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August 17, 2022

UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Tips [2022 – 2023]

UNC is ranked 5th in primary care education and 25th in research by U.S. News & World Report . UNC strives to reach underserved populations and reduce health care disparities. Their medical students receive leadership training as part of their curriculum.

The main change in UNC’s secondary application is that each essay has been put on a strict diet. Where you previously were allowed 400 words to answer each question, this year’s application allows you only 250 words per response, except for #5 which last year and this year allows for 200 words. Concision is critical.

UNC Chapel Hill Medical School 2022-23 secondary application essay questions

Unc medical school secondary essay #1.

Tell us about a peer who is deserving of recognition but whose accomplishments may not be acknowledged adequately. Why do you think their accomplishments have gone relatively unacknowledged? (250 words)

There are many ways to answer this question. The most important aspect of this prompt, however, is that it is a real experience, not hypothetical. Also, avoid blaming the peer here, although you can write with admiration about the peer’s humility or desire to avoid the spotlight. This prompt is in a way elusive, potentially about bias, discrimination or inequity. This prompt could be an awareness on your part about how someone with an exceptional accomplishment or two somehow gets passed by. Is there inherent blindness to equity? A strong response to this prompt would put yourself in the position of advocate, pro-inclusion, pro- diversity , pro-equity. 

UNC medical school secondary essay #2

Please share your thoughts and experiences with navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. This could include the barriers you have faced in applying to medical school, creative ways you have overcome those barriers, feelings of grief and loss, thoughts on the role of healthcare professionals, challenges associated with racial health inequities, or other reflections on living through a global pandemic crisis. (250 words)

Many U.S. medical schools are asking “How were you affected by COVID-19?” If you had to change plans to volunteer, scribe, or complete classes, be sure to say so, efficiently and clearly, and address the value of “learning to adjust” in a time of crisis in your conclusion. If you had plans canceled, segue into how you found new opportunities in serving your community, serving patients, serving public health during this time.

If you or your family were affected personally by COVID-19, this could be a very compelling story to tell here. You don’t have much space to tell your story. Don’t pad it, but do tell it well.

UNC medical school secondary essay #3

How will your values and attitudes foster a positive educational environment and benefit your future patients? Tell us about the sources of those values and attitude (eg family, places you’ve lived in, things you have read, life experiences, etc) (250 words)

How will you improve the quality of an educational culture for all? How have you been engaged in your classes, tutoring, mentoring, lab, and research? How does this translate over into patient care and practice? How did you come to walk this walk? What convinced you to engage with education in a positive way – family, a mentor, an observation, a lesson learned, a book, a retreat, something someone said? 

UNC medical school secondary essay #4

Tell us about a time when you observed or personally experienced biased behavior. What did you do to address this situation or what would you do in the future? Through either situation we are interested in what you learned. (250 words)

Inevitably, we all witness someone’s exclusion, someone’s presence deemed “less than,” someone cast as “invisible,” someone’s value demeaned. You may have acted on the person’s behalf, so tell that story. Or you may have not been able to act as an advocate on the person’s behalf, and state (or own) that reason, but you’ve lived with the memory of this bias for enough time to know that should it happen again you would do x, y or z. Try to pinpoint the x,y or z rather than say “help” or “support” them. What does “help” or “support” look like in a similar scenario?

If you personally experienced biased behavior, briefly describe what you experienced, how you handled it, and what you learned. What would you do differently, if anything? Try to conclude the experience positively, for example ”The lesson I took away from this experience was to always speak up when someone from a marginal group is not given due credit.”

UNC medical school secondary essay #5

What motivates you to apply to the UNC School of Medicine? (200 words)

In this prompt, UNC wants to know that you know who they are, what they value, what their mission is , and how you fit their school of medicine. This is not a moment to explain what UNC SOM can do for you; rather how are you just right for them; pinpoint a few of their key initiatives and how you intend to participate and contribute.

UNC medical school secondary essay for reapplicants

What has changed about you as a candidate since your last application to medical school? What has made you a stronger applicant? ( 200 words )

As a reapplicant , you are demonstrating the depth of your determination to attend medical school by reapplying. Reiterate that determination in your response to this question. Strategically focus on the improvements you have made to your application – your new GPA, MCAT score, volunteer work, clinical exposure and life experiences. Focus on how since the time of your previous application you have taken deliberate action to improve your accomplishments and experiences to demonstrate you are a stronger and more focused applicant now.

Applying to UNC? Here are some stats:

UNC School of Medicine average MCAT score: 512

UNC School of Medicine average GPA: 3.70

UNC School of Medicine acceptance rate: 4.1%

U.S. News  ranks UNC #25 for research and #5 for primary care.

Check out the Med School Selectivity Index for more stats.

Has this blog post helped you feel more confident about approaching your UNC School of Medicine secondary application? We hope so. It’s our mission to help smart, talented applicants like you gain acceptance to your top choice medical school. With so much at stake, why not hire a consultant whose expertise and personalized guidance can help you make your dream come true? We have several flexible consulting options— click here to get started today !

UNC School of Medicine 2022-23 application timeline

Source: UNC School of Medicine website

Related Resources:

• The Ultimate Guide to Secondary Essay Questions from Top Med Schools
• Different Dimensions of Diversity , a podcast episode
• Matching Your Values to the Medical School Mission Statement

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Essay Exams

What this handout is about.

At some time in your undergraduate career, you’re going to have to write an essay exam. This thought can inspire a fair amount of fear: we struggle enough with essays when they aren’t timed events based on unknown questions. The goal of this handout is to give you some easy and effective strategies that will help you take control of the situation and do your best.

Why do instructors give essay exams?

Essay exams are a useful tool for finding out if you can sort through a large body of information, figure out what is important, and explain why it is important. Essay exams challenge you to come up with key course ideas and put them in your own words and to use the interpretive or analytical skills you’ve practiced in the course. Instructors want to see whether:

• You understand concepts that provide the basis for the course
• You can use those concepts to interpret specific materials
• You can make connections, see relationships, draw comparisons and contrasts
• You can synthesize diverse information in support of an original assertion
• You can justify your own evaluations based on appropriate criteria
• You can argue your own opinions with convincing evidence
• You can think critically and analytically about a subject

What essay questions require

Exam questions can reach pretty far into the course materials, so you cannot hope to do well on them if you do not keep up with the readings and assignments from the beginning of the course. The most successful essay exam takers are prepared for anything reasonable, and they probably have some intelligent guesses about the content of the exam before they take it. How can you be a prepared exam taker? Try some of the following suggestions during the semester:

• Do the reading as the syllabus dictates; keeping up with the reading while the related concepts are being discussed in class saves you double the effort later.
• Go to lectures (and put away your phone, the newspaper, and that crossword puzzle!).
• Take careful notes that you’ll understand months later. If this is not your strong suit or the conventions for a particular discipline are different from what you are used to, ask your TA or the Learning Center for advice.
• Participate in your discussion sections; this will help you absorb the material better so you don’t have to study as hard.
• Organize small study groups with classmates to explore and review course materials throughout the semester. Others will catch things you might miss even when paying attention. This is not cheating. As long as what you write on the essay is your own work, formulating ideas and sharing notes is okay. In fact, it is a big part of the learning process.
• As an exam approaches, find out what you can about the form it will take. This will help you forecast the questions that will be on the exam, and prepare for them.

These suggestions will save you lots of time and misery later. Remember that you can’t cram weeks of information into a single day or night of study. So why put yourself in that position?

Now let’s focus on studying for the exam. You’ll notice the following suggestions are all based on organizing your study materials into manageable chunks of related material. If you have a plan of attack, you’ll feel more confident and your answers will be more clear. Here are some tips: 

• Don’t just memorize aimlessly; clarify the important issues of the course and use these issues to focus your understanding of specific facts and particular readings.
• Try to organize and prioritize the information into a thematic pattern. Look at what you’ve studied and find a way to put things into related groups. Find the fundamental ideas that have been emphasized throughout the course and organize your notes into broad categories. Think about how different categories relate to each other.
• Find out what you don’t know, but need to know, by making up test questions and trying to answer them. Studying in groups helps as well.

Taking the exam

Read the exam carefully.

• If you are given the entire exam at once and can determine your approach on your own, read the entire exam before you get started.
• Look at how many points each part earns you, and find hints for how long your answers should be.
• Figure out how much time you have and how best to use it. Write down the actual clock time that you expect to take in each section, and stick to it. This will help you avoid spending all your time on only one section. One strategy is to divide the available time according to percentage worth of the question. You don’t want to spend half of your time on something that is only worth one tenth of the total points.
• As you read, make tentative choices of the questions you will answer (if you have a choice). Don’t just answer the first essay question you encounter. Instead, read through all of the options. Jot down really brief ideas for each question before deciding.
• Remember that the easiest-looking question is not always as easy as it looks. Focus your attention on questions for which you can explain your answer most thoroughly, rather than settle on questions where you know the answer but can’t say why.

Analyze the questions

• Decide what you are being asked to do. If you skim the question to find the main “topic” and then rush to grasp any related ideas you can recall, you may become flustered, lose concentration, and even go blank. Try looking closely at what the question is directing you to do, and try to understand the sort of writing that will be required.
• Focus on what you do know about the question, not on what you don’t.
• Look at the active verbs in the assignment—they tell you what you should be doing. We’ve included some of these below, with some suggestions on what they might mean. (For help with this sort of detective work, see the Writing Center handout titled Reading Assignments.)

Information words, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject. Information words may include:

• define—give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning.
• explain why/how—give reasons why or examples of how something happened.
• illustrate—give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject.
• summarize—briefly cover the important ideas you learned about the subject.
• trace—outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form.
• research—gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you’ve found.

Relation words ask you to demonstrate how things are connected. Relation words may include:

• compare—show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different).
• contrast—show how two or more things are dissimilar.
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation.
• cause—show how one event or series of events made something else happen.
• relate—show or describe the connections between things.

Interpretation words ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Don’t see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation. Interpretation words may include:

• prove, justify—give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth.
• evaluate, respond, assess—state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons (you may want to compare your subject to something else).
• support—give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe).
• synthesize—put two or more things together that haven’t been put together before; don’t just summarize one and then the other, and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together (as opposed to compare and contrast—see above).
• analyze—look closely at the components of something to figure out how it works, what it might mean, or why it is important.
• argue—take a side and defend it (with proof) against the other side.

Plan your answers

Think about your time again. How much planning time you should take depends on how much time you have for each question and how many points each question is worth. Here are some general guidelines: 

• For short-answer definitions and identifications, just take a few seconds. Skip over any you don’t recognize fairly quickly, and come back to them when another question jogs your memory.
• For answers that require a paragraph or two, jot down several important ideas or specific examples that help to focus your thoughts.
• For longer answers, you will need to develop a much more definite strategy of organization. You only have time for one draft, so allow a reasonable amount of time—as much as a quarter of the time you’ve allotted for the question—for making notes, determining a thesis, and developing an outline.
• For questions with several parts (different requests or directions, a sequence of questions), make a list of the parts so that you do not miss or minimize one part. One way to be sure you answer them all is to number them in the question and in your outline.
• You may have to try two or three outlines or clusters before you hit on a workable plan. But be realistic—you want a plan you can develop within the limited time allotted for your answer. Your outline will have to be selective—not everything you know, but what you know that you can state clearly and keep to the point in the time available.

Again, focus on what you do know about the question, not on what you don’t.

Writing your answers

As with planning, your strategy for writing depends on the length of your answer:

• For short identifications and definitions, it is usually best to start with a general identifying statement and then move on to describe specific applications or explanations. Two sentences will almost always suffice, but make sure they are complete sentences. Find out whether the instructor wants definition alone, or definition and significance. Why is the identification term or object important?
• For longer answers, begin by stating your forecasting statement or thesis clearly and explicitly. Strive for focus, simplicity, and clarity. In stating your point and developing your answers, you may want to use important course vocabulary words from the question. For example, if the question is, “How does wisteria function as a representation of memory in Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom?” you may want to use the words wisteria, representation, memory, and Faulkner) in your thesis statement and answer. Use these important words or concepts throughout the answer.
• If you have devised a promising outline for your answer, then you will be able to forecast your overall plan and its subpoints in your opening sentence. Forecasting impresses readers and has the very practical advantage of making your answer easier to read. Also, if you don’t finish writing, it tells your reader what you would have said if you had finished (and may get you partial points).
• You might want to use briefer paragraphs than you ordinarily do and signal clear relations between paragraphs with transition phrases or sentences.
• As you move ahead with the writing, you may think of new subpoints or ideas to include in the essay. Stop briefly to make a note of these on your original outline. If they are most appropriately inserted in a section you’ve already written, write them neatly in the margin, at the top of the page, or on the last page, with arrows or marks to alert the reader to where they fit in your answer. Be as neat and clear as possible.
• Don’t pad your answer with irrelevancies and repetitions just to fill up space. Within the time available, write a comprehensive, specific answer.
• Watch the clock carefully to ensure that you do not spend too much time on one answer. You must be realistic about the time constraints of an essay exam. If you write one dazzling answer on an exam with three equally-weighted required questions, you earn only 33 points—not enough to pass at most colleges. This may seem unfair, but keep in mind that instructors plan exams to be reasonably comprehensive. They want you to write about the course materials in two or three or more ways, not just one way. Hint: if you finish a half-hour essay in 10 minutes, you may need to develop some of your ideas more fully.
• If you run out of time when you are writing an answer, jot down the remaining main ideas from your outline, just to show that you know the material and with more time could have continued your exposition.
• Double-space to leave room for additions, and strike through errors or changes with one straight line (avoid erasing or scribbling over). Keep things as clean as possible. You never know what will earn you partial credit.
• Write legibly and proofread. Remember that your instructor will likely be reading a large pile of exams. The more difficult they are to read, the more exasperated the instructor might become. Your instructor also cannot give you credit for what they cannot understand. A few minutes of careful proofreading can improve your grade.

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind in writing essay exams is that you have a limited amount of time and space in which to get across the knowledge you have acquired and your ability to use it. Essay exams are not the place to be subtle or vague. It’s okay to have an obvious structure, even the five-paragraph essay format you may have been taught in high school. Introduce your main idea, have several paragraphs of support—each with a single point defended by specific examples, and conclude with a restatement of your main point and its significance.

Some physiological tips

Just think—we expect athletes to practice constantly and use everything in their abilities and situations in order to achieve success. Yet, somehow many students are convinced that one day’s worth of studying, no sleep, and some well-placed compliments (“Gee, Dr. So-and-so, I really enjoyed your last lecture”) are good preparation for a test. Essay exams are like any other testing situation in life: you’ll do best if you are prepared for what is expected of you, have practiced doing it before, and have arrived in the best shape to do it. You may not want to believe this, but it’s true: a good night’s sleep and a relaxed mind and body can do as much or more for you as any last-minute cram session. Colleges abound with tales of woe about students who slept through exams because they stayed up all night, wrote an essay on the wrong topic, forgot everything they studied, or freaked out in the exam and hyperventilated. If you are rested, breathing normally, and have brought along some healthy, energy-boosting snacks that you can eat or drink quietly, you are in a much better position to do a good job on the test. You aren’t going to write a good essay on something you figured out at 4 a.m. that morning. If you prepare yourself well throughout the semester, you don’t risk your whole grade on an overloaded, undernourished brain.

If for some reason you get yourself into this situation, take a minute every once in a while during the test to breathe deeply, stretch, and clear your brain. You need to be especially aware of the likelihood of errors, so check your essays thoroughly before you hand them in to make sure they answer the right questions and don’t have big oversights or mistakes (like saying “Hitler” when you really mean “Churchill”).

If you tend to go blank during exams, try studying in the same classroom in which the test will be given. Some research suggests that people attach ideas to their surroundings, so it might jog your memory to see the same things you were looking at while you studied.

Try good luck charms. Bring in something you associate with success or the support of your loved ones, and use it as a psychological boost.

Take all of the time you’ve been allotted. Reread, rework, and rethink your answers if you have extra time at the end, rather than giving up and handing the exam in the minute you’ve written your last sentence. Use every advantage you are given.

Remember that instructors do not want to see you trip up—they want to see you do well. With this in mind, try to relax and just do the best you can. The more you panic, the more mistakes you are liable to make. Put the test in perspective: will you die from a poor performance? Will you lose all of your friends? Will your entire future be destroyed? Remember: it’s just a test.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Axelrod, Rise B., and Charles R. Cooper. 2016. The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing , 11th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Fowler, Ramsay H., and Jane E. Aaron. 2016. The Little, Brown Handbook , 13th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Gefvert, Constance J. 1988. The Confident Writer: A Norton Handbook , 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Kirszner, Laurie G. 1988. Writing: A College Rhetoric , 2nd ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Lunsford, Andrea A. 2015. The St. Martin’s Handbook , 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Woodman, Leonara, and Thomas P. Adler. 1988. The Writer’s Choices , 2nd ed. Northbrook, Illinois: Scott Foresman.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Last updated June 20, 2023

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Blog > Essay Advice , State School , Supplementals > How to Write the UNC Supplemental Essays

How to Write the UNC Supplemental Essays

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Alex McNeil, MA Admissions Consultant

Key Takeaway

Applying to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill? You’ll be writing two short supplemental essays and completing five fill-in-the-blank responses. In total, you’ll be writing up to 625 words—that’s about as long as your personal statement !

