UNC Chapel Hill Admission chances

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

Hi
My D is a HS senior, she is NC resident in Wake County.
What are her chances of getting into UNC CH if she applies Early Action:

Current Weighted GPA: 4.4
SAT: 1370 (will take another SAT soon)

Top 10% of her class (its a small class of 45 students)
This is her school’s first HS graduating batch.

Dual enrollment: 11 courses so far, all A’s
All others are honors classes and 1 AP

State science fair winner several times
HOSA president
NHS member
Class representative in Student Council

Several varried volunteering activities

Took 2 different foreign languages during high school (not sure if this matters)

Please let me know if I should inform you of anything else, to estimate her chances of getting into UNC CH.

Are any of ECU, Duke, NCSU a better match for her

Thanks

2

I’d say she has a pretty great shot of getting in, considering they take 82% in-state applicants.

1 Like
3

I though chapel hill in-state acceptance was closer to 45%.

4

Regarding chances for UNC-CH as an in-state applicant, if she is not in the top part of the Wake County applicant pool for UNC-CH, then she may have some problems regarding her chances for admission. Also, the UNC System is making an effort to increase enrollment of North Carolina students from under-represented and/or economically distressed counties, as set forth in a document styled “Higher Expectations”: The Strategic Plan for the University of North Carolina (2017-2022). At Page 9 in that document, it states as follows:

“2. Rural: By fall 2021, increase enrollment of students from Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties by 11% over fall 2016 levels (an average of 2% per year) to reduce the existing participation gap by at least half.”

(Counties are placed in “tiers” as follows: “The N.C. Department of Commerce annually ranks the state’s 100 counties based on economic well-being and assigns each a Tier designation. The 40 most distressed counties are designated as Tier 1, the next 40 as Tier 2 and the 20 least distressed as Tier 3. A county automatically qualifies as Tier 1 if it has a population less than 12,000 people or if it has a population less than 50,000 and a poverty rate of 19 percent or greater. A county automatically qualifies as Tier 2 if it has a population less than 50,000.”)

https://www.northcarolina.edu/sites/default/files/unc_strategic_plan.pdf

So, be aware that living in Wake County could be a bit of a detriment to your daughter’s chances due to the implementation of this policy.

Regarding the other schools that you mention:

(1) Unless your daughter, is a URM (“under-represented minority”), recruited D-1 athlete, or first-generation college student, or has some amazing admissions “hook,” she doesn’t have a chance of getting into Duke – her SAT score is way too low.

(2) ECU (a/k/a “Easy U”) is a match if not a safety.

(3) NCSU may be a match if she is not planning to study engineering.

5

They don’t take 82% of in-state applicants, the school’s class ratio must be 82% in state vs 18% out of state.

6

Thank you for all your input.

Can you suggest some more schools for safety and some others for matches for me?

Where do I stand for UConn, Appalachian State, NC State A&T.

Please suggesr some other universities that i could choose as safety and matches.

Thanks

7

@ApplyingNC: To get a general estimate of likelihood of acceptance, go to the common data set for the schools you are interested in, including the ones that you mention above (just go to the school’s website and type in the words “common data set” in the search box; you should get a link to the school’s office of institutional research, or something like that, from where you can click on the annual common data sets).

Once you are in the common data set that you wish to examine, Part C7 tells you what admission factors the school considers to be “very important,” “important,” “considered,” and “not considered” (and the relative importance can vary from school to school). If you look at the common data set for UNC-CH, for example, Part C7 tells you that 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.

Further, Part C9 of the common data set 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.

If your daughter falls above the 75th percentile of ACT/SAT scores, and is high in the GPA categories, then she is probably going to be a “match” or better for that school.

In North Carolina, I would look at some of the other UNC System schools, such as UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Charlotte, and UNC-Greensboro, as well as Appalachian State. If you haven’t done so already, I recommend that you and your daughter meet with her high school’s guidance counselor to discuss possible college options, as well as admission strategies.

I will send you a PM later.

8

UNC Chapel Hill has a holistic admissions process, so her essays, ECs and rec letters also are quite important. There is a boost for EA app. I am not sure if this is a new Charter school, since you mentioned this is 1st HS class, so she may have a good chance from a diversity perspective, as long as allTop 10% kids are not applying to UNC. I have heard that Top 10% of a class has a good chance if she raises her SAT scores. ECU could be a match. I would encourage applying to other UNC schools as well.

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We were told by our GC, that if offered, UNC is telling them a minimum of 3-4 AP classes in HS. If SAT and GPA are within range but rigor isn’t there they have denied these students.

10

IMHO she would be a match at NC State (unless her major is engineering or design). UNC-CH would be a low match, and ECU, App State, UNC-Greensboro, Asheville, and Wilmington would be safety schools for her.

11

Don’t forget about free college application week Oct. 15-19 in North Carolina.