Early Entry for Undergraduates

Exceptional undergraduate students at UNC Charlotte may apply to this Early Entry Program to begin work toward a graduate certificate before completion of the baccalaureate degree.

Benefits:
  • Students admitted to the Early Entry Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies can double-count 4 graduate courses (12 credit hours) toward both their undergraduate and graduate requirements.
  • Early Entry students pay undergraduate tuition for up to 12 credit hours of graduate work and are eligible for undergraduate subsidized loans, which are no longer available to graduate students.
  • This can reduce the time to completing a BA and certificate degree and may make you more competitive for graduate school or employers upon graduation.
Admission requirements:

  • A cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 at UNC Charlotte

  • A GPA of at least 2.0 in WGST 1101 and WGST 3220

  • WGST minors and non-minors are encouraged to apply, but all early entry students are required to have taken WGST 1101 and WGST 3220.

  • Students should have completed at least 75 credit hours of undergrad work prior to admission to the graduate program (and usually at least 90 credit hours before the first graduate course).

Continuing requirements:
  • Students must maintain a minimum 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA or they may be dropped from the graduate program.
  • Students must complete BA degree before enrolling in more than 15 hours of graduate work.
  • Students can apply to graduate with the BA at the same time as the graduate certificate, but not before.
Financial Aid for Early Entry:
  • Undergraduate financial aid will only cover (a) courses that are undergraduate courses (1xxx–4xxx level) or (b) graduate courses that you are double-counting towards your BA.

  • Financial aid requires enrollment in 12 credit hours/semester at the undergraduate level (including double-counted courses) to qualify for the full financial aid award.

  • Therefore, in any given semester, any graduate-level courses you take that are NOT counting towards your BA will not be covered by financial aid and may result in a reduced total financial aid award, unless you are already taking 12 credit hours that semester.

  • Financial aid might particularly be an issue in your final semester of the BA program, when you may have only 1 or 2 courses to take to complete your BA.

  • DO NOT try to ‘top off’ your credit hours with graduate-level-only courses or you will not receive financial aid that semester.

Application information:
  • Applications will be reviewed by the Graduate Director, and then the Graduate School.
  • Early Entry students are strongly encouraged to meet with the Graduate Director prior to submitting their application.
  • The online application for the Early Entry Program is available through the Graduate School’s admissions system: https://gradadmissions.charlotte.edu/apply.
  • Note: GRE scores and letters of recommendation are not required.

Please contact the Graduate Program Director, Dr. Elisabeth Paquette (epaquet1@charlotte.edu) with any questions. Information about this program is also available in the University Catalog.