Let’s take a look at the prompts.

Short answer prompts

You’ll pick two out of the following four prompts to answer. Your responses should be 200-250 words long.

Describe an aspect of your identity and how this has shaped your life experiences or impacted your daily interactions with others?

If there’s an essential part of your identity that you think UNC admissions officers ought to know about, then this might be a good prompt to choose. It might be an identity related to your culture, gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, or more. You’re free to choose any identity you hold deeply. Once you’ve explained your identity, focus in on answering the second part of the prompt. Use specific examples if appropriate, and don’t forget to reflect on the “so what”: why is it meaningful that your identity has shaped your experiences or interactions? What do you want an admissions officer to take away from your essay?

Describe a peer who is making a difference in your school or community. What actions has that peer taken? How has their work made a difference in your life?

Now this is an interesting prompt. One of the biggest college essay mistakes is writing an essay that focuses too much on someone other than yourself. This prompt is practically begging you to do just that! But you can write an excellent essay without making that mistake. The key is finding a balance between describing the peer you admire and using that admiration to reveal something vulnerable about yourself.

Let’s say that you really respect one of your peers who is standing up against your school’s dress code because it has a gender bias. You could spend your entire essay describing their actions in detail. That would make for an okay essay. But if you want to write an outstanding essay, you’d explain your peer’s actions and then reflect meaningfully on why they have inspired you: “I’ve learned to have the confidence to stand up for what I believe in, even when people in power disagree” or “I felt empowered and cared for by my peer’s actions. I hope to make someone else feel that way someday, too.”

If you could change one thing to better your community, what would it be? Please explain.

In this community essay , you have the opportunity to do double duty: you can draw back the curtain and give admissions officers a glimpse into where you come from, and you can show your community care and problem-solving skills.

The community you focus on and the change you choose to implement will reveal a lot about your values. Remember that UNC admissions officers are looking for new students they want to invite to their community, so take a gander through UNC’s website, motto, and mission statement to find some areas where you align with UNC’s own principles.

Former UNC-Chapel Hill employee, community service member, and civil rights activist Esphur Foster once said “We are nothing without our history.” Her words are memorialized on the  Northside Neighborhood Freedom Fighters monument.  How does history shape who you are?

Your answer to this prompt could go in a lot of different directions. You could take an academic interest approach and respond in a way that shows your intellectual curiosity in history, politics, culture, art, etc. If you go that route, just be sure to still answer the question: how does history shape who you are?

You could also take your response in a more personal direction and write about your family history or a moment in history that has impacted you as an individual. The more specific, the better.

Fill-in-the-blank responses

Once you’ve got your two short essays down, you’ll have to answer all of the following five questions. You have up to 25 words for each of your responses.

The trick to short answer questions like these is fitting a lot of personality and information into very few words. You can mix up your tone through each of the questions to show a range of your personality.

As you’re deciding how to approach each fill-in-the-blank, I’d urge you to think about your application narrative . Is your narrative cohesive? What parts of you are best represented across your application? What parts are missing? Do you want to emphasize anything in particular? Do you want to be more vulnerable or show some humor?

• One family, friend, or school tradition I cherish:
• If I had an extra hour in every day, I would spend it:
• If I could travel anywhere, near or far, past, present or future, I would go:
• The last time I stepped outside my comfort zone, I:
• People who meet me are most likely to notice, and least likely to notice:

Assess your application and use the fill-in-the-blank questions to fill in any gaps and strike a balance across your narrative.

You’ve got a lot to write for UNC Chapel Hill, so you’ll want to take your time deciding which short answer prompt you want to answer. And as you think about your fill-in-the-blank questions, don’t be afraid to show some personality.

Remember to check out our supplemental essay guide for more tips on writing standout supplements.

Liked that? Try this next.

The Incredible Power of a Cohesive College Application

How to Write Supplemental Essays that Will Impress Admissions Officers

How to Write a Community Supplemental Essay (with Examples)

Extracurricular Magnitude and Impact

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See the Essay That Helped This Student Get into UNC

Life of Pix/Pexels

Sometimes starting your college admissions essay can feel like a monumental task, and staring at a blank screen may only make things worse. To help inspire you, College Confidential is launching a series in which we share personal essays from students who were admitted to college during a prior admissions cycle. You can read the first in this series below. The student who wrote this as his Common App essay was accepted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and we are sharing it with his permission.

Picture this: A small, 13-year-old boy soaked in sweat, throwing his body onto a handrail in the blistering heat. Whereas the initial thought of this seems jarring, the reality was that everyone nearby continued to go about their business, not really noticing the kid.

That boy was me — on one of the most memorable days I had ever experienced.

As a beginner to the skateboarding world, I was trying repeatedly to master a trick that would allow me to take my board down a handrail and onto a ramp. Each time I attempted the trick, I landed on the hot concrete with a thud. However, the sound of my body hitting the pavement didn't rattle those around me — they'd probably tried the same trick themselves and had definitely seen newcomers like me working diligently to master it.

When I decided to take a break, I watched from the sidelines as the more experienced skaters made their way effortlessly across the ramps, performing kickflips and ollies with the ease of someone who was simply walking. But another dichotomy also struck me. Sitting on the sidelines, my brand-new skateboard and shiny new helmet were practically gleaming in the light of the sun.

When I had decided to try skateboarding earlier that month, I'd dipped into my allowance savings and picked up the equipment I needed. However, the most experienced skaters at the park were skating on the shabbiest boards that looked like they might splinter at any moment.

As I was making this observation, one of the gods of the skate park glided toward me. Everyone knew Steve — he was sponsored by a skate company and knew every possible trick. "Nice work," he said. I looked around to confirm he was talking to me. I couldn't believe he had noticed my attempts at working the handrail.

"I'm trying," I said, slightly embarrassed that he had seen me falling to the ground repeatedly. "Do you have any tips?"

He shook his head. For a minute I was feeling dejected, as if he didn't want to help me. "You're doing it the only way there is, man," he told me. "Just keep trying."

He patted me on the back and grabbed his worn-down board, hopping on it to drop back into the skate bowl. I looked back at my brand-new board. Ever since I was a child, I had always thought that skateboarders were some of the coolest people out there, and Steve's encouragement only solidified that belief.

It became clear to me that this was one sport where it didn't matter if you could afford coaches or fancy equipment — there was no way to get a leg up in skating without putting in the work. Skateboarding is the great equalizer — if you practice, you'll succeed — that's all there is to it. Even if I came from more of a place of privilege than some of the other skaters, the reality was that I was privileged just to be part of this community.

My experiences in the skating world have now spanned more than four years, and I have spent upwards of 12 hours at a time at that skate park. I've learned all the tricks I set out to master, but more importantly, I have developed a diverse and extensive group of friends. We may be from different backgrounds and neighborhoods, but what unites us is that we are all working toward the same goals, and we've forged deep connections along the way.

I have taken the lessons from the sense of community in the skating world into my other pursuits as well. Where there may be a group of very different people in any gathering, there will always be a thread that unites us, and I will consistently be looking for that connection.

If you'd like to share your college essay on College Confidential, please email us at [email protected].

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University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

These are the secondary application essay prompts for University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill School of Medicine. To put your best foot forward and maximize your chance of an interview invitation, visit our secondary application editing page .

About University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Secondary Deadline : October 6, 2023 Secondary Fee : $68 FAP Waiver : Full Fee Waived CASPer Required : Yes Screens Applications:  No Accepts Application Updates:  No

Our mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education, and research. We strive to promote faculty, staff and learner development in a diverse, respectful environment where our colleagues demonstrate professionalism, enhance learning, and create personal and professional sustainability. We optimize our partnership with the UNC Health Care System through close collaboration and a commitment to service. Patient Care We will promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond. Education We will prepare tomorrow’s health care professionals and biomedical researchers by facilitating learning within innovative and integrated curricula and team oriented interprofessional education. We will cultivate outstanding teaching and research faculty, and we will recruit outstanding students and trainees from highly diverse backgrounds to create a socially responsible, highly skilled workforce. Research We will develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers, and resources. We will provide infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration amongst disciplines throughout and beyond our University to support outstanding research. We will foster programs in the areas of basic, translational, mechanistic, and population research.

To be the nation’s leading public school of medicine.

All prompts have a 1,000 character limit.

1. Describe a situation, or an experience, you’ve had when you were unsuccessful. Tell us what you learned from this experience.

2.Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life and explain what this experience taught you about yourself.

3. What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine?

4. UNC School of Medicine values diversity and inclusion across the institution. We believe that education and professional development are enhanced in education settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe how your background and/or experiences would contribute to the UNC SOM community?

1. We have all tried something and failed. Describe a situation, or an experience, you’ve had when you were unsuccessful. Tell us what you learned from this experience.

Choose an experience during which you worked hard and strived for greatness but did not achieve the outcome you desired. Think of times of adversity which required particular perseverance but still resulted in failure. Show humility and an understanding of your limitations. Focus on how this was a learning experience or demonstrate how this helped you grow as a person. What tangible skills did you gain during this experience despite the lack of ultimate attainment of your goal. How will you use those skills to be an effective future physician?

2. Much of health care delivery involves teamwork. In what endeavor have you engaged that required a team approach? What was your role and what did you learn from working with this team?

This is a great question in that it is absolutely applicable to medicine. As much as any other field, medicine requires teamwork. Each day physicians collaborate with nurses, with allied medical professionals such as pharmacists and physicians’ assistants, and most of all with their patients. All of these components require significant teamwork skills. Think of a unique time when you worked in a team effectively. Choose an occasion where you took a leadership role. Using an anecdote can be effective. Consider prior job experience, work in extracurricular groups, or other endeavors. Show that you were an effective leader, but also that you were humble and willing to adapt and work with people whose opinions differed from your own.

3. Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life and explain what this experience taught you about yourself.

This will require thinking of an anecdote which you did not already cover in the primary application. Perhaps you have a patient encounter other than those you may have described in the primary. An alternative approach though, to make this more unique, is a time when you helped someone outside of medicine. Perhaps it was a friend, a foe or even someone you hardly knew. Be sure to answer what you learned about yourself. How does this influence your desire to become a physician and help your patients?

4 . What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine?

The first step to answering this question is doing some research on the program website to understand some of its nuances. Is it very strong in a particular field of research, or perhaps in community clinical work for the underserved? If one of these aspects aligns with your strengths or interests, explain how you are a great fit for this reason. Outline how these opportunities will help you grow toward your career goals as you envision them. Think about the opportunities the location provides in terms of clinical experience and social experience as well.

Applicants for the MD and MD/PhD Program Respond to prompts 1-3 in no more than 1-2 paragraphs. (1000 character limit)

1. We have all tried something and failed, whether it was something big or something small. Describe a situation or an experience you had when you realized that you were not up to the task, and tell us what life-lessons you learned from this experience.

2. Much of medical school education is based on team-learning. What important activity have you accomplished that required a team approach, what was your role in the outcome, and what did you learn from it?

3. Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life-whether it is a patient, friend, classmate, or a family member-and explain what this experience taught you about yourself.

The secondary application essay prompts from this medical school application cycle are the same as above.

Disclaimer: The information on this page was shared by students and/or can be found on the medical school’s website. Med School Insiders does not guarantee the accuracy of the information on this page.

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University of North Carolina – UNC Secondary Application Essay Prompts & Tips

• Cracking Med School Admissions

University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill (UNC School of Medicine) cares deeply about serving its surrounding community and the citizens of North Carolina. Submitting OUTSTANDING UNC secondary essays is vital to receiving an interview invite, which ultimately can lead to an acceptance. Read our UNC secondary tips down below. Once you get accepted to UNC Med, you can also apply for various UNC School of Medicine Scholarships . 

UNC secondary essay prompts change drastically each year, so we would not pre-write your UNC secondaries. However, there is a suggested two-week turnaround time once you receive the official UNC School of Medicine secondary application. Therefore, you should work on this as soon as you receive the official UNC secondary application from the admissions committee.

Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has a track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine year after year. Furthermore, we’ve been successful in advising students receive acceptance to the UNC FIRST program , which allows applicants to do one less year of medical school and guarantees residency placement in family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, or surgery.  Work with us through our secondary essay editing packages to STAND OUT in your UNC secondary application!

• Personally Tailored Essays
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• We study your application strengths to see what unique attributes we’ll bring to the medical school

UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2023 – 2024

Recommended 2-week turnaround time by the UNC School of Medicine Admissions Committee

• Describe an experience where you attempted a task and realized during the process that you were not ready for it. How did this experience impact your approach to trying new things. (250 words max)
• How will your life experiences foster a positive educational environment and benefit your future patients? (250 words max)
• Discuss your involvement in a service activity that has impacted your understanding of healthcare and your desire to pursue a career in medicine. (250 words max)
• What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (250 words max)
• (If applicable):  If you are a re-applicant, what has changed about you as a candidate since your last application to medical school? What has made you a stronger applicant?   (200 words max)

Tips to Answer UNC Secondary Essays

UNC Secondaries Pre-Writing Guidance:  UNC medical school changes its UNC secondary essay prompts each year, so we would not recommend pre-writing your UNC secondaries. However, this medical school has a very quick turnaround time. Make sure you work on the UNC secondary application as soon as you receive it (all applications are not given out at the same time). Contact us if you need help with editing your UNC secondaries – we will make sure it stands out even with a tight turnaround time! 

>> Get all our secondary essay tips by downloading our FREE Cracking Med School Admissions Secondary Essay Guide

UNC Secondary Essays Tip #1: To answer the “Why UNC School of Medicine” question, read our blog post about how to answer why this medical school ? 

Also, understand what UNC School of Medicine is looking for:

• Desire to serve the North Carolina population, including pursuing a career in medicine in North Carolina
• Diverse and ample clinical experiences and patient care experience

UNC Secondary Essays Tip #2: Given that UNC is a state school, you must discuss your affiliations and prior work in North Carolina. If you want to practice in North Carolina in the future, then you should mention this in your UNC secondary essays. For example, some of our Cracking Med School Admissions students have talked about working as an EMT in North Carolina, patients they met through clinical care in North Carolina, life experiences like growing up in North Carolina, and rural / underserved populations they served in North Carolina. 

UNC Secondary Essays Tip #3: For the “diversity” question, diversity does not necessarily mean your ethnic diversity. We recommend students write about their strengths, including exceptional extracurricular activity endeavors. Make sure to link this to how you will contribute to your medical school class. Because UNC looks for medical students with a strong research background, you can use the diversity essay to discuss your research. 

UNC Secondary Essays Tip #5: Need editing help on your UNC secondary essays? We can help you through our secondary essay packages . 

UNC Secondary Essays Tip #6: If you are a  re-applicant,  it is important to discuss how your application has changed from the first time you applied to this current time you are applying. 

It is very important to discuss the following in the re-applicant essay:

• Reflections about why your application was not as strong last cycle. In your opinion, what were the weaknesses?
• How have you addressed the weaknesses?
• Clinical experience you’ve had since you applied in the last application cycle. Reflect on what you learned about patient care. 
• For UNC, any activities related to research, clinical experiences in North Carolina, patient care, and community service in North Carolina will be a big plus. 

UNC Secondary Essays Tip #7: For the new UNC secondary essay question, “ Discuss your involvement in a service activity that has impacted your understanding of healthcare and your desire to pursue a career in medicine ” understand  why UNC medical school is asking this. The Admissions committee wants medical students who are involved in the North Carolina community, and use these insights to pursue research opportunities for students, community health projects, and clinical opportunities for students that improve the overall health of the local population.

Here are what some of our students discussed in their UNC secondary essays:

• A volunteer experience focused on underserved populations and motivating them to improve the local free clinic for underserved populations.
• Working with individuals in the community who were overweight and motivating them to pursue a career in medicine that incorporates nutrition education with the community and patients.
• Personal experiences with individuals who were addicted to drugs and motivating them to do research related to drug addiction.

UNC Secondary Essays Tip #8: UNC School of Medicine has an extremely tough interview. It has  both Multiple Mini Interviews and traditional interviews. Start reading about Multiple Mini Interviews and stand out using our Mastering the Multiple Mini Interview course created by Dr. Rachel Rizal!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Does UNC screen secondaries? Yes, it does screen AMCAS primary applications for secondary essays. Not all UNC secondaries are sent out at the same time. And, from our experience, in-state applicants receive UNC secondaries before out-of-state applicants. 

Q: What is the UNC FIRST program? We love this program! UNC FIRST is a 3-year accelerated programs that focuses on primary care and serving the population of North Carolina. Read more here . 

Q: Can you help me submit a stellar UNC secondary application even in two weeks? Yes! Dr. Rachel Rizal and Dr. Rishi Mediratta can help you with your UNC secondary AND all your other medical school secondary essays through our secondary essay editing packages !

