DS will be applying to NCSSM also this year. He took 3 APs last year; Calc BC, Physics 1 and Comp Sci A and is taking World History, Stats and Chem this year.
We have seen some very competitive applicants not get in over the last few years so good luck to everyone. It is a great experience from what we can tell and DS has wanted to apply since 5th grade.
Good luck to everyone!
It turns out I didn’t get AP Chemistry but got Chorus instead 
but even then, I think I should still be good.
@mlsapga I do not know the acceptance rate.
Hey y’all, I’ll also be applying for NCSSM residential. I’m in CD 9, which I’ve heard is not as bad as CD 4 but still pretty competitive. @STEMGuy2021, they’ve been keeping stuff like the acceptance rate under wraps, but I’ve heard they accept around 36 per district
Admissions open on Monday!! Good luck to everyone applying this year!
Hi guys!! I am currently in the 10th grade and in DC9 (I think). What do I need to make on my sat?? I really want to go to NCSSM but apparently nobody at my school has made it to NCSSM in 7 years!
My understanding is that your SAT score will be compared to your high school so you need to do well in comparison to the average score. I think NCSSM likes to get broad representation so if no one has made it from your school in quite some time it might work to your advantage.
Good luck on making it in!!
Thank you! Are you applying too? If you are good luck!
My son will be applying this year so we have spent quite a bit of time learning about the school and application. He has wanted to go for several years and we know a few kids that have gone and really enjoyed it.
Anyone wanna chance me?
I went to elementary school in Minnesota, middle school in India, 9th grade in Pennsylvania, and have now moved to NC for the rest of high school.
I’m a sophomore and in CD 12, fairly large and competitive high school. I just moved to NC at the beginning of the school year from PA.
Classes I have taken so far:
Honors Chemistry
Honors Precalc
Honors American History 1
Honors Earth Science
Various Engineering Classes
French for 5 years
Honors English 1
Classes I am currently taking:
AP Calc AB(first semester), AP Calc BC(Second semester)
my high school only allows two APs sophomore year so
Health/PE
Speech and Debate
Both of above were forced by counselors and is currently hurting my weighted GPA.
Honors English 2
Honors Civics and Economics
Honors French 3
Honors Biology
Stats:
UW GPA: 4.0
Weighted GPA: 4.3182 on a 5 point scale
Haven’t taken a real SAT yet but have gotten a 1570 on a practice test.
ECs:
My old school in Pennsylvania had no stem clubs because 9th grade was in a middle school
Student council rep in 9th grade
Currently in TSA as lead for the Software Development Team and Scientific Visualization Team
In SciOly: Codebusters, Fermi Questions, and Thermodynamics
Haven’t taken the AMC yet but plan to take it as soon as I can since I didn’t know about it in 9th grade as I had just moved from India
Currently doing speech and debate
In Mu Alpha Theta
Work Experience at Kumon for a short amount of time before I quit as it did not work with my schedule
Getting past the first round of Google’s Interview through their coding challenge known as foo.bar
I have great letters of recommendations
STEM award at my old school for being the most dedicated STEM student, and this was after I was compared against people that had been at the school for 3 years and I was only there for one year.
What I did in India(Middle School):
In India(Middle School)
Class President
3rd in a Regional Math Competition
3rd in a Regional Spelling Bee
26th Rank in a national English Olympiad
Consistently ranked top 15 in a weekend/summer 2 year program for the most gifted students in the city
Am I a competitive applicant? But more importantly than that, is NCSSM a good fit for me?
Assuming you do well on your SAT which it seems like you definitely will, you seem to be a great candidate. I have seen some very good candidates not get into NCSSM though so you never know. CD 12 probably contains some of the competitive Charlotte high schools? If so, then it will be tough to get in but once again you seem very competitive.
As far as if it is a good fit for you, hard for say. Perhaps you can go to one of their open house events to see the campus and get a feel for the school? Many kids love NCSSM, some do not.
There are some very accelerated, smart kids there so it is a shock for some that are used to being way ahead of their classmates. Also, many of the kids that attend will have more of the prereqs under their belt and therefore get to take classes that you are not eligible to take and that can create lots of frustrations. Perhaps if you can describe what your current high school lacks others might be able to comment if NCSSM will provide that for you.
Best of luck!
Thanks for your reply, I feel that NCSSM would really let me go deeper into math which is what I really really want,
plus put me in contact with a bunch of people that are smarter than me which is what my current high school lacks.
I’ve heard that for most of their science classes, they give you a placement test once you get admitted. I believe that if I do fairly well on that, then there really shouldn’t be much stopping me from taking very advanced classes in physics, which I love but wasn’t able to take in the USA because of odd counselors.
