Application Requirements
All students, regardless of their residency and/or citizenship, apply to UNC using The Common Application. The application will ask you for more information, including your personal biographical information, parent and sibling information, educational history, and extracurricular activities. There are also three writing samples: one essay on The Common Application and two short answer responses on the UNC-Chapel Hill Member Page.
Please be sure to refer to our deadlines. For all students, and especially for students abroad, it is important to get an early start on the application process and to meet required application and material deadlines.
You must also submit the $80 application fee along with The Common Application and required materials. The Common Application accepts online payments with credit cards and electronic checks.
Secondary School/High School Transcripts
We understand that curriculums differ from country to country, and our staff is sensitive to the intricacies of each curriculum. All students will be expected to have completed the pre-university curriculum in their country prior to enrolling at UNC-Chapel Hill. For example, students from a British-based education system will need to have completed A Levels, and students in a French-based system will complete the Baccalaureate.
In order for us to review your application, we require four years of school records: the year you are currently enrolled in (your final year of your pre-university curriculum) and the three previous years. In some countries, secondary school is only three years. If is the case, we need your records from your final year of middle school for your application to be complete.
A complete transcript will have the courses you have taken and your grades/marks for each course. We request you send in your exam scores if your country has these (like GCSEs, etc.), but we also require records of your internal marks.
All transcripts must be translated to English. If your school does not issue English transcripts, students must have an official English translation made and submit this in addition to the official copy from the school.
Secondary School Official Report/Recommendation
All applicants are required to submit a statement from an official at their secondary school. This is often a University Counselor at your school, or an advisor, headmaster, or other official. Please note that this must come from someone at your secondary school. We will not accept statements from private counseling companies or agents.
Teacher Letter of Recommendation
We require one letter of recommendation from a teacher who has taught you in your secondary school.
SAT or ACT
We require all applicants, regardless of where they are from, to submit SAT or ACT scores. Our SAT code is 5816 and our ACT code is 3162. We have no preference between the SAT or ACT. If you send us both scores, we will look at whichever score is higher in our review of your application.
The optional writing sections of both exams are not required, and we do not require SAT II Subject Tests for admission. If you have taken these optional exams and you choose to self-report them on your application or send us your official scores, we’ll review them as supplemental test scores.
English Language Tests
All non-US citizens and non-permanent resident students for whom English is not their first language must submit test scores to demonstrate their English proficiency. We will accept the TOEFL, IELTS or PTE.
• TOEFL minimum is 100
• IELTS minimum is 7.0
• PTE minimum is 68
We do not waive this score requirement based on grades in English courses or SAT/ACT scores. If you have lived in an English-speaking country or have attended an English-speaking school for more than six years, we may waive this requirement. To request this waiver, email us at unchelp@admissions.unc.edu with a description of your circumstances. Waivers are granted on a case-by-case basis.
Interviews
We do not require or offer interviews as part of our admissions process. However, non-native English speakers are welcome to submit unscripted interviews with third-party services such as InitialView or Naviance Advantage. This is not a requirement and will only be used as supplemental information as needed by the Admissions Committee.