[Read More Secondaries:  University of Virginia , Eastern Virginia Medical School , Wake Forest , University of Maryland ]

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UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2022 – 2023

• Tell us about a peer who is deserving of recognition but whose accomplishments may not be acknowledged adequately. Why do you think their accomplishments have gone relatively unacknowledged? (250 words max)
• Please share your thoughts and experiences with navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. This could include the barriers you have faced in applying to medical school, creative ways you have overcome those barriers, feelings of grief and loss, thoughts on the role of health care professionals, challenges associated with racial health inequities, or other reflections on living through a global pandemic crisis.   (250 words max)
• How will your values and attitudes foster a positive educational environment and benefit your future patients? Tell us about the sources of those values and attitudes (e.g. family, places you’ve lived in, things you have read, life experiences, etc). (250 words max)
• Tell us about a time when you observed or personally experienced biased behavior. What did you do to address this situation or what would you do in the future? Through either situation we are interested in what you learned.  (250 words max)
• What motivates you to apply to the UNC School of Medicine?  (200 words max)

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UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2021 – 2022

• Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1000 characters max)
• What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (1000 characters max)
• UNC School of Medicine values diversity and inclusion across the institution. We believe that education and professional development are enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe how your background and/or experiences would contribute to the UNC SOM community? (1000 characters max)
• Please use the space below for anything you might wish to discuss related to the COVD-19 public health crisis. Possible topics might include: your biggest lessons and insights from the pandemic, creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis, hardships you may have faced as a result of the virus, and/or quarantine. (1000 characters max)
• UNC School of Medicine values diversity and inclusion across the institution. We believe that education and professional development are enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe how your background and/or experiences would contribute to the UNC SOM community? (1,000 characters max)

UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2020 – 2021

• Describe a situation or an experience, you’ve had when you were unsuccessful. Tell us what you learned from this experience. (1,000 characters max)
• Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1,000 characters max)
• What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (1,000 characters max)

UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2019 – 2020

Unc medical school secondary application essay prompts: 2018 – 2019.

• We have all tried something and failed. Describe a situation, or an experience, you’ve had when you were unsuccessful. Tell us what you learned from this experience. (1,000 characters max)
• Much of health care delivery involves teamwork. In what endeavor have you engaged that required a team approach? What was your role and what did you learn from working with this team? (1,000 characters max)

UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2017 – 2018

• We have all tried something and failed, whether it was something big or something small. Describe a situation or an experience you had when you realized that you were not up to the task, and tell us what life-lessons you learned from this experience. (1,000 characters max)
• Much of medical school education is based on team-learning. What important activity have you accomplished that required a team approach, what was your role in the outcome, and what did you learn from it? (1,000 characters max)
• Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life-whether it is a patient, friend, classmate, or a family member-and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1,000 characters max)

UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2016 – 2017

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University of North Carolina (UNC) 2020-21 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision: 

UNC 2020-21 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 2 essays of 200-250 words each, 1 additional essay

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Community, Activity

In addition to the essay you provided with your Common Application, please choose two of the prompts below and respond to each in 200-250 words. Your essay responses below should be different from your common app essay response.

Carolina aspires to build a diverse and inclusive community. we believe that students can only achieve their best when they learn alongside students from different backgrounds. in reading your responses, we hope to learn what being a member of such a community would mean to you. , expand on an aspect of your identity (for example, your religion, culture, race, sexual or gender identity, affinity group, etc.). how has this aspect of your identity shaped your life experiences thus far.

UNC wants to accept students who will contribute to the diversity and inclusivity on campus. When considering an aspect of your identity to expand upon, we recommend choosing one that has had the biggest impact on the way you experience and interact with the world. Ideally, the unique aspect you select should come with a couple anecdotes. Maybe you want to write about your gender identity, and give admissions a glimpse into what it’s like to be a young trans person in 2020. Perhaps you embody #BlackGirlMagic and always take the opportunity to celebrate your heritage and community. Regardless of the part of your identity that you choose to address, be specific and use this opportunity to speak to admissions in your own authentic voice.

If you could change one thing about where you live, what would it be and why?  

Although you may be tempted to write the first thing that comes to mind (make it beachfront! free pizza Fridays! build a bowling alley!), admissions is looking for a serious response that addresses a current issue. The good news (if you want to see it that way?) is that there’s no shortage of contemporary issues for you to address here, so the key is to pick the problem that is closest to your heart. Maybe you’re incredibly passionate about the environment, and you would love to create a clean energy initiative in your town. Perhaps you want to zoom out and interpret “where you live” as your country as a whole: Do you envision living in a country with no child hunger? Don’t forget to answer the “why” part of the question as well, and bonus points if you can show admissions that you’re already taking steps to make this change happen in your community. Are you organizing peaceful protests in your small Midwestern town to raise awareness about the impending dangers of global warming? Do you use your social media platforms to inform your peers about youth homelessness? Remember that UNC is looking to accept passionate students who are informed and eager to be part of the solution.

Describe someone who you see as a community builder. What actions has that person taken? How has their work made a difference in your life?  

Who do you look up to and why? UNC wants to know about your idol and/or mentor in order to learn more about what’s important to you. So, start by thinking about the term “community builder.” Who comes to mind? Perhaps for you, it’s your aunt, who hosts cookouts every Sunday in the spring and summer to bring your extended family together to bond over grilled veggies and potato salad. What have these cookouts meant to you? Or, maybe you’ve never met the person you’d like to write about. Maybe you follow someone on Instagram who is constantly informing you (and their other followers) about issues impacting your community. Have these posts inspired you to call your state representatives to voice your frustrations and demand change? No matter who you choose, try not to spend too many words on their actions, and instead focus on how their work has made a difference in your life. It is you , after all, that UNC will be considering inviting to campus next fall.

We hope you’ll share with us the activities that you’ve found especially worthwhile. We also hope you won’t feel compelled to tell us everything you’ve ever done or, worse yet, to do things that mean little to you just because you think we want you to do them. We also hope you’ll remember—because we never forget—that low-profile pursuits can be just as meaningful as ones that draw more attention, and that fewer activities can be just as good as more, and sometimes even better. Although starting a new club, for example, can be a great experience and helpful to others, so can caring for siblings, parents, or grandparents, or working outside the home to put food on the table, or being a good and caring friend. We hope you won’t feel as though you have to do the former, especially if your doing so will keep you from doing the latter. For all these reasons, although we’re glad to receive complete résumés, we don’t require or encourage them. Instead, if you choose to submit something that goes beyond what you’re providing through your Common Application, we encourage you to keep it brief; focus less on including everything than on choosing and explaining the things that have meant the most to you; and upload it here.

Didn’t see this prompt on UNC’s application at first glance, did ya?! This long-winded prompt can be found in the “Activities” section of the Common App. As the prompt itself says, take this opportunity to elaborate on an activity, experience, or responsibility that is meaningful to you. You can write about the sense of family you found within your recreational basketball team, the friendship that grew from a tutoring gig, or the gift you were able to give your mom after weeks of flipping burgers at your local fast food joint. Whatever you choose to write about here, remember that admissions is looking for quality over quantity. Use this space to give admissions insight into what is important and poignant to you!

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Undergraduate Admissions

Admission requirements, items necessary for a complete application, transfer of credit, programs with limited admissions, health program majors, appeals of admissions decisions, confirmation of acceptance, admission of international students, return to carolina, nontraditional readmission, admission as a summer school visitor, admissions confidentiality, intra-university transfer, admission as a part-time, non-degree student , admission as a part-time, degree-seeking student , new student orientation and course registration.

In evaluating candidates for admission, the University seeks an entering class whose collective strengths will foster excellence within the University community; enhance the education of everyone within it; provide for the leadership of the educational, governmental, scientific, business, humanistic, artistic, and professional institution of the state, nation, and world; and enrich the lives of all the people of North Carolina.

The University evaluates individual candidates rigorously, holistically, and compassionately. The members of the admissions committee seek to assess the ways in which each candidate will likely contribute to the campus community and enable the University to fulfill its mission. The qualities we seek include intellect, talent, curiosity, and creativity; leadership, kindness, and courage; honesty, perseverance, perspective, and diversity. Although we expect each successful candidate to demonstrate strength in many of these areas, we do not expect every candidate to be equally strong in all of them. Just as there is no formula for admission, there is no list of qualities or characteristics that every applicant must present.

In evaluating each candidate’s academic record, the admissions committee considers not only the student’s grades but also the courses attempted. Although each candidate’s academic record and standardized test scores, if submitted, are important elements in the admissions decision, the candidate’s essays, letter(s) of recommendation, accomplishments outside the classroom, and personal qualities are also carefully considered. We understand that students travel many different roads to get to Carolina, and we celebrate the variety of interests, backgrounds, and aspirations that they bring with them. At the same time, it's fair to say that we seek excellence. We consider everything that a student submits as part of their application to try and understand not only their achievements and potential, but the context in which those achievements occurred and potential forged.

By their anticipated date of enrollment, candidates for admission must have graduated from secondary school or have their GED or high school equivalent diploma.

First-Year Admission

In addition to the completed application, which includes the nonrefundable application fee (or approved fee-waiver), accomplishments and activities outside of the classroom, and required essays, students are expected to submit the following materials:

• Official transcript(s) from all secondary schools attended, including summer sessions and including any online or distance-education classes. Transcripts must be sent directly from the educational institution to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
• Applicants must self-report college-level coursework and grades not reported on an official high school transcript. Official college transcripts are required from all enrolling students. Transcripts must be sent directly from the educational institution to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
• School report and one teacher recommendation (If the candidate is in his or her first year at a new school, a recommendation from the previous school is suggested.)
• University of North Carolina system institutions, which include the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have a standardized testing waiver in place through fall 2024. First-year applicants have the option to self-report SAT and/or ACT scores with their application. If a student chooses to self-report their test scores, the student is admitted and chooses to enroll, then the student is required to have the testing service send their official scores to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions by the stated deadline.
• Applicants who plan to claim North Carolina residency are also required to submit a residency application with the North Carolina Residency Determination Service (RDS), and to provide a Residency Classification Number (RCN) .
• Enrolling first-year students may also need to submit and complete a background check as required by UNC System policy.
• Any additional items or information requested in the application or by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

As part of the first-year application, students have the option of expre ss ing interest in being considered for Carolina Global Launch (CGL) in the case that we will not be able to offer admission for the fall semester. Expressing interest in CGL does not impact that student’s consideration for fall admission. CGL provides the opportunity to study abroad during the fall semester and then have guaranteed enrollment as a transfer student to Carolina for the spring semester upon successful completion of CGL .

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions, at its discretion, may deny admission to students who submit completed applications but who do not provide one or more of the materials listed above.

In addition to these materials, applicants may submit information that will enhance the University’s understanding of their background and preparation for college.

Transfer Admission

Students are considered transfer applicants if they have attended one or more post-secondary institutions after graduating from secondary school or who are active-duty service members or military veterans. Students who are graduating from a Cooperative Innovative High School in North Carolina (commonly referred to as Early College Programs) and who are simultaneously earning a high school diploma and an associate degree may apply for either first-year or transfer admission. Students may apply for transfer admission by following the instructions available at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions .

In addition to the completed application, which includes the nonrefundable application fee (or fee-waiver request), accomplishments and activities outside of the classroom, and required essays, students are expected to submit the following materials:

• Official transcript(s) from all colleges attended, including summer sessions and including any online or distance-education classes, regardless of whether college credit was earned or will transfer. Transcripts must be sent directly from the educational institution to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
• Official secondary school transcript(s) or GED or a high school equivalency diploma. Transcripts must be sent directly from the educational institution to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
• The fall and, if applicable, winter grades should be submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions as soon as they become available. An application will be considered incomplete without them.
• Any items or information requested by programs requiring additional material for admission.
• Recommendation letter (academic, personal, or professional)
• University of North Carolina system institutions, which include The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have a standardized testing waiver in place through fall 2024. Transfer applicants have the option to self-report SAT and/or ACT scores with their application. If a student chooses to self-report their test scores, the student is admitted and chooses to enroll, then the student is required to have the testing service send their official scores to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions by the stated deadline.
• Applicants who plan to claim North Carolina residency are also required to submit a residency application with the North Carolina Residency Determination Service (RDS) , and to provide a Residency Classification Number (RCN) .
• Enrolling transfer students may also need to submit and complete a background check as required by UNC System policy.
• Any additional items or information requested in the application or by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions, at its discretion, may deny admission to students who submit completed applications but who do not provide one or more of the additional materials listed above.

Standardized Testing

In accordance with University policy, as well as procedures approved by the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions, members of the admissions committee evaluate each candidate rigorously, holistically, and compassionately, with an eye towards assessing the candidate’s capacity to contribute to the campus community that will enable the University to fulfill its mission. If the evaluation includes the results of standardized testing, these results do not constitute the sole or main criterion for admission. There are no cutoff or threshold scores — outside of the minimum admission requirements (MAR) set by the UNC system — that is, no scores below which candidates are automatically denied admission, and no scores above which they are automatically offered admission. Instead, results from standardized testing represent one factor among many. For more about the role of tests in admissions, please see the Office of Undergraduate Admissions .

High School Course Requirements

Students interested in attending the University should pursue a challenging high school curriculum. Such a curriculum will typically include at least five academic courses during each year of high school — preferably one each in the core disciplines of English, mathematics, social science, natural science, and foreign language. We also encourage our candidates to take at least five of the most rigorous courses available to them, including college-level courses offered through programs such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge, dual-enrollment, or other college-level programs. In evaluating academic performance in such a curriculum, we pay less attention to class rank and grade point average than we do to grades and to trends and patterns in grades.

To be eligible for admission, a student should present a minimum of 16 units of high school coursework within the five traditional academic areas – English, mathematics, physical and biological sciences, social sciences, and foreign languages. To be eligible for admission, a student needs to meet the UNC System's Minimum Admissions Requirements (MAR) and Minimum Course Requirements. Admission to Carolina is competitive, and successful applicants typically go far beyond these minimum requirements.

Students who challenge themselves with the rigorous courses available to them, such as Advanced Placement (AP), Dual Enrollment (DE), International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge, and other advanced or college-level work, tend to be more prepared to succeed in college.

All students will be expected to have completed the pre-university curriculum (e.g. A Levels, Baccalaureate) in their country prior to enrolling at Carolina. Because we receive applications from students applying from high schools across the world, we see a variety of curriculums and grading scales. We do not convert grades into a standard scale. Instead, we review each application individually and consider how each student has challenged themselves within the context of their school and how they have performed in those courses.

We do not have a preference on what type of college-level curriculum students take; we encourage you to take the courses that best align with your academic journey. We encourage students to ensure they are getting a solid grounding in each of the core curricular areas (English, mathematics, natural science, social science, and foreign language).

Since admitted students will take placement exams in foreign language , candidates should consider continuing in advanced foreign language courses during their final year in high school even if they have already met the minimum requirements.

Placement in certain courses during students’ first semester at the University will be based on their performance on placement tests. Students may also receive credit for University courses based on dual-enrollment courses taken during high school. Although the student will take placement exams in some subjects at the University before the first semester begins, it is to the student’s advantage to take placement tests in high school, especially those accepted by the University for placement purposes. For mathematics placement, the Department of Mathematics strongly recommends that enrolling students arrange to take the Aleks placement exam through the Mathematics Department, ACT, AP, or IB exams; although these tests are not required for admission, many majors at Carolina require a quantitative reasoning course for which a mathematics placement score is necessary. Foreign language placement may be based on University placement, AP, or IB exams. For English placement, students are required to take either English 105 at the University, or present an equivalent transferable course from another college or university. Students are also encouraged to take standardized tests that are recognized for placement in other subject areas.

Dual Enrollment at UNC–Chapel Hill for High School Students

All courses attempted at UNC–Chapel Hill, including but not limited to summer session courses and dual-enrollment courses attempted while a student is still in secondary school, will be included in the student's UNC-Chapel Hill grade point average.

N.C. Cooperative Innovative High School (Early College) Graduates

Students who graduate from a Cooperative Innovative High School (also known as “Early College”) in North Carolina and who are simultaneously earning a high school diploma and a qualifying associate degree may apply either as first-year or as transfer candidates. For more information, please see the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Home-Schooled Students

The University welcomes applications from students schooled at home and imposes on those students no special or additional requirements for admission. At the same time, since the credentials of home-schooled students may lack some or most of the contextualizing information typically found in the credentials of students schooled in more traditional settings, many home-schooled students take steps to contextualize and clarify their achievement and potential.

In recent years these steps have included taking courses at local colleges or community colleges; joining community organizations; providing samples of academic projects (for example, essays or research papers) and detailed descriptions of courses; sending recommendations from non-family members who know candidates well and can comment specifically on their capacity for advanced academic work; and taking and submitting optional supplemental exams recognized by the University.

College Board Placement Tests

The University recognizes, for placement and degree credit, satisfactory scores on the College Board Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and certain global exams, such as Cambridge A-Levels, offered across the world. For more information, please visit the Office of Undergraduate Admissions .

Transfer Candidates

Applicants’ eligibility to return to previous institutions may be considered in their evaluation. Students who have less than a C average (2.0 on a 4.0 scale) may complete courses at another university to raise their grade point average to the point where they may be considered for transfer admission to the University. Courses attempted through any academic program at UNC–Chapel Hill cannot be used to increase a student’s grade point average for the purpose of establishing transfer eligibility.

