Hello!
I’m a rising senior applying In-state from Wake county (competive county) to UNC Chapel Hill this year.
I’m looking for advice because I took 4 summer classes at a community college and recieved Bs on all of them, so I was wondering if it would be better to do Regular Decision instead of Early Action so my most recent graded wouldn’t be all Bs.
Prior to the summer I had all As except a B in AP calculus 1st semester sophmore year, but I got burnt out during the summer since classes started while I was still in school, which I will try to explain in the additional info section. I’m doing better now and expecting I’ll get all As this semester based on my current grades.
Stats before summer:
3.97 unweighted GPA
4.6 weighted
11/600 class rank
4.0 Associates in Science degree GPA
Stats after summer:
3.83 unweighted GPA
4.52 weighted GPA
24/600 class rank
3.52 Associates GPA
Additional info:
Magnet school w/ ~120 IB students
Applying as Applied Science or Chem major + math minor
8 AP (4 independant study)/ 11 IB/ 13 DE
AS degree + IB diploma. Taking Calc 3, linear algebra, and diffrentital equations.
1390 SAT- planning test optional
Activities and honors are probably a stronger part of my application. Ive done 2 varsity sports, a nonprofit internship, president of 2 honor societies, research in economics, learning assistant at kumon, and ran an art social media account with ~10k followers.
I’m a bit worried my unweighted GPA might be a bit low for UNC, but I’m not sure if having my most recent grades be As instead of Bs will make a huge difference. I am retaking one of the summer classes this semester to replace the grade in my Associates degree GPA, which in addition to my other classes should bring my GPA up to a 3.67. I’m also planning to retake the SAT since ive only taken it once, but I don’t think my score will improve drastically.
I’m also a big confused if UNC considers quarter 1 grades, since a lot of my peers said they do but my conselor told me they don’t. Also how would this work with dual enrollment classes?
Was there any particular reason you took 4 summer classes? Is this common? I’m not sure if EA or RD is really going to make a difference - the "B"s will be on your transcript one way or another. Your best bet to gauge your chances is to look at Naviance/SCOIR at your school - how do kids with a 3.83 typically do at UNC?
I took the summer classes because the community college I take classes at has a rule that high school students had to finish specific first year AS courses before they could take classes outside of the pathway. I decided to take the summer classes to finish this pathway so I could some more advanced math and science classes there during my senior year that would be good for college credit and make the most of the AS degree.
I don’t think taking 4 summer classes is common, but I took 4 easier DE classes my second semester junior year on top of high school so I assumed I could handle it over the summer. It turns out I underestimated the difficulty of the classes.
I’m not sure how to use Navice or SCOIR, but I did find out that last year 35 kids got into UNC from my school out of 105 applicants if that is relavent. I don’t know of any students from my school who have gotten in with around a 3.83, but I also don’t know of anyone at my school who has done similar course rigor. Most people in the top 10% at my school have a 3.9+ uw GPA.
What were the DE and summer courses, and how many college credits were they?
Summer sessions are typically shorter than regular semesters, so students would normally take fewer courses / credits during the summer than they would in a regular semester.
Also, if the DE courses were “college in the high school” type of courses, rather than courses at the actual college, then adjusting to courses at the actual college in the summer may have added to the difficulty you encountered.
From our experience in NC, I’d apply EA. We are in a fairly competitive county, and the best students who applied EA got in. Similar students who waited for RD got waitlisted. Our guidance counselors tell students to apply EA.
I think you’re fine, especially since the classes you took are difficult! (Or are taking.) What did you get Bs in. Also, maybe not the best idea to take 4 classes in the summer? Why do that? You’re still in the top 5% of your class. Apply EA.
Linear Algebra (3), General Chemistry II (4), Calculus II (4), and a Writing class (3) that I’m retaking this semester. They were all taken online during an 8 week session, but had about a 2 week overlap with high school which is where I encountered most of my problems since I was also studying for finals.
Linear algebra and chem were definitely the more actually college level courses. The writing class would have been easy I just had a professor who graded the major assignments really harsh, now that I’m retaking my grades are much better.
14 semester credits during an 8-week summer session is a large overload. A normal full time college course load would be 15 semester credits during a 15-week semester, so a comparable course load during an 8-week summer session would be 8 semester credits.
Repeating a course that you completed with a B grade looks like grade-grubbing.
Very familiar with the dynamics of the county and the specialty high achieving schools in area. I think given class size you’re likely still in a good position. Make sure the essays are amazing. UNC doesn’t defer to regular so something to keep in mind.
Trying to understand why repeating a course has such bad rep, when people are allowed to repeat a good SAT score (say 1400+) any number of times and submit the best score.
I think I would find a way to include info about why you made the choice to take so many courses in and 8-week period and what you learned about yourself from it. And how you won’t do it again.