Aquarium docent at local science center, do 6 or more hours per month
Beta club member.
took theater classes for 4 years at school, two worth honors credits. Had significant roles. Had to memorize 300 lines while managing schoolwork.
Taking ballet for 3 years, dance for about an hour a week in that class and have put on dance performances.
Take an honors credit dance class at my school, dance every day for an hour. Will be in 3+ performances this year.
Volunteered at local animal shelter for around 2 years. Would help play and socialize with kittens. Took pictures for social media adoption profiles. Fostered a cat during parvo outbreak at shelter.
Active member of Theater Club at school. Participated in two musicals that had extensive rehearsal periods, after school till like 11 pm. Planning to do a one-act and a play that I will be a part of. Will have rehearsal time after school.
Essays/LORs/Other
LOR: was written by my former UNC-alumni math teacher who awarded me my math honors award. She studied math and science, so I thought it would fit well. She seemed very excited and happy to write my letter, so I assume it’s quite good.
Essay: My main essay was an extended metaphor about my childhood development of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and how it made me fear school, and how as I grew up, I faced it in different ways and learned to become an involved, social person who’s disorder doesn’t define them. Described as “phenomenal” by my AP lit teacher.
Schools
UNCW honors college (EA) - most likely to be accepted
NC State (EA) - Acceptance is probably assumed
UNC Chapel Hill - More likely to be rejected than accepted
I think you have a safety, target, and reach. I wouldn’t assume NC State given its low acceptance rate (especially for males) but it is possible ahd if female, more than 50% likely.
I think you will get into UNCW and NC State and will not get in to UNC (mostly due to rank/gpa). I am not sure you’ll get into UNCW honors. Daughter’s friend with higher gpa (4.4), same major and same ACT score was waitlisted for honors.
Yes. I am fine. UNCW has a great program for my intended major. The merit scholarships aren’t 100% confirmed for honors college anyways. I am in state. I have shown great interest in the school. I have gotten accepted into other schools. I have gotten into out of state honors college programs with merit scholarships. I will be happy at UNCW, with or without honors. I plan to maintain high grades in college to potentially get scholarships to get my Bachelors if I do attend UNCW. I think I show great passion in my major and I strive to accomplish a lot, and I think that helps me I only posted the NC schools I applied to due to me already having acceptances for OOS options.
You can search your HS for each UNC system school (NC has only one public university system, called UNC System) how it has done in the past. Good luck!
I agree that NC State acceptance will not be a given. Many high-stat NC resident students who apply to UNC also apply to NC State. As you know, UNC is very tough to get and over the past several years NC State has also become a tougher ticket to punch. If NC State still has a “why us” supplemental essay, you should try to nail that.
Unfortunately, the UNC legacy won’t do anything for you as an NC resident, unless your family name is on a campus building.
Are you in Wake or Mecklenburg counties? Admission to UNC/NC State is more competitive from those areas due to the density of students applying and the high quality of the public & private high schools.
You’re a fine overall applicant (I would think UNCW would be a yes) - congrats on already having acceptances under your belt! As a side note, I know of two students who transferred to UNC after a year at UNCW - so if UNC is the ultimate goal, that could be another way to get there - but then again, you’ll probably fall in love with UNCW, which is also a great school.
Hi! My daughter has similar stats to yours and we are also in Guilford County. She applied to UNC, NCSU, and UNCW among others. I’m rooting for both of you!
In Common App, NCSU had “why this major and why study it at NCSU” questions for the first and second major choices. They were only 250 words so maybe wouldn’t be considered full essays, but I think these might be what CollegeNerd67 is referring to.
hello! now that decisions have come out I am curious about results for your daughter. I ended up getting rejected from UNC which wasn’t surprising , but accepted to UNCW (still waiting on honors…) and accepted into NCSU.
Congratulations! My daughter was accepted at UNCW, deferred at NCSU, and denied at UNC. We also haven’t heard back from UNCW Honors. Hopefully this week!
Thanks! Fortunately or unfortunately, her expectations tend to always be low, she is not holding her breath for UNCW Honors.
However, I do get the sense that she’ll be bummed if NCSU ultimately does not accept her, and from what I can glean from the numbers, that’s the most likely outcome at this point. I told her there’s no harm in taking the deferral spot but not to hold her breath.
We’re still waiting for one more decision as well. In the meantime, we’re proceeding to evaluate her existing options as if they are the only options.
Haha, I was just reading your post in the NCSU EA thread about your choice of major maybe making a difference in acceptance. Both of my daughter’s choices are in the College of Science.
The NCSU website says deferred candidates were determined to be qualified, but there was not enough space for them. Their CDS states that rigor, GPA, and class rank are “Very Important”. Compared to you, my daughter’s class rank is poor, she’s at about the 50th percentile. I think that is the difference.
She was deferred and not denied, which means NCSU considers her to be qualified. I’m just guessing, but I think perhaps they line the qualified candidates up by rank, accept them (by college) until they are out of places, and defer the rest.
This guess is also why I think she won’t be accepted in the RD round. Unless the average rank of the RD applicant pool is much lower, I think she’s still going to get lined up and weeded out in that round, in spite of being a qualified candidate.
Often with early acceptances, kids dig under the hood of that school and find love. The others are too late.
OP is doing marine sciences. Maybe Wilmington is the preferred choice as you’re close to water ?? Rank or pedigree isn’t everything - especially in a major like this.
I only posted the NC schools I applied to due to me already having acceptances for OOS options.