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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

First Deadline Down, One to Go

A big thank you to all of you who submitted your applications for our first deadline. We really are honored that you have included us in your college search, and we look forward to getting to know you better through your applications.

Now that you have submitted your applications, we have to read them all! We take our holistic review process very seriously and work very hard to be sure that every application receives a thorough and thoughtful review. You can be assured that at least two people will read your application; many are read by three or more people. For all the members of the Admissions Committee, the next month and a half will be extremely busy, to say the least. This is the time of year when my "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster reminds me to just keep chugging. A few weeks from now I will look at this comparably small stack of folders sitting on my desk and sigh with envy.

A couple things to keep in mind if you are a first deadline applicant:

We are working through bins and bins of mail. Really, our mail room looks like a tornado ripped through it, scattering paper all around. (Not really, it's actually all very meticulously organized. A miracle of organization, in fact, thanks to our great mail center staff. But still, it's a lot of paper.) If you mailed in any part of your application, it may take up to six weeks for us to get it properly filed and accounted for. If you get one of those "Urgent: Missing Application Materials" emails, DON'T PANIC. If an item that you mailed in is still listed as missing on your Homepage, DON'T PANIC. Most likely, the item in question is still making its way to its proper home in the little manila folder that has your name on it. If it is still listed as missing six weeks after you put it in the mail, just give us a call.

November SAT/ACT scores will automatically be considered with first deadline applications, no matter how early you submitted your application. All you need to do is have the testing center mail us the scores, and we'll be sure they are taken into consideration.

I can't think of anything else. Any questions? Just let me know.

For those of you who haven't applied yet, keep in mind our final deadline of January 15 will creep up faster than you might expect. Let us know how we can help.
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13 comments:

  1. Hi Julie,

    Let me start off by saying how great i think it is that Carolina students are blogging about their college careers and putting it in perspective.

    I am a High School Junior. I reside in West Virginia. I always have had this bond w/ UNC. I visited Chapel Hill the summer of 2005 and instantly fell in love w/ the campus. I have been back every summer touring and talking with admissions counselors. Basically, Carolina is my dream school. It has everything I want in a college. the great academic prestige, high graduation rates, beautiful campus, competitive athletic programs,etc. As an Out-of-Stater, I have heard that if your SAT scores are not insanely high or you don't have a 4.0, no need to apply. Is this in any way true? I so much want to be a part of the Carolina Family and be affiliated with this great university. Are my chances of getting accepted as a transfer student better? Is it possible to work hard at anther university and re-apply to Carolina if I am rejected initially?

    As for me in particular, I have a 3.8 gpa. I'm in the top 15% of my class. Ive taken the most competitive courses my high school offers and have strong extra-curriculars. Thanks again for your time and help.

    ReplyDelete

  2. Hi Aaron,

    Thanks for visiting our blogs--I'm so glad you've found them helpful. It's also great to hear you've enjoyed your visits to our campus and are planning to apply.

    Admission is pretty competitive for Carolina, but certainly not impossible. We get so many incredible students that apply for admission--and many more great out-of-state students than we have space for. There's no formula for admission--no thresholds for GPA or SAT. But we do look for students that are challenging themselves in a strong curriculum and distinguishing themselves both inside and outside the classroom.

    I'm glad you asked about transfer admission. If we have to deny a student for first-year admission, we absolutely encourage them to apply for transfer admission after a year or two at another school. The competition is less fierce as we receive far fewer applicants. And transfer students bring a great perspective to campus too.

    Best of luck with the rest of your junior year. We look forward to seeing your application next year. Take care!
    Julie

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  3. Thanks a lot for all your help Julie. I look forward to hearing from Carolina soon and keeping in touch with you guys.

    Go Heels!

    ReplyDelete

  4. hi!

    I am an out-of-state applicant and have already submitted my application for the November 3rd deadline. I just found out this week that I was selected as a Coca-Cola Scholar Semi-Finalist, which only goes to about 2000 out of the 75000 applicants. Is it worth trying to forward this achievement on to be included with my application or is that even possible?

    thank you!!
    andrea

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  5. Hi.

    How do you decided who gets in and who doesn't? This looks like a lot of folders, and I feel like there are even more than that. Who reads them? How do you decide who gets in and who doesn't? Is there a point system or something? I'm really nervous about submitting my Regular Decision Application and I'm just curious to know how you decide...

    ReplyDelete

  6. Hello!

    Andrea--
    I'd recommend that you send a quick email to unchelp@admissions.unc.edu describing the scholarship and your achievement. We'll do our best to include it with your application. Thanks and congratulations on your scholarship!

    Taisha--
    It is a lot of folders and we have a whole team of people here who evaluate applications--great people from all different backgrounds who work together to make thoughtful and fair decisions. We don't use any kind of quantitative point system when making our decisions; it's a very holistic review where we consider the entire person, not just numbers or a specific set of achievements.

    Best of luck with your application and we look forward to learning more about you!

    Julie

    ReplyDelete

  7. Julie,

    In the case of Andrea, if her application has already been reviewed, will it get a second review after that addition of the scholarship? I might be sending in something, and my application was submitted in October.

    ReplyDelete

  8. Hi Anonymous,

    If additional materials arrive this long after the deadline, we can't promise they'll be considered with your application. If it's something really significant though, I encourage you to send it along. There are a lot of applications we haven't gotten around to yet. :)

    If you want to give me more specifics about what you're considering sending in, just shoot me an email at jsizemore@admissions.unc.edu.

    Thanks!
    Julie

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  10. Hi!
    My name is Natalie Afonina and I can't stress enough how happy i am that I've found this blog.
    I just wanted to complement whoever is in charge of the information and layout, because the writing style and all the e-mail updates makes this a much more personalized experience for me. I actually feel like there is a person with their own personality and life behind the e-mail.
    On another note, I was wondering what the statistic is for the % accepted of applicants who are accepted out-of-state early decision.
    Thank you very much for the time and effort you place into this blog and into answering our pestering questions!
    -natalie (Seattle, WA)

    ReplyDelete

  11. Hi Natalie,

    Thanks so much for such a nice comment. My colleague, Julie Sizemore, is responsible for this blog - and she IS a real person. In fact, she's a really great person - I'm writing this, because I know she wouldn't say that herself. Here a link to meet her (and other real people) in our office. Well, I'm off to committee review....

    http://unc-admissions.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

    Take care,
    Erin Breese
    Senior Assistant Director of Admissions

    ReplyDelete

  12. Hi!
    My name is Sharon, a senior from NYC, and I applied to UNC's first deadline on November 3rd. I am very anxious to get my results back. However, I am unsure on how I would be informed. Would it be through email or by mail, or would it be on my homepage? Also, around what time on January 15th would UNC release their decisions?
    Thank You!

    ReplyDelete

  13. Hi Sharon,

    Thanks for writing and applying to UNC. I think all of your questions will be answered in our Director's post, "Decisions, decisions, decisions" and the subsequent comments. If you have other questions, just let us know.

    -Erin Breese

    ReplyDelete

Welcome! We're happy to answer your questions and hear your comments. If you have a specific question, it's very helpful if you include your first name (or a screen name) so we can respond to you. Thank you!

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