Chances for UVA and UNC after being deferred

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I was deferred from UVA and UNC early action. My senior grades have not been as good, due to multiple circumstances. Thus far, my mid-year grades are:
AP Physics 1: 83
AP Calc BC: 90
Medical Interventions: 94
AP English Lit: 99
Statistics: 95

SAT I (breakdown): 2090 SUPERSCORED
ACT (breakdown): 32 (33 SUPERSCORED)
SAT II: Did not send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/260
AP (place score in parenthesis): US Gov (5), Bio (4), English Lang (5), Calc AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Physics 1, AP Calc BC, Medical Interventions, Spanish 4, AP English Lit, Statistics, Biomedical Innovations
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Nothing really outside of the norm

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout), School Board Representative, NHS (President), Quiz Bowl (Captain), High School Swimming, Club Swim (National Qualifier), couple other small clubs at my school
Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard, 2 summers
Volunteer/Community service: Mainly in Scouts and altar serving, with over 200 hours each
Summer Activities: Work

Intended Major: Biology
State (if domestic applicant): Maryland
School Type: Rural medium sized public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $200,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, legacy etc.):
None

I have already been accepted to Maryland, Delaware, SLU, and NC State. Previously I had all A’s and had never received a B. How much do you think this grade drop will affect my ability to be admitted. Is there anything I should do besides try to get better grades that would help me get in, such as a letter to the admissions office?

2

I’m pretty familiar with UVA (my D was just accepted) but not UNC. To be honest, lower grades will probably hurt at UVA, which looks very carefully at all aspects of the transcript. It’s unclear how many people are admitted after deferral, but it may be a bit lower than the overall admit rate, which is already quite tough for OOS.

UVA definitely doesn’t want anything from deferred candidates other than a relatively short note, and even then only if you have something to say. If you have some negative circumstances beyond your control, or some positive news outside of your grades to convey, it may or may not help to send a note, but it certainly shouldn’t hurt. If your counselor hasn’t sent your Mid-Year Report yet, maybe there’s some note that could be added to that.

Just telling them you really will try harder, or that you took on too many activities in the fall, is not likely to help. But they will look at your application all over again, and they will consider anything relevant that might put things in a better light. Good luck!

3

UVA looks at SAT II scores. Send them if you have them and they are over 600. UNC only takes 18% OOS so that’s a lot tougher than UVA OOS. Good luck.

4

@Wilson98 Thank you for the advice, I understand that my chances aren’t that great especially after my grade dip. @chb088 I did not send my SAT scores before, which were 630 for Bio E and 660 for Math II. It won’t hurt to send those right? I took them last june but chose not to send them as they were not over 700

5

I would send those SAT II scores to both schools ASAP. They are plenty high enough for both schools and will only help your chances in my opinion. The reason your percentiles look low is because only the brightest students even bother taking SAT II’s.