UNC Chapel Hill acceptance rate and admissions statistics
UNC Chapel Hill admitted 12,751 of 76,247 first-year applicants in its 2025-26 Common Data Set, an official acceptance rate of 16.7%. Every number below comes from the college’s own Common Data Set, each year linked to its document; a figure the college leaves blank says “Not published”, and the notes at the foot of the page say where a total is the sum of rows the college printed.
What did admitted applicants have? How to get into UNC Chapel Hill counts the grades, scores and activities they posted.
UNC Chapel Hill acceptance rate by year
| CDS year | Applied | Admitted | Acceptance rate | Enrolled | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 76,247 | 12,751 | 16.7% | 5,091 | 39.9% |
| 2024-25 | 66,535 | 10,209 | 15.3% | 4,640 | 45.5% |
| 2023-24 | 57,902 | 10,852 | 18.7% | 4,699 | 43.3% |
Acceptance rate is admitted divided by applied; yield is enrolled divided by admitted. Both are computed by Aristo Scholars from the two counts printed beside them.
Early decision at UNC Chapel Hill
Early decision counts: Not published. UNC Chapel Hill’s Common Data Set prints no early decision applicant or admit counts (section C21) for any year shown.
UNC Chapel Hill waitlist
UNC Chapel Hill SAT and ACT scores
What UNC Chapel Hill says matters in admission
In section C7 each college rates its own admission factors as Very Important, Important, Considered or Not Considered. These are the factors UNC Chapel Hill rated in the top two tiers.
- 2025-26
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Application essay, Recommendations, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities, State residency
- Important: Class rank, Academic GPA, Volunteer work, Work experience
- 2024-25
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record
- Important: Class rank, Academic GPA, Application essay, Recommendations, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities, State residency, Volunteer work, Work experience
- 2023-24
- Very important: Rigor of secondary school record, Academic GPA, Application essay, Extracurricular activities, Talent/ability, Character/personal qualities, State residency
- Important: Class rank, Recommendations, Volunteer work, Work experience
UNC Chapel Hill testing policy for students applying in 2026-27
Under the UNC System minimum admission requirements for students applying for 2026-2027 and beyond, applicants with a weighted GPA of 2.8 or above (4.0 scale) do not have to submit a test score. Applicants below 2.8 must submit an ACT of 17 or higher or an SAT of 930 or higher. UNC's 2025-26 CDS (C8A, fall 2027) marks SAT/ACT as Required for some.
From UNC Chapel Hill’s admissions site, read 2026-11-05. Policies change; the college’s page is the authority.
How these numbers were read
UNC has no early decision plan. Enrolled counts full-time and part-time students, matching the residency totals.
UNC Chapel Hill acceptance rate questions
- What is the UNC Chapel Hill acceptance rate?
- UNC Chapel Hill's Common Data Set for 2025-26 reports 76,247 first-year applicants and 12,751 admitted, an acceptance rate of 16.7%. It was 15.3% in 2024-25 and 18.7% in 2023-24.
- What SAT scores do UNC Chapel Hill students have?
- In 2025-26, the middle half of enrolled first-year students who submitted the SAT scored 1400 to 1530, and ACT submitters scored 29 to 34. 28.0% of enrolled students submitted an SAT score.
- How many students get off the UNC Chapel Hill waitlist?
- In 2025-26, UNC Chapel Hill offered 7,355 applicants a place on the waitlist; 5,258 accepted one, and 2,099 were admitted from it.
- Does UNC Chapel Hill require the SAT or ACT for students applying in 2026-27?
- Under the UNC System minimum admission requirements for students applying for 2026-2027 and beyond, applicants with a weighted GPA of 2.8 or above (4.0 scale) do not have to submit a test score. Applicants below 2.8 must submit an ACT of 17 or higher or an SAT of 930 or higher. UNC's 2025-26 CDS (C8A, fall 2027) marks SAT/ACT as Required for some.
Applying to UNC Chapel Hill?
An acceptance rate describes the whole pool, not one student. A Specialist can read your student’s file against what UNC Chapel Hill says it weighs.
Source: UNC Chapel Hill Common Data Set, sections C1, C2, C7, C9 and C21, each year linked above, read 2026-11-05. Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with UNC Chapel Hill. All official acceptance rates