Once an applicant is admitted as a transfer student, all course credits taken at UNC–Chapel Hill, including summer courses taken prior to fall enrollment, become part of the student’s official transcript, and grades received are included in the grade point average.

Transferred Semesters

The University calculates transferred semesters based on the number of transfer credit hours accepted by UNC-Chapel Hill, not based on the number of semesters in which the student was enrolled at other colleges. For each 15 hours transferred upon enrollment, the student is considered to have completed the equivalent of one UNC-Chapel Hill semester. Excluded from this calculation are transfer hours awarded for courses taken concurrent with high school, summer enrollment at UNC-Chapel Hill immediately before the first semester of full-time degree-seeking enrollment, and any credit awarded by exams, such as Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams. 

Although all students at UNC–Chapel Hill are expected to graduate within eight total semesters of post-secondary enrollment, transfer students who enter with two transfer semesters (30 or more transferable hours) may enroll in up to 10 total semesters. For additional information, see “Calculation of Transferred Semesters Based on the Number of Transferred Credit Hours” in the Credit and Evaluation section and Undergraduate Degree Requirements .

Specifically:

• A new transfer student with fewer than 15.0 transferable credit hours will be regarded as having completed no semesters and will have first-year standing upon enrollment at UNC–Chapel Hill.
• A new transfer student having between 15.0 and 29.9 transferable credit hours will be regarded as having completed one semester and will have first-year standing upon enrollment at UNC–Chapel Hill.
• A new transfer student having between 30.0 and 44.9 transferable credit hours will be regarded as having completed two semesters and will have sophomore standing upon enrollment at UNC–Chapel Hill.
• A new transfer student having between 45.0 and 59.9 transferable credit hours will be regarded as having completed three semesters and will have sophomore standing upon enrollment at UNC–Chapel Hill.
• A new transfer student having between 60.0 and 75.0 transferable credit hours will be regarded as having completed four semesters and will have junior standing upon enrollment at UNC–Chapel Hill.

Offers of admission typically are extended before an applicant’s transfer credit can be fully evaluated. As a result, while transfer students are advised of their likely classification at the point of admission, this classification is provisional until confirmed by notification of transfer credits earned.

The University will award credit for a course from another college or university when the student has earned a grade of C or its equivalent and when a similar course is offered by the University. Courses whose grades are reported on a scale other than A-F, such as pass/fail, will earn credit only if the transferring institution verifies that the passing grade represents achievement at the level of C or higher. Courses with final grades of C- or below (or the equivalent, if reported on a scale other than A-F) will not earn credit and will not satisfy University requirements. Courses completed in units other than semester hours will be converted to semester hours.

Students may receive no more than 75 total semester hours of credit for courses transferred from other colleges or universities. Credits earned by exam through Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and similar programs are not included in this limit. However, test credit only can be used to fulfill a maximum of 5 Focus Capacities in the Ideas in Action curriculum. Remaining hours can fulfill other requirements such as course prerequisites.

When a student has completed more than 75 transferable semester hours, credit will be awarded in this order:

• For courses that equate directly with specific courses in the UNC–Chapel Hill curriculum;
• For courses that do not equate directly with specific courses but are comparable to elective courses offered by UNC–Chapel Hill departments.

Courses that equate directly with specific courses in the UNC–Chapel Hill curriculum will fulfill the same course requirements as their equivalents at UNC–Chapel Hill, unless specifically identified otherwise at the time of the initial awarding of credit. Other transferable courses may not fulfill course requirements but may count towards the total semester hours required for graduation.  

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions reviews and awards transfer credit to enrolling students based on their official transcripts. The admissions office typically cannot award credit for professional courses or courses taken from non-accredited colleges and universities. The admissions office may be able to award credit to enrolling students for courses from colleges and universities outside the United States, provided the college or university is recognized by the appropriate higher-education authority or government agency, and provided students submit their official transcripts and evaluations of those transcripts from World Education Services (WES®).      The Office of Undergraduate Admissions cannot award credit to currently enrolled UNC–Chapel Hill students for courses taken while participating in an exchange or study-abroad program. Credit for such courses must be approved before the program begins by the UNC Study Abroad Office or the UNC school sponsoring the program, and credit will be awarded after the program ends and official transcripts have been received. The admissions office may be able to award transfer credit to students for study-abroad courses they completed before enrolling at UNC–Chapel Hill, provided they completed the courses while attending colleges and universities in the United States, and provided the courses are reported on the official transcripts of their U.S. institutions.

An enrolling or enrolled student may request a review of transfer credit awarded or denied by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions by submitting course descriptions and syllabi through the ConnectCarolina Student Center no later than the last day of classes during the student’s second semester in residence at the University. In those rare instances when a later change in transfer credit will enable a student to graduate on time, the student must appeal to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. In the absence of such a request by a student, the University will not review or change transfer credit that has been awarded by the admissions office after the first day of the student’s first semester in residence, except to correct clerical or other errors that may negatively affect the student.

Reverse Transfer (UNC–Chapel Hill and the NC Community College system)

The University honors the official Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) with the North Carolina Community College System. Students who transfer to UNC–Chapel Hill from a North Carolina community college may transfer credit earned at UNC to fulfill their degree requirements at the community college. They may subsequently use the associate degree to fulfill all of the University’s lower-division general education requirements, Ideas in Action , with the exception of Global Language, Research and Discovery, Lifetime Fitness, Communication Beyond Carolina, Campus Life Experience, provided they complete the steps below:

• Consult with an academic advisor at their North Carolina community college to identify UNC–Chapel Hill courses that will satisfy the remaining requirements for the associate degree in accordance with the reverse transfer program;
• Meet with their UNC–Chapel Hill academic advisor during their first full-time semester at UNC–Chapel Hill to discuss their intent to fulfill the University’s general education requirements through reverse transfer;
• Provide proof from the community college of the associate degree before the beginning of the third semester of full-time enrollment at UNC–Chapel Hill, whether fall or spring.

  For more information on Reverse Transfer please visit the UNC System Office website .

The University will consult two publications when settling questions concerning the transfer of credit: Transfer Credit Practices, published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, and Accredited Institutions of Post-Secondary Education, published by the American Council on Education.

Military-Affiliated Students

We welcome applications from veterans of the United States military, active-duty servicemen and women, and their dependents. Veterans and those who remain on active duty may earn University credit for their military education and training, depending upon their experience. Military veterans or those on active duty will be eligible to have the application fee waived and may qualify for the military tuition benefit, which allows them to attend the University at the in-state tuition rate. Students who are eligible for GI Bill or other veteran education benefits must apply directly to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for these funds.

For more information, please visit the Office of Undergraduate Admissions .

Application and Notification Deadlines

First-year applicants may apply for admission by choosing one of two deadlines, neither of which is binding. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions does its best to evaluate applications similarly across the two deadlines but cannot guarantee complete consistency between the two, since earlier decisions are made before the size and strength of the entire applicant pool is known.

Decisions will be posted securely online for all applicants. For the latest first-year admission deadlines and notification dates, please visit the Office of Undergraduate Admissions .

The application deadline and notification dates for sophomore and junior admission to the College of Arts and Sciences and the Hussman School of Journalism and Media are available at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions . The admission deadlines and notification dates for transfer applicants to the professional schools with programs in business administration, clinical laboratory science, dental hygiene, human development and family studies, information and library science, nursing, public health: biostatistics, public health: environmental health science, public health: health policy and management, public health: nutrition, and radiologic science vary by department. Please contact the specific department for additional information.

Only a small number of transfer students will be admitted to programs with limited admissions such as biomedical engineering, business administration, and computer science. Students interested in one of these fields may wish to consider another major as a second choice; however, even if admitted to an alternate program, students cannot be guaranteed subsequent admission to their first choice of major. In addition, notification of acceptance to these programs could be later than for other programs.

Early applications for these programs are encouraged. After completion of the fall semester, a transcript of that semester’s work should be submitted. Applicants should also contact the specific department for additional application materials and specific program requirements.

Junior transfer applicants for the pharmacy program must apply directly to the School of Pharmacy. Junior transfer applicants also must provide Pharmacy College Admission Test scores as part of the application. Sophomore students must apply directly to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

For information on appealing an admissions decision, refer to the Admissions Appeal Procedure in the Admissions Policy section of this catalog.

The University requires a nonrefundable enrollment deposit, due by May 1 for first-year admission and Carolina Global Launch admission or May 15 for transfer admission, or within two weeks of receipt of the admission decision for students admitted after these dates.

Degree-seeking students who wish to start their studies during the summer must pay their fall term enrollment deposit and then complete the process for requesting a summer start through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Information on enrolling in summer school prior to starting at Carolina in the fall can be found on the Office of Undergraduate Admissions website. Students enrolling in Carolina Global Launch are not eligible to take summer classes prior to participating in Carolina Global Launch.

International students are considered for admission on the same basis as other candidates and must provide the same information required of all other applicants. 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 or IELTS. Our TOEFL code is C182.

• TOEFL or TOEFL iBT Home Edition – Strong applicants typically score 100 or higher.
• IELTS Academic – Strong applicants typically score 7.0 or higher.

We do not waive this proficiency requirement based on grades in English courses or SAT/ACT scores. However, we may waive this requirement if you meet one of the following conditions by the time you would enroll at Carolina:

• You will have lived for at least four years in a country where English is the primary language.
• You will have attended a school for at least four years where English is the primary language of instruction.

To request this waiver, please complete the request form, which you can access at https://mycarolina.unc.edu/register/englishexamwaiver . Waivers are granted on a case-by-case basis.  

As a condition of enrollment, all entering students who have completed coursework from a foreign college or university that is not accredited within the United States must have their official transcripts evaluated by World Education Services (WES®).

United States immigration law requires proof of financial support for the student’s entire program of study. Before UNC can issue an I-20, admitted students must provide documentation that they have sufficient funds in a bank to cover the first year of tuition and living expenses. See Finances and Financial Aid in this catalog for information on expenses. The University will issue the necessary visa documentation to those students who are formally admitted to the University. International students should not leave their native country intending to enroll at the University until they have received a formal letter of acceptance and appropriate visa documents.

Questions concerning international student life on the UNC–Chapel Hill campus should be referred to International Student and Scholars Service .

After their first enrollment as a degree-seeking student at UNC–Chapel Hill, students who withdraw, fail to complete, or do not enroll in one or more fall or spring semesters must submit the Return to Carolina survey to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions when they are ready to return to the University. The Return to Carolina survey should be submitted as soon as possible and no later than the stated deadline on the Office of Undergraduate Admissions website. Students who plan to claim North Carolina residency are also required to submit a residency application with the North Carolina Residency Determination Service (RDS) .  

Returning students who have holds on their records — such as academic eligibility, medical, student conduct, or financial — may need to complete additional steps before they can be reenrolled and register for courses. For additional information, refer to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Returning students may also need to submit and complete a background check as required by UNC System policy.

International students who will require either an F1 or J1 visa should submit the Return to Carolina survey at least one month before the deadline for the term in which the student wishes to return in order to allow adequate time to process the student’s visa.

The University’s policy requires returning students to be academically eligible. However, the University recognizes that individuals can gain personal and intellectual maturity over time. In such cases, the University may choose to evaluate students on the basis of their current academic promise rather than their earlier academic performance. Under this policy, the University will review students who have not been enrolled full time in a formal educational program for at least five years and who, by their life experiences, might be considered nontraditional students. Reenrollment in the College of Arts and Sciences under this policy requires the approval of the associate dean for advising or the appeals committee of the college. Reenrollment in a professional school under this policy requires the approval of the professional school to which the student is seeking readmission.

Advising and degree-granting bodies within the University will monitor the performances of all individuals reenrolled under this policy. The monitors will provide up-to-date guidance and counseling and ensure that each student fulfills the requirements for continued enrollment as specified in the letter from the student’s dean’s office. Students who fail to meet these requirements and who lose their academic eligibility must then restore their eligibility before they will be permitted to continue their enrollment at the University. A nontraditional return to the University is granted only once.

Any student who has not been regularly enrolled or has not been admitted for a fall semester in any school in the University can obtain an application for admission as a visiting summer student through the Summer School. Applicants (undergraduates and high school students) who plan to claim North Carolina residency are also required to submit a residency application with the North Carolina Residency Determination Service (RDS).

Students who are enrolled at the University will register for a summer session through Connect Carolina in spring.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will protect the privacy of all students seeking admission through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions by soliciting and receiving all academic and nonacademic records obtained for the purpose of admission and selection for scholarships and special opportunities, on the condition that they be held in confidence by the University. No information obtained through the admissions process will be shared with individuals, internal or external to the University, other than the chancellor, the provost, vice provost of enrollment, and members of the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and its subcommittees.

Though current federal legislation allows students enrolling at the University access to their files, candidates do not have access to their applications.

Exceptions to this confidentiality policy will be made only at the direction of the chancellor, the provost, or the vice provost of enrollment.

Students who wish to transfer from one school or college to another within the University may be required to submit an intra-university transfer application. For additional information, refer to the individual program.

UNC Digital and Lifelong Learning provides advising and student services to non-degree students, including local high school students. Part-time students may register for a maximum of eight credit hours per semester. Courses are open to non-degree students as space permits.

Students are required to submit a Part-Time Classroom Studies application and a nonrefundable application fee through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.  

Admission as a non-degree student is limited and does not constitute admission to a degree program at the University. Part-time non-degree students wishing to pursue a degree must submit a degree-seeking application to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. 

Enrolling part-time, non-degree students may also have to submit and complete a background check as required by UNC System policy.

UNC–Chapel Hill admits a limited number of part-time, degree-seeking undergraduates. Part-time students may register for a maximum of eight credit hours per semester.

To be eligible, students must have been away from a traditional school setting for at least 12 months and must have graduated from a secondary school. Admission is also available to UNC–Chapel Hill faculty and staff employees. Traditional students who have been denied full-time admission to the University are not immediately eligible for enrollment through Part-Time Classroom Studies.  

Students who want to enroll as a part-time degree-seeking undergraduate are required to submit a Part-Time Classroom Studies application.

All students admitted as prospective degree candidates must meet minimum University requirements for admission. In considering prospective part-time degree-seeking candidates for admission, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions shall use comparable admissions criteria that it uses to evaluate comparable full-time, degree-seeking students applying to the University. For information about those criteria, please see the sections on first-year and transfer admission above.

Admission to Part-Time Classroom Studies as a degree-seeking student does not constitute admission to a full-time degree program at the University. Part-time degree-seeking students who want to enroll in a full-time degree-seeking program must present evidence that they are prepared to make satisfactory progress towards the degree.

Enrolling part-time, degree-seeking students may also need to submit and complete a background check as required by UNC System policy.

First-Year Student and Family Orientation

All newly admitted undergraduate first-year students are required to attend one of the summer First-Year Orientation sessions prior to the start of their first term. Sessions are designed to introduce first-year students to the University.  

During this two-day program, new first-year students will be acquainted with the academic opportunities and skills needed to take personal responsibility for their academic achievement and persistence, introduced to the programs and services available for UNC students, made aware of University traditions, and connected to their peers and other ways to broaden their Carolina community. First-year students also receive information about their course registration process. Family members and guests are invited to attend the First-Year Family Orientation program, which runs parallel to the student program.  

The transition process continues when students arrive to campus with a variety of programs and events during Weeks of Welcome (fall semester) and Winter Welcome (January).

Carolina Global Launch Student and Family Orientation

All newly admitted undergraduate students enrolling in Carolina Global Launch are required to attend a virtual pre-departure session, an in-person UNC Orientation session in Chapel Hill, and an in-person session at their Carolina Global Launch host institution prior to beginning courses. Students are then required to attend an in-person Orientation session in Chapel Hill in January prior to beginning courses. Sessions are designed to introduce students to UNC and their host institution.

During these programs, students will be acquainted with the academic opportunities and skills needed to take personal responsibility for their academic achievement and persistence, introduced to the programs and services available for Carolina Global Launch students, made aware of University traditions, and connected to their peers and other ways to broaden their Carolina community. Students also receive information about their course registration process. Family members and guests are invited to attend the virtual and Chapel Hill programs. Orientation sessions at the Carolina Global Launch host institutions are for participating students only.

The transition process continues when students arrive to campus with a variety of programs and events during Winter Welcome (January).

Transfer Student and Family Orientation

All newly admitted undergraduate transfer students are required to attend one of the summer Transfer Orientation sessions prior to the start of their first term. Sessions are designed specifically for transfer students to learn about life at Carolina.  

During this one-day program, new transfer students meet and interact with faculty, staff, and other new transfer students. Students attend formal sessions about UNC policies and services and have the opportunity to learn more about areas of interest to them individually. To help ensure the availability of preferred courses, transfer students should register for fall classes as soon as registration is open. To register for courses, transfer students are required to pay their enrollment deposit, create their ONYEN and UNC Heelmail accounts, and complete the online academic advising module within Sakai. Family members and guests are invited to attend the Transfer Family Orientation program, which runs parallel to the student program.  

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Admissions Policy

Admission to the first-year class, admission by transfer, part-time classroom studies admissions, graduate school admissions, professional school admissions, summer admissions, admissions appeals, appendix a: admissions appeal procedure.

