When you apply to Carolina, we’re not just reviewing your application for admission. We also use the information you submit in your application to consider you for a number of exciting opportunities, including merit scholarships, the Honors Program, summer fellowships, assured admission to the Business and Journalism Schools, and more. Some of these opportunities involve scholarship money, some don’t. But all of them connect you to an exciting aspect of the intellectual life at Carolina from the first day you step on campus. The great news is that you don’t have to submit any additional applications or information to be considered for all these great opportunities:
Merit Scholarships
Last year, Carolina awarded $2.8 million in merit scholarships. We encourage first-year students to apply by the Early Action deadline of October 15 for fullest consideration for merit scholarships. Learn more about the different scholarships we offer.
Honors Program
About 260 first-year students are invited to join the Honors Program each year. Honors students have priority registration for Honors courses, which are seminar-style classes that emphasize discussion, debate, and interaction between students and professor. The Honors program also sponsors lecture series as well as Honors study abroad and research fellowship programs.
Summer Fellowships
Last year, we started two new programs that provide students with a $5,000 award for summer study during their time at Carolina. Summer Study Abroad Fellowships allow students to use the award toward one of 81 study abroad programs in 37 countries. Carolina Summer Research Fellowships award $5,000 to students for use toward a research project of their own design.
Carolina Research Scholars Program
Carolina Research Scholars brings together students from across the academic disciplines who are engaged in undergraduate research. First-year students who are chosen for entry into the program receive special advising that helps them navigate the research community at Carolina and network with fellow researchers.
First Year Fellows Program
First Year Fellows connects students with the exciting opportunities and resources available at Carolina through special lectures, discussions, and excursions. Fellows are also guaranteed a seat in one of their top-choice First Year Seminars.
Assured Admission Programs
Most students apply to the Business School or the School of Journalism and Mass Communication during their sophomore year at Carolina. Each year, though, we offer a group of new first-year students assured admission to each of these programs. Assured admission students also benefit from special coursework and advising in their first two years, allowing them to begin pursuing journalism or business study from their first semester.Learn more about assured admission to the School of Journalism and the Business School.
So how do we select students for these opportunities? As the admissions committee reads your application, they'll also be considering you for all of the above programs. They'll be looking for the same things we look for in all of our candidates: intellect, curiosity, creativity, leadership, kindness, courage, and diversity
of background and experience. Your essays and letters of recommendation are important as they help us understand who you are as a person and how you will contribute here. We want students who will not only take advantage of the opportunities here at Carolina, but who will also make new opportunities both for themselves and their fellow students.
Faculty committees make the final selection of merit scholarship and Honors candidates. For the remaining programs listed above, we survey finalists to find out which programs are of most interest to them, and then match students to one of their top choices. So if you're chosen as a finalist, you'll be able to tell us which program is the best match for you.
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