Chance Me! - North Carolina State University (In-State) [4.0 GPA, top 2% rank, engineering]

Chance Me / Match Me
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1

Hey! I’m a junior in high school and am planning on applying for EA at NC State. I have received As in all of the courses below and planned out my schedule for senior year. Assuming I follow through with my plans for the remainder of high school, these should be my stats by the time I apply.

Demographics
US citizen, public high school, urban county

Intended Major(s)
Chemical engineering or biomedical engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
4.0 UW GPA on a 4.0 scale
• Taking the SAT in June and expecting a 1460-1500 based on practice tests
• Class rank: 9 out of 574

HS coursework

8 APS
8 AS-levels (Cambridge International Ed)

Freshman Year
CIE English General Paper AS

  • 5 honors classes
  • 2 standards (including PE)

Sophomore Year
AP African American Studies
AP Calculus AB
AP Government and Politics
CIE Thinking Skills AS
CIE Environmental Management AS

  • 1 honors
  • 1 standard

Junior Year
AP Calculus BC
AP Computer Science Principles
AP United States History
CIE Psychology AS
CIE Global Perspectives AS
CIE English Language AS

  • 1 honors
  • 1 standard

Senior Year
AP Statistics
AP Computer Science A
CIE English Literature AS
CIE Chemistry AS

  • 2 CPCC classes

Awards
MVP of girls’ cross-country team for 2 consecutive years

Extracurriculars
3yrs of cross-country
Girls’ cross-country captain
Member of Math Honor Society for 4yrs
Member of Hispanic Student Association for 3yrs
Member of Student Council for 2yrs
Member of National Honor Society for 2yrs
Member of Science Honor Society for for ½yr
~300 volunteering hours by fall 2025 (~80 hours from tutoring STEM subjects)
2yrs of FRC on strategy/project management sub-team
Part-time sales associate
Working on securing a STEM-related internship over the summer

Essays/LORs/Other
1 very strong LOR + 1 decent LOR

Schools
NCSU (EA), A&T, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, ECU

Are there any ways I can strengthen my application? I’m aware that I’m severely lacking in leadership/officer positions and awards but I’m struggling to secure more of these before NCSU’s EA deadline.

2

You don’t need titles. You need impact. And tenure. You have it. So no worry.

Why UNC ? If Chem Engineering, you’ll get NC State. UNC doesn’t have, of course.

If unsure, UNC limits your options.

In state, only NC State and NC A&T are accredited for chem and the same two for bio plus UNC.

What’s your budget because you could go OOS if your SAT comes in for $20k all in at Alabama, UAH, Miss State and more.

Or for $40k or so go to a top ChemE school at UDel.

Personally I think NC State will happen but you need to pick your backups based on who offers and is accredited.

Good luck.

3

Your post/thread title and first sentence seem pretty clear. You are applying EA and asking about NC State. Given that you are instate and have a strong record, I think your chances are very, very strong, especially with the state of NC mandate that 82% of admitted students be from instate. Yes schools like to see leadership roles, but continuity and active participation in activities is also valued. You have time to be selected for a leadership position should you want that. You already are captain of your x country team. And you hold down a job. Barring some weird fluke, I think you are solid. Congrats

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Note that NCSU admits to Engineering First Year (undeclared). Student must later compete for admission to specific majors; biomedical engineering appears to be more competitive than chemical engineering: CODA Statistics | College of Engineering . Note that AP scores are converted to grades for this purpose; scores less than 5 may be detrimental if applying to more competitive majors: Join a Department - Change of Degree Application (CODA) | College of Engineering

Of the NC publics, NCSU and NC A&T have both biomedical and chemical engineering, while UNC-CH has biomedical engineering but not chemical engineering. ECU and UNC-C have neither, although UNC-C has several other kinds of engineering and ECU has general engineering.

5

Yes, this is why OP, while a good shot at NC State, has to work on their safeties - so having a budget can help us give ideas…plus desires - do they want to be close, etc.

Or perhaps they’d use NC A&T as that barbell to NC State. And that would be enough - the target and the safety.

