How to Succeed as a UNC Premed
/Everything you need to know about premed at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, including UNC premed requirements and the best premed extracurriculars
Learn how to get into medical school as a unc premed
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Part 1: Introduction
Students flock to the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill due to its beautiful campus, great basketball team, and, of course, stellar academic reputation.
Many of those students enter UNC with the eventual goal of going to medical school to become physicians. Due to its strong academic coursework, connection with the nationally ranked UNC Medical Center, and bounty of opportunities for healthcare-based extracurricular activities, UNC was rated by College Magazine as one of the top-10 universities for premed students.
UNC–Chapel Hill is also one of the top colleges in the country for producing premeds. With 500–600 students applying to medical school annually, at the beginning of your first year you probably feel like everyone else at UNC is a premed, too.
There are a number of challenges facing UNC premeds: the course requirements can be challenging to navigate, the required premed science classes are tough and often feel like “weed out” classes, and there are so many different extracurricular and community service activities that it can be hard to know which ones to choose.
Plus, college is a time to have fun! With so many clubs to try out, non-premed classes to take, and, of course, basketball games to attend, it can feel overwhelming to balance premed life with everything else. Unfortunately, not everyone can handle these stressors, and many aspiring premeds end up giving up on their goal of becoming a doctor.
We want to help you stand out among the crowd of UNC premeds and make it to the finish line: enrolling in medical school. That’s why we created this guide in which we discuss everything you need to know as a UNC premed: what premed classes to take, when to take the MCAT, how to get involved in extracurricular activities that will help you stand out on your med school applications, and how to apply to med school as a UNC premed, including information on in-state medical schools.
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Part 2: UNC premed requirements
First up: let’s talk about what classes you need to take as a UNC premed.
UNC Health Professions Advising has a helpful website that provides information for pre-health students. They give an explanation of which classes are required for medical schools and which UNC courses fulfill each category. Although different medical schools may have slightly different requirements, these guidelines should cover the overwhelming majority of U.S. allopathic (MD) medical schools, as well as prepare you for the MCAT.
| Biology: At least two years | Biology 101/L, 202, and 252/L or 474/L (Biology 205 is also strongly recommended) |
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| Chemistry: Two years, including two general chemistry labs and two advanced chemistry labs* | Chemistry 101/L, 102/L, 241/L*, 261, and 262/L | |||||
| Biochemistry: One semester | Chemistry 430 | |||||
| Physics: One year | One of the following sequences: Physics 114 and 115 Physics 118 and 119 |
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| Statistics: One semester | One of the following courses: Statistics and Operations Research (STOR) 155, STOR 151, Psychology 210, or Biostatistics 600 |
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| Calculus: One semester | Math 231 | |||||
| College-level English/writing: One year | English 105 or 105i are required for all first-year UNC students. If you did not get much experience writing papers in high school, you can first take English 100. | |||||
| Psychology and sociology: One semester | Any course within the sociology or psychology departments | |||||
One unique aspect of UNC premed is that Organic Chemistry I (Chem 261) does not have a lab component. So, in order to fulfill the medical school requirement of two semesters of organic chemistry lab, UNC students must take Analytical Chemistry and its required lab (Chem 241/L). The Analytical Chemistry lab is a prerequisite for Organic Chemistry II Lab (Chem 262L).
(Suggested reading: Medical School Requirements: The Definitive Guide)
Sample UNC premed two-year course plan
As a UNC premed, there are a number of ways that you can complete your premed requirements. Below, we will provide a sample course plan for a typical UNC premed, but remember that there are many things that may make your specific path unique.
For example, many students enter their first year at UNC with credits already earned from AP courses or community college courses prior to enrollment. Although many medical schools will not accept AP credits for admissions requirements, by having credit for entry-level chemistry or biology classes, you can take upper-level courses earlier in your college career.
You may have noticed that UNC has two course series which cover the physics requirements. Physics 114 and 115 (General Physics I and II: For Students of the Life Sciences) are targeted towards biology majors or pre-health students not majoring in chemistry, physics, or math. Physics 118 and 119 are calculus-based physics courses which, fittingly, require calculus (Math 231/232) as prerequisites and are generally targeted to students majoring in physics, chemistry, or math.
Be sure to talk to academic advisors to create a personalized academic plan. In addition, here’s some general advice on want to think about when mapping out your individual courses:
Graduation requirements. General education requirements for UNC–Chapel Hill include Foundations, Approaches, Connections, as well as your major requirements. The UNC Academic Advising website provides information on these general education requirements.
