Demographics
Latino, immigrant (political asylum), male, living in Florida, go to a solid school and live in a decent suburb but family is poor
Academics
3.92 GPA, 4.8 weighted GPA
Sixth in class of roughly 400, top 2%
1520 new SAT, 2200 old SAT, no subject tests (should I take them?)
Will graduate having taken 11 AP classes, will have passed 10 tests with at least 6 being 5’s
Awards
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards attendee (11th)
AP Scholar/AP Scholar with Distinction (10th/11th)
Commended for National Merit
Recognized for perfect score on state U.S. history end of course exam
3rd place in group scenario writing at Future Problem Solving State Competition (pretty obscure)
Extracurriculars
Interact Club (3 years, president, various community service activities with focus on food distribution)
Habitat for Humanity (2 years, president)
Leo club (2 years, lot of volunteering with special needs children)
Track and Cross Country (2 years/1 year, varsity/JV :[ )
Future Problem Solvers (2 years, creative writing competition that evaluates possible future issues such as overpopulation and disappearing languages)
Recommendations are solid, essays are being worked on (got extension because of hurricane) but will be strong. Also, if anyone has any similar schools to UNC that they think I should apply to (that meet demonstrated financial need), I’d appreciate some input. My safeties are UF and UCF.
Our OOS high school usually has a couple of students admitted each year to UNC-CH; and, with the exception of legacy students, our admitted students have SAT scores of 1350+, ACT scores of 34+, and weighted GPAs of 4.5+. Other kids in our city who I know were admitted to UNC-CH recently have also had similar statistics. All of these kids, however, were “unhooked” in admissions parlance (i.e., not a recruited D-1 athlete, or URM, first-generation college student, etc.).
If you have looked at the UNC-CH common data set, you will see that under Part C7 it states that standardized test scores, application essay, letter(s) of recommendation, and 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. Don’t worry about the SAT subject tests.
Given your data – especially your high test scores – coupled with the fact that you are a URM/immigrant, you should be very competitive for admission. I presume that you are a high school senior? If so, have you applied/will you apply EA? (The UNC admissions blog states as follows: “*In light of several areas being impacted by Hurricane Matthew, the First-Year Early Action application will remain open until October 23 on the Common Application. If you were unable to submit your application by October 15, you have until 11:59 pm on October 23 to submit your application for consideration for the Early Action deadline.” See http://admissions.unc.edu/admissions-blog/.) I recommend an EA application if you can do that.
Regarding schools that meet demonstrated financial need, you might look into UVA for a state school; there probably are a bunch of private schools that might give you need-based and merit aid. What are you interested in studying?
@gandalf78 Thank you for your reply, I am in fact a senior and I will be applying EA since I do benefit from the extended deadline because of the hurricane. After writing this post I was notified that I’ve been selected as a QuestBridge Finalist, would listing this under “honors” for my common app be of much help?
Thanks for recommending UVA. I’m undecided when it comes to what I want to study, though I lean more towards the humanities and social sciences than STEM.
I have nothing informed to offer on your QuestBridge question.
In thinking about your data, you might want to inquire with your school’s guidance counselors about nominated scholarships (e.g., the Morehead-Cain at UNC, the Jefferson at UVA, the Danforth at Wash U in St. Louis). Although you are too late for nomination to receive the Morehead-Cain at UNC, the Jefferson Scholarship (http://www.jeffersonscholars.org/) has a December 1, 2016 nomination deadline, and the Danforth Scholarship (https://admissions.wustl.edu/Financial_Aid_Scholarships/First_Year_Academic_Scholarships/Pages/Danforth-Scholars-Program.aspx) has a November 15, 2016 nomination deadline; there may also be others out there that are available. Just a thought.