This is more the - just in case - as I think NC State is likely but to your point, would they be ok with (are they aware of) the secondary admissions.

Of course, the SAT score is still to come.

6

You were a school sport captain, so that is leadership. The volunteering will look great (especially for UNC). I think you’re a strong candidate for both, but also should focus on getting a high test score.

You’re not from Wake or a Charlotte-area county are you? If so, that’s more of a crapshoot. We found kids did very well at all of these schools from our urban district.

When we visited NC State, they said you want a high test score for engineering. UNC, despite being test optional, definitely prefers students with (good) scores and admits them at much higher frequencies than those who are test optional.

UNC really looks closely at essays, so make sure they are meaningful and genuine.

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Isn’t submitting an SAT score optional? Certainly if it’s strong, it should be submitted.

Question for the OP – are you asking for other schools to be considered and are you asking about finances or are you simply asking about your chances at NC State (where you state you are applying EA) and how to strengthen your application? If the latter, the rest of this may be off topic for your question.

8

No foreign language? Or did I miss that somehow?

You are an instate applicant. This is a well balanced list of your instate options. As you know…NCState and UNCCH are your most challenging, but you are a good student. The other two should be sure things (in my opinion)

Do you want suggestions for additional colleges elsewhere?

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Please remember that repeating talking points and getting in the last word are considered debate, which is against ToS. If you find yourself doing so, it is time to step away and allow others to contribute or wait for the OP to return with more questions. Thank you for your understanding.

11

I’m currently limited to in-state options due to my parents’ preferences. I originally considered applying to UNC because they have a decent selection of engineering majors if I’m not able to study ChemE at one of the two universities in NC that offer it.

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Unfortunately, I am from a Charlotte area county. That fact slightly worries me because I have been told there are a great deal of competitive/overqualified applicants here.

13

I’ve taken Spanish as my foreign classes but I glossed over that fact because they were both standards courses.

I would really appreciate suggestions for colleges, especially safety schools.

14

UNC has one. I think you meant UNCC.

Ask your parents if in state is solely due to money. Or distance.

At U of SC, for example, they have both majors and great merit aid and it’s not far out of state. VCU is another if distance an issue. Both are close to NC.

If it’s a cost thing, with your stats you have options further south at $20kish. Schools like Alabama, UAH, Mississippi State, and more.

There’s lots of safe schools for you but it’d help to know budget and distance. Can you find out why your parents want you in state - is it one of those two reasons ?

Again, I think NC State happens but I think it’s great to be able to have safeties to deliver what you want bs having to settle major wise. So I note those others for back up purposes.

And A&T, if you are open to it, definite happens.

Best of luck.

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Finances isn’t my primary concern ATM. I’m mainly concerned about my chances at NC State since ChemE (my preferred major) is offered at few schools in NC. That being said, I’ve also considered BME as an alternative since more NC schools appear to be offering this major.

16

More than ChemE is UNC. That’s it.

ChemE is nc state and nc A&T.

Biomed is the same with UNC-CH which will be a harder admit than state.

If finances aren’t the issue, then maybe it’s distance. So the two I just recommended are closest I think. UTK is another. If you want smaller, Tenn Tech has chemical.

None are horribly far from Charlotte but U of SC is a safety and closest so maybe that’s what you pair with NC State to get an assured and close admit in your major of choice.

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Optional, yes, but statistics say that kids who submit a score are much more likely to get in, so submitting a good score is definitely a benefit.

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@kyky6 are you interested in apply to colleges that are not in NC?

I think you have a well varied list, and that’s what matters. It sounds like the costs instate for you are fine with your family. Is that correct?

19

NC A&T looks likely, since it says that frosh admits had an average 3.766 weighted GPA (but does not specify the weighting method). Your 4.0 unweighted GPA looks like it is well above that.

20

OP is seeking alternatives. Given the major, there’s one safety or alternative in state - which was noted and is an HBCU. If it works then great. If not and those are the majors of choice, her safety will need to be OOS but the closest were noted in case it’s a distance concern of the parents.

I of SC is also closer to Charlotte than Raleigh - by a good clip.