Michigan has the advantage of being about 10,000-11,000 students larger so notwithstanding the 18% cap, it is easier to get into OOS since there are more spots and more willingness to bring OOS in. NC and Michigan are almost the same population. Both great schools and rankings between the two don’t mean much. My daughter would not even consider another OOS public school with UNC being the in-state option. I don’t really see it in the news, but UNC has resisted growing much larger to accommodate either additional in-state or OOS. The UNC system has grown a lot, but state seems to be keeping Chapel Hill around the same size. I do feel sorry for people with small kids now. In 10 years at a 5% increase in applications a year, you are talking about 66,000 applications. It’s daunting enough with 41,000 applicants for 4,200 enrolled.
@HRSMom Yes! I have a 32 ACT. Thank you all for answering but I just wanted to make sure yall knew that I wasn’t saying there was a gap I was talking about comparing myself to the other OOS kids and how nervous I am about where I stand compared to people getting in. UNC for me is not about the name or the prestige… it’s just where I feel I need to be in my next chapter, so you can probably understand my uneasiness about that maybe not being possible.
We did get a bit off topic, but the point is not everyone has 35 ACTs for OOS. A good well rounded application and essays with good scores is important. It truly is holistic and hopefully your desire and love for UNC will shine through and convince admissions. It is very normal to be anxious and you should prepare yourself to not get in and hopefully you do. My daughter has very good stats and is in-state and she was a nervous wreck too. College admissions produces way too much anxiety these days. Good luck!
@Another-HS-Senior While there’s no doubt that UNC is a great school, there are so many other great schools where you can live the next chapter of your life. I know it sounds cliche, but you can be just as successful at any of them. It’s harder to see that when you have one favorite, but I’d encourage you to look at the others on your list a little more closely. You might be surprised at what you see this time. And UNC has a strong transfer program. As they say, no one ever asks you where you started college, only where you received your degree.
@jdogNC and @snorkelmom yall have given me the best advice I have gotten so far! Thank you for taking the time to type that
My OOS daughter got in with a 32 ACT, gpa 4.5 and good EC’s. The tipping point my have well been her love for UNC and how she showcased her “Heel Prints” on the open ended activity supplement. Congratulations to all that got in.
Two years ago, my OOS kid got in EA with a 33 ACT and great stuff in the other areas…my 2nd kid is currently deferred (and not assuming he’ll get in). I’ve been thinking a lot about UNC over the past couple of years and the gap between stats & between tuition between IS and OOS is starting to bother me. Yes, i understand how state schools work…taxes pay for the tuition difference…but it feels more galling, for some reason, to have a kid in a classroom paying $40,000 + a year while surrounded by kids at - $20,000…If you’re going to pay that tuition, it might just be easier to attend a private school where all are equal…
I would argue that all are not equal at the private schools. My kid could be paying full price while the kid next to her is paying nothing due to need based aid. There is whole discussion that could be had on that. Plus, every state school has in state and out of state tuition that differes wildly. The UC’s, UM, UVA, etc. CA people are upset because too many OOS take their kids spots because the UC system needs cash. Throw affirmative action, the Asian community upset that they have higher stats than most and are discriminated against. Its something for everyone. As an instate parent, I pay my taxes and my kids stats are same or better than most OOS, so I am fine. Hard to justify paying and extra $50k/yr for private and getting AP credits like UNC gives.
@jdogNC theres a disparity between the in state and out of state students on average at unc. in state students are accepted with 27 act while out of state students are rejected with 35 act. there shouldn’t be that much of a disparity in overall quality of students. 27-33 act is a pretty big range for unc while umich is only 30-34 so less disparity. also unc doesn’t have an engineering school so where do nc students go for engineering? do they pay an extra 50k/year to go out of state?
Students who attend private schools do not all pay the same. Many get some form of FA. UNC also gives good OOS FA.
My D is an OOS student at UNC and I asked her about the difference between instate and OOS students since it has been mentioned here a few times. She got mad at me and told me that I was “elitist.” I explained to her that I was curious ( and I actually was).
