Please Chance Me

Hispanic Male
OOS
Unweighed GPA: 3.86(my schools doesn’t do weighed GPA)
ACT: 32 (31 english, 27 reading, 33 math, 35 science)
9 AP classes total including Calc BC and AP Physics C

EC:
Violin for 12 years and currently concertmaster of school orchestra
String ensemble(violin): 2nd in state for 4A
Consistently volunteered every weekend at the local library for past year and a half
Soccer(not good enough for sports scholarships)

National Honors Society(11th and 12th grade)
National Hispanic Scholar Award

Would like to major in business, economics, or finance

By law, out of state admissions rates are on par with Ivy League schools, so it’s honestly not possible to chance you. accurately. The Class of 2022 had 29,563 out of state applicants with 3,829 admissions or an acceptance rate of 12.952% That’s lower than:

Notre Dame: 21.5%
UCLA: 18.5%
USC: 18%
Georgetown: 17%
UC Berkley: 16%
Cornell*: 14.2%
Vanderbilt: 13.1%

Duke and Dartmouth* are both at 11.5%.

*Ivy League

https://www.educationcorner.com/colleges-with-lowest-acceptance-rates.html

As @Mcunn226 notes above, the chances for any OOS applicant to UNC-CH are somewhat problematic, which is 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. Further, over 2/3 of applications to UNC-CH for admission as a first-year student are from OOS applicants (29,563 OOS applicants out of 43,472 total applicants, here, https://uncnews.unc.edu/2018/08/17/carolina-welcomes-5095-new-undergraduate-students-to-campus/); so 68% of the first-year applicants are competing for 18% of the first-year slots.

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.).

As it appears that you are a URM (“under-represented minority”), that should work in your favor. Your ECs are a bit weak, IMO, in the leadership area but your musically talent may offset that. If you did not apply EA but are applying RD, then you have the opportunity to boost your GPA to the extent you can, and work to have really good essays and LORs. (If you did apply EA, then the die has been cast.)

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 speak with a guidance counselor at your school; 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.

@Mcunn226 Your point about UNC being extremely competitive for OOS is well taken, but your comparison with other schools is out of date. For example, the class of 2022 for Cornell had an acceptance rate of 10.5%.

It’s just a fancy way of saying that your chances are lousy. Plus, you’re paying triple the cost for a bachelors degree. No bachelors degree is worth that much. Spend some time shopping around for affordable schools.

@coolguy40, UNC meets full need even for OOS students.