The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be releasing Early Action decisions for applicants to the Class of 2030 by February 10, 2026. Students who submitted their applications by October 15, 2025, will thus have already learned of the fate of their applications. These decisions will fall into three buckets: acceptances, waitlists, and denials. So, what can you do if you’ve been waitlisted to UNC?

UNC Waitlist Acceptance Rates & Statistics

For first-year applicants to UNC who are placed on the waitlist, either after the Early Action or Regular Decision round (since UNC does not “defer” but instead “waitlists” applicants after both rounds), the odds of earning admission to North Carolina’s flagship aren’t strong.

Below are UNC’s waitlist admissions statistics for North Carolina residents and out-of-staters over the last five admissions cycles, with the most recent two years representing combined totals of in and out-of-state applicants. Note that for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle, many more in-staters were accepted off UNC’s waitlist due to the number of students who chose to defer their enrollment due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

University of North Carolina In-State Applicants

Admissions Cycle	In-State Students Placed on UNC’s Waitlist	In-State Students Who Accepted Spots on UNC’s Waitlist	In-State Students Offered Admission Off UNC’s Waitlist	In-State Waitlist Acceptance Rate
2025-2026	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	TBD	TBD
2024-2025	6,120 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	4,084 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	295 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	7.22% (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)
2023-2024	6,154 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	4,633 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	36 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	0.78% (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)
2022-2023	2,594	1,829	71	3.88%
2021-2022	2,959	2,133	155	7.27%
2020-2021	1,930	1,352	454	33.58%

University of North Carolina Out-Of-State Applicants

Admissions Cycle	Out-Of-State Students Placed on UNC’s Waitlist	Out-Of—State Students Who Accepted Spots on UNC’s Waitlist	Out-Of-State Students Offered Admission Off UNC’s Waitlist	Out-Of-State Waitlist Acceptance Rate
2025-2026	Not Yet Published	Not Yet Published	TBD	TBD
2024-2025	6,120 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	4,084 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	295 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	7.22% (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)
2023-2024	6,154 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	4,633 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	36 (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)	0.78% (Combined In-State & Out-of-State)
2022-2023	4,664	3,563	312	8.76%
2021-2022	5,998	4,431	12	0.27%
2020-2021	3,690	2,535	193	7.61%

Your Chances of Admission After Being Waitlisted

UNC’s waitlist acceptance rate can vary significantly, from 0.27% to 8.76% for out-of-state applicants over the last five years and 3.88% to 33.58% for in-state applicants over this same period. That said, not all waitlisted candidates are created equal. There are those applicants who play their cards wrong by bragging and updating UNC on all they’ve achieved since they applied in mid-October or mid-January. And there are those who play their cards right by submitting love letters to UNC that showcase how a student will contribute their singular hook to the institution. Our students at Ivy Coach play their cards the right way.

Your Chances of Admission to UNC After Being Waitlisted with Ivy Coach’s Help

To optimize your case for admission to UNC after being placed on the waitlist, we recommend completing the following five steps with Ivy Coach’s assistance:

1. Fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form and indicate that you’ve been waitlisted.
2. Complete a complimentary consultation with Ivy Coach to learn about our service for waitlisted UNC candidates.
3. Complete a PostMortem with Ivy Coach. While there’s nothing you can change about your UNC application, we need to know how you presented yourself. After all, how you present yourself after being waitlisted can’t be out of left field. It needs to be consistent with how you presented yourself when you applied, though your narrative must be more powerfully told if you hope to earn admission.
4. Submit a powerful Letter of Continued Interest to UNC with Ivy Coach’s assistance. Our letters feature no brags and no updates. They’re love letters and they’re filled with specific after specific about how our students will contribute their singular, wonderfully weird hooks, rather than well-roundedness, to UNC’s campus.
5. After submitting your letter, ask your school counselor to make an advocacy call on your behalf. While some school counselors will refuse to make advocacy calls (sometimes they’ll say that it would be unfair to their other students), we’d argue that it’s their job to fight for all their students. 

University of North Carolina Waitlist FAQ

Do North Carolinians have an advantage on the UNC waitlist?

Yes! With the exception of the last two cycles for which we don’t have in-state versus out-of-state data, in-state applicants have fared better than out-of-staters on UNC’s waitlist. The mere fact that UNC at one point separated their waitlist data for in-staters vs. out-of-staters speaks to UNC’s interest in offering preferential treatment to North Carolinians.

Are UNC’s waitlist admissions statistics typically in line with the 2020-2021 cycle or the 2024-2025 cycle?

The 2024-2025 admissions cycle was more emblematic of a typical year in UNC’s admissions office. The 2020-2021 cycle, after all, was heavily influenced by the pandemic and the many students who chose to defer their enrollment in favor of taking gap years.

Does UNC defer Early Action candidates?

No, UNC doesn’t defer candidates. Instead, they waitlist candidates after the Early Action round as well as after the Regular Decision round. But being waitlisted is essentially the same as being deferred.

Ivy Coach’s UNC Waitlist Assistance

If you’re interested in optimizing your case for admission off the UNC waitlist to the Class of 2030, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, indicate you’ve been waitlisted, and we’ll be in touch to outline our go-forward services for those in limbo.