My daughter is very happy there. She has a lot of smart friends from both NC and OOS. One of her NC friends is a Robertson scholar, several NC friends are in honors ( my D is not), while a few others have started unbelievable extra curricular activities across the country. My D recently got accepted into her competitive and highly ranked major, and she will also graduate with all of the pre-med requirements in case she decides to apply to med school. She is doing very well academically, however she works hard and it is definitely not a walk in the park.
She has had two research positions and will get another one through her major. She was recommended for several internships and has very close relationships with her professors. She teaches an extra help class. I totally understand that the school is not for everybody, however she loves the balance and was not interested in a highly competitive environment. She literally is a science nerd all morning, listens to the POTUS during the day, and cheers her team at night. She is busy all the time, which she loves.
All state schools will be priced differently for IS versus OOS. There will also be a wider range of stats when you attend a state school. This years entering class has an ACT 75% of 33 which I think is high. Is she sitting with kids who may have gotten lower scores than she did? Yes, but she doesn’t care and it hasn’t mattered. Is she with kids who earned higher scores? Absolutely.
Had my D attended one of our state schools she would never in a million years have the experience that she is having now. She could have attended a competitive private school but I was afraid of the intensity- it would stress her out.
UNC mid 50% ACT is currently 28-33. My OOS daughter has absolutely no issues. It is true that there is no school of engineering. They have biomedical engineering in conjunction with NC State.
@SouthernHope: I don’t know that the gap in stats between IS and OOS students is all that significant at UNC-CH. If you look at Section C9 the Common Data Set for UNC, the ACT composite scores are distributed as follows: 30-36, 51.8%; 24-29, 42.2%; 18-23, 5.8%; 12-17, 0.2%. OOS students make up no more than 18% of an entering freshman class; and most of those students are probably going to fall within the 30-36 ACT composite score range, with perhaps a few – legacies, D-1 athletes, some URM, first-generation, etc. – falling in the 24-29 ACT range (or lower). You still are going to have IS students far outnumbering the OOS students in that top ACT composite cohort; so I would argue that there is not a significant gap between the stats of IS and OOS students at UNC. If the OOS students at UNC are compared with those at another large public university in North Carolina – East Carolina University, for example, then you would see a big gap in stats: For ECU (a/k/a “Easy U”), the ACT composite scores are distributed as follows: 30-36, 2.1%; 24-29, 25.7%; 18-23, 68.3%; 12-17, 3.9%.
UNC and NC State formed an agreement many many years ago where UNC can’t have engineering. Instate go to NC State for engineering which is actually a very good school and pretty hard to get into. UNC has never had traditional engineering and probably won’t.
Way too much is made of any apparent disparity of instate and OOS. The history and reputation of UNC has been built by the mix of students it has, which includes mostly instate and 18% OOS. ACT and SAT averages don’t define students intelligence. Those that focus too much on the stats are going to be surprised in the real world, and any OOS at UNC that thinks they are better than the rest of the students because they had a higher ACT score are probably not the students that will do well and have the great UNC experience.
@jdogNC I agree with you 100%. There is way too much talk about disparity between IS and OOS and anybody who is hyper- focused on ACT scores will absolutely be surprised once they enter the real world.
To the OP, I was accepted EA OOS with a 31 ACT, and received 2 Excel Carolina opportunities. Test scores are a small piece of the puzzle, and I see too many on CC all too consumed with them. Relax…
There is likely a selection bias here, too. Many of the people who visit collegeconfidential are high achieving and extremely focused on school. It’s pretty likely that many of the 35s being rejected are the people here who post it. Just a guess 
Disappointed that my son chose ED with UNC. We are OOS. He is in the top 1 % of his class . He will graduate as Valedictorian a class of 460 with a 4.0 non weighted scale with all AP and honors courses . He also scored a 33 on the ACT. He was involved in sports and clubs and also volunteered with the Boys and a girls club. He was not accepted to UNC but was offered a direct admission to the Kelley School of Business and Hutton Honor College at IU. We are still waiting to hear from others. Just a disappointment that they only accept 18% OOS.
Congratulations on your son’s acceptance to Kelley and the honors college at IU! It is too bad that UNC only accepts 18% from OOS- your son is obviously qualified. Congrats once again!