• All qualified persons are welcome to seek admission to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and all persons may apply for and accept admission confident that the policy and regular practice of the institution are not to discriminate in offering access to its educational programs and activities on the basis of age, gender, race, color, national origin, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. (See  University and Administrative Policies ).
• by the capacity of the institution to meet the instructional and other needs of students in the colleges, schools, departments, curricula, or other programs to which applicants seek admission and
• by enrollment levels approved for budgetary or other appropriate purposes.
• recognition of the institution's special responsibility to residents of North Carolina and
• the institution's judgment of the applicant's relative qualifications for satisfactory performance in the specific college, school, department, curriculum, or other program to which the applicant seeks admission.

Provided that the criteria set forth hereinafter are met, this policy of competitive admissions shall not prevent the admission of selected applicants:

• who give evidence of possessing special talents for University programs requiring such special talents,
• whose admission is designed to help achieve variety within the total number of students admitted and enrolled, or
• who seek educational programs not readily available at other institutions.

In seeking variety within the total number of students admitted and enrolled, the University shall affirm its commitment to achieve excellence, to provide for the leadership of the educational, governmental, scientific, business, humanistic, artistic, and professional institutions of the state and nation, and to enrich the lives of all the people of North Carolina.

Admission of persons to the specific colleges, schools, curricula, or other programs of the institution shall be governed by the provisions set forth below.

Admission of undergraduate students to colleges or schools to pursue programs leading to a baccalaureate degree shall be the responsibility of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The Admissions Office shall apply policies and procedures that, not inconsistent with policies adopted by the Board of Trustees, are approved by the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions.

In the application of the provisions set forth in the section above, preference for admission shall be given to qualified residents of North Carolina; however, in recognition of the educational and other values accruing to North Carolina students, to the institution, and to the state from participation of nonresident students in the programs of the institution, nonresidents may be admitted in the entering first-year class at levels deemed appropriate by campus leadership and in accordance with UNC system office policies.

Admission of undergraduates shall be to the first-year class, to other classes by transfer after satisfactory completion of college-level work in some other institution(s) of higher education, or to Part-Time Classroom Studies.

Admission and enrollment of persons who are candidates for financial aid for which athletic ability is a consideration shall be conditional upon compliance with applicable regulations of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Admission to and enrollment in the first-year class shall be conditional upon graduation from secondary school (or equivalent) with such units of secondary school academic course credit that, at minimum, meet the UNC System's Minimum Admissions Requirements (MAR) and Minimum Course Requirements (MCR) , and any additional requirements specified by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. However, if all other criteria are met, the Admissions Office may make exceptions to MAR and/or MCR in accordance with procedures approved by the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions.

Criteria employed for determination of each applicant's qualifications for admission may include:

• satisfactory evidence of scholastic promise based upon the applicant's previous academic record, recommendations from schools previously attended, scores on selected tests of scholastic aptitude or achievement, and the applicant's written application for admission,
• e vidence of the app licant’s ability to thrive at and contribute to the university community, and  
• satisfactory evidence of the applicant's ability to succeed academically and personally within the University community.

Admission and enrollment by transfer from another institution shall be conditional upon a satisfactory academic record of work undertaken in all other institutions attended, the applicant's written application for admission, and satisfactory recommendations from institutions previously attended. Applicants’ eligibility to return to previous institutions may be considered in their evaluation. Other factors include evidence of the applicant’s ability to thrive at and contribute to the University.

Eligibility for admission to Part-Time Classroom Studies shall normally be limited to individuals living within commuting distance of Chapel Hill.

Admission to Part-Time Classroom Studies of an applicant who does not hold a baccalaureate degree shall be the responsibility of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Such admissions shall be either:

• For credit, applicable toward fulfillment of degree requirements: The minimum requirements shall be the same as those for admission to degree programs and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions shall review each applicant using comparable admissions criteria as for other degree-seeking students applying to the University; OR
• For personal benefit and enjoyment: The applicant may be exempted from the qualitative requirements for admission to degree programs. Notwithstanding this exemption from qualitative requirements, the applicant must have graduated from an approved or accredited secondary school or equivalent and must demonstrate the capacity to cope with the demands of University life.
• For applicants currently enrolled in secondary school : admission will be considered only if the applicant :

a. seeks to enroll in a University course for which there is no comparable course at the student's secondary school and

b. demonstrates adequate preparation for the course in which the student seeks to enroll.

Admission to Part-Time Classroom Studies of an applicant who holds a baccalaureate degree shall be the responsibility of UNC Digital and Lifelong Learning . Such admissions shall be for personal benefit and enjoyment, for the satisfaction of prerequisite requirements for professional or graduate programs, or for transfer of credit to a postbaccalaureate degree program, in which case the applicant may be exempted from the qualitative requirements for admission to degree programs.

For information on Graduate School admissions, refer to catalog.unc.edu/admissions/graduate/.

Admission of students to the professional degree programs in schools other than The Graduate School and to nondegree programs in the schools of the Division of Health Affairs shall be, in each of these schools, the responsibility of its established committee on admissions, which shall apply policies, procedures, and requirements, not inconsistent with the provisions of this policy, adopted by the faculty of the school and approved by the Chancellor or his delegate.

Admission of applicants to any summer session shall be the responsibility of:

• The Office of Undergraduate Admissions with respect to those who wish to begin in the summer an undergraduate program of study that will continue into the following academic year or that is intended to lead to a baccalaureate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as those undergraduates previously enrolled at this institution who would like to return for undergraduate work in the summer.
• The Graduate School with respect to those who wish to begin a degree program of graduate study in the summer, as well as those graduate students already enrolled in this institution who wish to return for graduate study in the summer
• Part-Time Classroom Studies in the Friday Center with respect to those who wish to begin in the summer on a part-time basis as a postbaccalaureate nondegree student, as well as those postbaccalaureate nondegree students who wish to return for part-time study in the summer

Admission to Summer School by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, The Graduate School, and Part-Time Classroom Studies shall be in conformity with the provisions set forth in this policy for other undergraduate and graduate admissions.

Admission as a Summer School visitor by the dean of Summer School shall be in conformity with policies, procedures, and requirements adopted by the Administrative Board of Summer School. Each such admission shall terminate as of the last day of that summer term and shall include no commitment, stated or implied, for admission of the student to any subsequent semester or session of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Appeals concerning individual admission, or admission rescission, decisions shall be governed by the admissions appeal procedure contained in Appendix A.

* This policy adopted by resolution of the Board of Trustees on September 3, 1976.

* Amended by Board of Trustees, August 24, 1984.

* Amended by Board of Governors, March 14, 1986.

* Amended by Board of Trustees, May 27, 1994.

* Amended by Board of Trustees, effective January 1, 2006.

* Amended by Board of Trustees, effective January 23, 2014.

This document sets forth the procedures to be followed with respect to the appeal of a negative admissions decision, including a decision to rescind an admission that has already been granted.

• a provision set forth in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill admissions policy ("admissions policy") has been violated or
• the decision not to admit the individual or to rescind admission resulted from a material procedural error in the admissions process. An applicant’s omission of relevant information from the original application for admission will not ordinarily constitute grounds for an appeal; nor will academic or personal circumstances that changed after the submission of the application. Such an appeal shall be lodged by the applicant with the administrative officer (the director of undergraduate admissions, the dean of The Graduate School, the dean of the professional school concerned, or the dean of Summer School) whose office had responsibility for the admission in question (hereafter the "admissions officer") within 30 days after the University posts the applicant's online decision. The appeal shall be in writing and shall set forth the grounds for the appeal. Upon receipt of the appeal, the admissions officer or the admissions officer’s designee shall review the applicant's file and appeal letter and shall communicate his or her decision to the applicant in writing.
• a provision set forth in the admissions policy has been violated or
• the decision not to admit the individual or to rescind admission resulted from a material procedural error in the admissions, or appeal, process.

An applicant’s omission of relevant information from the original application for admission or from the appeal to the admissions officer will not ordinarily constitute grounds for an appeal; nor will academic or personal circumstances that changed after the submission of the application or the appeal to the admissions officer. Such an appeal shall be lodged with the provost by filing a letter of appeal specifying the grounds for the appeal within 15 days after the appellant has received the letter communicating the decision of the admissions officer. The provost may designate the review of these appeals within his or her immediate office.

The appeal shall be reviewed by the provost or the provost's designee. Following the review, the provost or designee will communicate the decision to the applicant in writing. The decision of the provost is final, and no further appeal is available.

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We have extended the  enrollment deadline to May 15, 2024 . View the announcement .

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Honors Carolina connects exceptional students who share a passion for learning with renowned faculty who love teaching. The program opens the door to everything one of the world’s top public research universities has to offer. Study in cities around the globe. Work with faculty mentors on ground-breaking research. Design your own unique educational experience. The only limit is your imagination and desire.

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• Law Library

175 years of producing lawyers with a strong commitment to justice and service.

UNC School of Law was founded in 1845 and is North Carolina’s oldest professional school. Our three-year J.D. program prepares outstanding lawyers and leaders to serve the people and institutions of North Carolina, the nation and the world.

We continuously seek out discerning, high caliber students.

Our students receive an unrivaled legal education at a cost that is among the very lowest of any of the top-ranked law schools, and when they leave our famously beautiful campus, they do so as confident and principled advocates of justice.

Our alumni work with distinction all over the globe, and in North Carolina, no school has more graduates in positions of prominence than Carolina Law. We count many nationally renowned legal experts and leading scholars among our faculty, who know that a deep, functional and nuanced understanding of law must be accompanied by a mastery of the practical skills of lawyering.

We encourage all prospective students to research the competitive landscape of legal education, and for those demanding proof of exceptional opportunity, we look forward to making our case.

Important Dates

• Application opens October 1
• Priority Application Deadline is March 1
• Application Deadline is May 1
• Transfer/Visitor Application opens April 28 and closes July 15

The Admissions Office often travels across the country to meet with students who are interested in attending UNC School of Law. Each year, we attend numerous recruiting events from New York to California, Minnesota to Texas, and of course all over North Carolina.

If you are unable to visit us on the road, we encourage you to visit us here in Chapel Hill. You can schedule a visit here . Please call us at 919.962.5109 or email us at [email protected] with any questions you may have about Carolina Law.

NCGS Seminar Fall 2023 and Spring 2024

Program spring 2024.

PDF of the Spring 2024 Program overview

All seminars will take place as Zoom events. We will communicate the Zoom URL for each NCGS seminar before the event via our NCGS list serve.

  If you are not on this list serve, please contact the NCGS graduate assistant Kevin Hoeper ( [email protected] )  and ask to be added the NCGS list serve or request the URL for a specific event in the weeks before the event. They will also take care of the technology of the Zoom Seminars. For our NCGS Online Seminars Etiquette, see here .

Program Fall 2023

  PDF of the Fall 2023 Program overview

Friday, 22 September 2023

UNC Chapel Hill  I  2:00 – 4:00 pm   I  Zoom Seminar

Moderation: KAREN HAGEMANN  |   James G. Kenan Distinguished Professor of History,  University North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History

Konrad H. Jarausch Essay Prize Winner for Advanced Graduate Students in 2022:

YANARA SCHMACKS I Graduate Student, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, Department of History and  Doctoral Fellow at the Leibniz-Institute for European History, Mainz

“We always did this for our children”: Motherhood in the GDR between Socialism and Opposition 

The presentation explores how GDR women dealt with motherhood and thereby, in conversation with and sometimes opposition to the state, renegotiated socialist modernity. East German women writers drew up alternative socialist versions of maternity, framing the mother-child relationship as a platonic partnership between mother and child and, in contrast to their Western counterparts, deemphasizing the bodily elements of motherhood. These positions toward motherhood and children were often politically in line with culturally hegemonic ideas about the socialist family that were promoted by the state. Yet, in the 1980s, motivated by intense maternal concern for their children in the face of growing Cold War tensions and environmental destruction, GDR women’s activists tried to actively intervene at the state level to improve the future of their children, thereby becoming involved in oppositional activities and ultimately contributing to bringing about the  Wende . 

YANARA SCHMACKS is a graduate student in Modern European History at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York. She is working on a dissertation titled “Reproductive Nation: German Motherhood, Erotics, and Ecology between East and West,” exploring how the maternal served as a space for the renegotiation of both the German past as well as the East-West divide and reunification. Her research was published in Central European History and in Psychoanalysis and History. She is currently a Doctoral Fellow at the Leibniz-Institute for European History in Mainz.

THOMAS PEGELOW KAPLAN   I  Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History,  University of Colorado, Department of History

• JAMES CHAPPEL I  Gilhuly Family Associate Professor of History,  Duke University, Department of History
• DONNA HARSCH I  Professor of History,  Carnegie Mellon University, Department of History

PDF of the Flyer

Friday, 13 October 2023

UNC Chapel Hill   I  2:00 – 4:00 pm  I  Zoom Seminar

Moderation: ANDREA A. SINN   I  Associate Professor of History, Elon University, Department of History and Geography

STEFAN-LUDWIG HOFFMANN   I  Associate Professor for Late Modern European History, University of California, Berkeley, Department of History

Dreams, Terror, and Complicity: Charlotte Beradt Meets Reinhart Koselleck

Recently, there has been an uptick of interest across disciplines in the theoretical writings of the late Reinhart Koselleck. Whenever scholars deal with issues of temporality, with present pasts or past futures, the German conceptual historian’s work is invoked. Yet in new histories of Fascist and Nazi times one of his most incisive essays, “Terror and Dream,” is oddly omitted. In his talk, he will explore Koselleck’s encounter with Third Reich of Dreams  by Charlotte Beradt, a book that the German-Jewish émigré journalist wrote in the early 1960s. Especially Beradt’s suggestion that dreams are one of the most telling historical sources for understanding individual experiences of time in the 1930s fascinated Koselleck. In light of the resurgence of authoritarianism in our own time, the talk will ask whether Beradt’s and Koselleck’s analytical concern with the workings of dreams, terror, and complicity in everyday life gains new significance and urgency.    

STEFAN-LUDWIG HOFFMANN is Associate Professor for Late Modern European History at the University of California, Berkeley. He is historian of German, European, and International History from the late eighteenth century to the present and has an ongoing interest in social, legal, and political thought as well as in the theory of history. His most recent book is:   Der Riss in der Zeit: Kosellecks ungeschriebene Historik  (Suhrkamp, 2023, English translation under contract with Princeton UP). He currently works on a history of Human Rights.

Comment:  KONRAD H. JARAUSCH   I  Lurcy Professor of European Civilization, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History

Friday, 10 November 2023

UNC Chapel Hill  I  2:0 0 – 4:00 pm  I  Zoom Seminar

Moderation: TERESA WALCH   I  Assistant Professor of Modern European History, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of History

MADDIE JAMES   I  Graduate Student  I  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History

“Protecting the Volk “: The Female Criminal Police in Nazi Germany

By 1927, four of the Weimar Republic’s states had established new female police units. Across Germany, pioneering policewomen and their supporters understood female police integral to the democratization, modernization, and humanization of policing. They viewed themselves as reformers championing the values of the democratic Volksstaat of the Weimar Republic. What happened to this fledgling institution following the National Socialist Machtergreifung in 1933? How did this moment of regime change impact the stated purpose and work of the female police, as well as the careers of the policewomen themselves? How did institutions such as the female police adjust to new priorities, aims, and values as laid down by the Nazi state? Drawing on my dissertation research, this talk will explore these questions in order to analyze how this Frauenberuf survived in the Männerdomäne of the Nazi police apparatus and the ways in which the female police became complicit in the regime’s crimes.

MADDIE JAMES is a graduate student of Modern European History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include modern German and European history, women and gender history, the history of the Holocaust, and the history of police and law enforcement. Her dissertation project, tentatively titled “Protecting the Volk : The Development of Female Police from Weimar and Nazi to Post-War Germany,” will trace the development of female police throughout the three periods of the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, and post-war Germany.

Comment:  THOMAS KÜHNE   I  Strassler Professor of Holocaust Studies and Director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University

Friday, 1 December 2023

JENS-UWE GUETTEL  I  Associate Professor, Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, Department of History, Penn State University

Continuities of Violence: Street Riots in Germany from 1905 to 1923

This presentation traces street violence and politics in Germany from the unrests in Saxony in 1905 to the 1923 Scheunenviertelpogrom in Berlin. It examines street violence and politics as intersecting but separate phenomena, thus showing how tenuous the hold of political leaders or political ideologies were with respect to those who took to the streets to demonstrate – or riot – on behalf of political or other goals. The presentation focuses on the links between street politics before 1914 and similar occurrences during the war, while simultaneously sketching out how up to the 1923 Scheunenviertelpogrom street violence both changed and stayed the same. This approach allows us to question entrenched chronologies and supposed historical turning points by revealing continuities of violence that did not disappear after 1914 or only appeared in 1918.

JENS-UWE GUETTEL is Associate Professor of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures and History at Penn State University. His research, which centers on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, examines the domestic impact of imperialism, colonial expansion, and protest movements. His fist monograph is: German Expansionism, Imperial Liberalism, and the United States, 1776–1945 (Cambridge University Press, 2012). He is currently working on a second monograph, entitled Radical Democracy in Germany, 1871–1918 .

