Should I even apply? OOS with low GPA, and high test scores. Media and Journalism Major.

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
1

I visited campus last weekend and loved it there. I’m a current junior who’s thinking about applying, but the fact I’m OOS and have a low GPA for UNC would bring me down a lot. My top three schools other than UNC are Boston University, Vassar College, and Syracuse University.

Here are stats and ECs and the like:
(about my weighted GPA - my school only weighs academic courses so there is an all subject GPA (not weighted) versus an academic GPA (weighted where honors and APs are five points)

Cumulative All Subject GPA: 3.59 (terrible I know, I had nearly straight B’s freshman year)
Cumulative Academic GPA: 4.2 (APs

I’m enrolled in an advanced + selective humanities (English + History + World Language) program at my school, they teach at AP level starting freshman year but we only start taking the tests sophomore year. My the end of my senior year I’ll have taken 8 APs. All honors except math from freshman-junior year.

ACT: 35 (36 R, 36 E, 34 M, 34 S)

SAT: 1570 (800 R, 770 M, and a 4/4/4 on the essay)

SAT Subject Tests:
Literature - 800
World History - 790
US History - 780
Math Level 1 - 770

AP (so far) - World History (5) - taking APUSH and Lang this year, and Lit, French, Calc AB, Physics 1, and Gov next year.

ECs:

  • I write for a few online publications since freshman year, edit for an online literary magazine, gotten recognition here and there but not really national awards
  • School Newspaper - I’m editor in chief next year
  • Model UN since sophomore year, have won Best Speaker multiple times, and Best Delegate twice.
  • Speech Team since sophomore year, I’m going to chair extemp next year. I’ve made it to nationals this year for prose.
  • Feminism Club since sophomore year, board next year
  • GSA since freshman year
  • Literary Magazine since sophomore year, editor in chief this year and next year.
  • Global Citizens Club since sophomore year, board next year.
  • School Broadcasting Team since this year - anchor on student news network and direct some events etc.
  • I was inducted into Thespians this year, I’ve been in about four school productions and I go to drama club meetings.

Job/Volunteer Experience:

  • Work at a restaurant over the summer since freshman year.
  • Volunteer at the library every summer, about 100 hours over four years.
  • Volunteer with global citizens club, about 150 hours over four years

Summer:

  • Work + Volunteering at library, but this summer I got into the Northwestern Journalism Cherubs Program so I’m pretty pumped for that

I should have GREAT essays and good recs.

Should I bother applying? Only one person from my school (out of ten who applied) got in this year, and all of them had great stats and ECs.

2

With regards to the information you have provided, your GPA – while low for UNC – may not necessarily be an admission killer. The UNC Common Data Set states under Part C7 that GPA is an “important” academic factor in admission decisions; whereas standardized test scores, application essay(s), letter(s) of recommendation, ECs, talent, and personal qualities are “very important” factors in admission decisions. Based on this, it seems that you have done well in what UNC considers “very important” admissions factors: as well as having high standardized test scores, you show leadership in your ECs, as well as having valuable personal experiences such as working over the summer.

Additionally, you have (presumably) improved your GPA the two years since your freshman year, which is something that can be pointed out in your application (and your guidance counselor can make the point as well). If you think that you are going to have a very good upcoming Fall semester in terms of grades, you might consider not applying EA (which will show your grades as of the end of your junior year) but instead wait and apply RD, which will take into account your GPA after the end of the Fall semester of your senior year. (This is something to discuss with your guidance counselor, however.)

Work hard on your application essays; while you think that your essays are “GREAT,” I can assure you that most everybody who applies to UNC thinks that they have outstanding essays, so some objective consideration and feedback may be in order. Look at the UNC Common Data Set, and sit down with your guidance counselor early this Fall to discuss admissions strategies. If your high school has Naviance or a similar guidance counseling software program, there may be some useful information there for you to discuss with your guidance counselor.

Finally, I’m not sure I understand what you mean when you write that applying to UNC “would bring me down a lot.” If you mean that you are afraid of disappointment in the college application process, then don’t bother applying to UNC – or any other selective/highly competitive school, for that matter. The college admissions experience can be brutal and crushing, especially to those who have not had many setbacks in their academic life. But the potential benefits of being able to participate in an education such as you may have at UNC outweigh any potential blow to the ego if you are not accepted. No guts, no glory.

3

@gandalf78 thank you for this incredibly thought out response! What I meant when I said “it would bring me down a lot” was that the fact I was OOS and had a lower GPA would bring my admissions chances down, not my ego lol

My GPA upwards trend is very good, from about one or two A’s freshman year in my classes to A’s in 5 out of 7 classes regularly (6/7 this semester which is unreal) Wouldn’t there be more of a drawback to applying RD? (30% acceptance rate vs 39% EA, most of those going to NC residents, presumably, but still)

4

@mediocreatbest: Yes, after I sent the e-mail I realized that there was another interpretation to your comment that applying as an OOS would “bring you down” – namely, the one that you have supplied. My mistake on the misreading!

The question about applying EA vs. RD can be a difficult one, and this is why you might want to meet early in the Fall with your guidance counselor to discuss the matter – since your school has a history of having its students apply, and occasionally get accepted to UNC, I’m sure that your guidance counselor is probably a little bit familiar with UNC applications and admissions; and thus may have some thoughts about how best to approach that question. The real issue, as I see it, is this: Is your current GPA – considered with all your other information, such as 35 ACT, ECs, etc. – good enough to chance EA, and get you either an outright admission or at the worst a deferral to the RD pool; or do you take the chance that you can improve your GPA enough after the Fall Semester to make you more competitive for the RD pool? It’s a tough question; especially since 2/3 of the applicants for admission as a first-year student apply EA.

Also, I don’t know how busy your guidance counselor(s) may be; sometimes students have to make a real effort to meet with their GCs, who may or may not be very familiar with them. But it can be worth the effort; and I would try to have that conversation earlier rather than later, since UNC has a very early EA deadline of October 15.

Regarding your school’s placement of students at UNC, that is not all that surprising to me. 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; and, with the exception of legacy students, our admitted students have ACT scores of 34+ and weighted GPAs of 4.5+. 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 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.).

If you are a URM (“under-represented minority”), recruited D-1 athlete, first-generation college student, or OOS legacy, you may have a slightly easier path; although “easy” is a relative term here. As you probably know, admission of OOS students to UNC-CH is very competitive; and UNC 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 2020, for example, had a 15% acceptance rate for OOS applicants: http://admissions.unc.edu/apply/class-profile-2/.

Good luck with everything!

5

YES!
Focus on Semester one senior year GPA . Apply Early action and show the lots of love.

After semester one send in your mid year report card . if you can show that you can get good grades with your AP classes, then freshman year becomes less important.