Explore New Interests at Carolina

Carolina students go on to do some pretty amazing things after spending four years with us. Last up in our short series of senior stories is Sarb...

When I came to Carolina, I was mainly focused on academics and research with a few hours reserved each week to cheer on our world-class sports teams. The one commitment I had that wasn’t purely academic was Admissions Ambassadors, which I joined to improve my public speaking skills in hopes of delivering better academic presentations. Ironically, it was my fellow Ambassadors who inspired me to break out of my academic shell and experience all that Carolina has to offer.

While listening to other Ambassadors’ service experiences, I was amazed at the scope and impact of their commitment to their respective causes. Their passion and enthusiasm opened my eyes to the many opportunities available at Carolina and helped me realize that developing other interests could only help my research and academics. I began to tutor and volunteer at area hospitals and with my friends’ service organizations. I’m now a Buckley Public Service Scholar and a Carolina Research Scholar, and I recently completed a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Each of these rich experiences helped me earn admission into the School of Medicine at the University of Virgina, where I will begin studying in the fall.

If you haven't yet enrolled, the deadline to do so is tomorrow at 11:59 PM ET! Remember that you can enroll electronically through MyCarolina.

Have a question for Sarb? Post it below.

FAQs for Admitted Students

Good morning! Today I'm posting some FAQs for Regular Decision admitted, waitlisted, and denied students. The questions for admitted students are in this post; please scroll down for the waitlisted and denied FAQs.

I've been admitted! Yay! Now what?
Congratulations! We hope you'll decide to make Carolina your home for the next four years. We might be biased, but we think it's the best undergraduate experience to be had. We'll do our best over the next few months to help you find out all you can about Carolina, so you can decide if it's the right place for you. One of the best ways to get to know our community and the opportunities available here is to join us for one of our admitted-student events. An invitation to Explore Carolina and Carolina Bound was included with your letter of admission. In the coming weeks, you may also receive invitations to a variety of other events, so be sure to check your email regularly.

Our Admitted Student website has detailed information on housing, orientation and the steps you'll need to take when you're ready to enroll.

Will I receive any merit scholarships?
Most Regular Decision applicants who are being considered for a merit-based scholarship were invited to campus for our second Scholarship Day. At Scholarship Day, students took part in discussion sessions with faculty members and other scholars. After the event, final scholarship selections are decided. The majority of the merit-based scholarships offered by Carolina will awarded to the students who attended Scholarship Day.

If you aren't initially offered a merit-based scholarship, please know that at Carolina you will have multiple opportunities to earn a variety of awards once you arrive on campus. Read more about Scholarship Opportunities for Carolina students.

Am I being considered for Honors or any other special opportunities?
We will be sending an email to select admitted students this week regarding Excel@Carolina, a special program featuring nine extraordinary opportunities for outstanding first-year students. In the email, we will ask those students to indicate which of these opportunities they're most interested in. We'll then use those preferences as part of our final decisions about these opportunities. Students selected for other honors and special opportunities will be notified via mail and email throughout the spring.

What about financial aid?
All students who applied for financial aid by the priority deadline of March 1 will receive their aid in the weeks following the deadline. If you have not yet completed the financial aid application, please do so as soon as possible. The Office of Scholarships and Student Aid awards student aid packages as quickly as they can, but you can help by making sure they have all of the information they need. Check your To-Do List in MyCarolina to make sure they haven't requested more information. Also, create your Onyen and UNC email account, as that is how the Student Aid office will communicate with you. More info is available on the Student Aid website.

Want to get advice from current students?
In recent years, current students started a Q&A blog for new students called Carolina Advice. If you want opinions and answers directly from current students, it's a great resource to learn more about life here. You can also check out the Tar Heel Blog to learn even more about student life from the current student perspective.

Congratulations again on your admission to Carolina. We look forward to welcoming you in the fall!

FAQs for Admitted Students

Good morning! Today I am posting some FAQs for Early Action admitted, deferred, and denied students. The questions for admitted students are in this post, please scroll down to the next posts for deferred and denied FAQs.

