UNC CH? If not, then what?

I’m currently a junior at one of the more competitive schools in my region. I had a 3.8 UW and a 4.1 (I think) W GPA freshman year, with 6 honors classes and 1 standard. In sophomore year, I took 3 AP classes and 4 honors- I overloaded myself and got 3 C’s- two in honors classes (but the class had the rigor of an AP) and 1 in AP Calc AB. This killed my GPA. I ended up with a 3.3 UW and a 3.9 W GPA. Another reason for my poor grades last year is that I was overworked with robotics and violin, which required missing lots of school. Additionally, one of my parents has a severe illness and has been hospitalized before and has undergone chemotherapy. This year I’m taking 7 AP’s and 1 honors class. I’m afraid I’ll do poorly in Calculus BC again, but apart from that I should be ok. My extracurriculars include: president of a charity club, public relations chair for a music society, model UN, violin, and dance. I haven’t taken the SAT yet.

I guess my question is if I should give up on more selective schools or not? I would really like to go to UNC Chapel Hill, but I’m not sure if I can. If not, what (decent) colleges should I apply to?

Thanks.

I think that you need to work VERY hard this year and see what sort of grades you can manage, and also see how your SAT or ACT scores are. It seems to me that you are probably learning that taking the the most AP’s possible is not necessarily a good idea if it results in poor grades. Going to the most academically challenging university possible is similarly not always a good idea, although your grades might be low enough to stop this from happening.

I am concerned about your poor grades in calculus. The fact that you took calculus in sophomore year makes me think that at least at one point you thought that you could do well in STEM. Algebra and calculus are a critical major basis for a very large amount of ongoing work in STEM fields (or at least the “TEM” part of STEM plus physics). As such what you are learning now in calculus is stuff that you will need to know very well for a very long time. Any time anyone gets a C or lower as a sophomore in calculus someone made a very bad decision. I think that you should get individual tutoring in Calculus (and possibly precalc) and do whatever you possibly can to get this grade up, preferably to an A if there is any way that is possible.

I also think that you need to dial way back on the ECs and focus all of your energy on academics. Taking 7 APs at once is a HUGE load, and is something that I would never recommend for anyone who has less than about a 3.9 unweighted.

And to answer your first question: It is too soon to think about which universities you should apply to. You need to see what you can manage in terms of grades for this year.

In addition to what the above poster states, you shouldn’t focus entirely on your GPA to the exclusion of other things. If you look at the UNC-CH Common Data Set, under Part C7 it states that standardized test scores, application essay(s), letter(s) of recommendation, and the rigor of your high school record are “very important” academic factors considered for freshman admission, whereas GPA and class rank are “important” academic factors considered for freshman admission. Extracurricular activities, talent, and character/personal qualities are considered as “very important” non-academic factors.

So while your grades are an “important” admissions factor for UNC-CH, your standardized test scores, essays, LORs, and the rigor of your high school coursework are even more important as admissions factors, according to UNC-CH. Consider taking both the SAT and the ACT; people usually do better in one than the other. Also, taking some test preparation courses may help you with your performance on these standardized tests.

If you want to see how you compare with recently enrolled students at UNC-CH, Part C9 of the Common Data Set for UNC-CH gives the median 50% for both SAT and ACT scores, as well as the percentage of the entering first-year class falling within certain ranges of SAT and ACT scores; Part C11 gives the percentage of entering first-year students falling within a range of unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale, and Part C12 gives the average high school GPA of first-year applicants.

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-CH; and, with the exception of legacy students, our admitted students have SAT scores of 1490+, ACT scores of 33+, and weighted GPAs of 4.4+. 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-CH 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.).

I don’t know whether your high school has Naviance or any similar program that gives information about how students at your high school have done in applying to colleges and universities; if so, you might peruse that data. I would also try to meet with a guidance counselor at your school either next semester or early in the Fall semester of your senior year to discuss application strategies for UNC-CH; if any former students from your school have been admitted to UNC-CH recently, the guidance counselor may be able to give some insight into how and why such student(s) were successful.

Also, you should ask yourself why you are focussed on going to a “selective” college or university. It seems like you have enough stressors in your life right now, and attending a “selective” college or university – which can have a “pressure-cooker” academic environment – may only compound those for you. Don’t get trapped into going to a school that may not be the best for you, simply because it may be desirable to other people (such as parents or a circle of acquaintances).

In terms of other schools to consider, what are you interested in studying? What part of the country do you live in, and how far are you willing to travel to go away to school?

Finally, try to have some fun along the way, if you can; high school is not simply about getting into college, and making yourself miserable in that process won’t do you any good, really.

gandalf is right - be sure to have some fun. an admin guy from an elite LAC said he discounts (ignores) ECs added after mid-Jr year as they don’t reflect the person but the desire to create a strong application. Same with overloading a schedule for the specific purpose of boosting GPA. He claimed to be pretty good at sniffing out the difference between drive and desperation. Work hard, play violin, allow yourself chill time, and if they don’t take you it’s their loss.

First off, relax. You’re not going to do any better by stressing out so much. Whatever happened, is done. Do your best this year. Work on your SAT/ACT scores. You never mentioned, are you IS or OOS? You could apply to NC State- Still a very good school, but slightly easier to get in. Or VA Tech. You have been through a lot, work on presenting yourself well. And remember, not all students who get into CH are straight A students. None of us here decide if you do, or don’t get in, so go ahead, apply! If you like, I can share the essay prompts, I’m not sure they don’t change every year, but you can at least try and figure out the kind of things you need to say when you work on those essays!

Ditto @Essel My S18 is IS and is also applying to NC State and Va Tech. Those are his top 3 choices. If you are OOS, are you looking at UVA? It is slightly easier for OOS to get into than UNC.

“… if they don’t take you it’s their loss.”

This isn’t a platitude. You are clearly someone with drive and determination, traits that are a far better prediction of success than numbers. Pick some safety, match, and reach schools, knowing that whichever gets you can count itself lucky.

@chb088 , I kind of liked the variety of Majors offered at State much more- same with VA Tech over UVA or W&M. I wonder why the colleges ranked higher offer fewer choices!

@Essel are you in NC? That will make a difference

Yes, We are IS!

Sorry for not including more info:

Gender: F
Race: Asian (Indian)

I’m in state for UNC. I’m also thinking of UNCC in state, and maybe Drexel, Purdue, or UPitt for oos.