<p>I have heard such incredibly different opinions about how difficult it is to gain admission to UNC-Chapel Hill. Some people in Texas are under the impression that if you can get into UT-Austin, you can get into UNC, which I am pretty sure is COMPLETELY wrong. However, some people tell me that gaining admission to UNC out-of-state is practically impossible. Could anyone help me determine my chances so that I can classify UNC on my list as a slight match/match/reach/super reach/whatever? </p>
<p>I'll just give a quick overview of my stats.</p>
<p>-Hispanic female from Texas
-4.2 GPA weighted, top 2% of graduating class (about 500 kids at public HS)
-IB Diploma candidate, hardest courseload possible
-AP Scholar, Natl. Hispanic Merit Scholar, Natl. Merit Commended
-SAT: 2250 composite (M650 CR800 W800...will be re-taking to pull up math score)
-student body VP
-varsity sport (JV for 9, 10, lettered in 11)
-VP of Natl. Spanish Honor Society
-heavy involvement in a couple other ECs
-Speech/Debate team with awards at regional level
-400/500 hours of unique community service
-work 6 days a week afterschool to save money for college
-essays/recs should be great</p>
<p>your SAT is awesome, and an 800 in CR looks really good on the app since its the hardest score to get. the fact that you're hispanic definitely is an advantage =) i hope you get in!!</p>
<p>OOS admissions is difficult at UNC-CH...comparable to, if not slightly more selective than, schools like Duke. OOS admissions is also increasingly difficult at Texas because of the top ten percent law. But you are looking at an auto acceptance at Texas vs. a highly seletive process at UNC-CH....so, in your case, no, the two are not comparable.</p>
<p>However given your stats, I would think you have an outstanding chance at UNC-CH. My d got in with similar stats...lower rank but higher SATs/NMF...also Nat'l Hispanic Scholar. She had less community service, but nat'l awards. Varsity letter, NHS, etc....the same. If your community service is related to the Hispanic community, I would also look into the Pogue Scholarship at UNC.</p>
<p>Good Luck to you! UNC needs another Texan! :-)</p>
<p>Do ya'll really think I will get any merit aid? I have heard that as an OOS applicant I will be lucky just to gain admission, much less receive ANY aid.</p>
<p>"are you kidding? forget just getting in, you will get some serious merit $$$"</p>
<p>i would not be so fast to assume about getting serious merit money. there are only a limited number of "big" scholarships available. there was a candidate last year from houston, valedictorian at his elite private school who got a likely letter but on admission was not awarded any $$$. it could be that they thought he was using unc as a safety school, which at first he was, but he really wanted to attend unc and ended up with no merit money. </p>
<p>apply early to get in the running for the merit awards. your stats and ec's are very good but as ldmom06 has already said admission is extraordinarily competitive for OOS students and getting more competitive every day. good luck.</p>
<p>I concur with eadad on the merit money. My d, also from Houston, also received a likely letter and honors; but she only rec'd Nat'l Merit Finalist merit money, which isn't much. UNC was a dream school for her but she didn't apply until very late because she thought it was impossible for oos candidates to get in. (Actually my conversations here at CC with UNC parents are what convinced her to apply. We are forever indebteded to them. :-) </p>
<p>I don't know if the lateness of her application affected merit money or not...or if perhaps, as eadad suggested, they felt she was using UNC as a safety. The truth of the matter is UNC was her first choice oos school and Rice was her first choice instate school...and she wasn't remotely interested in applying at Duke or similar schools. She was accepted at one Ivy and UT Plan I Honors, but nothing could take the shine off UNC for her. </p>
<p>Regarding the Pogue. My d did apply for the Pogue since she is half Hispanic, but she did not get one. They contacted her and explained that although she had top notch ecs and stats, they were looking for community service and involvement in the Hispanic community. She had hundreds of hours of community service; but because she is pre-med, most of it was health field/hospital related. (She did do some interpreting at hospital intake, but that was not enough). And we live in the far outskirts of Houston and the overwhelming majority of her school population is Anglo, so her local opportunities for community involvement were small. We completely understood the Pogue committee's reasoning as the purpose of the scholarship is to reward those who have made a difference in minority communities. But...to the OP...you have tons of community service. If that service is to the Hispanic community and you have ecs related to Hispanic or minority issues, I would seriously get those Pogue papers filled out. It's a huge scholarship. It is a very, very competitive scholarship contest, but worth a shot if you think you have what they are looking for.</p>
<p>I think you look very competitive, too.<br>
Regarding merit scholarships, I think the essays play a major role in the awarding of these. While you need to have the stats to be considered in the first place, that merely gets you put into a pool of possible merit award recipients. From what we were told at the scholarship event my D attended last winter, after the initial pool is selected, probably on the basis of stats, the applications are read by a committee, which I think includes some professors and admissions folks, and they select the ones that are in the running for some sort of merit aid. If I recall correctly, the letter informing applicants that they are in the running for a merit award is sent sometime in late December, if the applicant applied in the early round. It's sent later, of course, to those who apply in the regular round.</p>
<p>I agree with what nceph has said above. This is the way we understood how merit scholarships were made as well--that you have to have the stats to be considered in the first place (which, it appears, the OP has), and this initially gets your application pulled aside to be considered for possible merit. We were also told that it was something like the top 500 applicants pulled aside to be viewed for merit aid. </p>
<p>I also agree that essays do play a big role here, too. </p>
<p>I'd just like to add that while I understand that ldmom and eadad were just speculating here, I do NOT believe that UNC plays those sorts of games that some schools do-- the idea that you might be using them as a safety, and so turning students down or not offering merit --and certainly not the case for any OOS applicants, since UNC would definitely not be a safety for them. They have way too many top applicants--both in-state and out-of-state-- who are accepted and who choose to attend, for them to play any games like that. We also know a slew of top in-state students who apply every year, are accepted and offered merit, and who either choose to go elsewhere, or who choose to attend, having turned down other equally fine schools (including Ivy's) in order to do so. </p>
<p>So I think the real issue is that pool of very impressive applicants competing for merit scholarships is just very intense. As others have pointed out, it's not just the stats being considered, either, so it's tougher than one might think. </p>
<p>All the best to the OP, though. I agree with nceph; you look very competitive to me as well.</p>