Hey everyone, I’m a class of 2025 student who’s about to apply to colleges in the state of NC, including:
Chapel Hill
Wake Forest
NC State
Appalachian State
UNC Charlotte
I’m in the International Baccalaureate program, specifically in the Career Program with the pathway of business/finance. My intended major is business administration, finance, or economics depending on the school. I will be a first generation college student, and I live in a rural area.
My personal essay is centered around my experience of having IBS and how it affected my psyche and concentration throughout high school. I highlight a lack of motivation that was present during my sophomore year, and how I was able to traverse it going into my junior and senior year.
As of right now, my weighted GPA is around 3.8, and about 3.3 unweighted. but it has rapidly improved since my Sophomore year. It was a 3.5 weighted around that time, and I project it will be about 4.1 weighted by the time I graduate high school. It’s very low for a Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, or NC State student, and it really haunts me.
In my personal essay, I was able to tie my academic improvement in with an intellectual improvement as well. My only time of solace during my sophomore year was when I researched topics such as finance, economics, and political science, and my essay delves into the applications of my research into actual schooling, and how I improved. I don’t want the woes of my sophomore year to define who I am.
I may go test optional for my top 3 (UNC Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, NC State) but I’m not sure. My first attempt on the SAT was an 1170, and I’ll take the SAT again several more times.
My biggest weaknesses are my GPA and potential test scores, but in a more holistic sense I believe I have a lot more.
In high school, I’ve only taken honors, AP, and IB classes besides PE.
Some of my AP/IB Classes Include:
AP GoPo
AP Human Geo
AP Psych
AP Stats
IB HOA
IB English
IB PPS
IB Business
Like I mentioned before, I had a very mediocre sophomore year, but since then I’ve consistently been a straight A student. This year, I’m taking the second part of those IB classes and principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics at my local community college.
For EC’s, I am the co-president of my schools FBLA. I also managed a portfolio for an FBLA National Stock Market Competition, which was consistently in the top 10% of the competition. I am also a member of my schools DECA, Debate Club, and Stock Market Club.
For hobbies, like I mentioned before, I love to research financial markets, economic data, and political statistics and history. Kind of weird, but yeah. Through a custodial account, I have generated massive returns on investments and I have career aspirations rooted in financial services. I am also writing a allegorical political science novel at the moment. I really have passion for these fields.
I have accumulated more than 200 service hours during my high school years, including volunteering at STEM Camps and summer schools. I have also engaged been engaged in several different business/political science opportunities that involved relative prestige.
My letters of rec will come from my former AP Psychology Teacher (who worked on Wall Street and has kind of acted as a financial mentor) and my IB Business teacher.
Overall, I feel like I’m a bit of a wild card when it comes to admissions. On one hand, I have fair EC’s and passion for the fields I like, but on the other hand my GPA is fundamentally flawed but ever improving.
I try to be realistic, so I feel like I’m going to be deferred/waitlisted from my top 3. However, if I continue to improve through the second semester of my senior year, I feel that I may be accepted to at least one of them at some point of the process. What do you guys think? Is there any hope for me?