Chance me for UNC

I’m OOS & nervous I won’t get into UNC-CH
What are my chances?
applying EA
attend a college prep private highschool in Virginia
4.5 GPA
Will have taken 10 APs by the time I graduate: Biology(3), European History(3) ( Sophomore Year) Environmental Science (4), Language & Composition(5), Macro & Micro Economics(4/3), US History (5) (Junior Year) -
Literature, AB Calculus, Physics, Government (Senior year)
No class rank
5% of my class
Best ACT composite: 29
ACT superscored: 30

Hopefully will get strong LORs from teachers & counselor

Notable ecs:
Captain of Debate team
Founded a club for a charity
Co-chaired a major charity fundraiser at my school
SCA rep last 3 years
Member of Global Studies program at my school - will count as 9 class credit when I graduate
Member of NHS & other honor soceities
NLE - gold & silver medalist
Lots of Service work

OOS acceptance rate is 15% at UNC-CH. Your ACT is in the 25th %tile, but your ECs are good. I think it would be a high reach for you.

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 2020 had a 15% 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 composite ACT scores of 33+ 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.).

If you are a URM (“under-represented minority”), recruited D-1 athlete, first-generation college student, or OOS legacy, you may have a slightly easier path. Otherwise, focus on getting high standardized test scores, boost your GPA to the extent you can, and work to have really good ECs, essays, and LORs.

Having stated all of the above, your ACT score is pretty low for most admitted OOS applicants. If you have good essays and letters of recommendation, that will help; or if you are a URM, Carolina legacy, or have some other factor that could work in your favor, that would help also.

I don’t know whether your high school has Naviance or any similar program that gives information about how students at your high school have done in applying to colleges and universities; if so, you might peruse that data. I would also try to meet with a guidance counselor at your school early in the Fall semester to discuss application strategies for UNC-CH; if any former students from your school have been admitted to UNC-CH recently, the guidance counselor may be able to give some insight into how and why such student(s) were successful.

Good luck to you.

Ok thank you for your feedback! Do you think strong subject test scores would help counter my low ACT score?

^^ Do you mean SAT subject matter test scores? Did you take the SAT, and, if so, what is your score?

I’m taking three subject tests in October. My SAT scores were low so I’m sending my ACT instead.