Hi, I am a white female from virginia and unc is my top school and always has been. I visited a few months back and fell in love with it. I love the school spirit and programs and especially basketball (my parents raised me to love acc basketball since they are uva grads). I am planning to major in public health and want to pursue the masters program as well. My school does not rank so it doesn’t affect me. They don’t do unweighted either so my weighted GPA is 4.28 with a courseload of multiple IB and honors classes (i am not a full ib diploma candidate because i swam on a club that trained 20 hours a week and i didn’t want to overload myself) Aside from that I am on the schools team which i hold multiple records for and am the conference runner up in events for the second year in a row. Aside from having varsity letters in swim and a club (which i guess counts as a big EC) I am in the schools highest level orchestra and have successfully been placed in regional honors orchestras. My sat is 1500 (730 r/w, 770 m) and i have passed my first two ib exams which i got a 4 and 5 on so i’m not sure it’s worth mentioning. If there’s anything else i need to mention or clarify i can but i think that’s it, could anyone else tell me my chances for early action? (given i have a good short answer/essay portion)
Generally, the chances for any OOS applicant to UNC-CH are somewhat problematic due to the highly competitive nature of OOS applications there: UNC-CH admits OOS applicants in numbers that are calculated not to exceed 18% of an entering freshman class. See “Undergraduate Admissions” on Page 2, here: http://www.admissions.unc.edu/files/2013/09/Admissions__Policy.pdf. As a further example of the difficulty for OOS students to be admitted to UNC-CH, the entering Class of 2022 had a 13% acceptance rate for OOS applicants: https://uncnews.unc.edu/2018/08/17/carolina-welcomes-5095-new-undergraduate-students-to-campus/ (29,563 OOS applicants; 3,829 admits).
If you look at the UNC-CH Common Data Set, here, https://oira.unc.edu/files/2018/06/CDS_2017-2018_20180605.pdf , under Part C7 it states that standardized test scores, application essay(s), letter(s) of recommendation, and the rigor of your high school record are “very important” academic factors considered for freshman admission, whereas GPA and class rank are “important” academic factors considered for freshman admission. Extracurricular activities, talent, and character/personal qualities are considered as “very important” non-academic factors.
Further, Part C9 of the Common Data Set for UNC-CH 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.
By way of comparison, our OOS high school usually has 8-10 students who apply, and 1-2 students who are admitted, each year to UNC-CH; and, with the exception of legacy students, our admitted students have SAT scores of 1500+, ACT scores of 33+, and weighted GPAs of 4.4+. These successful applicants also were involved in extracurricular activities that showed commitment over time (no “drive-by” ECs), and demonstrated leadership in the school as well as their ECs. Other kids in our city who I know were admitted to UNC-CH recently also had similar academic statistics and non-academic characteristics; and all of these kids were “unhooked” in admissions parlance (i.e., not a recruited D-1 athlete, or a URM, first-generation college student, etc.).
Your SAT score is good, your GPA may be a little low. If you apply this Fall as an EA applicant, at this point what you have under your control are your essays and LORs (there may not be a need for you to retake the SAT). So, work to have really good essays and LORs; you may want to emphasize leadership roles that you have had in your ECs.
I don’t know whether your high school has Naviance or any similar program that gives information about how students at your high school have done in applying to colleges and universities; if so, you might peruse that data. I would also try to meet with a guidance counselor at your school as soon as you can (since the EA deadline is October 15) to discuss application strategies for UNC-CH; if any former students from your school have been admitted to UNC-CH recently, the guidance counselor may be able to give some insight into how and why such student(s) were successful.
Thank you. Its probably worth saying the low gpa is from getting mediocre grades in middle school when I took HS courses. My GPA from the last year was a 4.7. I am trying to use my school’s name change and my involvement in it to be a selling point in at least one of my short answers (it recieved national attention). I have been trying to use Naviance but it has been glitching lately so I’ll check again. Thanks for the advice!!
