What are my chances of getting into UNC Chapel Hill for Biology?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
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Hi, I’m high school senior, and I’m extremely stressed about getting into Chapel Hill, so I’ve come here to vent my stress and hopefully gauge my chances at getting in lol

GPA: 4.354
Classes: Freshman Year- Concert Band year long (2 credits), Math III Honors, Biology Honors, Modern Dance I, World History Honors, Health, and English I Honors

Sophomore Year- Honors Chemistry, AP Chemistry, English II Honors, French I, French II, Precalc Honors, AP Psych, Principles of Business and Finance

Junior Year- AP English Language, AP US History, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Environmental Science, French III Honors, French IV Honors, Entrepreneurship I Honors

Senior Year- AP French Language, AP English Lit, AP Biology, Honors Research Methods, Physics Honors, AP Stat, Civics Honors (I have one more class in my schedule that I’m actually waiting on because I requested a schedule change)

SAT Composite: 1530

Clubs/ECs:

Inducted into National Honor Society this past May (so I will be a member during 2018-2019

Treasurer of school’s French Club during junior year and continuing in senior year

President of school’s Humanities and Social Sciences club during junior year and continuing in senior year

Tutor at school’s Writing Center during junior year, continuing in senior year

Science Olympiad team since freshman year, JV during sophomore/junior year, and will probably move to varsity senior year (Received 2nd place medal in Regionals during sophomore year and 2nd place and 3rd place medal in junior year)

Piano for about 6-7 years, mentored younger students last summer

Volunteer at UNC Rex Hospital from Sept 2017-Aug 2018

So those are the main parts of my ECs. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice:)

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^Also I’m taking the SAT Biology, Math I, and Literature tests pretty soon

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I also realized that I failed to mention that the GPA I have listed is my weighted GPA. I would’ve included my unweighted GPA but I actually don’t know it yet, and I’ve been having some trouble calculating it. I’m sorry I keep replying with stuff I forgot haha, this is my first time posting, and I’m getting used to everything

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First things first: you won’t be admitted for biology, b/c UNC doesn’t admit by major, they admit by school. The Bio department is in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Guessig that you are stressed b/c you know that your WGPA is a little low: 96% of successful applicants had a WGPA of 3.75+.

It looks as though you are a NC resident, so that definitely helps.

What does your school’s Naviance say?

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collegemom3717, yup I’m stressed because I’ve gotten 3 or 4 Bs in some AP classes, and I’m an NC resident. This is really stupid, but what exactly is Naviance? I’ve done some Google searches, but I don’t think has something like it

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^my school has something like it

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If you are an in-state applicant, then your county of residence may be a factor. The UNC System is increasing student representation from less populous and/or economically distressed counties in order “to reduce the existing participation gap” among first-year applicants between larger/wealthier counties and other counties.

Probably hard to quantify the impact of that policy.

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gandalf78, I go to school in Wake County, which I’ve heard is the most competitive county in the state, so I suppose that will decrease my chances

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I think that there are a couple of systems, but Naviance is the one that seems to be most common. It is basically a dat collection system for the admission results (by GPA + SAT/ACT) for the students at your school. There are similar online tools, but the benefit of the school-based one is that it reflects how students from your school do. Even your school doesn’t have Naviance/similar, your GC should be able to tell you if students with your GPA typically get into CH.

However: you can help your stress level overall by treating CH as the Lobster of your dinner options: you quite fancy it, but it isn’t always available, so what’s your plan B? Steak? Chicken? Fish? For me it would be Asheville (if I was tending more EnvSci) or Wilmington (if I was more Marine Bio), or ECU (more Health Care Bio). But, if I was physics instead of bio I would chose State > CH from the start, b/c it’s that much better.

In NC, students / parents obsess over CH (not knocking it, btw, it is a great UG institution), but it is truly not the be-all & end-all (if you haven’t been out to the Asheville campus make a point of it- great college, great college town).

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Thank you so much! I’m definitely be applying to App State, UNCC, and ECU, but I haven’t decided yet about UNCG or UNCA, but l obviously have to decide soon. I’m not entirely sure what I want to do as far as my major is concerned because right now, I just know that I want to study the general biology field, and I’m slightly interested in clinical research but that’s pretty much it. I’m going to ask my counselor about the GPA as well. Thanks again for your advice:)

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unasked for advice: if I was a general bio / leaning research person I would go for a) a place where I would be likely to be able to do research from year 1 and b) a place where I would stand out as a star, b/c research = PhD down the road, and for that you want research experience which is easiest to get at your home institution in the first year, so you can get REUs 2nd/3rd year, plus strong LoRs. :slight_smile:

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Thank you! I see what you mean by the research experiences helping out with getting a PhD, which is actually another thing that I’m confused if I should do or not, but I’m just going to give myself a couple more years before I decide, in case I might want to go to medschool

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Overall I think your chances are quite good. your SAT score is well above average for UNC and you have solid ECs. Your weighted GPA is a bit low but you have excellent course rigor. 10 AP classes is impressive and that may help explain the lower GPA. Focus on making your essays stand out in your application, and don’t stress about it. My daughter is also in Wake County and got in with a higher GPA but significantly lower test scores than you so I think you definitely have a decent chance at getting in.

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slngbld, that makes me feel better, thank you! I’m going to try to put in some more time into the essays, since I’m very meticulous. Hopefully, they will make me stand out.