I've been admitted! Yay! Now what?
Congratulations! We hope you'll decide to make Carolina your home for the next four years. We might be biased, but we think it's about the best undergraduate experience to be had. We'll do our best over the next few months to help you find out all you can about Carolina, so that you can decide if it's the best place for you. One of the best ways to get to know our community and the opportunities available here is to join us for one of our admitted-student events. An invitation to Explore Carolina was included with your letter of admission, and you can find out more about it here. In the coming weeks, you may also receive invitations to a variety of other events, so be sure to check your email regularly.

Our Admitted Student website has detailed information on housing, orientation, and the steps you'll need to take when you're ready to enroll.

Will I receive any merit scholarships?
Most Early Action applicants who are being considered for a merit-based scholarship have been invited to campus for the first Scholarship Day. At Scholarship Day, students take part in discussion sessions with faculty members and other scholars. After the event, final scholarship selections are decided. A small number of Early Action applicants may also be invited to our second Scholarship Day in late March. The majority of the merit-based scholarships offered by Carolina are awarded to the students who attend Scholarship Day.

If you aren't initially offered a merit-based scholarship, please know that at Carolina you will have multiple opportunities to earn a variety of awards once you arrive on campus. Read more about Scholarship Opportunities for Carolina students.

Am I being considered for Honors or any other special opportunities?
We will be sending an email to select admitted students this week regarding Excel@Carolina, a special program featuring 11 extraordinary opportunities for outstanding first-year students. In the email, we will ask those students to indicate which of these opportunities they're most interested in. We'll then use those preferences as part of our final decisions about these opportunities. Students selected for other honors and special opportunities will be notified via mail and email throughout the month of February and into the spring.

What about financial aid?
All students who apply for financial aid by the priority deadline of March 1 will receive their aid in the weeks following the deadline. The Office of Scholarships and Student Aid awards student aid packages as quickly as they can, but you can help by making sure they have all of the information they need. Check your To-Do List in MyCarolina to make sure they haven't requested more information. Also, create your Onyen and UNC email account, as that is how the Student Aid office will communicate with you. More info is available on the Student Aid website.

Want to get advice from current students?
In recent years, current students started a Q&A blog for new students called Carolina Advice. If you want opinions and answers directly from current students, it's a great resource to learn more about life here. You can also check out the Tar Heel Blog to learn even more about student life from the current student perspective.

Congratulations again on your admission to Carolina. We look forward to welcoming you in the fall!

FAQs for Admitted Students

Good morning! Today I am posting some FAQs for admitted, waitlisted, and denied students. The questions for admitted students are in this post, please scroll down to the next posts for waitlisted and denied FAQs.

I've been admitted! Woo hoo! Now what?
Congratulations! We hope you'll decide to make Carolina your home for the next four years. We might be biased, but we think it's about the best undergraduate experience to be had. We'll do our best over the next few months to help you find out all you can about Carolina, so that you can decide if it's the best place for you. One of the best ways to get to know our community and the opportunities available here is to join us for one of our admitted-student events. An invitation to Explore Carolina was included with your letter of admission, and you can find out more about it here.

Our Admitted Student website has detailed information on Housing, Orientation, and the steps you'll need to take when you're ready to enroll.

Will I receive any merit scholarships?
Applicants who are being considered for a merit-based scholarship have been invited to campus for Scholarship Day. At Scholarship Day, students take part in discussion sessions with faculty members and other scholars. After the event, final scholarship selections are decided. This year, we were able to invite about 250 admitted students to Scholarship Day, and these invitations were mailed and emailed a couple weeks ago. Invited students are also able to view information about Scholarship Day in the Events section of their MyUNC.

Almost all of the merit-based scholarships offered by Carolina are awarded to the students who attend Scholarship Day. A small number of additional scholarships are awarded outside of this event; these scholarships are smaller in amount and for North Carolina residents.

But if you aren't offered a merit-based scholarship in the beginning, please know that at Carolina you will have multiple opportunities to earn a variety of awards once you arrive on campus. Read more about Scholarship Opportunities for Carolina students.

