What Can I Do to Get to UNC?

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

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I'm a freshman at a high-school in Winston-Salem, NC and have my sights set on UNC for college. Ever since fourth grade I have always wanted to attend this great school that I have a lot of history with. I don't know whether or not if you get a lot of people as young as me on here, but I thought it would possibly be a wise decision to come here and ask what I can do to plan for the future so that I can 'get in'.</p>

<p>I have been coming to UNC ever since I was about two years old with my father, who has a few medical disabilities, and have practically grown-up in the ACC building, and other parts of the campus. I can remember when Gap and First Union were still on Franklin, as well as hardly any chain restaurants.</p>

<p>So back to my original question... :D</p>

<p>As stated, I am a freshman in high school. I am in all honors classes (2 seminars). I qualified to take AP World History my freshman year, but opted not to since I thought it would add to my already overloaded workload. Boy was I wrong, considering what I got last semester in Seminar World History.</p>

<p>My transcript so far for high-school:</p>

<p>1) Band - A
2) PE - A
3) Seminar Honors English - B
4) Seminar Honors World History - C
5) Honors Geometry - B
6) Honors Biology - B
7) Intro to Journalism - A</p>

<p>I have heard that colleges would rather you get a mediocre grade in a higher level class than a standard one, but I know competition is stiff to get into UNC and that 'C' has me heartsick. That kind of grade isn't acceptable to me. I'm sure many of you have heard this excuse a million times, but the reason I got this grade was because of a teacher who told us to study a certain length of material for our first semester exam and the material, that she said would be on the exam, wasn't on there. I ended up doing poor on the test, but hopefully this semester will be better.</p>

<p>Anyway, a few of my extracurriculars:</p>

<p>1) I am a moderator for UrbanPlanet.org, where we push for good land use in urban areas and encourage people to make a change in their community. Due to the success I've had with our Triad section, many developers and architects frequent our site and it is very well known in the area.</p>

<p>2) I just got inducted into our Key Club. I am working with a few students on setting up an extensive recycling program for out school.</p>

<p>3) I am a member of the Global Concerns and Outdoors Club at my school.</p>

<p>4) I will be an Eagle Scout next year after I complete my service project this summer.</p>

<p>5) I am a member of an architecture club sponsored by a local firm.</p>

<p>6) I run my own photography company, CosmoPhotography, and have contracts with Engel Entertainment, Grogan Paper Company, textbook publisher Holt Rinehart and Winston, Our State Magazine, Forbes Magazine, and the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.</p>

<p>7) This April I will be helping out with Hillary Clinton's campaign in North Carolina.</p>

<p>8) I know almost every member on our city-council, including our mayor, somewhat well and have a lot of relationships with local business leaders.</p>

<p>9) I was a teen reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal, but had to drop that job since it got really hectic with my school schedule and business.</p>

<p>I know many of you on here are current and future students at UNC, and have a lot of insight into the admission process. What can I do to increase my chances of getting in? What are acceptable SAT/ACT scores and GPA? Are there any summer programs people in my grade can take at UNC?</p>

<p>My interests in careers lye in architecture and journalism. My main choice for an occupation would be architecture, since that is what I have wanted to be since I was born. I know UNC does not offer this as a major and I would have to go to UNCC or NC State, but none of these colleges do anything for me aesthetically and 'we' just don't share a bond. The thing is, I know an architect who graduated from UNC. Is there some sort of program at UNC that I don't know about that you can become an architect in?</p>

<p>Thank you all for your time!</p>

2

<p>First of all, I am pleased you came to Collegeconfidential to start asking these questions. It is imperative to start planning ahead of time and doing the right things in school for a successful future.
As I review your credentials, your doing a good job. Your taking all honors and mostly a's and b's. You have lots of extracurricular activities and I bet by the time junior year comes around, you'll have loads of volunteer hours.
Start taking APs next year, at least two. Keep it up.
Start preparing for the SAT ahead of time. Take the SAT in the beginning of your junior year. you must practice for the SAT months before the test. KEY WORD: PRACTICE. It will do you well.
Your an in-state student, so you would not have that much of a problem getting in. I'm from Florida and they only accept 18% out of state students whereas the 82% are instate.
Welcome to collegeconfidential!</p>

3

<p>Is good that you have started thinking about college this early. If you continue working hard you will have a very good chance of getting in. Get good grades. Try to eliminate C's if you can and get as many A's as possible. UNC really values a rigorous courseload so take the hardest courses you can. A class rank in the top 10% will give you the best shot at getting in. For the SAT, i recommond taking it sometime this summer. This way you will, know where you stand and what you need to work towards. The higher the better, but with at least 600 per section you will have a decent chance. Keep up your extracurriculars, they will look good to UNC.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Your an in-state student, so you would not have that much of a problem getting in

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yeah, it is easier to get in as an in-state student than out of state student, but that doesn't mean it is easy. Tons of people from my high school got denied from UNC, even a few with a better class rank than mine. Admissions are tough for in-state students. A high GPA and SAT will not guarantee you admission. I have friends with scores above 2000, and GPAs above 4.0 who did not get in.</p>

<p>Here are my states just so that you can see an example of someone who got into UNC.</p>

<p>SAT: 1280/1860
GPA: 3.9 W
AP Exams: 4-environmental science, 5-AP US History, 5 more exams to take this year.
3 varsity letters
2 leadership positions in clubs, one a service organization, the other a cultural club.
Part time work...30 hours per week since freshman year
pre-college summer course one summer.</p>

