I just applied for UNC Chapel Hill, early action. I go to a highly ranked high school in Wake County where last year about 45 students ended up enrolling at UNC (so not counting students who got in but chose somewhere else). UNC is my number one and I would love if someone chance’d me.
SAT- 1400 (720 math, 680 reading) 20 on the essay
ACT- 31 superscored
GPA- 3.875 (unweighted out of 4)
Class rank- 25 out of ~450
I’m in IB and by the time I graduate will have taken 15 ap/ib classes (7 of them are from this school year). I’ve scored 4/5s on all the AP tests I’ve taken.
EC- 4 years of varsity xc/track (captain, individually qualified for states every year, all-conference and region, etc), president of spanish honor society, in national honor society, babysit about 15 hours a week, girls on the run leader, and have played the guitar/violin for about ten years (wrote an essay about this) and give lessons.
I have very strong recommendations, but I think my essays could have been better. Also, I have done over 100 hours of community service, but they are in misc areas and aren’t focused on one project or cause, which I know UNC is interested in. I also don’t have any close ties to UNC in terms of family members, either, and it’s not like I’m the first in my family to go to college (white female).
I’m worried that my essays and lack of focus in community service will hurt me- will my other stat/ec/recommendations make up for it? Will admissions even give a hard look at my essays if everything else is up to par?
Your GPA, standardized test scores and rank are above average for in-state. I would think your chances are very good based on others I have seen admitted in-state to UNC. Good luck!
I’m curious, is UNC a craze in NC? I’m from TX and a lot of people want to go there! IT’s so weird that people with 4.5s get rejected from here. It may be just like that there though, IDK!! Then again, UT rejects 4.4s and 2 national merits from my school last year. They also applied to super selective programs though. State schools are weird now a days haha
I don’t know if I’d call it a craze, but UNC is definitely the goal for a LOT of kids at my school. I think its an appealing option for a lot of kids in NC just because of the affordability. Why go to a private school like Wake, Richmond, Davidson, etc, when you can get the same education, plus great basketball, for half the price?
A friend of mine was denied last year who I thought was a shoe-in for UNC- she lived instate and had great scores and the works. Meanwhile, quite a few other students I was surprised to see being accepted. Just when you think its predictable, its not!
I’m actually not first generation- I just meant that I don’t have any familial ties to UNC (hey, I’ve seen it help a few kids).
I actually ended up not submitted ACT. I don’t know if I would call my test scores “not strong”- I checked the UNC class of 2017 profile and they’re above the median (though not exceeding the 75th percentile). Were I talking about another school perhaps, yeah, I’d agree they’re not strong.
Hey, I am a freshmen at UNC and I am one of the ones who people viewed as “not going to be able to get in” and the reason why they reject people who have these outstanding, remarkable scores is because they have no substance. I will tell you two things: 1) the last thing they look at is the essay - trust me so I would tell you to focus more on the essay and be authentic and 2) goes back to the point in number one I was talking about at the end but be authentic. I can tell you that is what got me over the people with superb grades and standardized test scores and they can see right through you if you are not being yourself; you may think not but they do (most of the time that is)
One more thing, 3) make sure you get teachers or adults of that sort to do recommendations for you whom you know 99.9% will write positive things about you and capitalize on your strengths.
So there you go, just do you is really the best thing anybody can tell you. It is why I hate these “chance me” threads because some people will tell you that you do not have a shot when in reality, almost anybody does and these people and I do not know until y’all get the results back which will be some time in January. You are good in my book though and good luck!