Comment: HEDWIG RICHTER    I  Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Department of History

Spring 2024

PDF of Program overview

Friday, 26 January 2024

Konrad H. Jarausch Essay Prize Winner for Advanced Graduate Students in 2023:

MIRA MARKHAM I Graduate Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History

Operation Velehrad, 1950: Communism , Catholicism, and Popular Tradition in Czechoslovakia

During the period of greatest repression of the Catholic Church in Stalinist Czechoslovakia, Communist leaders organized and promoted an official manifestation at Velehrad, which since the mid-nineteenth century had come to represent a Moravian Catholic vision of Czech nationhood that both emphasized popular piety and rural tradition, and connected a peripheral region to the broader Slavic and Christian world. By co-opting a symbol of local, national, and international significance, Communist activists attempted to shift the loyalties of lay believers and rank-and-file priests away from the Catholic hierarchy and toward the new regime and its allies in the Soviet bloc. Operation Velehrad—as local activists dubbed the state-sponsored pilgrimage — reveals the persistence of a little-researched regional tradition of Czech Catholic politics and highlights the rhetorical and ideological flexibility of the Czechoslovak Communist regime during its early years.

MIRA MARKHAM is a graduate student of modern Central and East European history at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill  Her dissertation, “Power in the Village: Rural Political Life in Czechoslovakia, 1944-1954,” examines how ordinary people in the region of Moravian Wallachia engaged with state power as both modern citizens and members of traditional rural communities during the decade of political transition following the Second World War. Her article “Světlana: Partisans and Power in Post-War Czechoslovakia” was published in the journal Contemporary European History in 2021.

JAMES CHAPPEL I   Gilhuly Family Associate Professor of History,  Duke University, Department of History

• PIOTR H. KOSICKI   I  Associate Professor of History, Department of History, University of Maryland
• KYRILL KUNAKHOVICH   I  Assistent Professor of History, Corcoran Department of History, University of Virginia

Friday, 16 Februar 2024

Moderation:   ANDREA SINN  I  Associate Professor of History, Elon University, Department of History and Geography

KAREN HAGEMANN   I  James G. Kenan Distinguished Professor of History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History

Contested Progress: Women and Women’s Studies at East and West German Universities – The Example of History

How to explain the causes of the persistent discrimination faced by women at universities in the two German states until 1989? Based on the example of the historical profession, a discipline of central importance in the humanities for the formulation of historical “master narratives” to interpret the past, the presentation explores both women’s changing position in the historical profession in East and West Germany and the degree of inclusion of women’s or gender history. It asks which factors promoted or hindered the inclusion of women and women’s or gender history, including the institutional structures of the higher education system more generally and the historical tradition and academic culture of the discipline, along with the underlying political and societal conditions.

  Karen Hagemann is the James G. Kenan Distinguished Professor of History at UNC Chapel Hill and has published widely in Modern German and European history, the history of military and war and gender history. Her most recent publications include Revisiting Prussia’s Wars Against Napoleon: History, Culture and Memory (Cambridge University Press, 2015) ; Gendering Post-1945 German History: Entanglements, ed. with Donna Harsch and Friederike Brühöfener (Berghahn Books, 2019); and The Oxford Handbook of Gender, War, and the Western World since 1600 , ed. with Stefan Dudink and Sonya O. Rose (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Comments: KONRAD H. JARAUSCH   |  Lurcy Professor of European Civilization, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History

Friday, 22 March 2024

Moderation: 

• TERESA WALCH   I  Assistant Professor of Modern European History,  University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of History

THOMAS PEGELOW KAPLAN   I  Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History, University of Colorado Boulder, Department of History

German-Jewish Journalism of the 1930s and Early 1940s Reconsidered: Contestation , Transnational Transfers, Global Transit

Drawing on a series of cases that reach as far as the Philippines, this presentation offers a new view of the Jewish press during the Nazi period. The veritable “burgeoning of transnationalism in Jewish historiography” notwithstanding, almost all previous scholarship of German-Jewish journalism of the 1930s and early 1940s has been limited to dynamics within national boundaries. Yet, the work by German-Jewish journalists – increasingly hamstrung by Nazi harassment and censorship – was increasingly and profoundly shaped by complex cross-border influences and transnational transfers. Mediated and published by journalists, insights from these transfers, ranging from distinct verbiage to nuanced strategies, repeatedly reached the German-Jewish press’ initially considerable readership. These processes provided help for many in their struggles against persecution and preparations to emigrate. Still, transnational transfers and their communication in the press also could be fragile, shifting, and open to misreadings that, in turn, compromised prospective refugees’ chances at a successful escape.

THOMAS PEGELOW KAPLAN is the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History, Professor of History, and interim Director of the Program of Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. His fields of research are the Holocaust, modern Jewish history, Central European history, historical methodology and theory, and transnational history. His most recent books include The Language of Nazi Genocide: Linguistic Violence and the Struggle of Germans of Jewish Ancestry (Cambridge University Press, 2009); and Beyond “Ordinary Men”: Christopher R. Browning and Holocaust Historiography, ed. with Jürgen Matthäus (Brill-Schöningh, 2019).

Comment: DAVID MEOLA    I  Fanny and Bert Meisler Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Director of Jewish and Holocaust Studies Minor Program, University of South Alabama, Department of History

Friday, 12 April 2024

UNC Chapel Hill  I  2:0 0 – 4:30 pm  I  Zoom Seminar

Farewell NCGS—The last event after 17 years

NCGS “CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS” Series Roundtable:

A Decline of German Studies & German History in the United States?

The shrinking number of tenure-track jobs and the decline of undergraduate and graduate programs in German Studies and German History in recent years is alarming. Both developments threaten the future of the field. This development is part of two larger trends: on the one hand, changes in the field of history in the United States, mainly the move away from European/Western history towards global history; on the other hand, the increasing shift of resources at American colleges and universities away from the humanities and social sciences to the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) as well as professional schools (economics, law, medicine). This roundtable will address this development by discussion the following three questions in this roundtable with experts in the field:

• What is the current situation in German Studies and German History? Is it the same for both fields?
• How can we explain the development?
• Which consequences does it have for the future of the field and what can be done to change it?

Moderation:

• KAREN HAGEMANN  |   James G. Kenan Distinguished Professor of History,  University North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History

Roundtable Participants:

• KONRAD H. JARAUSCH  |  Lurcy Professor of European Civilization, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of History

KONRAD H. JARAUSCH is the Lurcy Professor of European Civilization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has written or edited some 50 books on German and European History, including mor recently: The Burden of German History: A Transatlantic Life (Berghahn Book, 2023); Embattled Europe: A Progressive Alternative (Princeton University Press, 2021); Broken Lives: How Ordinary Germans Experienced the Twentieth Century (Princeton University Press, 2018).

• ADAM R. SEIPP   |  Professor of History, Texas A&M University, Department of History, and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies of the College of Arts and Sciences

ADAM R. SEIPP is Professor of History and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas A&M University. His research focuses on war and social change in modern Germany, transatlantic relations, and the history of the Holocaust. His most recent books include The Berlin Airlift and the Making of the Cold War , ed. with John Schuessler and Thomas Sullivan (Texas A&M University Press, 2022); and Strangers in the Wild Place: Refugees, Americans, and a German Town, 1945–1952 (Indiana University Press, 2013).

• JAMES CHAPPEL   I  Gilhuly Family Associate Professor of History, Duke University, Department of History

JAMES CHAPPEL is Gilhuly Family Associate Professor of History at Duke University. His focus of research is modern European history; he is particularly interested in the intersection between religion and the social sciences. His first book is Catholic Modern: The Challenge of Totalitarianism and the Remaking of the Church (Harvard University Press, 2018). His second project is provisionally entitled “Old Volk: The History and Politics of Aging in Modern Europe.

• PHILIPP STELZEL   |  Associate Professor of History and Graduate Director, Ducquesne University, Department of History

PHILIPP STELZEL is Associate Professor of History at Duquesne University, where he teaches twentieth-century European, German, and transatlantic history. His first monograph is History after Hitler: A Transatlantic Enterprise (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018).

• DAMANI J. PARTRIDGE I Professor of Anthropology and of Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Vice President of the German Studies Association

DAMANI J. PARTRIDGE  is a Professor of Anthropology and Afro-American and African Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is also an affiliate with the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures. He has published broadly on questions of citizenship,  urban futures, decoloniality, sexuality, post-Cold War “freedom,” Holocaust memorialization, and Global Blackness. His  most recent book is Blackness as a Universal Claim: Holocaust Heritage, Noncitizen Politics, and Black Power in Berlin (University of California Press, 2023).

• PRISILLA LAYNE   I  Professor of German and Adjunct Associate Professor of African and Afro-American Studies; Director of the Center for European Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

PRISILLA LAYNE is Professor of German and Adjunct Associate Professor of African and Afro-American Studies. She is also the Director of the Center for European Studies at UNC Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on German national identity, conceptions of race and self/other in Germany, cross-racial empathy, postcolonialism, and rebellion. Her most recent book is: White Rebels in Black: German Appropriation of Black Popular Culture (University of Michigan Press, 2018).

UNC-Chapel Hill medical resident killed in NC 87 crash

S ANFORD, N.C. (WGHP) — A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill medical resident is dead as the result of a Saturday night crash, according to North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

At around 11:11 p.m. on Saturday, troopers came to NC 87 near Frank Wicker Road in Lee County after getting a report of a crash.

Investigators say that Davis U. Anugo, 32, of Chapel Hill, was driving south on NC 87 in a 2008 Ford Escape when a 2010 GMC Yukon that was driving north on NC 87 went left of center and struck Anugo’s SUV head-on. The driver of the Yukon then sideswiped a 2012 Nissan Versa that was driving behind Anugo.

Anugo died at the scene, according to state troopers. The driver of the Yukon and a passenger were taken to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Nissan was not injured.

The crash remains under investigation and troopers will meet with the Lee County District Attorney’s Office to determine possible charges.

Troopers say that Anugo was in his third year of residency at UNC.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX8 WGHP.

Massey Awards

Established in 1980 by the late C. Knox Massey ’25 of Durham, the C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award recognizes “unusual, meritorious or superior contributions” by University employees. The winners, selected through a campus-wide nomination process, each receive a $10,000 stipend and an award citation.

2023 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award Winners

Five Carolina employees and one team have been selected as the 2023 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award winners, one of the most prestigious distinctions for faculty and staff.

Housing director helps students belong

During the pandemic, Massey Award winner Allan Blattner expanded his role, meeting needs well beyond shelter.

Third-shift housekeeper brings the clean — and the joy

Massey Award winner David Barnette Jr. is busy on and off the job, but he always makes time to connect with others.

Campus Health leadership rose to COVID challenge

The four-member team won a shared Massey Award for its “tireless commitment” during the pandemic and beyond.

Operations manager welcomes all to Lineberger

Massey Award winner Melissa Mack has put on thousands of events and is a mentor to many at Carolina’s premier cancer center.

Housekeeper creates welcoming home for students

Massey Award winner and self-described “big auntie” Chineka Stanley is free to be herself and bond with the residents she serves.

GoHeels producer leads from backstage

Massey Award winner Ken Cleary is a constant innovator, a broadcasting mentor and a manager who trusts others’ expertise.

2023 Massey Awards recognize service to Carolina

A Campus Health team, events organizer, producer, housing director and staff who keep facilities clean received Carolina’s highest honor for employees.

2022 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award Winners

Six Carolina employees received the 2022 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award, one of the most prestigious distinctions for faculty and staff. Three recipients made up a team that helped launch the Carolina Together Testing Program.

Stacy Davis keeps world-class coastal research center running

More than 100 Massey Award nominators described how vital the practical knowledge and can-do spirit of this Outer Banks native is to the success of the Institute for Marine Sciences.

Dr. Amir Barzin answers call to service

When the pandemic hammered the Carolina community, the Massey Award recipient and grateful alumnus dove in to help establish a frontline defense against COVID-19.

Amy Loftis takes charge and takes care

Working around the clock, this Massey Award winner and expert lab manager used thank you notes and chocolate to keep her COVID-19 testing lab team going.

Eubanks grows through changes to become ‘heart of the workplace’

While working for six vice chancellors since 2008, Massey Award winner Trevaughn Eubanks has always shown her signature pizzazz and an “unrelenting heart of service.”

Pillar of Ground Services leads quietly

Whether preparing for Spring Commencement or cleaning up debris in fall, Massey winner Mark Moon keeps Carolina’s campus beautiful and his colleagues safe.

Reluctant hero coaxed out of retirement to direct COVID-19 testing lab

A self-proclaimed “Debbie Downer,” Massey Award winner Susan Fiscus kept insisting that the impossible couldn’t be done even as she made it happen.

Massey Awards honor service of 6 employees

The recipients, including a team that helped launch the Carolina Together Testing Program, will receive recognition for their contributions at an in-person event.

2021 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award Winners

Eight Carolina employees received the 2021 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award, one of the most prestigious distinctions for faculty and staff. Given the exceptional year spent dealing with the global COVID-19 pandemic, the University bestowed eight awards, rather than the usual six.

Leading with her heart

Former Employee Forum chair and Massey Award winner Shayna Hill has tirelessly advocated for University staff during a dark and difficult period.

Finding her calling

Massey Award recipient Sibby Anderson-Thompkins is a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion, from her days as a Carolina student throughout her career.

Bloom where you’re planted

Housekeeper Teresa Golson received a Massey Award for 22 years of service to the University and helping the North Carolina Botanical Garden stay clean and safe for visitors during the pandemic.

Nurturer of success

Massey Award winner Vanessa Mitchell, computer support analyst at the UNC School of Social Work, is known for her high-quality work, self-improvement and helping others succeed.

Good work and good trouble

Massey Award recipient James Holman has spent his career at Carolina advocating for his fellow employees.

A role model for us all

The email looked suspicious, but when housekeeper Sandra Foxx finally opened it, she got the surprise of her life.

Always on call

Sports Medicine Director Dr. Mario Ciocca, a 2021 Massey Award winner, helped keep student-athletes healthy, safe and competitive during the pandemic.

Dedicated to helping

Whether it’s driving through a snowstorm to rescue a stranded nurse visiting from Malawi or supporting world-class infectious disease faculty, 2021 Massey Award winner Kathy James is all about helping.

Carolina employees earn prestigious Massey Awards for outstanding service

Given the exceptional year spent dealing with the global COVID-19 pandemic, the University is bestowing eight awards.

2020 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award Winners

Six Carolina employees were selected to receive the 2020 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award, one of the most prestigious distinctions for faculty and staff. “Carolina is distinguished in the ways our teaching, research and service efforts benefit the people of our state,” Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz said. “This work is made possible by the contributions of our extraordinary colleagues, who are the recipients of this year’s Massey Awards. I am grateful for their service and their dedication to our community.”

Making it personal

Massey Award winner Julie Cannefax takes care of business and nurtures students for the curriculum in toxicology and environmental medicine.

Protecting the overstory

Painstaking stewardship and a long view of history drive Massey Award winner Tom Bythell as he cares for Carolina’s precious campus.

The beating heart of the chancellor’s office

Massey Award winner Patti Wilkinson inspires with her warmth, problem-solving skills and knack for grace under pressure.

Light, liberty and the promotion of black art, history and culture

Massey Award winner Joseph Jordan embodies the University’s “Lux, Libertas” motto and makes the Stone Center a vital part of campus.

Excavating the past to serve the future

Massey Award winner Steve Davis has dedicated his life to preserving the history of North Carolina’s Native American peoples for future generations.

Shining example

Massey Award winner Carol Womack’s path took her from a Jamaican farm through some hard times and to a new life in North Carolina.

2019 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award Winners

In recognition of their “unusual, meritorious or superior contributions,” six University employees received the 2019 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Awards. “These amazing colleagues who, through their dedicated work and commitment to excellence, continually up the pace of progress at the Carolina we cherish and love,” Guskiewicz said. “We thank them for their service to our University and our state. They are the soul of this most public of the public universities,” wrote Guskiewicz.

Sharon Horton Jones’ motherly wisdom applies to life, academics

For over 35 years Jones advises students in the School of Media and Journalism. As director of student service and assessment, Jones is a resource and moral support. “I am their mom away from home.”

Making a difficult job look easy

For 29 years Hawkins has worked as manager of parking control and event operations. She says her team is like family and she’s dedicated to safety and access.

‘Mamma Douglas’ believes in the power – and joy – of giving back

Douglas is director of volunteer engagement for University Development and is also a Carolina alumna.

‘Mr. North Carolina’ sticks to the subject he loves

With 25 years of experience as the curator for the North Carolina Collection at University Libraries, Anthony is dedicated to knowledge, research and, of course, Carolina.

Nancy Burton’s story includes support taken and given

For the past 18 years, Burton has worked her way up through Housekeeping Services and is now the go-to person for problem-solving and support.

Lynn Blanchard is the heart of Carolina’s public service

As director of the Carolina Center for Public Service, Blanchard is an advocate for social engagement, public health and working directly with communities.

Six receive prestigious Massey Awards for meritorious service

In recognition of their “unusual, meritorious or superior contributions,” six University employees will receive the 2019 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Awards.

2018 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award Winners

Six employees at Carolina were selected by then-Chancellor Carol L. Folt to receive the 2018 C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Awards, one of the most coveted distinctions earned by faculty and staff. “These amazing people, through their hard work and dedication, day in and day out, create the Carolina we love,” Folt said. “They are incredible community builders and we thank them for their service and commitment to excellence,” wrote Folt.

