CHAPEL HILL INTERNATIONAL

 A Newsletter for International Secondary Schools

Distributed by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The oldest state university in the United States, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is considered one of the 'Public Ivies' and receives consistently high rankings in national publications.  UNC offers a wide variety of majors, a serious intellectual community, and an exciting place to live and learn.  A vibrant student body, committed professors, multicultural experiences, exciting sports, great research facilities, and a beautiful college town – UNC offers your students the complete American collegiate experience!

This is just a sampling of the praise UNC-Chapel Hill has received.  We are proud of more than 200-year tradition of strong academics. We are also pleased that the University's reputation has extended far beyond our national borders. 

Each year, we receive hundreds of applications from international students wishing to pursue their tertiary education here.  We are honored that so many students from other nations consider UNC among their university choices, and we hope you will be guiding some of your students to us this year.  This issue of Chapel Hill International will provide important information we hope will prove helpful to you.

WHO ATTENDS CAROLINA ?

International students attending UNC-Chapel Hill have become involved with every aspect of the university, from writing for the daily newspaper, heading volunteer programs, participating in musical ensembles, playing sports, and achieving academic success. for example, Kate Harris, a 2005 graduate from Georgetown, Ontario, earned a 2006 Rhodes Scholarship for advanced studies at Oxford University.

Among new students entering UNC in Fall 2007 are those coming from: Australia, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Korea, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

These students will join a truly global community with students from a variety of backgrounds and ethnicity Twenty-once percent of Carolina's students are African American, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, or American Indian.

Entrance Requirements

Admission to UNC is very competitive, and the students who have the best chances of admission are those who have successfully taken challenging academic programs, have given of themselves to school and community (e.g. in service, leadership, sports, the arts, etc.) and have competitive scores in standardized examinations. 

There is no "required" SAT-I score, but this year's admitted international students had an average of 1333 on the critical reading and math portions of the SAT. The TOEFL is required of students whose first language is not English because we do not have an ESL program. It is important for us to know that students are strongly confident in English and that language differences will not present them with difficulties. UNC considers a TOEFL score of 600 + (paper) or 250+ (computer), or 100+ (internet) to be competitive. Students must submit two essays, along with letters of recommendation from teachers and advisors.

The Admissions Committee needs sufficient information to make its decisions.  However, please discourage students from loading their application packets with irrelevant materials.  Occasionally, students will send us copies of every award certificate they have received.  Much of this does not relate to an assessment of the student's academics and distracts us from the critical information.  Please ask your students to send us only the most significant and necessary information.

Applications will be available online in August.   We encourage your students to use our online application, which is easy to use. Your students can also download the application, fill out the forms, and mail them to us.  Please go to www.admissions.unc.edu and follow the links to the application forms.

  Application checklist

ü       International application form

ü       Your school's evaluation report

ü       Teacher recommendation

ü       Official grades/marks reports

ü       Official SAT-I and TOEFL/IELTS scores

ü       Personal essays

ü       Application fee of US $70

ü       Completed financial certificate and bank statement

APPLICATION DEADLINES

We have two deadlines, and students have the same chance of admission regardless of which deadline they choose. Students have until May 1 to inform us if they plan to enroll.

Apply by:

Notification by:

Enroll by:

Nov. 1

late January

May 1

Jan. 15

late March

May 1

January 15 is the final deadline.  We cannot evaluate incomplete applications.  If your students apply late, or if they will not be taking the SAT-I or TOEFL until after January, their chances of admission will be reduced significantly.  We cannot stress strongly enough that your students should apply early ,in advance of the posted deadlines.  Students who wish to download the application forms and mail them to us should do so by December 1 to avoid the holiday postal crush.  Depending upon the postal service in your area, they may wish to consider sending their applications via one of the courier services such as FedEx or DHL.  Again, this may be another reason why applying online is the most efficient and safest procedure.

FOR AN IN-DEPTH PICTURE OF CAROLINA

please check our web page:

www.unc.edu

There is a wealth of information for you and your students!

If you need more information, have questions, or would like to discuss your students' applications, please contact the coordinator of international applications:

Andrea Felder
Senior Assistant Director of Admissions
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Office of Undergraduate Admissions
CB #2200, Jackson Hall
Chapel Hill , NC 27599-2200 USA
Telephone: 1+919-843-6156 | Fax: 1+919-962-3045
afelder@unc.edu