Requirements for your major. Some of your premed courses may also complete major requirements, but you’ll need to check with your specific department to ensure that you meet your major graduation requirements. The Advising Office in the College of Arts and Sciences has helpful worksheets for each major to help you plan your courses. If you plan to apply into a major that requires prerequisites (like Gillings School of Public Health majors or business majors within Kenan Flagler), you’ll also need to coordinate your prerequisites for those applications prior to your sophomore year.
When you plan to take the MCAT. You will want to finish all your prerequisite courses (including biochemistry!) before sitting for the MCAT.
What you plan to do with your summer terms. Summer can be a great time to pursue internships or get experience shadowing. Other students use that time to focus on challenging courses. You’ll want to think about how you may use your summer terms when you’re picking your class schedule.
As a template, here is one way that you might distribute your premed requirements during your first two years, assuming you’re applying to med school straight out of UNC and will take the MCAT by your junior year fall:
| First-Year Fall | Chemistry 101/L Biology 101/L English 105 |
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| First-Year Spring | Chemistry 102/L Statistics and Operations Research (STOR) 155 Psychology 101 |
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| First-Year–Sophomore Summer | First session: Biology 252 Second session: Chemistry 241/L |
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| Sophomore Fall | Chemistry 261 Physics 114 Sociology 101 |
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| Sophomore Spring | Chemistry 262/L Biology 202 Physics 115 |
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| Sophomore–Junior Summer | First session: Chemistry 430 Second session: MCAT study |
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(Suggested reading: The Ideal Medical School Application Timeline)
How to maintain a high GPA as a UNC premed
Doing well in your premed courses will help bolster your medical school application and prepare you for the academic challenges of medical school and studying for the MCAT. However, UNC is known for its difficult academics, and many of the entry-level science courses that are required for medical school are graded on a strict curve and are infamously “weed out classes” that can ruin premed students’ GPAs.
We don’t need to tell you that maintaining a high GPA is very important for medical school. A low GPA (below 3.5, generally speaking) is one of the most common reasons for students to fail to be accepted to medical school or give up before even applying.
It can be especially challenging to jump into science courses as a first year since you’re also adjusting to college and the new study habits required to succeed academically at the university level.
Here is some advice to prepare you for academic success as a UNC premed:
Don’t bite off more than you can chew! Especially when you’re first starting college, try to give yourself some breathing room in your coursework. Don’t sign up for an unnecessarily difficult course load just to impress adcoms. Give yourself some time to adjust to college and know your extracurricular commitments.
Know you’ll need to study a lot! Even if schoolwork came pretty easily to you in high school, you may need to adjust your study habits in order to succeed as a UNC premed.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. UNC has several formal advising resources for premed students including Health Professions Advising and general academic advising. You can also reach out to older students and other premeds to get information on classes and professors. Try to be proactive in reaching out for help instead of waiting until the last possible minute.
Research your classes before enrolling. At such a big school, different sections of the same course can make for a very different experience depending on the professor and TAs. UNC’s Reddit community and Rate My Professor are good resources to research specific courses and professors.
Take advantage of office hours, TA sessions, and peer tutoring. All of the large premed required courses have formal office hours and TA review sessions incorporated. There are also designated peer tutors for all the main science classes. These are students who recently took the class (and did well!) who can help you learn what’s important in the material and how best to study for your exams. Be sure to take advantage of these resources to learn the material (and get to know your professors, so you can build relationships that will help you with letters of recommendation).
Plan which courses you’ll take which semester in advance. Try to space out the most challenging classes. See above for advice on organizing your premed courses.
(Suggested reading: How to Study as a Premed)
What’s the best premed major at UNC?
Because of the heavy science course requirements for medical school, many premeds think that they need to have a science major in order to be prepared for medical school. In actuality, though, there’s no consistent best major for premeds. The best premed major for you is one that allows you to complete your premed coursework while still studying something you’re interested in.
While no major provides a clear advantage in medical school admissions, science majors such as biology, chemistry, or biochemistry can provide a good foundation for studying for and succeeding on the MCAT.
At UNC, the most popular majors overall are biology, media and journalism, psychology, business administration, computer science, and exercise and sports science. Similarly, the biological sciences are the most popular majors for premeds across the country.
UNC premeds, like premeds nationally, are most likely to major in biological or physical sciences. However, UNC premeds can also major in English, geography, public health, history, Spanish, and other non-science disciplines.
To choose the right premed major, ask yourself these three main questions:
Does it interest you?
Will you be able to maintain a high GPA?
Will you be able to complete your premed courses alongside your major courses?