Good deeds and leadership highlight Polk’s 37-year career in admissions

Stephen Farmer said Barbara Polk's good deeds typically take place behind the scenes. "She has done them out of love for the University and the goodness of her heart," he said.

Grandma’s wisdom, discipline help Odom epitomize Massey Award qualities

Massey Award winner Daryl Odom has worked 30 years as a housekeeper in Kenan Center, helping the center fulfill its mission with his dedication, attention to detail and friendliness.

A grateful heart

Winning a Massey award was the latest bit of good fortune for Nan Kham and her family.

Ronald Mangum, developer of peer support specialist program, has few peers

"I don’t know what it’s like to live under a bridge. I don’t know what it’s like to be in a mental institution. These men and women who are certified do, and they can show them that there is a different way," said Ronald Mangum.

Paying the bills is only part of what Martina Ballen does

Massey Award winner Martina Ballen has been paying the bills for athletics for the past 31 years, currently administering a budget of $95.5 million.

Massey winner Gregory Gangi has a passion for the natural world

The Massey award recognized the role Gregory Gangi has played as a catalyst for shaping interdisciplinary curriculum and learning opportunities beyond the classroom to better prepare students for emerging career paths.

Outstanding service earns six employees prestigious Massey Awards

Said Chancellor Carol L. Folt: "These amazing people, through their hard work and dedication, day in and day out, create the Carolina we love."

Explore Carolina

• C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Awards
• The Well — news from Carolina
• Careers at Carolina

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NPR editor Uri Berliner resigns with blast at new CEO

Updated April 17, 2024 at 2:56 PM ET

NPR senior business editor Uri Berliner resigned this morning, citing the response of the network's chief executive to his outside essay accusing NPR of losing the public's trust.

"I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years," Berliner wrote in an email to CEO Katherine Maher. "I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism. But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay."

NPR and Maher declined to comment on his resignation.

The Free Press, an online site embraced by journalists who believe that the mainstream media has become too liberal, published Berliner's piece last Tuesday. In it, he argued that NPR's coverage has increasingly reflected a rigid progressive ideology. And he argued that the network's quest for greater diversity in its workforce — a priority under prior chief executive John Lansing – has not been accompanied by a diversity of viewpoints presented in NPR shows, podcasts or online coverage.

Later that same day, NPR pushed back against Berliner's critique.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff . "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

Yet Berliner's commentary has been embraced by conservative and partisan Republican critics of the network, including former President Donald Trump and the activist Christopher Rufo.

Rufo is posting a parade of old social media posts from Maher, who took over NPR last month. In two examples, she called Trump a racist and also seemed to minimize the effects of rioting in 2020. Rufo is using those to rally public pressure for Maher's ouster, as he did for former Harvard University President Claudine Gay .

Others have used the moment to call for the elimination of federal funding for NPR – less than one percent of its roughly $300 million annual budget – and local public radio stations, which derive more of their funding from the government.

Berliner reiterated in his resignation letter that he does not support such calls.

In a brief interview, he condemned a statement Maher issued Friday in which she suggested that he had questioned "whether our people are serving our mission with integrity, based on little more than the recognition of their identity." She called that "profoundly disrespectful, hurtful, and demeaning."

Berliner subsequently exchanged emails with Maher, but she did not address those comments.

"It's been building up," Berliner said of his decision to resign, "and it became clear it was on today."

For publishing his essay in The Free Press and appearing on its podcast, NPR had suspended Berliner for five days without pay. Its formal rebuke noted he had done work outside NPR without its permission, as is required, and shared proprietary information.

(Disclosure: Like Berliner, I am part of NPR's Business Desk. He has edited many of my past stories. But he did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Earlier in the day, Berliner forwarded to NPR editors and other colleagues a note saying he had "never questioned" their integrity and had been trying to raise these issues within the newsroom for more than seven years.

What followed was an email he had sent to newsroom leaders after Trump's 2016 win. He wrote then: "Primarily for the sake of our journalism, we can't align ourselves with a tribe. So we don't exist in a cocoon that blinds us to the views and experience of tens of millions of our fellow citizens."

Berliner's critique has inspired anger and dismay within the network. Some colleagues said they could no longer trust him after he chose to publicize such concerns rather than pursue them as part of ongoing newsroom debates, as is customary. Many signed a letter to Maher and Edith Chapin, NPR's chief news executive. They asked for clarity on, among other things, how Berliner's essay and the resulting public controversy would affect news coverage.

Yet some colleagues privately said Berliner's critique carried some truth. Chapin also announced monthly reviews of the network's coverage for fairness and diversity - including diversity of viewpoint.

She said in a text message earlier this week that that initiative had been discussed long before Berliner's essay, but "Now seemed [the] time to deliver if we were going to do it."

She added, "Healthy discussion is something we need more of."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

A ceremony to honor outstanding students, faculty and staff for achievements in academic endeavors and exceptional leadership through involvement in campus life, student governance and community service.

2024 Student Academic Awards

THE PETER C. BAXTER MEMORIAL PRIZE IN AMERICAN STUDIES

Recipient: lindley andrew.

Established in 1972, this award honors the outstanding senior in the Department of American Studies. Presented in memory of Peter Baxter, a student of American Studies, the prize is awarded to the undergraduate in that discipline who best exemplifies Mr. Baxter’s intellectual excellence, personal warmth, and contribution to the American Studies Program.

“Lindley is a remarkable student who tackles controversial and painful topics with keen intellect and deep human compassion. She is dedicated to using her talents in American Studies, Latin American Studies, and Spanish language studies to advance the interests of underserved communities.”

THE BERNARD BOYD MEMORIAL PRIZE

Recipient: christina georgiou.

This award was established in 1979 by the Department of Religious Studies in memory of Bernard Boyd, James A. Gray Professor of Biblical Literature from 1950 to 1975. A monetary prize is presented annually to the member of the senior class majoring in Religious Studies who has been selected by a faculty committee as most outstanding in academic achievement.

“Beyond achieving a stellar GPA, Christina distinguished herself in every single class for her sophisticated reading of difficult texts, perceptive contributions to class discussions, thoughtful engagement with difficult topics, and unflagging intellectual curiosity.”

THE GEORGE C. MARSHALL AWARD

Recipient: can tunceli.

Established in 1976, this award honors Army General George C. Marshall. General Marshall formulated the Marshall Plan and was the only soldier to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is presented to the senior Army cadet who excels in professional excellence, leadership, scholarship, personal integrity and selfless service to the nation.

“It’s Can’s selfless service, dedication to others, and demonstrated leadership skills that led to him receiving this award. He is a Peace, War, and Defense Major, the Army ROTC Cadet Battalion Commander, Captain of the Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team, and a member of the UNC Club Rugby team.”

THE ARCHIBALD HENDERSON MATHEMATICS MEDAL

Recipient: abel abraham.

The Major William B. Cain Award was established in 1908, and its name was changed in 1931 to the Archibald Henderson Mathematics Medal. A medal may be presented annually to the undergraduate judged by the Department of Mathematics to have demonstrated both a high degree of mathematical ability and the greatest promise of originality in the field.

“Abel began groundbreaking research as a 16 year-old freshman, authoring papers that are under review in prestigious journals such as Physical Review X and Nature Physics. He was awarded the Lucas Scholars Fellowship, Abrams Scholarship, and Johnson Scholars Summer Internship and leads UNC’s Helping Hand Project as President and Design Chair.”

THE WALLACE RAY PEPPERS AWARD IN PERFORMANCE OF AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN LITERATURE

Recipient: sydney van buren.

This award was established in 1987 in honor of a professor in the Department of Communication. His teaching in the field of African and African-American literature and personal influence and example inspired his students in academic and cultural endeavors. It is given annually to the junior or senior in that department who is judged by a faculty committee to be most outstanding in performance of African and African-American literature.

“Sydney has excelled as a performance studies student, showcasing vitality, intelligence, and skill in her work. From her chilling interpretation of Robert Hayden’s poem “Night, Death, Mississippi” to her current honors thesis, “Imposter: The Dancing Body,” she demonstrates an extraordinary exploration of Hip Hop, intersectional identity, and dance, integrating African American authors, artists, and historians into her performances.”

THE JACQUES HARDRÉ UNDERGRADUATE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FRENCH

Recipient: madeleine genova.

Established in 1989, this certificate and monetary prize are presented annually by the Department of Romance Languages to an undergraduate whose work in French language and literature has been judged most outstanding by a faculty committee. It was established in honor of Jacques Hardré, past Chair of the Department of Romance Languages.

“Madeleine, a double major in Computer Science and French & Francophone Studies, has thrived in UNC’s Romance Studies. Colleagues commend her engagement with course materials, adeptness in class discussions, and ability to energize groups with concise, thoughtful remarks.”

THE STERLING A. STOUDEMIRE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SPANISH

Recipient: alexa tomlinson.

This certificate and monetary prize are awarded annually to a senior who has excelled in Spanish. It was established in 1974 by friends and former students of Sterling Aubrey Stoudemire in recognition of his fifty years as a teacher of Spanish and other services to the University, including Chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Chairman of the Faculty Committee on Buildings and Grounds.

“Alexa has completed a major in Hispanic Linguistics, a minor in Translation and Interpretation, and has a second major in Geology. During her time at UNC, she worked with children at Juntos NC, as a peer tutor in Spanish, and as resident advisor in which she collarborated on a program of intercultural competence, development, and wellness.”

THE RIA STAMBAUGH UNDERGRADUATE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN GERMAN

Recipient: melanie altenkirch.

Established in 1987, this award recognizes the graduating senior who has achieved the most distinguished academic record in German language and literature. This prize is awarded by the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, and is made possible by memorial contributions of friends and relatives of Ria Stambaugh, Professor of German from 1963 to 1984.

“Melanie secured a competitive German-American Exchange internship with Swagelok in 2022, utilizing her majors in German and Environmental Science. Selected as a DAAD Young Ambassador in 2023, she promotes UNC study abroad opportunities in Germany, while also actively contributing to departmental events and serving as treasurer of the German Club.”

THE CAMÕES PRIZE IN PORTUGUESE

Recipient: marcos gregorio.

The Camões Prize in Portuguese is awarded annually to the outstanding undergraduate in Portuguese. This prize was established in 1975 with a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.

“Marcos is a junior who has been a very active participant in not only many Portuguese classes, but also in all of the department’s outside-of-class Portuguese activities. He is adored by his peers and his class work is always among the very top.”

THE MARY TURNER LANE AWARD IN WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES

Recipient: elizabeth belter.

This award honors a senior, from any discipline, judged by the faculty in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies to have made an outstanding contribution through original scholarship and/or creative production on gender and feminist issues. Its purpose is to further academic research in the expanding field of Women’s and Gender Studies, which was established on the campus in 1978 by Mary Turner Lane, a tireless feminist, advocate, and educator.

“Elizabeth’s senior capstone essay delves into the challenges of applying body positivity in eating disorder treatment for transgender individuals, proposing body neutrality as a potentially more suitable approach. Drawing from diverse fields including social work, psychology, and women’s and gender studies, Elizabeth’s work has been described as “an insightful feminist project.””

THE PAUL DEBRECZENY PRIZE IN SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES

Recipient: aden keating laws.

This award, established in 1999, is presented to the graduating senior whose work in Russian or Slavic language, literature and culture is judged most outstanding by the Slavic and East European faculty of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures. The prize honors the late Professor Paul Debreczeny, a founding member of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, which merged with the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures in 2011. Professor Debreczeny was deeply committed to quality undergraduate education.

“Aden’s exceptional aptitude for Germanic and Slavic languages, coupled with his leadership within the Department of Germanic and Slavic languages, is unparalleled. He revitalized Carolina’s Slavic Club and has been instrumental in organizing various extracurricular activities. Aden is an enterprising and ethical thinker whose thirst for knowledge has taken him around the world.”

THE L. RICHARDSON PREYER AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

Recipient: rosa elias.

Established in 2002, this award is given to a senior judged by a committee of the faculty to have established the most distinguished record of scholarship in Political Science and service to the community.

“Rosa has served as president of Students United for Immigrant Equality for nearly three years, has mentored Carolina Covenant students, and has volunteered at polls in multiple election cycles. She is currently writing an honors thesis on Latinx representation in the US, and for two years worked as a research assistant, collecting data on protest movements in the US.”

THE ROBERT B. HOUSE MEMORIAL PRIZE IN POETRY

Recipient: amelia loeffler.

This award in poetry honors the first chancellor of the University, a writer and friend of the literary arts. A cash prize is presented annually to a graduating senior who has done distinguished work in poetry. The recipient is selected by faculty members in the Creative Writing Program.

“Amelia is double majoring in Geography and English and Comparative Literature, with a minor in Creative Writing. Like the other students in her two-semester senior Honors in Poetry Writing class, she just completed a thousand-line book-length thesis collection of original poems: with a lively voice and variety of formal approaches, her collection abounded in compelling poetry.”

THE PATRICK F. EAREY AWARD

Recipient: corinna collins.

Established by the Department of Exercise and Sport Science, the award honors the late Patrick Earey, a distinguished member of its faculty. Dr. Earey taught in the department from 1957 to 1987 and served as varsity swim coach from 1957 to 1975. This award is given to a member of the graduating class who has exhibited outstanding academic achievement, extracurricular involvement, and leadership. The recipient is selected by a committee of faculty members and students from the department.

“Corinna is an excellent student and leader. She has a passion for the sports industry and provides consistent service to others in many roles. Corinna also won and excelled in a competitive, national internship.”

The Undergraduate Award in Economics

Recipient: aidan buehler.

This award has been established by the Department of Economics to honor excellence in economic studies. It is given annually to the undergraduate majoring in economics that is judged to be the most outstanding based on performance in major and related courses.

“Aidan is an exceptional student who has excelled in both undergraduate and graduate classes. He has received and accepted a pre-doc position at the prestigious BFI Predoctoral Research in Economics Program at the University of Chicago, reflecting both his passion for and competence in empirical economics research.”

THE UNDERGRADUATE PRIZE IN ART HISTORY

Recipient: hope mutter.

This award was established in 1979 by the Department of Art. It is given annually to the undergraduate who, in the opinion of a faculty committee, has done the most outstanding work in art history.

“In addition to her superb performance in all her classes, Hope authored a Senior Honors Thesis in Art History, focusing on political art by US women artists associated with the Taller de Gráfica Popular in Mexico City during the 1940s. She received the Allcott Travel Fellowship for independent research in Bogotá, Colombia, presented at the Spring 2023 Art and Art History Undergraduate Honors Symposium, and actively engages in campus radio hosting and volunteering as an ESL tutor.”

Recipient: Mackie Tate Tygart

“A double major in Art History and Peace, War, and Defense Studies, Mackie has impressed her professors as being a smart, thoughtful, and articulate young scholar. In Art History classes she consistently gave polished presentations, wrote excellent papers, and was always a strong leader in group projects.”

THE McNALLY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN GEOGRAPHY

This award, a monetary prize and an international atlas, is given annually to a graduating senior who is selected by the geography faculty based on superior academic performance. The award was established by Andrew McNally IV, Class of 1963.

“Amelia received a SURF Fellowship to study tourism and rural gentrification in Eastern Kentucky, is a research assistant in the Freshwater Ecology and Biochemistry Lab, and an intern for the Southern Oral History Project. She is also a staff member for the Cellar Door Literary Magazine and volunteers for TABLE and Habitat for Humanity.”

THE HAMPTON SHUPING PRIZE

Recipient: andy jin.

The Hampton Shuping Prize shall be given to the graduating senior at UNC-Chapel Hill who is the outstanding undergraduate majoring in business, not only in academic achievement, but in integrity, honor and leadership potential; who shows concern for ethical management of the American business enterprise; and who respects the labor and the commitment of the individual as instrumental to the success of the organization and the free enterprise system.

“Andy excels academically as a double major in Business and Economics while also leading numerous student organizations and serving as an Ambassador for the STAR Program. His empathetic, resilient, and visionary leadership style has set a new standard at Kenan-Flagler, making him an exemplary student and leader.”

THE HOWARD W. ODUM UNDERGRADUATE SOCIOLOGY AWARD

Recipient: halley zhang.

This award was established in 1968 in memory of Howard W. Odum, who founded the Department of Sociology. The award is presented annually to the senior who is judged most outstanding by the department’s faculty on the basis of academic performance.

“In addition to her outstanding performance in the classroom, Halley is an exceptionally talented and dedicated researcher. She conducted multiple independent research projects, including summer research on the relationship between social status and college major, and a senior’s honor thesis that explores the significant impact of COVID-19 disruptions on the work-life balance of educators in higher education settings.”

THE LOUIS D. RUBIN, JR. PRIZE IN CREATIVE WRITING

Recipient: delaney phelps.

Established in 1987, this award honors a distinguished professor emeritus of English and scholar of southern American literature whose work with talented undergraduates in creative writing was widely appreciated. A monetary award is presented annually to the outstanding fiction writer in the senior class.

