<p>I definitely agree with eadad. Almost everyone who applies out of state has great stats. The way to get the extra edge (after four years of hard work in high school which you can’t really change) are the essays.</p>
<p>Take time. Do different drafts. Go over them with a teacher. Like eadad said, they really do remember an unusually good or enjoyable essay</p>
<p>Seriously. Essays are a huge part of consideration for merit scholarships. When I got a call to come down for scholarship day (even before I knew I got in, that was a little scary, haha) the man I spoke to actually remembered my essay complimented me on it.</p>
<p>All I could think was, “How many essays could that man have read?” </p>
<p>Any way, moral of the story is: Essays matter, especially at UNC.</p>