University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Catalog: "Students are expected to complete their degree within a maximum of eight full-time semesters." Summer terms are not counted. A ninth semester takes a written petition to your dean's office, approved in advance — and permission "will not be granted for the sole purpose of completing multiple areas of study" such as a second major and a minor, or two minors. Transfer students who arrive with two or more transferred semesters may enroll in up to ten in total. The practical version: map a four-year plan in your first year, especially if you want a double major or minors.

Under IDEAs in Action, several First-Year Foundations courses are marked "(first-year students only)": College Thriving (1 credit), a First-Year Seminar or First-Year Launch (3 credits), and the Data Literacy Lab (1 credit). Students who started before fall 2025 take Triple-I plus the Data Literacy Lab instead of the lab alone. Writing at the Research University and a Global Language course are also First-Year Foundations, but the first-year-only ones are the ones with a hard window. Build them into your first two semesters.

Academic eligibility is measured every semester. You need "a cumulative UNC–Chapel Hill grade point average of at least a 2.000" and a minimum number of academic hours passed: "After one full-time semester: 9 academic hours", "After two full-time semesters: 24 academic hours", then 36, 51, 63, 78 and 93. You also have to "successfully complete at least 2/3 of cumulative attempted credit hours." Fall short and you begin the next term on warning; miss again while on warning and it becomes suspension. Dropping classes to protect a GPA can quietly cost you the hours, so do the math before you drop.

UNC Advising: "You do not need permission to drop a class prior to the drop deadline as long as you will remain enrolled in 12+ credit hours." If a drop would take you below 12, ConnectCarolina will not let you do it — you have to speak with an adviser first. Before the Census deadline a drop leaves no mark; after Census and until the drop deadline it shows a W. Both dates are on the Registrar's academic calendar.

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