And yes, CD 12 contains Ardrey Kell, Charlotte Latin, Charlotte Catholic and other “competitive schools” and I know 5 people that are applying from my school so there will be a lot of competition. I’ll apply and see how it goes.
Does anyone know how competitive CD 5 is?
Not sure if anyone has started on the application yet or not but any thoughts on where to put scores on things like SAT Math II or AP Exams?
DS has a first draft on most of the essays and was thinking to input scores in the Awards section but getting 5s on AP exams is not really an award?
I’ve started the application and would think that you just send AP scores to the school, same with SAT subject tests. Then again if the Math II isn’t an 800 which is pretty hard to get then it might not be nice to submit.
Agree, re Math II, but thankfully it is an 800. Good idea re just sending the score, I will look into it. Thanks.
Hi! I’m class of 2021, and therefore a sophomore this year. I really want an idea if I’m competitive for NCSSM. So, her are my stats:
I’m in CD9, which is fairly competitive.
Freshman Classes & Grades:
Honors English I - 97
Honors Spanish III - 99
Honors World History - 102
Honors Math III - 98
Honors Biology - 97
Honors Pre-Calculus - 97
Health & PE - 100
Personal Finance - 98
At the end of freshman year, my Unweighted GPA was 4.0, and Weighted GPA 4.375. My class rank was 8.
Sophomore Classes:
AP Stats
AP Physics 1
Honors Civics & Economics
Honors English II
AP Computer Science Principles
Honors Chemistry
Honors Spanish IV
AP Computer Science A
So far, I have As in all of my classes.
Sophomore New SAT Score: 1460 (690 Reading&Writing, 770 Math) (No Essay)
Extracurriculars:
Quiz Bowl 6-8 Grade: In 8th grade, my team qualified for Nationals
Battle of the Books
Speech&Debate
HOSA
Will Participate In Regional Science Fair
BETA Club
Spanish Honor Society
Math Tutoring Job (Youngest Employee)
Continuous Volunteer Service
Volunteered @ Hospital During Summer
Dance
Side Note: My high school has a lot of opportunities, which worries me because there are a couple of others like me who have similar SAT scores and extracurriculars. However, my courses are a bit more rigorous than others’ courses in my specific school.
A 102 in World? Good stuff dude. You have a good rank too and that’s what matters since you are compared to your CD. One big problem is the fact you aren’t taking AP Calc. You might need to explain that on your application. Why didn’t you take it?
Anyways, you seem to have a fair amount of STEM AP classes, but not a ton of STEM ecs. All I see is HOSA, participation in a science fair, and a math tutoring job. All of the above are great and show your dedication, but you would also need to explain why a STEM career path is right for you. What experience do you have in a STEM field? What do you wanna do in STEM? Thankfully they have an essay question for you to explain that.
Your stats are great but I do have a question, what is your school’s average SAT score? As long as yours is 200 points above the average you are good. Also if you want a nice easy ec to add to your application, try out the google code-in. It starts in 2 days and leads to tons of great opportunities.
Your volunteering is great and shows you are nicely rounded.
Now let me be honest with you. You, like me, and most of the people applying to NCSSM are perfect people on paper. What they really want to know is WHO ARE YOU? Are you someone worth giving a wonderful opportunity to? Or are you going to waste it?
The admissions officers need to know that. Almost everyone’s stats are the same, what separates you is your essay and who you are as a person. The only thing that really matters now is that you manage to put who you are in words on the essay. If you succeed in that, you will get in. Most people don’t know how and I suggest you make 10s of drafts for your essay answers. That will make or break your application.
I wanted to make you aware of a new program instituted by NCSSM to connect with the community. There will be regional socials of NCSSM parents, alums and others interested in NCSSM. Come and ask your questions in person. Meet parents of NCSSM kids (as the current students will likely be in Durham) and learn more about NCSSM. If you are a parent, you can join the FB page “Parents of NCSSM Students Past, Present and Future.” It’s a great place to ask questions and the socials around the state should be on that page.
Hello, my son is a junior at NCSSM and the school is more amazing than he imagined. Most of the posts are focused on grades, EC & SAT which are all very important but one area that is critical is your maturity & independence. 2 top of their class kids with near perfect SAT scores on my son’s hall left NCSSM this year because they were not prepared emotionally to handle the total independence required to survive at the school. This includes making sure your parents are ready for you to leave home because parents can influence a student’s experience at the school very positively or negatively. In your essays you will have a chance to express your independence and maturity. The school is not for everyone and grades are only a part of what they look at.
For those thinking of applying to NCSSM, not sure if you saw it but yesterday an alum donated $2million to the school to be used towards AI and Machine Learning courses/programs…great opportunities for those lucky enough to get accepted!