Please chance me UNC, NYU, Emerson, USC Columbia, UNCW, App, and ECU!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone! What are my chances of gaining acceptance to UNC Chapel Hill, NYU, Emerson, University of South Carolina at Columbia (applying for the honors college), University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Appalachian State University and East Carolina University.

I am a white female rising senior. I live in North Carolina. My intended major is journalism/communications.

Academics:
SAT (old version): 1940 (670 CR, 570 M, 700 W)
ACT: 29 (32 English, 25 Math, 33 Reading, 25 Science, 33 Writing)
Rank: 23 out of 425
Unweighted GPA: 3.9583
Weighted GPA: 4.75
By graduation, I will have taken 8 AP’s:
AP English Language and Composition (5), AP Environmental Science (3), AP United States History (5), AP Psychology (4), AP English Literature and Composition, AP Statistics, AP Physics 1 and AP US Government and Politics.

Awards:
School newspaper I work on won the Tar Heel award from the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association (at UNC), which is the highest school newspaper award in North Carolina.
Individually, I won a second place sports photography award from NCSMA.

ECs:
Editor-in-chief of school newspaper
Summer intern at local town newspaper (wrote many articles for them)
North Carolina Scholastic Media Institute (journalism summer camp—worked in the most rigorous division to create the institute’s paper in three days)
Vice President of Spanish Club
Treasurer of Beta Club (10th grade)
Host at local restaurant (summer)
Special Needs Prom Committee
National Honor Society
National Math Honor Society
National Science Honor Society
Quill and Scroll National Honor Society for High School Journalists
Junior Marshal
Book Club
Scriptwriter in Film Club (9th-10th grade)

Recommendations:
I have one from my newspaper adviser, which should be pretty good.
The other is from my AP English 3 teacher who I also had for Intro to Communications freshman year… He’s a really tough teacher but I was at the top of the class. Should be pretty good as well.
My counselor one will be so-so… I gave her a great “brag sheet” but I’ve only met her once.

Essays are okay. Definitely not horrible.

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to respond!

2

Make sure that your essays and supplements are phenomenal, because those are what will set you apart. Your GPA is great, and your SAT ACT scores are decent.

UNC Chapel Hill - high reach
NYU - low reach
Emerson - match
University of South Carolina at Columbia-match
University of North Carolina at Wilmington- match
Appalachian State University- match
East Carolina University - match

3

I would say you stand a better chance than what nrvsabtcllg was saying. This is what I would rank you:

UNC Chapel Hill - match
NYU - low reach
Emerson - match
University of South Carolina at Columbia - low match
UNC Wilmington - safety
Appalachian State University - safety
East Carolina University - safety

I come from NC, too, so I have a pretty good understanding of most NC schools and I think you stand a great shot at all of them. For UNC Chapel Hill, it will come down to your essays and recommendations, but if I had to guess, I would say that you will still get in. But the other three NC schools seem like sure safeties for you. As far as NYU goes, I think you have a decent shot, but better test scores would definitely help. And then Emerson and South Carolina are the ones I don’t have a lot of information on, but my best guess would be that you are most likely good to go for those as well.

4

Thanks for your thoughts, guys!

@nrvsabtcllg For UNC, I am in state and my ACT score is within (the lower area of) their range, so I’m surprised you think it is a high reach. Also I’m not sure how much it matters that I attended the NCSMA summer camp at UNC and used their Daily Tar Heel offices.

My common app essay is about how I sent query letters for one of my novels and how I dealt with rejection (failure prompt), and I think my supplemental essays for UNC are well-written.

5

I must have missed that! Sorry about that! After taking into consideration what you mentioned about your involvement on their campus and stuff, you definitely have a higher chance of getting in! UNCCH is a very difficult school to get into, regardless, but you have a good shot I think!