UNC Offers Early-Action Admission to Almost 7,000

Posted on Feb. 9, 2016

A total of 6,948 candidates from a record first-deadline pool of 19,842 have been offered admission to this fall’s entering class.

The pool was 16 percent larger than last year, marking the fourth consecutive year that Carolina has set a record for the number of early-action applicants. Students from North Carolina applying for an early-action decision increased 18 percent from a year earlier.

A total of 35,821 students (meeting either the first or second deadline) have applied for first-year admission, setting the 11th consecutive record of first-year applications and up 12 percent from last year. Decisions for second-deadline applicants will be released by the end of March. The University expects 4,100 new first-year students to enroll in August.

The admitted students’ accomplishments include winning regional, state and national awards for debating, acting, writing, musical performance, mathematics, science and athletics.

Eighty-four percent of all admitted students whose schools report class rank are in the top 10 percent of their class. Nearly half are ranked in the top 10 students of their high school class.

Admitted students hail from 96 North Carolina counties, 48 states and 21 countries. Twelve percent would represent the first generation of their family to graduate from college. Of those who reported race or ethnicity, 36 percent identified themselves as students of color. Three percent (215) are international students.

All told, UNC had applicants from all 100 North Carolina counties, all 50 states and the District of Columbia and 124 other countries. At least 11,307 of the applicants are North Carolina residents, an increase of 10 percent from last year. Applications from global students totaled 3,778 and reflected an increase of 19 percent from last year.

Applicants from low-income households, as indicated by their qualification for an application fee waiver, rose to 4,409 from 3,488, a 26 percent increase. The fee-waiver guidelines roughly parallel the thresholds for the Carolina Covenant, the University’s groundbreaking program that promises a debt-free education to all eligible admitted students who apply for aid on time.

For the past two years, Covenant Scholars have comprised 13 percent of the enrolling class. The University also received 5,764 applications from first-generation-college students, which is an increase of 15 percent from last year.

Students who applied in October received their decisions by the end of January. Students who applied in January will receive their decisions by the end of March.

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The Carolina Alumni Review has included in-depth reporting about admissions in each March/April issue since 1997, available online.

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