How competitive am I? (Part 2)

This is a follow up to one of my last posts where I asked how competitive I was but I did lots of assuming since I still had a semester for my GPA and stuff to change before applying. I am from NC (gaston county) and I do plan on going to a public university instate because I do not think I could have a chance to get in or be as successful in private. My GPA at the end of this semester that I’ll be using to apply to colleges with is a 3.7 and a 4.23 unweighted GPA. At the time of applying I will have taken 6 regular courses, 12 honors, and 13 Colleges classes. At the time of graduation I will have taken 1 more regular and honors class, as well as 9 more college classes. I made a 28 on the ACT; 88th percentile in the country 95th or so in the state. I am also graduating early. My school is normally a 5 year school but I am pushing down into 4. I also have around 40 volunteer hours. I also am in beta club, prom club, and I used to be in publications but it was disbanded when the teacher left, but during the time I helped design my schools new logo. The major I plan to go into is Clinical psychology. With all of that being said, how “competitive” am I for admissions?

Hi! Super awesome that you have challenged yourself and upped your test score. With these stats, I think every public institution in North Carolina should be a pretty likely admit for you except UNC-CH and NC State. If you are interested in NCSU, I would say to go ahead and apply-- it’s a match considering your stats and major. UNC will be a reach, but if you’re interested in it, there’s no harm in applying so long as you apply elsewhere. Are you debating which schools to apply to/do you need recommendations?

Well the schools that I am most interested in are App state and UNC Charlotte. Those should be manageable right? Besides those are there any schools that you think would be good considering I want to do clinical psych.

1 Like

I will look up things about psych programs and get back to you, but yes!! Those are very manageable with your stats. You’re hovering around the 75th percentile (or more in the case of Charlotte) for test scores at both and that’s not even considering all your advanced classes. If those are the schools you’re shooting for, I’m pretty sure you’ll get good news from both! (Honors programs might be more competitive if you’re interested in that, I’m talking general admission.)

Thank you so much your help really means a lot.

You’re actually quite competitive for most universities in NC.

Clinical Psychology is a graduate degree. At the undergraduate level, you need a strong background in psychology and probably a biochemistry minor? However you do not need early specialization.
@juillet?

Why do you think you wouldn’t be as successful at private colleges?
Run the NPC (net price calculator) on Davidson and Elon.
Don’t discount UNC(reach) and NCSU (high match for psychology) and do include UNCA in addition to UNCC and App State.

I’ve never heard of Elon but I will definitely look into it. I thought that Davidson was out of my league with a 30 ACT mean and 3.9 Gpa? And I don’t really have a clear reason why I don’t think I’ll do good at private, it’s just something I have always been told. It’s also a money issue but I’ll check into the NPC. Thanks so much for the help!

Well, Dvidson is a definite reach, but so is UNC, and it’s worth trying if it’s affordable (the NPC will tell you how much they’d expect you to pay - you have to run the NPC on every college because they EACH have a different formula to calculate aid!)
You need 2 affordable safeties, and UNCC would definitely be one (academically – run the NPC to know if it’s a financial safety). Others for which you could run the NPC: Queen’s, Sweet Briar (if you’re a girl), Guilford, Eckerd, Roanoke, Ogglethorpe, Warren-Wilson.

Your need 3-5 affordable likelies/matches (run the NPC, as cost alone will cross out half of them and it’s different for each family): UNCW, UNCA, App State, Elon, Rhodes, Hendrix, Goucher, UScranton, Muhlenberg, Allegheny, Hobart&William Smith …

Then you can add as many reaches as you wish or can afford: UNC, NCSU, Davidson would be the obvious ones. :), but you can also look at Centre, Sewanee, TCU, Lafayette, Skidmore…

(Note that if you qualify for ACT fee waivers or free/reduced lunch, you automatically have your application fees waived. If the cost of application is a problem, there are “free to apply” colleges as well as some colleges giving out “fee waivers” for on campus visits or other reasons (you have to check out their website).

Thank you so much! This is going to help me a lot.

Do you need help with understanding budget and the NPC?
Have your parents told you how much they can afford each year?
Do you know your EFC and can you afford it?
If you don’t know your EFC, this->
https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fafsa4c/
will tell you the minimum colleges will expect your parents to pay.
Most colleges will expect more than that and each will calculate differently (hence the NPC on each website. it’s tedious but necessary to run it on every college you consider. For now, just run the NPC for the colleges listed on this page).

If you do know your EFC and your parents can afford it, you’re in a good position: you need to find a university that will ask that amount.

Unfortunately, for most students, the EFC is unaffordable - parents fall off their chair, pick themselves up and say something along the lines of “WHERE in the WORLD do they think I can get that money!!!”

UNC does have the Carolina Covenant, meaning a full ride (tuition, fees, room, board) with no loans if your family meets specific income guidelines that would cover “average” families and lower-middle/working class families in Gaston County (more than half families wouldqualify. Of course you need to qualify for UNC, but you won’t know if you don’t apply).
As you can figure from the above, costs are often the number 1 concern when making a college list.
Fortunately, there are so many colleges with so many financial aid and scholarship formulas that you’re bound to find a couple that are affordable as long as you do due diligence (ie., run the NPC on every college website).