UNC - Chapel Hill out-of-state admission chances

Just visited UNC and I would love to get in and go there. However, I know how hard it is for out-of-state students.

Class of 2019 (Started at my high school in 7th grade, took high school courses starting that year through a special middle school program)
White male, high income family, can pay tuition.
Will have finished all of my high school credits by the end of junior year.
Unweighted GPA: 3.62
Weighted GPA: 4.76 (Honors weighted - A = 5, AP double weighted - A = 6)
School doesn’t give a ranking
SAT: 1410 - Reading & Writing: 700, Math: 710
Home: Chicago, IL
AP’s taken: APUSH (3), AP Lang (3), AP Spanish (3), AP Physics (2), AP Human Geo (5)
AP’s currently in: AP Seminar, AP Lit, AP Microeconomics, AP Calculus
AP’s for Senior Year: AP Psych, AP Stats, AP Research, AP Macroeconomics
EC’s as of junior year: Freshman soccer, Sophomore soccer, Club soccer (soph and freshman year), National Honor Society, School paper writer, Sailing Team (junior year), Annual service trip to Kentucky to help build houses for the poor
Service hours as of now: 84

What are the chances I get in?

No one on here is a UNC Admissions officer, so no one can accurately give you “chances” of getting in. We never know what UNC will be looking for in Admissions. That being said, I would get that sat up and use your summer to build your community service and/or extracurriculars. UNC is a very holistic process that places a lot of weight on your activities, recs, and importantly writing. Get started this summer writing drafts and getting them read over. They should have their prompts up sometime this summer. Take advantage of that and get started early.

Generally, the chances for any OOS applicant to UNC-CH are somewhat problematic due to the highly competitive nature of OOS applications there: UNC-CH admits OOS applicants in numbers that are calculated not to exceed 18% of an entering freshman class. See “Undergraduate Admissions” on Page 2, here: http://www.admissions.unc.edu/files/2013/09/Admissions__Policy.pdf. As a further example of the difficulty for OOS students to be admitted to UNC-CH, the entering Class of 2021 had a 14% acceptance rate for OOS applicants: http://admissions.unc.edu/apply/class-profile-2/.

If you look at the UNC-CH Common Data Set, here, https://oira.unc.edu/files/2017/07/cds_2016_2017_20170411.pdf, 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.

Further, 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 1500+, 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.).

Although your weighted GPA is good, your SAT score is a bit low for your admission as an OOS applicant; you should aim for a 1500+ on the SAT, or a 33+ if you take the ACT. If you have good essays and letters of recommendation, that will help; the apparent lack of leadership positions in your ECs is a potential drawback, however.

As you are not a URM (“under-represented minority”), nor do you appear to be a recruited D-1 athlete, first-generation college student, or OOS legacy, you should focus on improving your standardized test scores (perhaps with some test preparation or coaching), keep your GPA up to the extent you can, and work to have really good essays, LORs, and ECs that demonstrate leadership ability.

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 early in the Fall semester 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.

The unweighted GPA is likely going to be the nail in the coffin. I put your stats into Prepscholar and your chances of getting in are 3.5%. Plus, you don’t want to pay out of state tuition. It’s not worth paying nearly triple the cost as in-state.

probably true @coolguy40

You need will need higher SAT score. Not one kid in our school under 1550 got admitted. OOS mix of first gen/URM, full pay, full aid. All with 10 + APs. VERY VERY difficult OOS admit.