State Residency and UNC Chapel Hill

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi, I am a highschool junior and am looking for a inexpensive but educationally superior college to go to and have narrowed it down to Univeristy of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.</p>

<p>I just wanted to know, what kind of a boost will my chances get if I were to be a state resident in North Carolina? How does UNC look at applications? Also I wanted to know what are the requirements of being counted as a state resident.</p>

<p>The reason I ask is because we may be moving to North Carolina and I want to know if we have to actually live there for a year or if we just have to pay a year of taxes in order to be state residents. Say if one of my immediate family members such as my dad stayed in NC, will it be counted as state residency for me as well since he is staying in and paying state taxes?</p>

<p>Also, will my chances of getting in be high if I say have a B+ to A- GPA with decent ECs and essay?</p>

<p>Any responses appreciated, thanks.</p>

2

<p>State residents with strong extracurriculars and high standerized test scores along with strong grade point averages will get in.</p>

<p>It is the out of state kids that really have to shine.</p>

<p>As for state residency - It can get touchy. Usually, whoever you live with the most (where they live) is the state you are the resident of. If you have a job you must work in the state you want residency in. It also goes along with what school system you are in (whether it be North Carolina or another state, for an entire year) - If you are applying from an Ohio High School but want to qualify as an in-state student that may not gain the most praise at the admissions office.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

3

<p>State residency drastically boosts one's chances at UNC Chapel Hill. For someone with good stats, it could bring it from a reach almost to a safety. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Because we're a state-supported institution, we're required to determine whether or not each student is a legal resident of North Carolina. Because the laws governing residency can be tricky, and because residency applications are considered individually when a student applies for admission to the University, we offer the following as general guidelines.</p>

<p>Under North Carolina law, to qualify for in-state tuition for a given term for a given term you must prove:</p>

<p>[ul][<em>]that you established your domicile in North Carolina twelve months before the first day of classes for that term, and
[</em>]that you have maintained that domicile for at least twelve continuous months.[/ul]</p>

<p>To prove that you've established a bona fide domicile in North Carolina, you must prove</p>

<p>[ul][<em>]that you were physically present in the state,
with the intent to make North Carolina your permanent home indefinitely, and
[</em>]that you were not in North Carolina solely to attend college.[/ul]</p>

<p>Because it's difficult to directly determine someone's intention to make North Carolina their home, we must evaluate actions taken that may indicate this "domiciliary intent." The following questions may be significant in helping us determine this intent:</p>

<p>[ul][<em>]Do you live in your parents' home?
[</em>]Where are/were you employed?
[<em>]Where did you register to vote?
[</em>]Where did you vote?
[<em>]Where have you served on jury duty?
[</em>]What are your sources of financial support?
[<em>]Where have you registered and/or licensed a car?
[</em>]Where did you get your last driver's license?
[<em>]Where do you own a home or other real estate?
[</em>]Where do you keep your personal property?
[<em>]Where do you list personal property for taxation?
[</em>]Where did you file state income tax returns?
[<em>]Where do you spend your vacation time?
[</em>]Where did you last attend high school?
[<em>]Where did you live before enrolling in an institution of higher education?
[</em>]Where do you maintain memberships in professional associations, unions, and similar organizations?[/ul]</p>

<p>We weigh all the evidence furnished in an application for residence status. The preponderance (or greater weight) of the evidence must support the establishment of North Carolina domicile twelve months before the beginning of the academic term (i.e., the first day of classes) for which you request the classification. If the evidence shows a cluster of significant events occurring at about the same time (within the same week, for example), we'll start counting from that point to determine if the twelve-month requirement has been met. If instead the evidence has gradually accumulated over time, we must decide at what point a preponderance of the evidence shows intent to establish North Carolina domicile, and that is the date on which the twelve-month period will begin. If this date is after the first day of classes for the term specified on the application, we'll be unable to render an in-state decision for the term in question.

