252525

Are there different standards for In state applicants vs. out of state? We are in state. Does geographical location within the state matter? we are from a fairly remote area in Western NC. Will that provide any advantage?

Krazer

Yes when applying for UNC that is a major factor. UNC is required to have 82% instate students in their whole freshmen class. UNC is much easier to get in if you are instate than out of state. There have been out of state people who got rejected from UNC and got into Duke

252525

Thanks. Actually I know about the percentages. What I meant was scores. Will they take an in state person with slightly lower scores vs. an out of state person? If you have to have a 1450 to 1500 to get in from out of state, do those same standards apply to in state? And, does it help to be from a remote spot in NC rather than a major city like Charlotte????

swim4china89

i really dont think region matters as long as you pay instate taxes, your instate haha

Krazer

oh you meant sat scores? It does matter due to the the percentages again. There are not 82% instate students who score as well as out of state students. So they do take some students whose scores are not on par with the out of state ones. Geography in state does not really matter that much, but they will look for some diversity so it might factor in somewhere.

252525

that is what i was wondering.....her counselor said the major cutoff was a 1400 to 1450 for everyone, both IN and OUT. I did not think that was right. Could all 82% of 4,000 freshman in state have those high scores? I would think the range might be a little lower for in state. Hoping so.....

heathergee

Uhh I got 1380 as an OOSer so that is not true...

graj08

It's definitely not true for everyone, but 1400-1450 sounds like a good guess for the 25-75 percentile of OOS students. The range is a little small, though...

CGAMOM2012

My D received 1380 CR/M (+ 670 writing), top 10% of class (4.30 weighted, 3.7 unweighted GPA) and was waitlisted. Most instate students who posted stats earlier also had higher sat scores than 1380 -- most in the 1400-1450 and top 5% of class. That's not to say there aren't exceptions but I would bet the average is above 1400-1450 for in staters also.

phonyreal98

I wouldn't trust stats based on data from CC, because CC is a community full of overachievers. I think the average SAT for those admitted EA was 1334...I'm pretty sure that's what they said at explore carolina...so I find it hard to believe that most instate students scored in the 1400-1450 range.

uncwife&mom

At the Carolina 101 that we attended 2 years ago an Adm. answered a similar question. He told us that they look at the whole applicant, if you excelled in everything else: took and made top grades in the most rigorous classes offered at your school; had good EC's, leadership, etc. (AND had good essays + didn't omit the "optional" essay-I've yet to hear of a kid accepted who didn't write the "optional" essay) They don't let your lower than average SAT scores hurt you. (I know of several kids in our area that this applied to)
-He also said that the opposite was true: if you had great SAT scores but your grades, EC's, essays etc. were not up to par; your great SAT scores will not get you admitted.

As far as the NC region question, this was addressed as well.(although I sometimes question the truthfulness of the answer) They declare that they don't have quotas/don't have to accept some from each county, but knowing some kids in large counties such as Wake and Mecklenburg who have been denied, and hearing of others in small counties who've been admitted, I can't believe that this is totally true. I know of kids in both Wake and Meck. who were #s 1, 2, and 3 in their classes, good stats, great ECs that were defered, and then denied or waitlisted, while others from smaller counties have been admitted with much less.
last thoughts- My D was told by her H.S. guidance , that she would never win a merit scholarship at Carolina w/ less than a 1500 SAT. D felt that she had done as good as she was going to do, so she wouldn't take SAT again. Someone told us to try the ACT, so she took it and scored a 33. (which we were told was equal to 1500 on SAT.) She ended up getting scholarship + honors. (I don't know if ACT was reason, or if guidance was just wrong) D said the ACT was totally different than SAT; her problem was math and ACT has less math. Carolina takes both ACT and SAT and says they have no preference between the two. Maybe the ACT would be a good thing for your D to take? Also, I know of a kid who just got Morehead scholarship, they had taken SAT prep classes for over a year and brought up their scores right about 100 points on CR/M part; also added 70 points to writing score. (in their case, that was time and money well spent!)

csummerlin2008

It's definitely easier to get into UNC if you're in state. But UNC does look at your whole application. SATs and good grades alone won't get you in.

Also, about the regions question. Although UNC says differently, it is easier to get into UNC if you're from a less competitive county.

Oh, and uncwife&mom, I didn't write the 'optional' essay and had no problem getting in. I didn't find it necessary to waste their time reading something that was already in my application. I just had nothing else to say. But, if a student does have something else to say they should certainly do so in the optional essay.

polarisking

SAT
Average: In-State 1295, OOS 1330
25%-75% range:
- In-State: 1220-1380
- OOS: 1250-1440

ACT
Average: In-State 27.4, OOS 29.1
25%-75% range:
- In-State: 25-30
- OOS: 26-33

Jaserr

ya i didn't write that optional essay either. i said what i wanted to in my other essay and didn't have any other summer programs that were anything extraordinary. i was recently named a carolina scholar oos, so i would say that the essay is a good idea for someone with something to say, but trust unc when they say the essay is optional.