@rlenard My OOS son got in. He’s a sophomore and loving every minute at Carolina. His GPA was 4.25 and SAT was 1520, very similar to you. He had the chance to actually see his admissions evaluation during his freshmen year. From it, they highlighted the following: 1) strong academic program (noted 5APs in senior year), Strong academic performance (noted 2Bs). They noted his test scores too. They noted that took 2 SAT II tests and got 800s and 5s in all 4 of his APs. They didn’t note his SAT score at all, so it seems that for OOS, they look at these other standardized tests too. What they also commented on was his essays. They noted that he had “spark” through his extra curricular and his essays. They also noted his commitment to others, so they probably want to see you make some impact on the student body.
So to net things out, since you’re a senior, are you taking 5 or more AP classes? school probably just started, so try to switch your classes if you can. And when you write your essay, try to show spark. Get them reviewed by one of those professional services on line. I think your GPA and SAT are fine and it’s too late to take AP test, which I hope you did and did well.
Hope this helps.
Our OOS HS generally has 1 acceptance each year… with maybe 6-7 applicants. Sometimes there are no acceptances.
Besides stats, I believe they value students who are genuine and who want to make a difference… during their four years on campus and beyond. This comes across through the essays, activities, and letters of recommendation.
Getting in is one thing. Being able to afford it is something entirely different. It’s a hard school to get into from OOS, so don’t expect rainbows and lollipops. Just put together a practical list of reaches (UNC is a reach), matches, and safeties, then love the school that loves you back.
Daughter rejected with a 35ACT, 4.0UW, 4.6W, 7AP classes. One thing she didn’t do was take SATII tests which in retrospect she should have. Have no idea of her recommendations or essays but obviously not good enough to make her stand out among the 13% that got in. Her large suburban HS had 25 apply and 3 that got in.
Thanks for the reply! I am actually in an IB school as we don’t have AP (im actually taking an AP class online because I finished all of IB math) overall I am in 3 IB and one AP as well as the advanced orchestra and a couple others as well. My junior year and senior year courseload is pretty good, especially given i held all A’s last year and am hoping to again. I probably should take SAT II’s but by this point if i haven’t studied and have a lot of work, i don’t see it as realistic to sign up before he early action deadline. I just hope everything is good enough because it would be a dream to go there.
I agree with the sat ii’s, i have not taken them either and probably should have done it given the large out of state pool. The county next to ours put out data for UNC acceptances and it was 2 out of 25 which makes me a little skeptical that i’ll get accepted. although it is a dream school, i have many others that i would love to go to 
Contrary to @burghdad, I woudlnt recomnend the SATII’s unless you plan on applying to an elite college that highly recommends them or an ivy. They’re not recommended or even required for unc admissions and unless you score that highly it wouldn’t really boost a unc application as they’re not utilized in admissions. Focus on the supplements above all. Essays and short answers are extremely important in the process. Also, do NOT post a resume where they give you space to. Add another writing sample that can communicate who you are and your passions outside of your academics.
extremely helpful. i was wondering if i should put a resume but didn’t have one and was thinking it would hurt my application. however, hearing that i should not do that is music to my ears. I think my essay puts a really unique spin on an extra curricular activity. Overall I think it highlights myself in a really accurate way and hope the admissions officers like it!!
I’m quite sad bc I used to live in Chapel Hill and I would definitely get in if I still lived there, but now I live in Kansas and I’m scared I won’t get in. My dad works at UNC still, though, does that add anything?
^ The official policy of UNC-CH regarding legacy admissions is found in the UNC-CH Admissions Policy, here, http://www.admissions.unc.edu/files/2013/09/Admissions__Policy.pdf, on Page 1 under Part III: “In the application of this policy of competitive admissions to nonresident students, preference for admission may be given to nonresident applicants who are children of alumni of the institution.” This language also appears on the UNC-CH website, here, http://www.catalog.unc.edu/admissions/undergraduate/#admissionspolicytext.
As I read this policy statement, to be an OOS legacy – and receive the benefit as quoted above – you must have a parent who is an alumnus of UNC-CH. It does not appear to apply to a parent who is simply an employee of UNC-CH.
Your father’s employment by UNC-CH does raise a question – can you claim North Carolina residency based on your father’s employment at UNC-CH, if he lives in North Carolina but you do not? If your parents are divorced, then that question may be resolved by the child custody agreement; but you may want to investigate by starting with this link, and perhaps asking questions of the people at the Residency Determination Services: https://admissions.unc.edu/apply/residency/.