out of Monmouth since 1) I could not afford it anymore, and 2) my grades were poor. I took a break for a few years to work since I was undeclared. I graduated high school in 2008 with a 3.0 GPA and a 1550 on my SAT's. I know all these stats are too low for the UNC-CH, but I am doing well in my classes at Bergen Community College for Accounting so far, and I was wondering a few things:</p>
<p>Should I retake the SAT?
Should I take the ACT?
What would I have to get my GPA up to at BCC for 3 semesters to have a realistic shot at getting accepted (I had 5 classes transferred from MU to BCC)?
How important will my GPA at Monmouth and in high school be to the people who evaluate the applications?</p>
<p>Be honest and explain your opinion if you think I can/can't get in. Thank you to the people who took the time to read this and let me know what they think :]</p>
<p>I think your best bet is to call UNC and talk to their admissions staff. They will give you the best guidance about whether they would want to see current SAT scores (my guess is yes) and how many of your commuiyty college course credits would transfer.</p>
<p>I think UNC may not be the best fit for you, and here are some reasons why:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Taking the SAT/ACT again probably will not help you at this point. Grades and community service are more important at UNC.</p></li>
<li><p>Your Monmouth GPA will be taken into consideration, as it has a significantly more vigorous program than any community college. If you excelled at a CC, but not Monmouth, UNC may not be right for you.</p></li>
<li><p>UNC is more difficult for Transfer than anyone else, so if you had difficulties as MM, you will probably have difficulties at UNC. The student newspaper, the DTH, recently wrote an article about how transfers are FIFTY PERCENT more likely to be on academic probation after the first semester than incoming freshman. There are far more resources for freshman.</p></li>
<li><p>It is difficult to break into the social scene at UNC, especially as an older transfer. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it is extremely difficult. It seems that after first semester freshman year everyone has already established their “groups.” I purposefully went out of my way to befriend transfers after I took a semester off and every single one mentioned their lack of friends (not from a lack of trying to make them).</p></li>
<li><p>Here’s my story: I’m an in-state student who graduated high school with a great GPA, lots of EC’s, some community service, and one distinction: I graduated high school with my associate’s degree. My community college did not accurately prepare me for UNC what-so-ever. I EXCELLED at my CC and graduated with high honors, while maintaing a social life, and holding a part-time job. My first semester at UNC I failed 3 out of 4 classes. UNC’s difficulty is much higher than I expected and my CC instilled a huge amount of bad habits into me. At the CC I could breeze by, not study, and make A’s because it was just that easy. At UNC this was not the case, I sought help but none of it was particularly helpful, I just heard a lot of "try harder"s. I felt like I got lost in the shuffle and felt like much more of a number than a name. My professors did not know me, even though I attempted to make myself known to them. I took some time off and decided to try again. Better results, but still not great. I have decided to transfer, because a 4.0 at a mediocre college is better than a 2.0 at UNC.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>***I do not wish to offend anyone that has a particular love for UNC, but I had a very bad experience there and have spoken with MANY other CC transfer students that feel/felt the same way. I’m not saying that every transfer faces this situation, and not everyone will be as ill-prepared as I was. However, if you are not a self-motivated, self-starter… UNC is probably not your best choice.</p>
<p>I get what you are saying. I pretty much had the same exact troubles at Monmouth. I know UNC is up there in being one of the best schools not only in the country, but in the world, too. I was just curious to see what my chances were since it is an appealing school for a business major like myself and I didn’t have my heart set on UNC. I fully appreciate the honest information.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider as a transfer to UNC is if you will meet their general education requirements, and if any of the credits you have will be accepted towards this. There are also pre-requisite courses you would need to complete before you are accepted into the business school. Not having enough general ed requirements, or not having the pre-requisites may increase the time you need to graduate- and your total cost. A person might be admitted as a transfer to the university without these, but would have to re-apply to the business school- and there is no guarantee of being accepted to it as admission is competitive.</p>