<p>ok well my grades up to now have sucked. and i realize that...
ok so as of now heres my "stats"..
gpa:
unweighted-3
weighted-3.4
havent took the sat yet
jv basketball fr and so years
newspaper(sports editdor) starting this year(jr year)
will be playing golf on the school team this spring
im like 53rd in my class out of around 325, so top 20 percent
take honors classes
good writer(hence my participation in newspaper)
plan on getting involved in some volunteer work in the near future too.</p>
<p>ok well my dream school is-and dont laugh i kno my grades suck- unc chapel hill.</p>
<p>now to why my grades suck..
well i am very smart and thru the 8th grade was a top tier student(all high a's) but then in december of my freshman yr i was diagnosed with juvenille diabetes,and im not gonna get into that alot but what it boils down to is that i got very distracted becasue it was such a hastle to deal with at that time and also became quite depressed and thus lost total interest in school and my grades suffered, until this past summer, when i gained better control and regained my peace of mind blah blah blah..so now i am refocused and i WILL make straight a's this year. and i expect to preform very well on the sat.</p>
<p>also my dad is a unc grad and is very successful and is a booster. and im an instaste student.</p>
<p>so will the addmissions dept. at unc understand and see my potential and be able to realize how i would perform now that everything is under control? or has too much damage been done? thanks.</p>
<p>Take the SATs as soon as you can. Your good scores will tie into the image you are trying to show to the adcom, which is that you are very smart, but your diabetes (which you must explain in your application) distracted you throughout your high school career. Planning on volunteering as a senior year might not help you all that much because colleges look more for long time commitment onto a couple activities other than you doing everything at once. Then again, it could be seen as one of your ways of trying to regroup.</p>
<p>thanks for the speedy response. and i plan to take the sat a couple times or more. also if this doesnt work out, having a good year this year will at least ensure my acceptance to app st, my second choice.</p>
<p>as long as you're instate you still have a shot. and by a shot i mean you might be able to get in. just work on the grades, you'll do fine. sat/act just make sure you can get a good score, like 2000/30. that should put you in range. </p>
<p>Another option is to apply early action, but the deadline is November 1. I'm not sure if colleges have a separate deadline for test scores, but you might be able to take it in October and rush order (can't remember the exact word) so that it can get to UNC before the deadline. If you take it in October, the results will come out in middle of November and you probably need the scores to come out before that. </p>
<p>But then, you probably should take the SATs at least twice to get the score you want. I can't tell you how much I despaired after my first test results hahaha</p>
<p>depending on your SAT scores, you prob have a good chance...the fact that your dad is an alumni and you are instate are major plusses...also, if you can explain (via interview, essay, etc.) why your grades werent as high as you feel they should have been, that will surely help... also get good grades throughout junior and senior year...Good luck!</p>
<p>Seems to me that your volunteering with a diabetes organization would be a worthy activity, both for your app and in general. Maybe you could help someone get the drill sooner than you did.</p>
<p>If you are still a junior, even better. If you know that UNC is your first choice, be sure to apply early action. VeryHappy's idea also sounds good.</p>