When should you take the MCAT?
The short answer is: the best time to take the MCAT is as soon as you are well-prepared and have mastered your prerequisite courses. The longer answer depends on several factors, including when you are planning to apply to medical school and when you have time to devote to studying for this notoriously difficult test.
If you’re planning to go straight to medical school after graduating from undergrad (meaning you’re not interested in taking a gap year), the best time to take the MCAT is in the fall of your junior year. This allows you time to take all the necessary prerequisite courses and devote time over the summer beforehand to studying. As an insurance policy, it also gives you enough time that you can retake the exam if you don’t score in your target range.
Even though there are a number of study resources and tutoring options available to prepare for the MCAT, nothing can replace a solid foundation in the subject matter. For this reason, it is critical that you take the MCAT after you have already completed the following essential courses at UNC:
Biology 101, 252/L or 474/L, and 202
Chemistry 101, 102, 241, 261, 262, and 430
Physics 114 and 115 (or Physics 118 and 119)
Many students want to take biochemistry (Chemistry 430) after their MCAT since it can be difficult to schedule prior to junior year without taking summer classes. We definitely recommend against that, as biochemistry material can be very challenging—especially to self-teach—and it makes up about 25 percent of the C/P and B/B sections.
We also generally recommend taking the introductory Psychology 101 and Sociology 101 courses prior to taking the MCAT, as the material is included. These courses, however, can be self-taught, so with a good period of dedicated study, you may be able to take the MCAT without them. Be sure to do multiple practice tests prior to exam day to know your level of preparation.
(Suggested reading: The Ideal MCAT Study Schedule)
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Part 3: UNC premed extracurriculars
UNC has a seemingly limitless number of extracurricular opportunities for interested UNC premeds, so finding the right organization for you can feel like a challenge. For medical school applications, depth of involvement is more important than breadth, so try to pick organizations with which you can have meaningful involvement.
When you first get to campus, you might feel overwhelmed at FallFest learning about all the organizations that offer opportunities to UNC premeds. Try to do online research and talk to older students, friends, or other premeds to see which organizations and activities seem to fit your skills and interests best.
The UNC Campus Y has a number of community programs and volunteer opportunities. Or you can become involved in supporting the UNC campus community as a member of the Honor Court or the UNC Student Government.
The UNC Heel Life website has a database of on-campus organizations that you can use to research opportunities that sound interesting to you. The Health Professions Advising Listserv Archive can also provide information on extracurricular activities targeted towards premeds. You can sign up for the listserv to get relevant extracurricular opportunities and updates sent to your inbox.
(Suggested reading: How to Choose the Right Extracurricular Activities for Medical School)
UNC clinical and community volunteering
Below, we’ve made a list of some of the most popular organizations with a medical focus which UNC premeds get involved with. This list is just a starting point—it’s definitely not exhaustive.
Carolina Bebes (Birth & Breastfeeding Evidence-Based Education and Support)
Student Health Action Coalition (a student-run free clinic in Carrboro)
These organizations have a medical focus, but, of course, you can also volunteer with non-medical organizations in the local Chapel Hill/Durham Triangle community, including food kitchens, tutoring programs, senior living, or environmental organizations.
UNC shadowing
UNC Medical Center is a world-class hospital located directly on UNC’s campus. There are hundreds of physicians practicing in the various hospitals, as well as dentists, nurses, PT/OT, and other allied healthcare professionals.
There is no centralized process to coordinate clinical shadowing at UNC Medical Center. In order to shadow, you will need to reach out to individual departments or physicians that you are interested in shadowing. Once you have a potential placement, you can follow the instructions for shadowing on the UNC Volunteer Services website.
You will need to review the hospital shadowing requirements, complete a HIPAA certification, confirm your vaccination status, and collect a badge from Volunteer Services. You preceptor will also need to confirm your placement with UNC Volunteer Services.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, UNC Medical Center has currently paused all shadowing opportunities (as of January 2021). You can check the UNC Volunteer Services website to see when shadowing opportunities open back up.
You can also reach out to private practices and smaller clinics to arrange for physician shadowing. This will give you the opportunity to see different ways that medicine is practiced and give you a better chance to have a successful shadowing experience.
(Suggested reading: How to Ask to Shadow a Doctor)
UNC research
UNC–Chapel Hill is the 12th-largest research university in the United States, and it has more than 100 affiliated research centers and institutes that you can take advantage of as a UNC premed.
Getting involved with research as an undergraduate can help you understand the scientific method, contribute to medical innovation, and looks great on a medical school application.
