I am currently an out of state senior at a charter high school. At this high school, I’ve had the opportunity to take a multitude of dual enrollment classes. My weighted GPA is a 5.0, though I’m not sure what my unweighted is. Probably very close to if not a 4.0. I’m ranked number one in my class. My SAT is only 1350 (730 reading, 620 math) (I know this is below average for UNC Chapel Hill Students) but I have been studying a lot for it (prepscholar program) and I believe that it will improve at least 100 points when I take it again in October.
I was wondering if it would be better to go ahead and apply early action for UNC with the 1350 or wait until I get my October SAT score back and apply regular decision. I read somehwere online that UNC accepted around 39% of early action applicants, which would increase my chances. However, I don’t want my SAT score to be too lacking. Any advice is appreciated! This is also my first time using this site, so I apologize if I’ve done this wrong.
I recommend that you should improve your SAT score and apply to UNC regular decision. Before the new SAT score change, the 25th to 75th percentile range of SAT scores of admitted applicants was 1790-2110, which would translate to a 1280-1470 range now. Because you’re an OOS applicant, your SAT score has to be around the 75th percentile or above to be considered competitive. Try to get your SAT score at a 1450+. You only have one chance to improve your SAT score before regular decision opens, so STUDY YOUR BUTT OFF. So long as you get your SAT score to a competitive level, get good letters of recommendation, rock your essays, put down good extracurriculars, and showcase who you are as a person on the applications, you have a good shot. Good luck! 
UNC is an amazing school, and you’d be a great contribution to the student body.
18 percent of the student body is from out of state. Not sure if athletes are included in this number. Not sure if UNC tends to defer students when they go ED and what their stats are in terms of acceptance. I also don’t know how they are with aid with ED. So if $ isn’t an issue you could go ED then have your SAT sent directly from COllege board which would probably get there fairly quickly, though taking a chance of not knowing the score before it is sent. Also have you taken the ACT? Both my kids did remarkably better on the ACT as compare to the SAT. Take a sample test and see if that may be a better option. Good luck.
You don’t mention it; but if you are a URM (“under-represented minority”), recruited D-1 athlete, first-generation college student, OOS legacy, or can demonstrate a disadvantaged socioeconomic status, there may be a different admissions calculus for you. If you fall into one of those categories, I might chance the EA application. Otherwise, the EA vs. RD application decision is a tough call. Irrespective, you should at the very least work to have really good ECs, essays, and LORs, since those are “very important” factors to UNC-CH as reflected in the Common Data Set at Part C7.
Have you spoken with your high school guidance counselor to get his/her thoughts about the EA vs. RD decision, and generally to discuss application strategies? If not, I would do so ASAP. Also, if your high school has Naviance or any similar program that gives information about how students at your high school have performed in applying to colleges and universities, you might look at that information; further, any former students from your school have been admitted to UNC-CH recently, your guidance counselor may be able to give some insight into how and why such student(s) were successful.