Senior Katie Kennedy was leaving a winter track meet in January when her friend, senior Haley Staton, texted her that the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill acceptance emails had been sent. Kennedy asked Staton to log into her account to find out if she had been accepted.
After jumping around screaming at the news of her acceptance, Kennedy asked Staton to room with her, and then she went to her car to see if her boyfriend, William Crouch, had received his acceptance.
They celebrated more as she heard Crouch’s father say, “Congratulations” through the phone.
Ten seniors will attend UNC-Chapel Hill next year. Other students include Olivia Slagle, Trevor Smith, Sam Polovina, Spencer Hatfield, Logan Byrd, Mali Khan and Alex Jones.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Carolina ever since I was little,” Crouch said. “I’ve always been a big basketball fan, and I’ve been to the campus several times so I’m very familiar with it. The campus is beautiful, and it just kind of feels like home away from home.”
In 2014, six seniors from West enrolled at UNC-Chapel Hill. This year’s 10 seniors will join them along with the 18,350 undergraduates and 10,785 graduate and professional students.
“I’ll know a lot of people so that will be very nice because I won’t have to just go and be completely on my own,” Khan said. “I will always have people that I know I can talk to, so it will be comforting with all the people going there.”
Chapel Hill is sometimes referred to as a “public Ivy” school by college search websites, meaning it is consistently ranked highly but has lower costs than many other highly-ranked schools. Chapel Hill only accepts 28 percent of its applicants.
“I was excited, and I was proud, but I didn’t feel scared of getting rejected because I’ve worked hard through high school,” Byrd said. “Given the statistics and the research I did when I looked into the admissions of the school, I felt I was a good candidate, so it was really just a feeling of pride and confirmation.”
Chapel Hill had a record of 31,929 first-year applicants for Fall 2015, the 10th consecutive year for record -setting applications.
“When I found out I had been accepted, I was relieved because I hadn’t really applied to many safe schools,” Khan said. “All of the other ones were reach schools, so if I didn’t get into Chapel Hill, I wouldn’t really have anywhere to go. It was a relief to be accepted.”
More than 3,000 of Carolina’s undergrad students produce original research in 140 courses in humanities, natural and social sciences and professional schools.
“I’m excited to be immersed in the wealth of education, research and art that is in the Triangle area,” Byrd said. “Although it’s a little bit intimidating, I’m looking forward to learning about myself and what I want to do with my life, and I think that Chapel Hill will offer me the people that I need to do that and to explore myself and my interests.”
The seniors are all looking forward to aspects of Tar Heel life. UNC-Chapel Hill offers a diverse environment in both education and extracurriculars. There are more than 70 majors and minors in 60 departments, 68 doctoral programs and 112 master’s programs.
“I have a cousin that goes there, and she’s graduating this year,” Khan said. “She really likes it. There’s a big community for Muslims there so that’s going to be very nice because there isn’t really one here. It will be good to get to know people who share my beliefs.”
UNC-Chapel Hill, founded in 1793, was the nation’s first public university. According to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, it has ranked among the 100 best U.S. public colleges and universities that offer students high-quality academics at an affordable price for 14 years in a row.
“I’m excited, but I’m also really nervous, even though I know a lot of people going there it’s going to be a whole new thing being independent and away from my family,” Khan said. “It’s also a good thing that it’s only four hours away so I can come back often.”
Some of these 10 seniors are going into college knowing what they want to study, others do not know yet.
“I’m thinking about studying political science, but I’m not totally sure yet,” Khan said. “I know I want to do something in the field of international relations.”
Byrd said, “Right now my intended major is English, but given my previous experience in English classes, I don’t feel that it is necessarily the right thing. I am more drawn to liberal arts degrees.”
By Caroline Ward
