Admission to Carolina is competitive, but we strive to make it fair and humane. We don’t use formulas or cutoffs or thresholds; no one is automatically admitted or denied because of a single number. Instead, we read each application thoroughly, one by one. 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. We know that not every talented student needs to be talented in exactly the same way.

At the same time, we seek excellence.We focus first on academic excellence, using a variety of information—courses, grades, test scores, recommendations, essays—to help us assess performance and potential. We pay particular attention to the rigor of each candidate’s course of study. Beyond academics, we seek excellence in other areas: in the arts; in athletics; in leadership, service, citizenship, and character. This list isn’t exhaustive or prescriptive; our candidates do things we’ve hardly imagined, and we’re more than happy to be surprised. When we read your application, we’ll be interested in what you've done and what you care about—those things that make you the unique person you are.