Navigate

Admissions: First-Year Profile

This Class Profile details information provided by UNC’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions about students who applied to Carolina, about those who were admitted and then those who enrolled in fall 2021. (Preliminary numbers usually are reported each August; these numbers were compiled after the start of the fall semester.)

  • 53,775 applied for admission (21% more than in 2020)
  • 10,344, or 19%, were admitted
  • 4,688 enrolled

Of those who enrolled:

  • 63% are female, 37% are male
  • 50% were born in North Carolina; 12% were born outside the U.S.
  • 86% have at least one parent who earned a 2- or 4-year degree
  • 50% have at least one parent who earned a graduate degree
  • 3% have no parent who earned a high school diploma
  • 37% are fluent in two or more languages; 15% speak a language other than English as their first language (4% Mandarin, 4% Spanish)
  • 15% have three or more siblings; 11% are only children
  • 17.3% of those enrolling are first-generation college students, coming from families where a parent has not graduated from a four-year school
  • 38.4% are receiving need-based aid while 5.1% are receiving merit-based aid
  • 8% are affiliated with the military
  • 942 students entered Carolina as transfer students

Academics

Class Rank

SAT Scores

Geography

Geographic distribution is not necessarily tied to residency status or citizenship. The number of students who qualified for admission as in-state students differs from the number of admitted students who have North Carolina addresses as their primary residence, according to the admissions office. (For example: A student might live with one parent out of state while the other parent is a North Carolina resident and taxpayer.)

School and Community Activities

Art, Culture, Dance 1,148 24%
Athletics (JV/Varsity/club) 3,187 68%
Community Service 3,810 81%
Debate and Speech 481 10%
Environmental Club/Activism 417 9%
Family Responsibilities 452 10%
Foreign Exchange/Study Abroad 102 2%
Internship 692 15%
Journalism/School Publication 436 9%
LGBTQ 71 2%
Music (Vocal and Instrumental) 1,228 26%
Religious 1,032 22%
Research 378 8%
Robotics, Math/Science/Computer Science Clubs 1,108 24%
Social Justice 393 8%
Student Government 1,341 29%
Theater/Drama 422 9%
Work (paid) 2,639 56%

Intended Major

Biology 18.8%
Business Administration 13.5%
Undecided 6.1%
Psychology 5.5%
Computer Science 5.3%
Political Science 4.9%
Biomedical and Health Sciences Engineering 4.0%
Chemistry 3.5%
Economics 3.5%
Neuroscience 3.4%
Nursing 3.4%
Exercise and Sport Science 2.5%
Mathematics 2.0%
Media and Journalism 1.8%
Health Policy and Management 1.8%
Environmental Sciences 1.6%
English and Comparative Literature 1.4%
Pharmacy 1.4%
Physics 1.4%
History 1.0%

Career Interest

Physician 18.5%
Business executive 10.7%
Scientific researcher 6.8%
Lawyer 5.3%
Computer programmer 4.0%
Engineer 3.6%
Nurse 3.0%
Policymaker or government employee 2.9%
Business owner 2.6%
Writer or journalist 2.3%
Dentist 2.3%
Clinical psychologist 2.0%
Therapist (physical, occupational, speech) 2.0%
Pharmacist 1.4%
Foreign service worker 0.9%

The Carolina Alumni Review has reported on admissions regularly since 1996; all of that coverage is available to GAA members in the magazine’s digital archive at alumni.unc.edu/admissions, with all recent reports also online at alumni.unc.edu/news_category/admissions. Complete editions of the Review can be found at alumni.unc.edu/CARarchive.