<p>I was actually pretty surprised when I got waitlisted by UNC Chapel Hill (I'm OOS) because I have a 3.3 UW GPA (although I have a 1540/2290 SAT and two 790+ on SAT IIs). I was totally expecting to get rejected because UNC is supposed to be huge on GPA. Does my waitlist mean that I was considered competitive for UNC? Just wondering because I'm super nervous about my chances for the rest of my schools after getting rejected from UVA and UCLA.</p>
<p>Bump^^^^^^^</p>
<p>I think it means that UNC felt that you met their admissions standards.</p>
<p>Honestly – SAT/SATII is obviously fine, but the GPA seems a bit low for UNC-CH (as well as UVA and UCLA).</p>
<p>Where else have you applied.</p>
<p>A waitlist is rarely positive. If you call the admissions office and ask them why you weren’t accepted, they might be able to give you a straight answer. (My friend last year was told, after a deferral and waitlist, that her scores just weren’t up to snuff. Turns out her new SAT score never made it to UNC. While the new scores weren’t stellar for UNC, the mixup–combined with an onslaught of support from our administration and her recommenders–got her in.) See if you can’t get your people to stand behind you and push you over the edge.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. </p>
<p>@zephyr15: Yeah I’m glad that my GPA wasn’t bad enough to make me an auto-reject. I’m also applying to NYU Stern, Michigan (deferred), Carnegie Mellon, Cornell (no chance), Duke (no chance), Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and Berkeley. I’m really not expecting to get into any of them. </p>
<p>@glasses: Thanks for the tip, I’ll try giving them a call.</p>
<p>If it makes you feel better, my daughter got waitlisted to UNC. She was valedictorian in a large 6A school. 4.0 GPA, Over 300 hours of service, great work experience. math team, debate team (TOC qualifier), FBLA national qualifier and president, letter in three different varsity sports, Played on state championship golf team for the school, played on state championship soccer team, Took all AP courses junior and senior year. Who knows what they are looking for? Got into Duke and Vanderbilt, but waitlisted by what she thought might be her safety school. Go figure.</p>
<p>None of the schools you mentions is a safety. Do you have a safety?</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve already been accepted to my safety (Rutgers)</p>
<p>Anyone else have opinions to share?</p>
<p>So, look, being wait-listed rather than flat out rejected means you had something to recommend you. So now you do your research and figure out whether it makes sense to stay on the wait list. What else could anyone say?</p>
<p>@ALparent what are your daughters test scores? You neglected to put that</p>
<p>Smugness my daughter is a junior at Rutgers (New Brunswick) and absolutely loves it there. Honestly you could not find a happier student. There are so many wonderful opportunities for you to take advantage. My son was accepted to UNC a few months ago and decided to turn it down for another school. After considering it, he came up with several reasons for not choosing UNC including the fact that he didn’t want to go to a school that the vast majority of the students were form NC. I know that UNC is a marvelous university, but if you end up at Rutgers you just might find that it is a terrific fit for you. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.</p>
<p>Smugness,
What was your weighted GPA? D got into UNC four years ago (instate) with a 3.4/4.5. The weighting from the APs set off the low unweighted GPA. She was also 67 in a class of 460 but had an SAT like yours, National merit recognition, good AP scores, impressive music, sports and the usual community service. The GPA is important but they look at more than numbers.</p>
<p>D chose not to go to UNC, she wanted to go to an LAC with a more diverse population with more students from all over the country. She would have been fine though at UNC.</p>
<p>Students do get off the waitlist. Two of D’s classmates got in during May.</p>
<p>ALparent, we are in shock here as well. S is a NMF, 8 APs (all tested at 5) tons of EC’s great letters of recommendation…and in state…absolutely bewildering…someone earlier suggested kids like yours and mine were waitlisted as it was clear they applied to carolina as a safety. Really kinda made my jaw hit the ground, tons of kids with lower gpa, sat admitted…</p>
<p>Smugness, I am in a somewhat similar situation to you!</p>
<p>I have also been waitlisted from OOS and I have a 3.4 unweighted GPA. My SAT’s are lower, 1300/2020, but I am a third generation legacy so that definitely gave me pull. I honestly thought I would be rejected despite my legacy, because I know others with legacy but OOS who have been denied admission. </p>
<p>I got rejected at UVA as well, but I am also a legacy there and live in VA. Go figure.</p>
<p>Your SAT’s definitely helped, but you most likely had some personal pull. I think that essays, teacher recs, and the amount of volunteer work I have done played a very large role in my admissions decision, in addition to my legacy status. If you have any of these, or if there is something very unique about you, that trait can play a large role in UNC’s application process. </p>
<p>UNC definitely puts more emphasis on the holistic application than UNC, and they really emphazise that both in their literature and when you visit. UVA is the complete opposite; they care more about their stats than anything because they try to put themselves on the same level as Ivy League schools. They do consider essays and recs, but mainly to distinguish between applicants with similar numbers.</p>
<p>Not sure what are chances are but best of luck to you!</p>
<p>@elle and @ALparent, I would suggest that if your children really want to attend UNC that they send in a letter or email saying that they intend on attending if they are accepted off the waitlist. I do not know quite how much good it could do, but if they were waitlisted because they were overqualified, it might make a difference.</p>
<p>She only took the ACT scored 33.</p>
<p>I’ve not ever heard of a school wait listing you for being overqualified.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of a school deciding for your that this is your safety school. Sounds odd.</p>
<p>UNC does not have the time or interest in second-guessing one’s motives for applying. The rumor about rejecting top applicants because UNC was their safety is silly and needs to be retired. Perhaps there were too many 3.9 GPAs with perfect SATs that had the same ECs, maybe a top applicant that considered UNC a safety had a sloppy, last minute essay. For those who are out of state, your admissions chances are roughly 20%-lots of bright kids who want the cheaper than ivies but good that Carolina has apply there.</p>
<p>The school really is wholistic-if they need a tuba player for the pep band, they may take someone with a slightly lower GPA over the perfect GPA. A student with a 3.4 UW and top AP and SAT scores is just as capable as a valedictorian of doing well. Maybe the 3.4 had something really unique in their essay or life experiences. Anyway, top scores and grades will not result in being rejected or waitlisted but they are not the only factor that leads to acceptance.</p>
<p>There are a lot of really smart kids out there. My daughter has a 3.8 overall, 4.0 in her major (is graduating from a top LAC known for being top 8 with students pursuing PhDs), 2 NSF summer internships and a publication with a Duke researcher. She has just been rejected or waitlisted from 6 top clinical psychology programs. All of the reject letters stressed that everyone interviewed was capable. The schools were looking for something very specific that she did not have.</p>
<p>Yes, it is sad dealing with your child’s disappointment but rejections are a growth experience that is not necessarily negative. On to plan “B”</p>