Whaddya guys think?

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

<p>I really really really really really want to go to UNC! It is my absolute top choice school! I've visited last month and I loved it and I even wrote a thank you letter (I know I'm an ass haha). I took the ACT and had my score report sent to them.
Unfortunately my freshman and soph year I didn't really care much about doing my homework. I got pretty much straight Bs in ALL honors classes and APUS (with a 4 on the exam). This year I've made a turn around though!
Here we go:</p>

<p>Junior yr: core classes
AP Chem: 1st semester: A- 2nd (so far): A NOTE: I want to major in biochemistry/biology/maybe chemistry.
AP world history: 1st: A- 2nd: A
Honors Spanish iv: 1st: A- 2nd: A
Honors Precalc: 1st: B- 2nd: A
English literature: 1st: A 2nd: A
Also 2nd semester I am a student teacher in our Spanish department</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (yay):
Boyscouts: Working on finishing Eagle scout (my project revamped my elementary school woods to make it cleaner and more accessible for wildlife and students), Senior patrol leader for 1 term, several high adventure (2 weeks) outings 1 as a crew leader</p>

<p>Students for Obama club last year, Bill Clinton came to my school NBD.
Young Democrats so far 2 years, Prez next year! Also we did a campaign to change the discrimination policy in our school district AND we're working on the 2010 local elections (its so fun!)</p>

<p>Sports: (so far) 3 yrs varsity swimming (going for a fourth next fall), 2 yrs JV water polo, 1 yr varsity water polo (captain next year!)</p>

<p>Habitat for Humanity: Going for my 3rd year this summer, 1 week in the summer to help build a house somewhere in the US, </p>

<p>Also through a different organization (Rebuilding Together) I spent 2 weekends in the summer to help renovate a house for a retired veteran (so much fun and was so rewarding because he was so happy I'll probably write my essay this!)</p>

<p>Employment: Worked as a local pool lifeguard in the winter. bout 15 hours a week</p>

<p>Volunteer at my church: I play the piano at fundraiser dinners for mission trips and am part of the altar guild. Also lifeguard over the summer for this program for underprivileged kids, teaching them how to swim etc</p>

<p>Tests(!): 32 on the ACT so far but a 26 on reading so I'm taking it again in April and the SATI this saturday and the SATII Chem and Math II in May as well as AP exams in Chem and World History!</p>

<p>Senior Sched:
AP Bio
AP Calc
AP Statistics
AP Literature
AP Government
band
gym (awesome)</p>

<p>PLEASE tell me things I can improve on! I will improve! I'm willing to do pretty much anything it takes.....</p>

<p>ALSO! I will probably be applying to Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA, Syracuse, possibly UVA and possibly Yale bc my Chem teacher went there and said I should consider it....</p>

<p>ALSO I LIVE IN MISSOURI! Not any of these places haha.</p>

2

<p>If you really made all or mostly B’s your first two years, considering even your Junior year grades aren’t amazing, I’d say you have little to no shot unless you are a URM. And, unless you’re a URM or legacy, I would save yourself the app fee money and not apply to Yale.</p>

<p>I would highly advise adding more safety schools to your list. Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA can all be tough tickets to punch OOS.</p>

3

<p>wow. uh, i disagree. def add more safeties, just in case, but i don’t think you have “little to no shot.” and in reality, nobody, i repeat, NOBODY can really tell you if you have a shot or not. at some point it’s just a crapshoot and you just have to go with it. but i digress.</p>

<p>you have a good ACT score and good grades (i have no idea what the guy before me is talking about). especially because you raised your B- to an A in honors precal; that shows that you took initiative. i think your transcript looks good. the only thing i would say though is that, as you probably know, there are THOUSANDS of kids exactly like you with similar stats and ECs that are applying to this/these school(s). so, like i said, while you are probably within target range, it really will be luck of the draw. good luck in your classes next year, and never listen to anyone who says you don’t have a chance!! (i sure didn’t and i have a fine array of choices right now!)</p>

