<p>I'm a rising junior and have loved this school since I was 7 when I started watching the basketball. I have about a 4.2 now and am taking ap chem, ap english language and ap us history next year. I had to quit sports last year (i was big into basketball) because of continuous concussions but am now assistant coaching for a really good 7th grade travel team and plan to coach my own rec team next year. I am also the editorial editor for my school's newspaper but really love science over anything else. Still I'm out of state (northern va) and everyone says it is impossible to get into UNC! What else should I do my junior year? Would a mission trip help? Forming my own club, etc.? What type of thing would UNC value? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>It seems that people with a lot of community service get in (and get more of the scholarships). If you do decide to go the community service route, do something specific and very community-based (not something that just helps your school). I haven’t seen any statistics on it or anything like that, just personal observation. As an out of stater myself, I have found that the essay is extremely important. Make sure it’s very personal and that it also connects to UNC in some way (make it clear that you want to go there, schools like applicants who want them). Definitely apply EA, but also apply super early. They read applications as soon as they get them, so if you turn in your application a month or two early you could get a likely letter which is always nice For what you can do right now, study for the SAT/PSAT. It’ll obviously help with your scores which is important, but also if you get National Merit you get a nice scholarship from UNC. Good luck! I hope you get in! :D</p>
<p>thanks so much! ill definitely apply early and work on a good essay + get involved more in community as much as possible (and sat stuff). do you think legacy helps from out of state since my dad went to UNC?</p>
<p>Being a legacy OOS is the only time when it would help, but it is not going to guarantee you admissions by any stretch. Being a legacy in state doesn’t help at all, unless you happen to be a descendant of someone important, like Hinton James.</p>
<p>UNC does not have a “Why UNC” essay like Duke does. They don’t want you to kiss their butt and tell them how you dreamt about going there since you were a kid. They want to find out about you. The closest prompt on last years to “Why UNC” asked about what you would research if you had a choice, but that revels a lot about a person. Neither of my essays mentioned UNC at all, and I got in. At the same time multiple people at my school who tried the butt-kissing strategy didn’t make it.</p>
<p>That being said, essays are very important at UNC. Right a good one that revels who you are, intellectually, emotionally, and personally.</p>
<p>UNC does not have rolling admissions, and I believe that they do not start reading apps until after the deadline has passed (though I’m not 100% sure). Regardless, even if you do apply insanely early, and they read it then, they will reread your app again after the deadline has passed in the context of all the applicants. </p>
<p>Do not apply EA unless you are a particularly strong OOS candidate or a NC resident. This is because you will want them to see your 1st semester grades. When you apply has no impact on if you are accepted, except that 2nd deadline has the chance to show senior grades. That is the only difference. The only reason that 1st deadline has a higher admit rate is because that is when all of us from NC apply, and that is when all the extremely strong OOS candidates apply.</p>
<p>To the OP, your GPA is a bit low for OOS, but this is because you are a rising junior who hasn’t taken AP yet, so I would say you are on track. I would try to raise it to 4.4+ by the end of your junior year. On the SAT shoot for 1400+ on CR/M which is much more important at UNC than all three scores combined. Activities wise, do whatever your passion is. If there is a club that you are already involved in, try for a leadership role in it. Come back in a year, and we can give you a much better idea of what your chances are.</p>
<p>Yeah, for the research essay question I connected it to what I would do at Carolina. I’m not saying to be obnoxious or anything, but it helps if you show that you actually know the school and you’ve done your research. Too many students apply to a school as a “back-up” without knowing anything about it. Also, last year all the people who I talked to who got likely letters applied super early. Again, no statistics just personal observation.</p>
<p>^I would connect that more to the fact that the ultra-competitive OOS and NC residents are more likely to apply early than with any actual timing. Our schools valedictorian didn’t apply until the day of the 1st deadline and got a likely letter (she ended up at State )</p>
<p>^I would agree if the applicant lives in North Carolina, solely because it gives your teacher time to write the recommendation rush that hits every NC teacher that teaches an AP class come the last week in October, when students are trying to get last minute letters of rec (trust me, you had teachers with so many letters to write they were turning kids down.)</p>
<p>ok thanks! and the link for unc’s essays was really interesting. it does seem that they really want you to relate to your personality (as opposed to solely the school or academics) in your essay- i went to a session at chapel hill in the spring and they said similar things. </p>
<p>one other thing, TonyBallioni when you say my gpa is low for OOS applicants applying to UNC i think the highest i could get next year is a rounded 4.3 + ap’s at my school are super hard (n va). is that a problem? thanks!</p>
<p>You’d probably be good as a legacy with 4.3+, so long as you have a rigorous senior courseload, good recs, and great essays. Also, its a bit tough to chance without SAT scores, but like I said, shoot for 1400+ on the CR/M part, and do your best on the Writing part. It isn’t as important, but you should still have a good showing.</p>
<p>I know in state students who had 4.3s at the time of the application who were not admitted, and then you have others who had lower GPAs (4.0-4.1ish), but good SAT scores, essays, and extracurriculars who made it in. UNC is one of the few universities that actually does give a holistic review of the application. One score won’t make or break it, and they really do try to find students who would make a good fit.</p>
<p>i think i say this every time you mention it, tony, but you actually want to go by the standard scale. i know my school doesn’t put our percentage grades on our transcripts, just A, without the plus or minus, so there’s no possible way they can convert many GPAs to the augmented scale. i’ve seen something on admissions’ website to the effect of this, about the GPA scale they use, so i’ll try to find it.</p>
<p>honestly, GPA isn’t really something i would stress out over. obviously, try to keep it as high as possible, but to me, it seems like there are a lot more important factors to keep in mind above that - such as rigor of classes, etc. i would definitely shoot for above a 1400 out of 1600 on the SAT. you’ll hear of people getting in with lower, but that’s what i would go for to be on the safe side.</p>
<p>^Yeah, and I always seem to forget because at my school we were always hung up on getting 96+, but yeah, use the standard scale to be safe. Thanks for reminding me lauriebeth.</p>
For what you can do right now, study for the SAT/PSAT. It’ll obviously help with your scores which is important, but also if you get National Merit you get a nice scholarship from UNC. Good luck! I hope you get in! :D</p>
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