Am I being considered for Honors or any other special opportunities?
Last week, we mailed a letter to select admitted students regarding nine special opportunities that we offer. If you received a letter about these opportunities, be on the lookout for an email being sent out today, March 26. In the email, we'll ask you to indicate which of these opportunities you're most interested in. We'll then use your preferences as part of our final decisions about these programs.

What about financial aid?
All students who applied for financial aid by the priority deadline of March 1 will receive their aid package within the next few weeks. The Student Aid office packages students' aid awards as quickly as they can, but you can help by making sure they have all of the information they need. Check your To-Do List in MyUNC to make sure they haven't requested more information. Also, create your Onyen and UNC email account, as that is how the Student Aid office will communicate with you. More info is available on the Student Aid website.

Want to get advice from current students?
Last year two current students started a Q&A blog for new students called Carolina Advice. If you want opinions and answers directly from current students, it's a great resource to learn more about life here.

Other questions? Please let me know.

Advice for Enrolling Students

If you're part of the new class of students joining us this fall, you probably have a lot of questions about getting ready for Carolina. Your Orientation session will hopefully answer most of them, but there are also some great resources online that can help you connect with fellow students and ask your specific questions.

Carolina Advice is a site created by current students to answer new students' questions. "First hand advice from former first-year students who have stood in your shoes."

And you may well have already found the UNC Chapel Hill Class of 2015 Facebook page, but if not, join the conversation!

Any other online resources for new students that you all have found? Let us know in the comments!

Spring Events for Admitted Students

Congratulations to all our first-deadline admitted students. Now comes the hard part – choosing a school. We know how difficult this time can be and we want to provide you with all the information you need to make a decision about your future at Carolina. Our spring programs for admitted students are a great way to get to know our campus and our community.

I can’t always promise you good weather at our programs, but I can promise you that we will do our best to show you the place we know so well—a place filled with smart, inquisitive people who have good hearts and want you to succeed. On behalf of the entire Admissions staff, let me invite you to visit us and see if Carolina might be a good fit for you.

With your letter of admission, you received an invitation to a program called Explore Carolina. This invitation contains directions on how to view this invitation (and other invitations you may have received) on your MyUNC account.

Our main program for admitted students is Explore Carolina. This program is exactly what it sounds like – an opportunity to explore all that Carolina has to offer. Most of our academic departments and professional schools are hosting open houses or panel discussions with current students and faculty to allow you to learn more about the opportunities they offer. Additionally, campus offices like Housing and Residential Education, Scholarships and Student Aid, Public Safety and Campus Health Services will be available to talk with you and your parents and answer any questions you may have.

If you visit the link to the resource page found in the program description, you can download the full agenda and plan out your day in advance. Even if you think you know everything about Carolina, I’m willing to bet you’ll learn something new at Explore Carolina.

We offer two other programs as add-on experiences to Explore Carolina. These programs are designed to help specific populations start making connections and get their questions answered. Carolina Firsts is a program for first-generation college (FGC) students. This program is designed to answer parent and student questions about academic advising and student life at Carolina; to explain how Carolina supports FGC students; and to allow students to meet faculty and staff that will be instrumental to their success if they choose to attend UNC-Chapel Hill. Students who attend Carolina Firsts should also register for Explore Carolina on February 14.

Connect Carolina is designed for students from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Students attending this program will have the opportunity to meet with Carolina faculty, staff and current students to learn about their experiences and begin making connections. Connect Carolina is scheduled for February 25 and follows the Explore Carolina program scheduled for that same day. Students attending this event should also register for Explore Carolina on February 25.

Please let me know if I can answer any questions you have about these events. We look forward to welcoming you to campus.

Dave Meredith

Q&A: Admitted Students

This comment stream will be dedicated to admitted student questions. Have questions about Explore Carolina or other admitted student events? Questions about housing, orientation, laptops? Just want to say hey to other admitted students? Go crazy. I hope you'll also visit our Tar Heel Blog, where 12 current students post about their experiences here. They love getting comments and are happy to answer any questions you have. Get to know some of your fellow Tar Heels!