4

<p>I stand by what I said. You’re right that his ACT score is competitive. His grades are not. There are TONS of OOS kids applying to UNC with straight A’s for three years. He has straight As only for ONE semester. His first two years he says he made mostly Bs. That’s just not good enough for UNC OOS unless he’s a URM. Also, while his ECs are certainly decent, he hasn’t done anything amazing that will make up for his low grades. Eagle scout varsity athletes who are president of a random club are a dime a dozen in UNC’s OOS applicant pool. </p>

<p>I get really tired of people blowing smoke up people’s butts: (“Yeah man, everyone got’s a chance!!! Go for it!!!”). What’s the point of posting one of these threads if you’re not going to get a realistic assessment?</p>

5

<p>If you were in state I would say you have a good shot, but for OSS, your grades aren’t that competitive. Your junior year grades, which are the most important, are very good though, so I say you have a shot, though it certainly isn’t the best one.</p>

<p>Also on your schedule, I would recommend that you either drop Calc or Stats (not from an admissions point of view, but from a you will kill yourself if you take both stance.) At my school kids who take AP Calc before or at the same time that they take AP Stats end up despising Stats and getting a “C” in the class when they might have an “A” in Calc. This isn’t because Stats is harder, most would argue it is easier than Calc, but because they involve two different ways of thinking. I would recommend taking Stats first, or just not taking it at all if you plan on doing a lot of Calc in college, because everyone I know who took Stats before Calc did fine in both classes.</p>

6

<p>It’s ok whaltimore, my college counselor said the same thing about UNC.</p>

7

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<p>AP Calculus AB is an easy course and it’s ridiculous that it’s year-long. At universities they cover the same material in about two months. Suggesting that he shouldn’t take calculus based on your difficulties (or your peers’ difficulties) with the subject is rather misguided. </p>

<p>Anyway, if you enjoy mathematics, I suggest taking BC as you’ll be able to go directly into multi-variable calculus your freshman year. Note that the exam includes an AB sub-score (so even if you find the extra BC topics challenging–series & differential equations are considered to be more difficult than your standard derivatives and integrals–and score potentially below a 4, you’ll still be able to credit, most likely).</p>

8

<p>I think you would have a way better chance if you were instate, but you still have a chance as long as you keep up those grades, get a high score on the ACT (at least a 30), and, most importantly, write a really good essay (this is where you can really showcase yourself). Also, good choice on the schools. Even though Michigan and Wisconsin are out of state and have a 30-40 percentage acceptance rate, your chances of getting into them as an out of state student is really high, especially compared to UNC. UNC, as you probably know, has a 18% acceptance rate for OOS, but Michigan’s and Wisconsin’s acceptance rates alot higher for OOS (about 40%). Also, definitely add more schools, especially ones that have high endowments to increase you chances of getting scholarships because, when it comes down to your decision, unless your super rich, you’ll be chosing your school based on how much money they gave you (and trust me, you don’t want leave undergrad with over 100 grand in debt). I suggest UPitt, they have alot of scholarships. Also, Umiami (FL), Tulane, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champlain, and University of Maryland at College Park. All of these schools have amazing science programs (since you want to major in biochemistry) and the amount of research at these schools (especially UMDCP, UIUC, and Pitt) is amazing! Good luck on your college apps!</p>

9

<p>@Concerning Apples:</p>

<p>I didn’t take Calc, and my recommendation wasn’t that he not take Calc, which he might do fine in. I said that he shouldn’t take it before or at the same time as Stats, because everyone I know who went that route wound up hating Stats, and doing poorly in the Stats class, while getting a much higher grade in the Calc course.</p>

<p>My point is that Calc and Stats involve different ways of thinking, and that for many students, it is better to take Stats first, and Calc second. If the OP really wants to do both, that is his individual choice, but they should know that the courses are extremely different from each other, and from most other math courses that they have taken before.</p>

10

<p>Thank you all! Yeah I’ve been thinking a lot that my essay can really help me. My chem teacher is like huge in the chem world and really likes me so I’m thinking I’ll be able to get a good rec letter there! And I actually enjoy math now a lot. I’m doing really well in it and my choice was really between doing AP Spanish (which I don’t feel I’m good at Spanish but I have 4 yrs under my belt after this semester) and AP Stat. Apparently at my school it’s decently easy so I don’t think it’ll add TOO much more stress.</p>