Many UNC faculty members have labs which recruit undergraduate research assistants. Working in a lab can be a great way to gain experience in basic science and contribute to publications. Some lab positions can be competitive, so you may need to apply to several to land a position that is a good fit.
There are three main options to find an on-campus lab:
Search for faculty members and laboratories through the Biological and Biomedical Sciences Program’s Portal. This is a program for graduate students at UNC, but you can learn about labs and faculty members through their resource. You can email faculty members in your area of interest to see if they have any open positions in their labs. You may have a low yield on these emails and need to send out several before you end up hearing from someone.
Talk to upper-level students (especially graduating seniors) who are involved in lab research to see if they know of any positions that are open or opening soon. UNC Medical Mentors program can connect UNC med students with premeds so that they can help advise you in your undergraduate coursework.
Reach out to your professors and TAs for your premed courses like biology, chemistry, and biochemistry. Most teaching faculty also have research interests, so you may be able to connect with their labs. Building longitudinal relationships with faculty can be a great way to secure a letter of recommendation as well.
Some majors, like biology, allow you to participate in research as part of your formal coursework. You can get academic credit for the research that you’re doing and boost your GPA. You can also become a Carolina Research Scholar which is a transcript designation that involves coursework, attending workshops, and presenting your research project.
In addition, the UNC Office for Undergraduate Research (OUR) has a number of resources online to help UNC premeds get involved with on-campus research, including opportunities for funding, workshops, and presentations. This is a great resource to get started in your search for research opportunities.
OUR also has a list of off-campus opportunities for students to be involved in research in the nearby research Triangle. UNC Career Services can provide information on Triangle-area opportunities to shadow professional researchers as well.
(Suggested reading: How to Write a Great Research Assistant Cover Letter)
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Part 4: Getting into medical school from UNC
As a UNC premed, you’ll need the same materials for your medical school application as any other applicant, including a standout personal statement and secondary essays, your AMCAS Work & Activities section, transcripts, and letters of recommendation.
UNC Health Professions Advising has a number of resources for UNC premeds, and you can schedule an individual counseling session as early as your first year to help with course and extracurricular planning. They also offer workshops and interview practice to help you along your journey as a UNC premed.
How do you get letters of recommendation as a UNC premed?
At a large school like UNC, it can be difficult to get to know professors, especially in premed classes which have large lectures of several hundred students. UNC does not have a pre-medical committee or advisor’s letter, so you will need to get individual letters from faculty members in order to apply to medical school.
Usually, medical schools require a minimum of three individual letters from faculty members: two letters from science professors and one letter from a non-science professor. Some schools can require up to five letters, so you will need to work to build relationships with multiple faculty members in order to have options for letter writers when the time comes to complete your applications.
You can build relationships with professors through office hours, success in their courses, volunteering as a peer tutor in further semesters, or working on research projects under their guidance.
Some students enroll in honors classes for their science courses, which have smaller class sizes and give you an opportunity to know the professor better. These courses can move through the material faster, though, so be sure you are ready for the academic rigor before enrolling.
(Suggested reading: Medical School Letters of Recommendation: The Definitive Guide)
UNC premed acceptance rate and admissions statistics
UNC does not publish admission statistics of UNC premeds, so it is not publicly known how many of the hundreds of medical school applicants from UNC are accepted to medical schools each year.
Although UNC premeds matriculate at med schools across the country, it’s safe to say that many choose to stay in North Carolina. The vast majority of UNC students (82 percent) are in-state from North Carolina, so many are interested in staying in-state for medical school as well. And even among UNC premeds who hail from elsewhere, many fall in love with North Carolina and want to remain in the Tar Heel State for medical school.
It’s good news, then, that of the five medical schools located in North Carolina, two (UNC School of Medicine and Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University) are public universities and heavily prioritize in-state students. In fact, Brody only accepts students who are residents of North Carolina. Plus, even private North Carolina medical schools, like Duke and Wake Forest, interview in-state applicants at markedly higher rates.
You can learn more in our guide to North Carolina medical schools, including the interview rate and acceptance rate of each school according to in-state or out-of-state status.
Final thoughts
Being a premed anywhere is tough, but it can be especially difficult to navigate at UNC–Chapel Hill with its rigorous courses and maze of extracurriculars. That said, there are many opportunities to meet professors, gain research experience, volunteer with local (and global) communities, and make friends along the way.
In your time at UNC, make sure to work hard, plan your courses and extracurriculars to balance your interests, keep your GPA up, and enjoy all that Chapel Hill has to offer. With this advice, you’ll be on track for medical school and a career as a physician.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