<p>Coming from a large public high school.</p>

4

<p>Where do you go to school?</p>

<p>I'm from the dash too!</p>

5

<p>Thank you for the helpful advice everyone!</p>

<p>phonyreal, I go to R.J. Reynolds. You?</p>

6

<p>For architecture - you can get a degree in a related field and through either internships or cross-enrollment take the courses needed to start a career in architecture. NCSU's Bachelor</a> of Environmental Design in Architecture would be a place to look at potential curricula and pre-requisites; then you can figure out which courses UNC has that match and which you might need to take elsewhere. If you really really want to be an architect and really really want to go to Chapel Hill, just know that you'll have to spend a bit more time to accomplish both than someone who applies to an undergraduate institution with a pre-professional degree program in architecture.</p>

<p>On the other hand, for [Journalism[/url</a>], you'd be perfectly placed at UNC!</p>

<p>Edit - just found information on the [url=<a href="http://www.coa.uncc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=4&Itemid=268%5DAcademic"&gt;http://www.coa.uncc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=4&Itemid=268]Academic&lt;/a> Programs at College of Architecture at UNCC](<a href="http://www.jomc.unc.edu/%5DJournalism%5B/url"&gt;http://www.jomc.unc.edu/). The Masters in Architecture is described as follows:

[quote]

The [url=<a href="http://www.coa.uncc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=263%5DMArchI%5B/url"&gt;http://www.coa.uncc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=263]MArchI[/url&lt;/a&gt;] program is specially designed for students who have completed and undergraduate degree in a discipline other than architecture (such as English, Engineering, Art, etc.). Student who pursue this degree path range from people who are seeking a career change to people who focused upon a liberal arts education prior to embarking upon architectural studies. The MArchI is a three and one-half year program.

[/quote]

That gives you an idea of what someone with a non-arch undergrad will need to do to become an architect. Hope that helps!</p>

7

<p>I'm a senior at Reagan...I spend all but one period at career center though...</p>

<p>I heard the seminars at Reynolds are harder than seminars at a lot of other schools though...so don't fret too much about that C!!! Just try to work harder this semester, maybe talk to your teacher.</p>

<p>Some advice for a few years down the road: even if your gpa or your test scores aren't the greatest in the world, make sure that you write great essays, and get great recommendations from teachers!!! Unlike many large public schools, UNC reads those!!! But you still need to work hard to do all that you can to get good grades and test scores.</p>

<p>By the way, the instate acceptance rate hovers around or just above 50%. I think there was about a 55% acceptance rate for EA this year, so UNC takes the VAST majority (about 80%) of its students from in state.</p>

8

<p>Whatever you do don't take those standardized tests lightly. I was waitlisted with a 3.7 w GPA and a 1300 and I'm instate. Believe me, I thought I was a lock. I've been hearing of a lot of instate kids got deferred/waitlisted with scores around 1300</p>

9

<p>^ definitely. Your extracurriculars, essays, and recs make a HUGE difference so don't take them likely. SAT scores alone won't get you in.</p>

10

<p>My friend and I were wondering how much it helps that our whole family practically went to UNC and we live in North Carolina. Not to mention, we go to a very difficult private, montessori high school, with a tough curriculum. Probably one of the toughest high schools in the state. I, the author still manage to have about a 3.7/-9 weighted GPA. I have always wanted to go to UNC at Chapel Hill ever since elementary school. Thanks for all replies!</p>

11

<p>I have problems in most classes I take-
biology-B or C
alg 1- B
spanish 1-B
health-c
world geo-D (but im doing alot and am pulling it up alot)
english-c</p>

<p>i do play Basketball and football and i am in alot of after school actvities. i really hope those will help. if you have any suggestions that could help me please leave me a message! GO HEELS!!!</p>

12

<p>I have problems in most classes I take-
biology-B or C
alg 1- B
spanish 1-B
health-c
world geo-D (but im doing alot and am pulling it up alot)
english-c</p>

<p>i do play Basketball and football and i am in alot of after school actvities. i really hope those will help. please keep in mind that i am going to a private school that is very hard and is the most difficult private school in Nc (at least i and the rest of the school think so). most of the teachers have no concept of work load. the work keeps piling up. if you have any suggestions that could help me please leave me a message! GO HEELS!!!</p>

13

<p>i respectfully disagree that SAT scores alone wont get you in to UNC, so long as youre a decent applicant everywhere else. im not saying to not try in school, but for an in-stater, high SATs definately make up for a drop pff somewhere else… ie grades. personally, i graduated from hs in the 20-25% range of my class of 400, with a 3.5uw/4.5w GPA. but made up for class rank with a 1520/1600. however, i had other friends that were right around my rank and had 1250-1350 SATs that got in. definately put a lot of work into essays as well. the difficulty of getting into unc from instate is really way over blown, and way overrated. its not that hard. but then again, it isnt that difficult once you get there either.</p>

14

<p>Hello… I am a freshman in high school and I am trying to seek information on if I have good chances at UNC. I am a competitive cheerleader, and I have what I need to be on their cheerleading squad. I do not have my GPA yet because the guidance counselor has not finished our class. Here are the classes I take with the grades I have made:</p>

<p>World Studies- A
Latin II- A
Driver’s Ed/P.E.- A
Algebra II- A
Physical Science- B
Honors World Literature- A
Fine Arts (Art/Music)- A</p>

<p>Next year I will take an Honors History class, Geometry, Biology, Spanish I, Latin III, and Honors American Literature. </p>

<p>If my GPA is high and later on when I take the SAT with these grades, is it possible to be able to cheer at and attend UNC Chapel Hill? It also may be important to know that my father went there and was the manager of the Lacrosse team and now has close ties with many people at the school.
Thank you for all your help.</p>