Slightly nervous about the low OOS admit rate (Chance thread)

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

<p>I'm a white male from New York, so I'll be applying OOS. Good public high school, sends maybe 3-5 kids to top schools a year.</p>

<p>Applied EA
Intended Major/Area of Study: Political Science/International Studies, and I like the look of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics minor a lot.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.75 unweighted, 4.27 weighted
Classes: Most rigorous possible, took APUSH, AP Calc BC, AP English Language, and AP Chem last year and got all 5s, taking 5 APs this year.</p>

<p>SAT: 2310--800 CR, 780 M, 730 W (only took once, May sophomore year if that helps)
SAT II: 800 US History, 800 Math II, 790 Chem</p>

<ul>
<li>Quiz Bowl--4 years, Captain senior year, by far my biggest time committment.</li>
<li>Amnesty International club--4 years, officer senior year, helped plan events yearly</li>
<li>JV/Varsity Cross-Country (JV 9-11, Varsity 12)</li>
<li>Varsity Bowling (10-12)</li>
<li>Varsity Track (10-12)--won a couple of medals and coaches' awards</li>
</ul>

<p>-Led quiz bowl team to second place at nationals last year, named tournament MVP
-Won State History Bee, came in 13th at Nationals
-Elected President of National Honor Society
-National Merit Semifinalist</p>

<p>Essays: Good. My Common App one is just decent, but I really think I did a good job on my supplement.</p>

<p>Recs: Excellent--two teachers who I know well and who can testify to my passion and aptitude for learning, and a supplemental rec talking about what I've done with the quiz bowl club.</p>

2

<p>Hey, son, why is a smart kid like you majoring in soft subject areas like this? This won’t prepare you for anything more than a career in law or politics. Maybe you want that, but the real drivers, game-changers, the people who are making a difference and changing the world are coming out of the sciences, technology, engineering and math. The world of economic opportunity is looking for people who can do things other people either can’t or won’t do. You clearly have the talent but majoring in Political Science/International Relations is something most students can accomplish. Let me suggest you look into a harder major that other people cannot master and considering a double-major in a topic you “like”. And let me also point you to Occupy Wall Street and the protest over student debt - a movement heavily populated with political science, psychology, history, English and Far Eastern studies majors who can’t find a job. Seriously, we all are free to make a choice, but I offer this as a perspective to consider because you have the ability to accomplish more. And believe me, coming from a successful entrepreneur who has built two companies, the world isn’t looking for more mediocre lawyers. Good luck, whatever you do.</p>

3

<p>^ what arrogant, data-free nonsense!</p>

4

<p>Don’t mistake your own intimidation for my arrogance.</p>

<p>You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows - Bob Dylan</p>

5

<p>@bohligtomack74: That’s an interesting perspective, but one that I think is slightly misguided. It’s not like I’m planning on majoring in English or philosophy, which I’d agree are less than useful in terms of the real world.</p>

<p>However, I disagree with your assertion that polisci/IR cannot adequately challenge a top student or prepare them for a career. As with most majors, you get out what you put into it–if you do the minimum in polisci and float your way through law school, you will end up a mediocre lawyer. The reason you might not necessarily see this phenomenon in STEM fields is that those students who are not as invested will simply end up dropping the major (there was a [good</a> article in the NYT](<a href=“Why Science Majors Change Their Minds (It’s Just So Darn Hard) - The New York Times”>Why Science Majors Change Their Minds (It’s Just So Darn Hard) - The New York Times) about this a couple of months ago). I have no intention of being one of those people. I have a deep and abiding interest in the social sciences, and I am committed to challenging myself within whichever facet of the discipline I choose, e.g. with the PPE minor. Also, I’ll probably end up taking more Economics classes than 80-90% of STEM majors.</p>

<p>Thank you for your opinion–it’s one I’ve heard frequently, but rarely this forcefully or persuasively. I understand what you’re saying, but frankly, I don’t think I’m the sort of person you should be trying to persuade.</p>

<p>P.S. I think you just gave me an inspiration for my “why do you want to study your intended major” supplement.</p>

<p>P.P.S. Incidentally, I know people who have majored in political science, psychology, history, English, and Far Eastern studies, all of whom have jobs connected to their fields with which they are very happy.</p>

6

<p>bohligtomack74 STOP making assumptions. The occupy wall street protest is more than students in what you term as “soft sciences”. It is about the fact that College Debt is about to the next credit bubble to pop because there is no coorelation between how much college loans you incur and your job salery. </p>

<p>The currect economy is devesating students in all field not just “soft science”</p>

7

<p>bohligtomack74 STOP making assumptions. The occupy wall street protest is more than students in what you term as “soft sciences”. It is about the fact that College Debt is about to the next credit bubble to pop because there is no coorelation between how much college loans you incur and your job salery. </p>

<p>The currect economy is devesating students in all fields not just “soft science”</p>

8

<p>@bohling: I’m not intimidated by you. I’m laughing at you.</p>

9

<p>LOL at bohling, and anyone else that assumes that top students are solely driven by $$$.</p>

10

<p>Why is it that people who do STEM simply cannot comprehend those that don’t do STEM?</p>

11

<p>Bump. As entertaining as this discussion is, chancing would be appreciated.</p>

12

<p>I’d say you’re looking good. Anything with the word ‘national’ in it is good to have. You might even look good for the Morehead if you could fake some kind of ‘passion for service’…</p>

13

<p>I’m not great at faking stuff, but I’ve worked at my local day camp for the last three summers and volunteered at the local library off and on for three years, plus being an officer in Amnesty International. It’s not 950 hours in an understaffed inner-city hospital or founding multiple orphanages in a Third World country, but I think I managed to convey a desire to help others in my essays.</p>

14

<p>You have a pretty solid OOS application. I’m sure you’ve heard everywhere that OOS admissions can be kind of a crapshoot, but I think you have a good chance. </p>

<p>As for pushing yourself with poli sci, I would encourage you to take advantage of the honors program. If you are not invited this round, I’m pretty sure you can apply every semester or year, and you can still take honors classes. The classes are capped at 24 so you get much more one on one attention and discussion time in class. Much better than big lectures with not so good TAs. If you end up coming here next year, I would encourage you to try and get into Poli 206H with Donna Lefebvre. It’s really chill, fun, and she brings snacks every class. :)</p>

15

<p>You can’t “fake passion” for the Morehead. With more than 50 years experience in interviewing and qualifying candidates, they’ve gotten to be pretty good at sniffing out who is real and who isn’t.</p>

16

<p>^ That’s very sweet, but I know some current Moreheads who would disagree.</p>

17

<p>keepittoyourself, too true. I know a good amount of the 2015 moreheads, and they’re all good people, but a girl at my boyfriend’s high school got it for 2014 and she was a total type A b*tch who faked her way through it. Luckily, she doesn’t represent the majority.</p>