Some UNC-Chapel Hill applicants will receive decisions much earlier. Here’s why
Starting this fall, some students who apply to UNC-Chapel Hill will find out whether they are admitted more than a month earlier than normal under a new timeline the university announced Thursday.
The change applies to North Carolina residents who apply to the university by the early-action deadline of Oct. 15. In-state students who apply by that date will be notified of their admissions decisions by Dec. 20.
Previously, all students who applied by the early deadline — regardless of their residency status — received their notifications by late January.
Now, nonresident, or out-of-state, students who apply by the early deadline will receive their decisions by Feb. 10, a date about two weeks later than the previous timeline.
“Speeding up our decision timeline is part of our commitment to the state and people of North Carolina,” Rachelle Feldman, UNC’s vice provost of enrollment, said in a news release. “Many North Carolina high school seniors are excited about attending Carolina but can find the college application process stressful. By notifying our North Carolina early action applicants before the December holidays, we hope to ease the stress of decision making and planning and give admitted students more time to explore all that Chapel Hill has to offer.”
The new notification dates will be used for the first time this fall and will remain in place for all fall admission cycles going forward.
The university will continue offering a regular-decision application deadline of Jan. 15, with all students applying by that date receiving their decisions by March 31.
All admitted students must decide whether they will enroll at the university by May 1.
Admission to UNC remains competitive
The change announced Thursday comes about three months after UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts floated the idea at a meeting of the UNC System Board of Governors in April. Speaking to the board about the state of admissions at the university, Roberts noted he had heard from officials at Ohio State University that using a December notification date “made a difference to both the resident students, who had to face decisions, and to attracting the best out-of-state students.”
Roberts has made admissions a key focus during his first year as chancellor. This fall, the university will enroll 500 additional first-year students as part of a larger plan to eventually increase the university’s enrollment by 5,000 students over the next decade.
Much of the impetus for that decision stems from the rapid growth North Carolina has experienced in recent years. Amid the growth, the university’s enrollment has remained relatively flat, which means UNC now serves a lower proportion of the state’s high school graduates — a trend that is perhaps at odds with its mission as the state’s flagship campus.
Still, it is increasingly competitive to be admitted to the university.
A record-breaking pool of roughly 83,000 applicants sought admission as either first-year or transfer students in the previous cycle, with the majority of applications coming from out-of-state students. Overall, Roberts said in April, applications to the university are up by about 33% since 2023.
Last year, 37% of applicants from North Carolina were admitted, compared to 8% of applicants accepted from out-of-state, Roberts said at the time.
Under UNC System policy, the university’s first-year classes each year must consist mostly of in-state students, at 82% of the class, compared to out-of-state students, who can account for no more than 18% of the class.
The university enrolled nearly 21,000 undergraduate students last year.
This story was originally published July 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Some UNC-Chapel Hill applicants will receive decisions much earlier. Here’s why."
