Courses and Schedules
Advanced Placement & International Baccalaureate Credit
Students may receive academic hours of credit for some Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. Credits awarded may be used toward graduation requirements, with some limits. To be considered for credit and/or placement, students must ask the appropriate testing service to send the Office of Undergraduate Admissions their official test results. Score reports for exams taken before the senior year must also be sent directly to Admissions from the testing service once a student is admitted; junior-year scores sent prior to admission are not retained. The table of scores, tests, and credits awarded can be found on the Admissions website. Minimum scores for placement are determined by the faculty in the appropriate academic departments and may change from year to year.
On-Campus Placement Exams for Math
The Department of Mathematics now offers two on-campus placement exams. To learn more about the exams, see below.
Calculus Placement Exam: intended for students who know calculus but do not have AP scores.
ALEKS Placement Exam: intended for students who know algebra and/or trigonometry but do not have ACT or SAT Subject Tests. Taking this exam can give students credit for MATH 110 PL or MATH 130 or MATH 231.
On-Campus Placement Exams for Computer Science
COMP 110 and COMP 210 Placement Credit By Examination: https://cs.unc.edu/undergraduate/degrees/placement-by-examination/
Registration
Students will receive most of the information and guidance they need for registration during New Student Orientation. Further information can be found on the University Registrar’s website, here on our website, and on your student’s Canvas page. We strongly recommend that students use the online class search function to determine the availability of courses during a given semester. There is a master list of all courses offered in each semester, in alphabetical order, on the University Registrar’s website.
We know that the registration process, especially for your student’s first semester, can be a stressful time. The most important thing to remember is that registration is a very fluid process. A few helpful reminders:
- While a course may be closed or restricted now, it is very possible that the course will open. Course restrictions are lifted in the weeks before the semester starts. That date is listed for each semester on the Registrar’s Calendar.
- The first week of classes in the new semester is an optimal time to try to add a previously closed class since there are many students who drop classes once they have attended.
- Students may be able to add a class that was full at Registration but is now open. Only the professor and the department control the number of students in a class.
- Students may attend the first meeting of the class and ask if they may be allowed to sit in with hopes of adding the class. The Romance Studies Department and the Psychology Department do not allow students to sit in on courses in their effort to add the class, nor may a student sit in on English composition classes (ENGL 100/105/105i). Students are encouraged to explore other interests and consider alternate classes whenever possible.
- If a student is waitlisted for a course, the student will remain on the waitlist until it is purged. If seats in the course open, students will be enrolled in the course based on their priority on the waitlist. If no seats become available when the waitlist is purged, all students are dropped from the waitlist.
- A recitation section is a required small group discussion section connected to a large lecture course. Its purpose is to provide students with an opportunity to ask questions and further explore topics from the lecture. Attendance in recitations is required.
- The Registrar website offers a great registration video series. Check it out here.
Registration and Scheduling FAQ
Degree Requirements
Students generally meet with their advisors to determine which courses will satisfy degree requirements. On ConnectCarolina, students can access their Tar Heel Tracker report. Tar Heel Tracker is a degree planning tool that allows the student and their advisor to review the student’s academic progress toward graduation. It reflects courses that the student has taken and indicates how the courses fulfill general education and major requirements and show what requirements the student has left to complete. The Tracker is a general outline of the student’s undergraduate education. All students must complete specific general education requirements such as English Composition and Foreign Language, regardless of major. Information about degree requirements can be found in the Undergraduate Catalog. More information can be found on the Office of Undergraduate Curricula’s website.
Major/Minor Course Planning FAQ
Policies
Class Attendance
Regular class attendance is a student obligation, as is the completion of all the work, including tests and written work, for all class meetings. For more information on class attendance policy, please visit the Undergraduate Catalog. If your student must miss class, your student should email their instructor. For additional information, please visit The University Approved Absence Office.
Final Exams
The final examination schedule, published prior to the beginning of each semester, sets the time for each examination. A student who has three final exams within a 24-hour period or two scheduled at the same time may receive an exam excuse from an academic advisor for one of the exams. Other extenuating circumstances (illness, death in the family, etc.) may also warrant an exam excuse from a Dean in UNC Advising, but other documentation may be required. Exam excuses may only be issued for serious illness and personal/family emergencies; we cannot issue excuses for family activities or plans.
For more information on our policies, please visit the Final Exams Excuse section.