[/quote]

<a href="http://www.admissions.unc.edu/faq/residency.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissions.unc.edu/faq/residency.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Note that UNC Chapel Hill is the best deal for in-state students and the 3rd best deal for OOS students. :)</p>

<p><a href="http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>The company my dad works for, Fidelity Investments, is moving to North Carolina because they are recieving a tax break from the state to move operations there. Basically my dad has to move with his job. We will be living there about 12 months or more, so I meet that criteria. Will this be sufficient evidence of permanent residency?</p>

<p>I also looked at the percent acceptance rate of UNC-CH and saw it was 38%, is this a total rate or just for OOS because it seems a bit low for a public institution. </p>

<p>Also, I am American Indian (the country India), will that help my admission chances?</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses.</p>

5

<p>It's the total rate.</p>

<p>You'd be in-state, if your family moves to NC because of a job.</p>

<p>BTW, you might want to check out Duke. They also reserve spaces for NC residents, and it is easier to get into for those who do make the state home.</p>

6

<p>PRAYAG - your situation is a bit unique - much will depend on where you graduate from high school. If you apply while you are living/going to school out of state - you will be considered OOS - If you have not lived in the state of NC for a year prior to admission. IF you move to NC with your parent who has been transferred there thru his job - and graduate from a NC high school - I believe you can actually apply as in-state - I can't remember if you have to pay OOS tuition for a semester or 2 until that 1 year requirement is met.</p>

<p>You should check with the school regarding the student OOS and the parent in state - some public college systems do allow a discount in that case.</p>

<p>You can be accepted as an OOS student in NC and change to in-state when that requirement is met. </p>

<p>FYI - the acceptance rate for OOS is 18% - by NC law - at all 16 UNC related universities.</p>

7

<p>If you move to NC at least 12 months before the start of classes - you will be in-state for tuition purposes as long as all the criteria are met.</p>

<p>What do you mean you are American Indian - country India?? I think you may have that a bit confused.</p>

8

<p>My friend last year got into colgate and rejected from UNC out-of-state. I was pretty surprised, he was ranked 1st at the time, had high enough test scores, and was really active in ecs and sports.</p>

9

<p>Hi, I will definitely be graduating from a NC highschool since we are moving there early next year and I will spend about 1/4 of my junior year there and all of my Senior year there.</p>

<p>And by American Indian, I mean that I come from the country India and am a permanent resident here in the U.S., I felt I needed to specify since American Indian can be taken as Native American as well. </p>

<p>I have and probably will maintain a 3.5 uw and 4.1 w average and I score around 2000 to 2150 on the many practice SATs I've taken so far. Is this in the average range of UNC-CH?</p>

<p>As for Duke, I honestly don't think I have good enough grades to get in since its an Ivy, thanks for having faith in me though =).</p>

10

<p>PRAY - Duke is not an Ivy - but a great school. As far as being a resident of NC when you apply - your chances at UNC just went up :) - but you will still have great competition to get in there.</p>

<p>Don't undercut yourself as far as to where you might possibly apply and get in - your scores are in close range - and could even be better when you take the SAT's again. One just never knows.:)</p>

<p>It's good that you are starting to look at possibilities - keep an open mind tho during your search.</p>

11

<p>fyi - The Ivy's are - Brown - Columbia - Cornell - Dartmouth - Harvard - Princeton - Univ of Penn - Yale</p>

12

<p>Duke would be a bit of a reach (though definitely possible), but Wake Forest would make a very good match. Wake reserves numerous scholarships, both merit and need-based, for NC residents. :)</p>

13

<p>While this is not relevant to the OP, since you will be moving to NC and will have residency status, I just wanted to make a comment about the 18% OOS cap. That's a little misleading at this point. Recent legislation now considers any OOS who receives a merit or athletic scholarship in-state (given in-state status), for tuition purposes. Based on the number of OOS who receive these scholarships, that cap has effectively been raised to something closer to 22-23%, I believe. So, OOS admission is slightly easier than it was a couple of years ago.</p>

14

<p>JACK - very good point :)</p>