<p>Does anyone here have experience with UNC's honor program? Like was there anything outstanding that might have made you get accepted? And how was the honors program in general?</p>
<p>UNC is my lower-level match right now and it's not my top choice, but I might change my mind if I get into the honors program.</p>
<p>If you are a senior looking to get in to the honors program you probably would already know. I heard back from them several weeks ago and i understand (but may be mistaken)that they have pretty much notified everyone by now.</p>
<p>I'm actually a Junior trying to learn more about it.</p>
<p>D is in honors and a Carolina scholar, it is incredibly competitive, highly selective and really requires a good bit of luck on top of everything else to get invited to freshman honors. D loves the program and all the super kids she's met through it. Our public school system is one of the largest in N.C. Last year, D was only one from our entire school system to get honors at UNC.
All honors graduated at top or very near of their H.S. class(if ranked) They are N.M. awarded, most finalists. All honors students that D has told me about are highly gifted individuals, and have very unique interests, passions, and talents and most have successfully competed at state, regional and many at national level in some academic type competition. (Most also applied and accepted to some Ivy's, Duke, UVA etc. and chose Carolina because it was the right fit for them.) --There are also plenty of these type kids at Carolina who aren't invited into honors and have recieved no scholarship money.
I want to caution you on your thinking that "UNC is my lower-level match right now"; or Carolina is my"high safety". Carolina is no one's "safety" and there are thousands of "matches" every year that don't get into Carolina, even IS. Just read back through the threads. There have been some very disappointed, and shocked kids, yes even IS. #4 in D's H.S. class was one of them; was defered EA at Carolina, and then rejected RD. Another example, a friend's co-worker's son in Raleigh was #1 in H.S. class and was rejected at UNC.
I also know of a very sad, embarrassed H.S. senior right now, who thought too much of their stats. #1 in class of 360, N.M. finalist, Gov. school; AP scholar of Dist. 5's on all AP exams so far; will have 12 AP's total by end of this year; good leadership, sports etc. etc. Only applied to Ivy's, and UVA. Ivy's were "matches", UVA was "safety". Guidance office tried to warn them, told them to do research; have a real "safety". So this kid quickly did a little research, went on all the websites and saw where they were at least (if not higher) in middle 50% of accepted students. What they didn't realize is just how many other students were at that same level, too. There are approx. 15,000 N.M. finalists each year. That number alone exceeds the freshmen classes of the majority of the most highly selective colleges, combined! (FYI-approx. 35,000 kids a year are named "N.M. Commended" )
Guess what happened to the kid? Yes, all rejections from the Ivy's, and waitlisted at UVA. They are scrambling right now, and may be at community college in the fall.
I looked at your stats. and they look good, but there are thousands of kids out there that you will be competing against with stats just as good or better. Also, you should know that your minority status may not help you, and may very possibly hurt your chances at UNC and other highly selective schools. There has been much discussion and studies done on this very topic. Asians, Asian Indians, often have to have higher stats than whites and much higher than other minorities just to get into highly selective colleges. There are simply too many Asians who have high stats. Colleges are looking for diversity, but balanced diversity. % wise, they will only take so many Asians. I'm not writing this to be cruel; many of D's closest friends are Asian, and some have experienced this.
I just want you see things as they really are, so that you won't be like the kid above. With today's extremely competitive, highly selective college admissions, believe me, Carolina is no one's "safety" or "lower-level match" and neither are any of the top 30+ ranked universities in this country. (the article I read actually stated top 40 universities)
You do stand a good chance of be successful in gaining admission to at least one of your choices, but just know there are NO guarantees. Find a REAL safety, to have as a back-up plan.</p>
<p>I totally agree with UNCWife&Mom, some families and students have a myopic view of the admission process. They view stats (gpa, class ranking, sat/act,NM, etc) as THE criteria for being admitted to prestigous schools and honor programs. They don't realize that colleges and universities are looking for more than stats.
They want to know can raise the eyebrow of a reviewing professor with your short essay? Can you start an email thread amongst a large number of reviewers with content and quality of your long essay? Can you convince them that they know you are going to be someone special at their school? In other words are you the whole package?</p>
<p>Your stats place you within a group that has a chance for admittance to the honors program, but if you wanted to improve something it would be your test scores. im goin to unc (honors, scholarship winner, oos) next year and i know that the program is as competitive as posted (200 selected out of over 21,000 applicants. the honors program offers lots of smaller classes so you can interact personal with professors and have class discussions. graduating with honors also looks great for grad school, but requires you to write an honors thesis senior year. if you have any other questions just ask</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the advice, especially uncwife&mom. I went to "Carolina 101" today, and I talked with a senior admissions officer about the honors program. He basically backed up everything stated in this post already. He also stated that after being accepted, grades and test scores become a lot less important to the committees that decide placement into Honors Programs and Scholarships, simply because everyone becomes relatively similar. The essay seems to be much more important towards those areas according to him.</p>
<p>I totally agree that UNC should not be a school placed as a full safety (Public Ivy!), so I have NC State as my true safety.</p>
<p>The admissions officer also stated that he recommends not taking a standardized test more than twice for overall admission. Would it be beneficial if it took the SAT for a third time to raise my score for a better shot at the Honors Program and UNC in general? My first score was a 2020 (740 M, 680 CR, and 600 W), and my second score was a 2170 (800 M, 730 CR, and 640 W).</p>
<p>Also, does the honors program offer anything other than smaller classes and seminars for honors students? Like maybe special studies abroad programs or other benefits?</p>
<p>As far as the SAT, i dont really know what to say, it's kind of a push. It's true that admissions don't like to see you take the tests over and over, so i would say that if you cant improve your score significantly then dont worry about it. yes, honors offers study abroad programs specifically for honors students and those with a high gpa in london, cape town, rome, and oxford. also, honors students can use the burch programs to participate in research that they have come up for themselves. honors students have the option to stay in the honors dorm (cobb, a newly renovated dorm in the old quad) and to participate in connected learning programs where you live with a group of people all focused on completing a unique project. there are also many specials seminars and lectures available specifically for honors students.</p>
<p>FYI -- Living in Cobb does not automatically put you in the Connected Learning program. You have to apply. (I got an email telling me this when I requested Cobb and an Honors roommate and assumed that meant I would also be in Connected Learning.</p>