“Majoring in English and Comparative Literature with double minors in American Indian and Indigenous Studies and Creative Writing, Delaney is currently engaged in completing her senior Honors in Fiction through a collection of short stories. Her outstanding work ethic, demonstrated in both her writing endeavors and collaborative peer critiques, has earned her this award.”

THE PAUL E. SHEARIN OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARD IN PHYSICS

Recipient: andrew hanan mattson.

This award, established by W.E. Haisley, Professor Emeritus of Physics, honors Paul E. Shearin, Professor of Physics, member of the faculty for 36 years, and for 12 years Chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. A monetary award is given to the member of the senior class majoring in Physics who is judged most outstanding on criteria of scholarship, scientific insight and professional seriousness. The recipient is selected by the departmental faculty from candidates nominated by the undergraduate major advisors.

“Andrew’s exceptional academic performance, dedication to education, and community involvement led to him receiving this award. Alongside his academic accomplishments, he has contributed significantly as an Undergraduate Learning Assistant and founder of UNC-Trash Force, fostering both campus cleanliness and social connectivity among students.”

THE MARC ADAM EISDORFER AWARD IN LINGUISTICS

Recipient: annika marie herlant.

This award was established in 1988 by Sandra Eisdorfer in memory of her son, Marc Adam Eisdorfer, a graduate of the class of 1984. It recognizes the senior or seniors judged most outstanding in academic achievement in Linguistics.

“Annika shines as a bright and engaged student, actively participating in class, lab groups, and extracurricular activities such as Underling and the Computational Linguistics Open competition. Her remarkable contributions to Field Methods and other courses, coupled with outstanding written work and progress on her honors thesis, demonstrate her exceptional dedication and talent.”

Recipient: Emma Wrenn

“Emma is an outstanding student in her linguistics classes. Her professors appreciate her enthusiasm for the subject, sharp questions and observations, and her eagerness to write elicitations on the board in Field Methods.”

THE ALBERT SUSKIN PRIZE IN LATIN

Recipient: bradley sadowsky.

Established in 1966 by his colleagues and friends, this award is in memory of Albert I. Suskin, Professor of Latin from 1953 to 1965 and Chairman of the Department of Classics from 1960 to 1965. A monetary award is offered annually to the undergraduate who shows the best ability to understand Latin poetry and to translate selected passages at sight.

“A senior majoring in Comparative Literature and minoring in Latin and German, Bradley receives this awarded today for his exceptional performance in the Latin competition, displaying a fluently poetic translation with minimal errors and an insightful essay demonstrating a deep understanding of the genre and its connections to other works.”

THE EBEN ALEXANDER PRIZE IN GREEK

Recipient: keith theisen.

Established in 1887, this award is bestowed by the family of Dr. Eben Alexander, Sr. A monetary award is presented annually to the undergraduate who, in the opinion of the faculty of the Classics Department, presents the best rendering into English of selected passages of Greek not previously read.

“Keith shows impressive command of Greek vocabulary and grammar, attending to subtle niceties of expression as well as grand rhetorical features. The two translated passages used to judge this award were each challenging in their own ways, and Keith demonstrated an ability to maintain not only the logical sense, but the rhetorical force of the original Greek.”

 THE VENABLE MEDAL

Recipient: meredith haven daughtridge.

The Venable Medal was established in 1955 by Rho Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma and is presented annually by members of that professional chemistry fraternity to the two most outstanding seniors majoring in chemistry. Two medals are awarded. The selection of one recipient is based on scholastic and academic work within the chemistry program. The other is based on outstanding academic work, character, and outstanding contributions to the University community and to chemistry. The awards bear the name of Francis Preston Venable, chemistry professor from 1880 to 1930 and president of the University from 1900 to 1914.

“Meredith is an outstanding student who is recognized for her high academic performance and her creativity and innovation as a researcher in the Hicks lab. Faculty note that she has great attention to detail, takes initiative, works highly independently, and exhibits innovation in the research lab.”

Recipient: Maya Groff

“Maya co-founded the STEM Sisters program and serves as its president, is an engaged contributor to Carolina Scientific, and is an active member of the Lawrence research lab. She is recognized as a talented scientist committed to enhancing diversity in STEM.”

THE WORTH AWARD

Recipient: ellie riggsbee.

Established in 1883, this award was given annually in the Department of Philosophy through 1919. Reinstituted in 1977 by the department, this oldest academic award, based on course performance and faculty recommendation, is given for sustained excellence in undergraduate study of philosophy.

“Ellie has demonstrated remarkable passion and talent for philosophy, excelling in class discussions and producing outstanding papers. Additionally, her dedication as a Parr Heel and leadership within the Parr Center community underscore her valuable contributions.”

Recipient: Amery Smith

“Amery’s sincere enthusiasm and curiosity in philosophy classes have impressed instructors, reflected in consistently insightful and creatively written work. Additionally, he is a highly valued member of the undergraduate philosophy community, making significant contributions to the Philosophy Club and beyond.”

THE IRVINE R. HAGADORN AWARD

Recipient: phu nguyen.

Established in 1983, the Hagadorn Award is given to an outstanding rising senior Biology major. The recipient is selected on the basis of academic achievement, excellence in biology research and contributions to the Biology Department. This award was established in honor of Dr. Irvine Hagadorn, former Chair of the Department of Zoology at UNC.

“Phu is given this award based on his academic excellence, exemplary research, and contributions inside and outside the classroom. Phu served as a peer mentor, giving instructional support to faculty and students in Biology and Chemistry and founded Magic in Science, a non-profit organization designed to motivate and inspire under-represented children to discover the world of science.”

THE DONALD T. LYSLE AWARD

Recipient: caroline clodfelter.

This award honors Dr. Donald T. Lysle who served as Chair from 2007-2022. Dr. Lysle completed his B.S., Magna Cum Laude; and Ph.D from the University of Pittsburgh and has been a faculty member at Carolina since 1990. Aside from his great service as Chair of a large department, he is known for his compassion for others. Thus, it is fitting that the award which honors Dr. Lysle is an award which recognizes those who show exceptional concern and service for others.

“Caroline is presented this award for her dedicated support of individuals facing mental health and substance use challenges, evident through her leadership in various service organizations such as the TEACH Initiative, Reintegration Support Network, and the Carolina Harm Reduction Union. Additionally, Caroline actively volunteers as a Crisis Text Line Counselor and at UNC Hospitals.”

THE CAZEL PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN HISTORY

Recipient: andrew gary.

The Cazel Prize in History recognizes an outstanding senior who has excelled in the study of history, contributed to the life of the History department, and shown a profound commitment to the values of the historical discipline.

“Andrew has made outstanding contributions to the History department’s mission and values. His involvement in various activities, including his honors thesis, instruction, and leadership roles, reflects his commitment as an engaged scholar and ambassador for historical inquiry’s significance in addressing public concerns.”

THE WILLIAM STEVENS POWELL AWARD

Recipient: rob clay.

The William Stevens Powell Award was established in 2002 by the North Caroliniana Society in honor of the Society’s first president, long-time vice-president, and distinguished historian. The award recognizes a student who, during the student’s career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has done the most to develop an interest in, and understanding of, the history and traditions of the nation’s oldest state university. Absent a deserving recipient as so adjudged, the award may be presented to the UNC-CH student who has done the most to develop an interest in, and understanding of, the history of the state of North Carolina. Undergraduate seniors shall be the preferred recipients, but any student duly enrolled in the university who meets the foregoing criteria is eligible for the award. Absent a nominee deemed a meritorious recipient as adjudged by one or more of the foregoing criteria, the Society may forego presentation of the award in a given year._A check for $200.00. an autographed copy of Professor Powell’s book, The First State University, and the winning student’s name engraved on a silver plaque that is housed in Wilson Library constitute the award._

“A Philosophy major, Rob is committed to expanding healthcare access. As a 2023-2024 Zietlow Civic Engagement Scholar and a Public Service Program Coordinator at the Carolina Center for Public Service, Rob aims to provide knowledge and guidance to Chapel Hill’s low-income and marginalized citizens who signed up for Medicare.”

THE GEORGE H. COCOLAS PHARMACY STUDENT BODY AWARD

Recipient: taysir chamem-fomby.

This award was established in 1948 and renamed in 1998 in honor of Dr. George Cocolas, retired associate dean of the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. It recognizes a member of the graduating class who has demonstrated the highest qualities of character, deportment, scholarship, professionalism, participation in extracurricular activities, and promise of future distinction in the profession of pharmacy. The award is given by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy Student Senate and the recipient is selected by the graduating class. Student Senate and the recipient is selected by the graduating class.

“Taysir was chosen by her peers for her exceptional academic performance, extensive research experience, and strong leadership demonstrated through roles such as Clinical Development Intern at Dermavant Sciences, Inc., National Student Officer in Industry Pharmacists Association, and past president of various pharmacy organizations.”

THE CHANCELLOR’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES AWARD

Recipient: jim appiah.

This award is given each year to one or more students graduating with the Minor in Entrepreneurship degree of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship.  These students will have excellent grades in the courses of the Minor and will also have demonstrated excellence in application of entrepreneurial thinking in practical problem-solving in the social, public health, commercial, media, sports, computation, design, artistic or scientific fields.

“Jim has a passion for creating projects that have a positive impact on humanity. When he had to return to his home in Ghana during Covid, he founded his first entrepreneurial venture, Focus Group Companies, whose mission is to provide job opportunities for African youth and to make Africa sufficient in food. Jim is currently involved in “Project 2030” whose goal is to provide meat for every person in West Africa by 2030.”

The Alexander Julian Prize

Recipient: joseph gu.

Fashion designer Alexander Julian, Class of 1969, established this award in 1985. The art department gives the award to an undergraduate student exhibiting an outstanding sense of design, which the faculty interprets as a mature integration of formal issues and content. The award is given to the undergraduate who the faculty believes has done the most outstanding work in studio art.

“Joseph’s interdisciplinary approach as a Studio Art and Biology double major is evident in his impactful work exploring cultural and political themes through photography and printmaking, particularly his research on 1990s China, showcasing his dedication to excellence and innovation in artistic expression and scholarly inquiry.”

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A Life Overtaken by Conspiracy Theories Explodes in Flames as the Public Looks On

Friends of Max Azzarello, who set himself on fire outside Donald J. Trump’s trial, said he was a caring person whose paranoia had led him down a dark path.

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By Michael Wilson ,  Tracey Tully and Jan Ransom

The journey that ended with a man setting himself on fire on Friday outside the Manhattan courthouse where Donald J. Trump was being tried seemed to have begun in Florida, with a series of increasingly bizarre outbursts.

Standing in the afternoon chill, the man, Max Azzarello, 37, of St. Augustine, Fla., threw pamphlets into the air before dousing himself with an accelerant and setting his body ablaze. The police hurried to extinguish the flames, and he was taken to a hospital burn unit, gravely injured. He died on Friday night.

The fire just a block or two from the courthouse appeared calculated to draw widespread attention, horrifying bystanders and temporarily overshadowing the momentous trial of a former president.

But a closer look at the path the man had traveled to this moment of self-destruction revealed a recent spiral into volatility, one marked by a worldview that had become increasingly confusing and disjointed — and appeared to be unattached to any political party. His social media postings and arrest records suggest the immolation stemmed instead from a place of conspiracy theories and paranoia.

Until last summer, Mr. Azzarello seemed to have lived a relatively quiet life. After high school, where he was a member of a bowling team, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2009, with degrees in anthropology and public policy.

As a student at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., where he received a master’s degree in city and regional planning in 2012, he was known for leaving supportive Post-it notes for classmates in the hallways and for his karaoke performances of Frank Sinatra and Disney tunes, said a former classmate, Katie Brennan.

“He was super curious about social justice and the way things ‘could’ be,” Ms. Brennan said. “He was creative and adventurous.”

He began a career in which, according to his LinkedIn profile, he moved among jobs in marketing, sales and technology. In 2013, he worked on the campaign of Representative Tom Suozzi of Long Island, who was then running for Nassau County executive.

An old friend from high school, Steven Waldman, called Mr. Azzarello one of the smartest people he knew.

“He was a good friend and person and cared about the world,” he said.

But there was cause for concern, too.

By last year, he had apparently settled in St. Augustine, where he lived in a modest apartment near the Matanzas River in that historic city. He was a pleasant if sometimes peculiar neighbor.

“An extremely nice person,” said Larry Altman, the property manager at his apartment building, who added: “He had political views that I would not consider mainstream. He called our government and the world government a Ponzi scheme.”

But there were no signs that he was harboring an urge to harm himself, Mr. Altman said.

“If you met Max, he’d shake your hand, and you’d have a nice conversation,” he said. “He’d treat you with respect.”

He was clearly deeply affected by the loss of his mother, however. Elizabeth Azzarello died on April 6, 2022, near Sea Cliff, N.Y., on Long Island, where she had fought pulmonary disease, Mr. Azzarello wrote on Instagram in April 2022.

“I am immensely proud to say that she navigated the awful challenges of this disease with strength, dignity and spirit through the very end,” he wrote.

After this loss, his old friends saw a change. “That was around the time when he became more outspoken,” Mr. Waldman said. “They were close, and they had a good relationship. He was heartbroken.”

By the following year, the clarity Mr. Azzarello had shown in writing of his grief was gone, and a troubled image emerged.

In March 2023, he listed his profession on LinkedIn as “Research Investigator,” self-employed. In June of that year, he tagged Ms. Brennan and several others to make sure they had seen something he had written. She described it as a “manifesto” and called him immediately and tried to intervene. Eventually she wrote to one of his family members to make sure that they were aware that he was in crisis, she said.

About five months later, in early August 2023, he posted on Facebook about visiting a mental health treatment facility: “Three days in the psych ward, and all I got were my new favorite socks.”

Days later, in picturesque St. Augustine, he went for dinner at the Casa Monica Hotel on Cordova Street. Afterward, Mr. Azzarello walked into the lobby, approached an autograph left by former President Bill Clinton, who had signed the wall several years earlier, and threw a glass of wine at it, the police said. He admitted what he had done to officers, the police said. The episode was most likely written off as one man’s bad night.

Two days later, he was back, standing outside the hotel in just his underwear, ranting and cursing into a bullhorn, the police said. And just three days after that, he vandalized a sign outside a nearby United Way office before climbing into the bed of a stranger’s truck and rifling its contents, the police said.

All these events played out within walking distance of the apartment where even his most far-afield views had only recently been delivered politely.

In the months that followed, Mr. Azzarello promoted his disjointed preoccupations in a document he posted on Facebook. The pages attacked fascism and the general complacency of the public. They espoused general anti-government sentiment but did not seem directed at a discernible political party.

“Like frogs in water coming to a boil, the public didn’t notice the rotten truth behind the illusion of freedom,” the writings state. The man who had written fondly of his mother just a year earlier — “gracious and warm, silly and catty, compassionate and supportive” — and their time together seemed to have disappeared.

His greatest vexation appeared to be cryptocurrency, which he cast as a threat to humanity.

It was unclear when he arrived in New York, taking a room at the Soho 54 Hotel on Watts Street in Lower Manhattan and making his way to the running sideshow outside the downtown criminal courthouse.

The area he chose, Collect Pond Park, has been an on-and-off stage for supporters and opponents of Mr. Trump for months. Mr. Azzarello was there by Thursday, holding a sign and speaking in ways that, perhaps bizarre elsewhere, fit in with the disparate voices of the park.

On Friday, the crowd in the park had thinned. At about 1:35 p.m., people began to scream. A blur followed: a man on fire, bright flames licking his clothing and hair; officers scrambling over barricades; a departing ambulance.

His oldest friends were left struggling to make sense of this act.

“He was kind and a gentle soul,” said Carol Waldman, the mother of his childhood friend. “A real wonderful, terrific young guy. Who had his whole life ahead of him.”

If you are having thoughts of suicide, you can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

Nate Schweber , Stefanos Chen , Nichole Manna , Nicholas Fandos , Chelsia Rose Marcius and Claire Fahy contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed research.

Michael Wilson , who covers New York City, has been a Times reporter for more than two decades. More about Michael Wilson

Tracey Tully is a reporter for The Times who covers New Jersey, where she has lived for more than 20 years. More about Tracey Tully

Jan Ransom is an investigative reporter on the Metro desk focusing on criminal justice issues, law enforcement and incarceration in New York. More about Jan Ransom

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

News and Analysis

As the final jurors  for Donald Trump’s criminal trial were selected and lawyers finalized their opening statements,  a man set himself aflame  outside the courthouse .

Fame creates its own gravity and Trump, who for decades sought to project an image of power, is usually at the center of it, but the mundanity of the courtroom  has all but swallowed him. And in his courtroom, Justice Juan Merchan also has pull .

Two prospective jurors who were excused  contacted The New York Times to describe their experience  in the fraught environment  of an unprecedented trial.

More on Trump’s Legal Troubles

Key Inquiries: Trump faces several investigations  at both the state and the federal levels, into matters related to his business and political careers.

Case Tracker:  Keep track of the developments in the criminal cases  involving the former president.

What if Trump Is Convicted?: Will any of the proceedings hinder Trump’s presidential campaign? Here is what we know , and what we don’t know .

Trump on Trial Newsletter: Sign up here  to get the latest news and analysis  on the cases in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C.