Intended Major: Media & Journalism, also put down Studio Art and Communications
4.28 Weighted
3.68 Unweighted
Applying Test Optional (wasn’t able to take ACT)
Mostly A’s and B’s freshman and sophomore year, but I got a C in sophomore precalc. Junior year I got all A’s and an A in Dual Enrollment precalc.
First generation, Latina, Low income (i’m not sure if they’d know that or not lol)
Will be graduating with associates degree so incoming with approx 62 credits… applying as a freshman. So probably freshman with junior status credits.
All honors (minus 3 classes because they weren’t offered at my school), 9 Dual Enrollment so far taking 4 Dual now and 4 more next semester.
No outstanding extra curricular - club tennis and swim. 150+ Hours of Volunteering. Etsy Art Store. Family responsibilities (sick mom) and a few jobs like Tutoring, working with my moms House Cleaning Company and Assistant Tennis Coach (i think i’ll write in the additional section about my mom being sick because it has affected my schooling) I’m in GSA and Fitness Club, but I don’t hold any major roles in them. My school offers a very selective amount of clubs.
Awards: Honor Roll? Respect Award (school based). CC presidents list which is basically for anyone with a college 4.0.
UNC has been my dream school for so long please give me an accurate chance me… i’m also applying to NCSU, App State and UNCC
Don’t know if you’ll get in - or how the 62 credits impacts (are they from HS or a CC).
That said, don’t worry.
First off - this is a bit scary: UNC has been my dream school for so long please give me an accurate chance me… i’m also applying to NCSU, App State and UNCC.
Never ever ever fall in love with a school. That said, you have NCSU, App State and UNCC. How about UNCW (journalism minor) and/or UNCA.
You will get into a great school and have a great experience, whether it’s UNC or otherwise.
Don’t worry or be concerned about chances. You have a reach (UNC, NC State).
App State is a match. UNCC is a safety.
btw - you are first generation and low income - so how about an Elon and / or other private schools. Have you filled out a net price calculator?
Here are schools that meet 100% of need - a U of Miami has great journalism (it’s a reach) but…and here’s other schools to look at - because being a first generation latina, you might be able to go to a great school - large or small - like a Dennison, Oberlin, Macalester, Franklin & Marshall - and be low cost.
So you might be limiting yourself by only looking at in-state publics - unless that’s all you desire.
You should find a school or three on the list and have your parents fill in the net price calculator to see how you do. While your grades are a bit lower (not bad) and you are not submitting a test score, you will find at some schools being a first generation latina female is a huge boost…
Hi, thank you so much for the response. I actually can not apply to any out of state or private schools due to my dual enrolled credits. Most of my credits at private schools aren’t accepted or they will only take half which is something I really do not want to do as 62 credits is a lot to loose. That’d put me at junior status credits and I also do not want to retake courses I already did well in. As for out of state, it’s a similar situation with the credits, but 1. I really do not want to be far from home 2. there’s too many expenses associated with being an out of state student and i’d like to do my best to stay out of debt. I think i’m far gone from not falling in love with a school haha. I thought NC State may be a Match because their website says the average GPA of admitted students is a 4.28… I’m not sure though. I looked into UNCW and it just wasn’t really the kind of school I was interested in same with UNCA. I tried to narrow my college application to 4 schools because thats the amount of waivers I get.
Hi thank you so much for the response! How do schools know whether a student is low income if they’re need blind. Is this something that should be mentioned in essays or somewhere in the common app?
Is there some rule in NC vs. other states related to the credits you have - that they would take them but other schools wouldnt? I would assume that’s a school by school thing.
Did you look at the link I sent? If a school meets 100% of need - so to be close to home - Franklin & Marshall - and if you run the net price calculator and you have high need, your expenses will be less, not more. You can find schools that will be “close” that meet need. I don’t know what your need is - I can just go by what you wrote. But that’s why you fill out the NPC.
For your major, NC State likely is a match but I don’t believe they have a pure journalism major.
If you want to be close to home, run the NPC for Elon - because if it gets you to cost, it’s a wonderful journalism school.
I’m afraid that I don’t have a good answer to that question. You might reach out to the Admissions Offices for the respective schools and speak to an AO to ask how they determine whether a student would be defined as “low income” so as to give them a boost in the admissions process. It might vary from school to school; I just don’t know.
There is a Comprehensive Articulation Agreement in NC that Community College credits will transfer to any of the UNC system schools, so that is solid. What is nebulous is whether they would transfer to other schools, whether they are private schools in NC like Elon, or a public or private in another state. Some private schools like Guilford do also have an articulation agreement for NC Community College courses, but plenty do not. I don’t believe Elon does.
I think you have a good shot at UNC. I’m far from an expert, though. My daughter is class of 2022 too so we haven’t been through the whole process yet.
I think you have a good chance for UNC, not guaranteed though especially being from Wake. The carolina covenant may be harder to get. App State should be an acceptance.
Elon is really good about accepting DE credits. My son’s gf is attending there and she is graduating after only two years because she came in with credits from the associates degree she obtained while in HS. Might be worth it to check out if its affordable.
Also, have you heard of the Jack Kent cooke scholarship?
NC administers the ACT to all Juniors in the state (for free), so it was done in February of this year, at each individual HS. Since you were at a competitive HS I would assume that they would have administered it. Why were you not able to take it?
Does your HS use Naviance or Scoir? That should give you a good sense for your chances at each of the schools on your list, along with the opinion of your GC.
I agree that some private schools won’t give much, if any, credit for your DE classes…but do look at Elon as someone noted above.
What can/will your family pay for school? Have you run the NPCs for each of the schools?
Schools can gauge income levels in many ways. On the common app you will note whether you are applying for financial aid, the education level and jobs of your parents, your home address, and high school…all these data points give clues as to level of income and need.
The bigger issue for you will be getting accepted and potentially not being able to afford to go. Can you commute to any of the schools on your list?
My mom’s really immunocompromised and we were quarantined because my sister was exposed to it. There was a makeup for later this year, but since i’m applying early to all the schools it wasn’t going to help much.
For UNC I auto qualify for the covenant which is all need aid and I also qualify for NC State’s similar program. Both schools are 25-35 minutes from me so easily commutable, but given that I qualify for the scholarship programs I would get living expenses paid. Wake County doesn’t pay for Naviance anymore and we don’t have Scoir so theres really no way to look at charts of previously admitted students or anything.