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Admissions Policies

Pre-requisite coursework

Academic preparation must include all the UNC SOM prerequisite courses identified on our website regardless of your field of study or advanced degree (the prerequisites must be current), or the medical school program type selected on the AMCAS application.

You can review the required coursework at: https://www.med.unc.edu/admit/requirements/academic-requirements/

We require that your undergraduate coursework has been completed at a regionally accredited college or university within the U.S. or Canada and that your grades are documented in letter-grade format on your transcript and not pass/fail. Narrative evaluations are not accepted in lieu of GPAs.

  • All prerequisite coursework must be completed at a regionally accredited institution in the U.S. or Canada, and your grades must be documented in letter-grade format on your transcript and not pass/fail. Narrative evaluations are not accepted in lieu of GPAs.
  • There is a five-year limit on prerequisite coursework. We begin calculating the elapsed time from the YEAR you graduated from the given program, not the year the course was taken. Whichever path you choose, your degree and your prerequisite coursework must be satisfactorily completed within five (5) years prior to submitting an AMCAS application to our school.
  • CLEP credits are not accepted for required courses, and we do not accept verification from the World Education Services (WES) or a similar type organization or entity for the required coursework.
  • A minimum of 30 credit hours of natural science coursework is required at the time of application to our program. 
  • Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate coursework will not be accepted for our prerequisites.  
  • We require seated (in-class) prerequisite coursework for you to acquire the interpersonal skills required to succeed in our curriculum and in medical practice. Online courses will only be considered if your institution is unable to offer you a place in a seated class, or if the course is only offered as a hybrid (in-person and online). We recommend contacting our Admissions office for confirmation of acceptability. The exception to this requirement is if online instruction is the only option offered by your institution due to continued pandemic protocols. 
  • Substitutions are not allowed for the coursework identified in the categories below, or the required laboratory (including teaching the subject course, other courses that have components of a required course, or laboratory research experience, etc.). For example, Biochemistry cannot substitute for one of the Biology Sciences, as we have identified Biochemistry as one of the required courses for the Chemistry category.

Transcripts

You must send final official transcripts with degree designations (if applicable) from each U.S or Canadian institutions you have attended by July 1st of the matriculating year.  Please note, we will begin collecting final official transcripts from accepted applicants after January 1st of the matriculating year. Each transcript will be verified to ensure that all required coursework has been completed, as well as degree notations and dates of conferment. After the transcripts are verified, you will see a green check mark next to the transcript in your transcript checklist. This process is labor intensive, and your patience will be appreciated.

Hard copies of final official transcripts should be sent to the Office of Admissions, 1001 Bondurant Hall, CB# 9500, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-9500.

Electronic Transcripts

If your school uses an electronic service to, please send transcripts to: admissions@med.unc.edu

If your school uses the National Clearinghouse service to send transcripts, we have our own account,

National Clearinghouse: UNC School of Medicine – Office of Admissions – 00297400sm – PDF. Make sure the correct school on our campus is selected!

Failure to provide the required transcripts confirming successful completion of coursework, and degrees earned, could result in one of the following:

    • A stop on your account which will prevent you from receiving financial aid
    • Revocation of your acceptance and/or matriculation if you do not provide transcripts with degree designations indicating that you have completed your program prior to matriculation.

IMPORTANT– AMCAS will not send your transcripts to us; it is your responsibility to provide the Office of Admissions with your final official transcripts by July 1st!

Remember: your acceptance is contingent upon demonstrating the successful completion of all required UNC School of Medicine prerequisites, and programs indicated on your AMCAS application, or any courses you have taken after the submission of your AMCAS application.

MCAT Scores

The AAMC offers the MCAT exams between January and September and prospective students should plan to take the MCAT exam no later than September of the year they plan to apply to our medical school; your MCAT scores must be valid. Prior to every AMCAS cycle, we will post the last MCAT exam date we will accept MCAT scores on our website, as well as in the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR). Please use the table in this link to determine which AMCAS cycles your MCAT scores are valid. https://www.med.unc.edu/admit/requirements/academic-requirements/

GPAs that are significantly below our averages

If you do not meet the minimum GPA requirements, we require that you either enroll in a post-baccalaureate or science graduate program, in the natural sciences, and complete at least 30 credit hours or more before applying. More information can be found on our web page at: https://www.med.unc.edu/admit/requirements/admissions-process/ see “Step One.”

Reapplications

Applications to UNC School of Medicine are limited to a total of four (4) cycles of application—the initial application—plus three (3) re-applications. This applies to all applications submitted prior to the 2017 application cycle.

Acceptance requirements and transcripts

Acceptance into the UNC School of Medicine is contingent upon demonstrating successful completion of all required UNC School of Medicine prerequisites, and programs indicated on your AMCAS application, or any courses taken after submission of your AMCAS application. In addition, you are required to submit final official transcripts from each U.S. or Canadian institution attended, showing successful completion of the required coursework or degree granting programs by July 1st of the matriculating year. Each transcript will be verified to confirm that the prerequisites have been completed and are up to date and (within the five-year limit at the time of application), as well as your degree granting program(s).

Deferrals

Admitted students who have paid their enrollment deposits may request to be considered for a one-year deferment of their matriculation no later than May 31st of the matriculating year. Deferment requests are considered individually, and we typically grant deferrals for research, academic programs—additional year of graduate studies—or scholarship for medical internship or service programs. Please note, if you anticipate that you will need a deferral prior to applying to our program, it is best to consider waiting until you are ready, and applying to a future application cycle.