I’m in the process of applying to NC State. It is my absolute dream school, but the only problem is that I have little confidence in my ability to get into their College of Engineering. I’d appreciate a chance by you all to ease a little stress, or even as a sign for me to put my eggs into another college’s basket. Here are some of my stats.
White, Female, OOS
Weighted GPA: 4.02
GPA: 3.73
Rank: 89/491 (top 18%)
ACT: 26 (I’m retaking them)
SAT: I’m not planning on sending them in… 1170 but I’m retaking them as well
EC: NJROTC Officer, student mentor, two part-time jobs, Varsity lacrosse, Varsity track and field, church involvement, NHS
Essays: I’m a good writer so once they’re done and drafted they should be halfway decent
My top choice for a major is Computer Science. I plan on commissioning into the Navy through their NROTC program (also applying for a national 4 year scholarship) so CS would benefit me greatly. The only problem I see is that their College of Engineering is extremely competitive. That being said, my backup is Political Science.
Any input would be appreciated!!
You may be able to get an idea of where you place relative to recently admitted students by looking at the NC State Common Data Set: Part C9 of the CDS gives the median 50% for both SAT and ACT scores, as well as the percentage of the entering first-year class falling within certain ranges of SAT and ACT scores; Part C11 gives the percentage of entering first-year students falling within a range of unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, and Part C12 gives the average high school GPA of first-year applicants.
The CDS also tells you, under Part C7, that GPA, standardized test scores, class rank, and the rigor of your high school record are “very important” academic factors considered for freshman admission; most everything else is “considered.”
Your ACT score is below the 25% percentile for admitted students, and your SAT is right at the 25% percentile; your GPA is good, although not great for the OOS pool with which you are competing. Do what you can at this point to boost your standardized test scores; and if you think that your Fall Semester courses can boost your overall GPA, you might want to consider applying RD instead of EA. This is something that I would discuss with your guidance counselor; and the sooner the better, as NC State has a very early (Oct. 15) deadline for EA applications.
Good luck to you.
Edit: I’m no longer applying to the College of Engineering as my first choice. My first choice now is International Relations, which is in CHASS, making it more realistic of me to get in, I believe
Which ones are better? Applying to State in Fall of 2018 or Spring of 2018?
@statetransfer I would assume Fall of 2018, simply because then you’d get a head start & a full year in. I don’t think you can apply EA in the spring, but don’t quote me on that. I think applying EA gives you more opportunity for admission because, well, your application is in EARLY!
@laxerchick22 Would the admissions look more at the credit hours or the GPA? Since I am currently a freshman in college in Fall of 2017
I don’t think I have much room to speak for transfers, since I’m only a high school senior at this point. However, I could assume they look at the GPA over the credit hours. C’s get degrees, so you could get a D or C and still get credit, whereas GPA shows how you performed in the classes you’ve already taken.
@statetransfer I would assume they’d look at GPA over credits. C’s get degrees, but GPA shows how well you performed in the classes you took.
@laxerchick22 I hope that’s what they are looking for