Chance me :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
1

Hello. UNC is definitely one of my top schools on my list I plan on applying to (at the time I’m writing this right now I’m a junior in high school). I’ve been getting worried recently if I could get into Chapel Hill or not. I’m out of state, so that definitely puts me a step down already. Also, I’m focused on becoming a pharmacist, and UNC is #1 in the country, according to US News. I’m just really stressed whether or not I could get into UNC or not… My “stats” are below (also sorry if I’m making this too long but I would deeply appreciate it if anyone could chance me)

GPA: 3.8 unweighted, 4.2 weighted
Class Rank: School does not give out class rank, I’m in a very large, competitive school
ACT: 32, writing score is a 10

Classes over the years:
-Freshmen Year: Honors Biology, Honors US History/European History, Honors German 1, Honors English 1, Honors Geometry
-Sophomore Year: Honors Chemistry, Honors World Cultures, Honors German 2, Honors English 2, Honors Algebra 2, Psychology, Economics, Robotics 1 and 2
-Junior Year: Honors Anatomy, AP US History (5), AP Chemistry, Honors German 3, Honors English 3, Honors Pre Calc
-Senior Year: AP Calc AB, AP Psychology, AP German, AP Biology, Honors Organic Chemistry, Honors English 4

Extracurriculars:
-Member of HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) for 4 years
-Member, secretary, and president of German Club for 4 years
-NJHS member in 9th and 10th
-NHS member in 11th and 12th
-Varsity Inline Hockey player for 3 years, I’ve played a total of 8 years
-Founded an ACS (American Chemical Society) club at my school
-Have volunteered at a local hospital since the summer of 8th grade
-Volunteered at the Carnegie Science Center in the summer of 10th grade
-Had a golf-related charity event for Make-A-Wish in the summer of 8th grade
-Worked at a golf driving range in the summer of 10th grade
-Working at a kids play facility this summer
-Shadowed several pharmacists (local hospital and Walgreens)
-Worked at a Bible Camp for kids since 8th grade over the summer
-Went to a medical camp at the University of Pittsburgh in the summer of 10th grade
-Am going to a pharmacy camp at the University of Toledo this summer

I am currently writing one of my Common Application essays, and it turned out very well. I don’t want to sound too cocky, but I’m very good at writing essays, so that’s one of my least concerns. Also, my recommendations from my teachers should also be pretty solid.

Sorry for making this too long, but I need some input from people more experienced with UNC than I am. My major concerns are my somewhat lack of leadership and if my GPA and ACT score are high enough to be accepted out of state.

Thanks, Ben.

(P.S., I found it quite humorous how I’m wearing an UNC shirt while writing this essay…)

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First, don’t get too hung up on the #1 ranking – whatever that is worth; you can probably find a ranking system where UNC-CH’s pharmacy program is ranked #50 – it all depends on what the criteria are, and how much emphasis is placed on each category. You can be a successful pharmacist (if that’s what you end up doing with your life) without going to “the #1 ranked pharmacy school”.

Second, as you probably know already, admission of OOS students to UNC-CH is very competitive; and 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, for example, had a 15% acceptance rate for OOS applicants: http://admissions.unc.edu/apply/class-profile-2/.

Third, the UNC-CH Common Data Set has some useful information for you. 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 you 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; and Part C11 gives you the percentage of entering first-year students falling within a range of unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale.

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 ACT scores of 34+ and weighted GPAs of 4.5+. 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.).

So 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 – relatively speaking, of course. Otherwise, focus on getting high standardized test scores (perhaps retake the ACT after a test preparation course), and work to have really good essays, and LORs. (By the way, every potential applicant who posts on the UNC-CH forum thinks that they have “killer” essays; you might get some objective opinion on that from an English teacher or school guidance counselor, or a private college admissions counselor.)

Having stated all of the above, if you are an “unhooked” applicant then your ACT score and weighted GPA are probably a little on the low side to be very competitive for admission as an OOS applicant, given the extremely large pool of high-achieving applicants who apply every year. Your apparent lack of leadership positions in your ECs may be a potential drawback, also. The rigor of your classes – you appear to have taken lots of AP and Honors classes – should work in your favor, however.

While it may be too late to do anything about the ECs (and also your GPA if you plan on applying EA), you can still work on raising your standardized test score a bit, since that is one thing that is in your control – along with your application essay(s). I would make an effort to spend some time with your school’s guidance counselor early in the Fall Semester to discuss an application strategy for UNC-CH, and how you can best position yourself as an OOS applicant; there might be some valuable information for you there. Remember, the EA deadline for UNC-CH is October 15 if you plan on applying early.

Good luck to you!

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@bdavic: On the subject of effective college essays, I just came across this: https://www.yahoo.com/gma/girl-gets-yale-penning-essay-papa-johns-pizza-153305869–abc-news-topstories.html?cid=social_twitter_abcn&soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma.

The applicant (who also had a “hook” as a first-generation college student) stated that "it was kind of taking a risk, I guess.” She lucked out on this risk; sometimes it comes down to who your readers are. There are also kids who have been rejected from colleges because of “risky” essays. You can draw your own conclusions from all this.

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@gandalf78 Thank you so much for your input! I will definitely consider meeting with my counselor soon to talk about the best way for me to apply to UNC. It is my reach school after all, so I’m not particularly expecting for the admission to be “automatic”. I’m also taking the June ACT, so hopefully my score improves! Thanks.

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Just focus on writing compelling essays. The process is always a bit random. I was admitted out of state with a 28 ACT and 3.7 UW with the Robertson Scholarship. I focused on my passion, education equity, and wrote about that. Do things your senior year that you genuinely care about. Apply to multiple schools where you think you’ll be a good fit. Best of Luck!

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@Indigoraccoon4 That’s interesting. Do you know where to find the list of essay topics? I’m planning on to start writing my essays soon.

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^ The process is NOT random, as @Indigoraccoon4 suggests; that implies applications being tacked up on a wall, and darts being thrown at them to determine who gets accepted or not. It’s a bit more involved than that.

Notwithstanding, a look at the Common Data Set is going to inform you as to where most admitted applicants fall in terms of GPA and standardized test scores. There are always statistical outliers to those ranges; and the university AOs have their reasons for selecting those persons who fall outside those ranges.

The OP is asking about “chances,” or probabilities, or likelihood of admission. The ultimate decision about admission is something that is different than the “chance” of admission. The most recent Super Bowl is an example: at the end of the 3rd quarter, the chances of the New England Patriots winning were abysmally low, but they still won the game. Does that result change the fact that their chances were low at a critical point in the game? No.

Same thing here. The fact that your “chances” may be good or bad is not an absolute predictor of the ultimate outcome; but it may inform your decisions on how a person addresses the application process at UNC-CH and elsewhere, and the expectations you have about your success (or not) in getting accepted.