Transferring into UNC - CH from an out-of-state CC.

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

I was accepted into all my state schools, I enrolled in my flagship but bad news came around a week ago. My parents were breaking the news that I wouldn’t get much financial help from college so I pulled my spot. I would need to take out $12k in loans (private) each year and I just couldn’t do it.

I was devastated since I’m financially restricted. I decided to enroll at my CC and with my scholarship, I get a full-ride. But I was a failure in HS and I’m worried I can’t transfer into UNC - CH (My Mother and Father divorced and my Dad is moving to NC, Mother is moving overseas) so I can’t really stay where I am now.

Stats:

GPA : 3.3-3.5 (neighed) 4.0-4.2 (weighed) with 6 APs (I got a B+ it average in 6 APs which were VERY tough).

SAT : 1110/1600, plan to retake it and get tutoring since I’ve been working part time and saved up some money for this.

Extracurricular: BETA club, Spanish Club, shadowed a bunch of Doctors (don’t know if this counts), participated in events at my local Mosque during the weekends/when they visited colleges for Q&As.

Also, I have a story about everything really. Please don’t judge me on this as I have learnt my lesson but I went to a middle school that had a lot of gang & drug issues. I was involved, got caught and around 7th grades I nearly failed all my classes. I was also sent to a mental hospital by law, I was just such in a bad state. My 8th grade year, I found a mentor who inspired me to start reading. I picked up books such as “Gifted Hands” and “We Beat the Street” and my life changed. I got all As my 8th grade year, picked up every reward and cleaned up my act. I did great my Freshman and Sophomore year in high school but my grades went down Junior year when I started working part-time to get every penny I could for college (family was bringing in $50k/year raising 4 kids) and my parents were filing for divorces and such. When Senior year rolled around, I continued working part-time (especially during school days) and had an ok year. I finished Chem 2 with a 70 (yikes!), Prob and Stats H with an 86, AP Literature with an 85, AP Microeconomics with a 93, and AP Go Po with a 90. I did my best to finish strong, I really did. I’m confident to say I can verifiy all this as I still maintain a good relationship with the officer and principal at my middle school.

I could take a gap year, go to a CSTEP CC in NC (I qualify for it) and get a guaranteed admit into UNC - CH but I can’t miss out on free CC where I am now. It would cost $10k to go to a CC in UNC.

Thank you so much for reading :slight_smile:

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bump :stuck_out_tongue:

3

bump

4

Go to the CC for two years, get a 3.8-4.0 there which shouldn’t be that hard, and transfer to UNC. If you do this, you will very likely get accepted. Don’t retake the SAT.

And I wouldn’t bring up the gang and all of the personal baggage when you apply. Just show that you’re a hardworking student and focus on where you’re at now in life.

5

Thanks for your response and opinion, I definitely will keep that in mind





What if I wanted to transfer Sophomore year? If I kept up a 4.0 GPA my first year at CC, could I still potentially get in? I noticed that the OOS cap doesn’t apply to transfers and my chances are simply higher by the numbers. I just want to get into KF on time.

6

You can apply sophomore year too and see if they accept you. Why not… what’s the harm. They will look at high school if you apply for sophomore transfer, though.

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if you apply for sophomore transfer, they’ll still take your high school transcripts and test scores into account, but I believe (this is how it is in Florida at least) if you apply for junior transfer they’ll only look at your CC GPA and whatever you did at your CC.

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but you look like you should be able to get in as a sophomore transfer, but they still reject a lot of people even with high GPA’s/test scores

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Yeah, it’s tougher as a Sophomore transfer. I’m just going to try atleast, it was 2-3 CP classes my Junior year in highschools that killed the 4.0 I had up until that year. I (somehow) did way better in my APs so maybe they can take that into account.

Junior transfer isn’t bad, it’s just that getting into the business school is tough and I will probably graduate late.

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@gmpatton

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Speaking as a successful transfer student to Chapel Hill from a no-name university, I can hopefully provide a handful of points that you might find useful:

  1. Don't retake the SAT. I scored similarly to you on the ACT, but I didn't report my scores.
  2. Focus on your schoolwork and extracurricular activities. The name of the game is making yourself look good on paper.
  3. Hone your writing craft to be as sharp as possible. The essays can make or break an application, and I think you have a good background from which you can squeeze a stellar essay.
  4. Recommendation letters are exceedingly helpful here. Though they will tell you they are not required or encouraged, I cannot imagine that a well-colored testament to one's academic ability would hurt anyone. That means you'll need to forge a decent connection with your professors -- and this is beneficial to your academic career anyway.

This all being said, keep in mind that I am was a junior transfer and a history major. In your situation, you may be more inclined to apply as a sophomore that you might be more capable of entering Kenan-Flagler. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.