FAQ

To be eligible for guaranteed admission to NC State, you need a cumulative GPA of a 3.0+ while you are at one of our partner community colleges. Some majors are more competitive and may require a higher GPA for admission.

If your GPA falls below a 3.0 in a given semester, we want to work with you to provide tools and resources that can help you get back on track.

You can take up to 3 years to complete your associate degree. We understand that many community college students take longer than two years to complete their degree due to family and work obligations.

NC State offers many resources to help students thrive in the classroom. From the Academic Success Center to a Personal Librarian, you can get the help you need.

No. We began offering virtual advising via Zoom during the pandemic, and it’s worked well for many students. We plan to keep it as an option for anyone who needs that. We also visit most community colleges during the term, and we’d love to see you if we’re on your campus.

C3 students will have access to their NC State degree audit and Pack Planner. The degree audit is a checklist of all the courses required for a degree in a specific major. As we receive your community college course work each semester, we will update your degree audit to reflect your progress. You will be able to see how your community college courses fulfill bachelor’s degree requirements at NC State. Students will also have access to the Pack Planner. The planner is a tool where students can check equivalencies and plan when they anticipate taking each course over a four year period.

Yes, your C3 advisor will help you understand how to navigate the transition. Advisors will be assigned during your first term in C3. However, while NC State advisors are here to support you during your time in C3, your primary advisor will be your community college advisor while you are attending a community college. After you’re admitted to a degree program, your primary advisor will be in your academic program at NC State.

The Transfer Guides have great information about planning courses while you’re at your community college. They are designed to help you find courses that will move you toward your associate degree, meet transfer admission requirements, and ultimately work toward a bachelor’s degree.

Engineering is very competitive. In C3, we guarantee admission to NC State, but not to a particular program. To be as competitive as possible for Engineering, their Engineering Transfer Guide has lots of great resources for choosing coursework and maximizing your time at the community college.

Students interested in applying for C3 will submit a C3 application. You do not have to submit a standard freshman or transfer application.

Students can begin with C3 in the fall or spring semesters. Please check the deadlines on our application page.

You’ll generally hear within a few weeks of applying. You can check your status on the C3 applicant portal.

RDS is the Residency Determination Service. To apply for C3 you must be classified as an in-state resident for tuition purposes. RDS is required by all UNC and NC Community College system schools. If you believe your RDS classification is wrong, you will need to contact them directly.

NC State is currently partnered with community colleges across the state.

Yes, high school seniors are eligible to apply for C3. You’ll likely be in C3 for two years while you complete your associate degree at the community college before transferring.

Yes, students already enrolled at one of our partner community colleges are eligible to apply for C3 as long as you have at least one full year at the community college after you’re admitted into C3. Generally, that’s at least 24 credit hours remaining to complete your associate degree.

Yes, high school seniors with CCP work are eligible to apply for C3. Just make sure you have at least one full year remaining to complete your associate degree after admission into the C3 program – generally 24-30+ credit hours remaining after you finish high school.

No, C3 is not an option for students interested in studio-based majors. Due to the portfolio review requirements for these majors, we cannot guarantee admission to the College of Design after the completion of your associate degree. And all studio-based majors require an 8 semester sequence of studio courses, so you’d have at least 4 years after transferring to NC State. However, if you’re a designer at heart, we recommend you consider the non-studio Design Studies program, which is open to C3 students.

Yes, but students who are interested in majoring in Biomedical Engineering at NC State will be required to submit additional application information and go through an additional review process prior to their consideration for that program. Admission into this joint degree program with UNC Chapel Hill is very competitive and space is limited.

Yes, C3 students are required to graduate with an Associate in Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), an Associate in Engineering (AE), or Associate in Arts/Science in Teacher Preparation (AATP/ASTP) with a GPA of 3.0 or greater to be guaranteed admission into NC State under the C3 program.

No, we do not consider SAT/ACT scores as part of the C3 application.

The NC State C3 program seeks to enroll students from low to moderate income families.  Students whose annual family income is $110,000 or less are encouraged to apply for C3. C3 also takes into consideration any extenuating circumstances such as medical expenses, the number of children in college, and other factors.  We also look at military, first-generation, and rural status along with your academic profile. Income is only one aspect of your C3 application, but it is an important piece of our consideration.

No, for application purposes you may upload an unofficial transcript. However, students who wish to submit a transcript through CFNC or the National Student Clearinghouse should request official transcripts.

After your initial application to the C3 program, C3 students are only required to send one official final transcript to NC State when you’re ready to transfer. Please only send the transcript if the degree has been posted. There will be a delay between when your final grades are submitted and when your degree is posted. If we receive a transcript that has your final grades but not the degree, you will be notified and required to send a new transcript.

Most community colleges send electronic transcripts directly to NC State. Mailed transcripts can be sent to our address in Harris Hall.

There is no application fee for our C3 application. We want our application to be financially accessible for all interested students.

Early in your final semester at the community college, you’ll receive an invitation to to complete the C3 Intent to Transfer form. You do not need to apply through undergraduate admissions or pay an application fee.

When you’re in your final semester before earning your associate degree, it’s time to transfer. You should apply early in your last semester at your community college. C3 students can transfer to NC State in fall or spring semester.

Our Time to Transfer page details the timelines for transferring.

We typically let students know within a few weeks. While we guarantee admission to NC State, we do not guarantee admission to a specific program. We’ll work with you to help you find a major that fits your goals. If you’re taking required courses in your final semester, we may not be able to make a final offer until you’ve completed those courses.

Yes, C3 students are required to graduate with an Associate in Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS), an Associate in Engineering (AE), or Associate in Arts/Sciences in Teacher Preparation (AATP/ASTP) with a GPA of 3.0 or greater to be guaranteed admission into NC State under the C3 program.

No, for review purposes you may upload an unofficial transcript. It should show your current courses in progress. We will need an official, final transcript after you graduate that shows you were awarded your AA/AS degree.

After your initial application to the C3 program, C3 students are only required to send one official transcript to NC State after their community college degree has been posted to their transcript. Please only send the transcript if the degree has been posted. There will be a delay between when your final grades are submitted and when your degree is posted. If we receive a transcript that has your final grades but not the degree, you will be notified and required to send a new transcript.

C3 students should fill out the FASFA each year. Your community college will have specific deadlines, but you can begin filling out the FAFSA in October each year. The earlier you submit the FAFSA the better! You only need to send it to NC State when you’re ready to transfer, but to be considered an on-time filer, you’ll want to complete it every year before NC State’s March 1 priority filing date.

Yes, C3 students can apply to the Goodnight Scholars Program. For application and requirement information, visit: https://goodnight.ncsu.edu

Everything is on MyPack Portal. These instructions can help you view your eBill.

C3 students will have the opportunity to participate in social events and academic programming on NC State’s campus. Many of the community college partners will also host C3 events on their campuses. C3 social events are always changing based on student feedback. Events we have done in the past include campus tours, cook outs, and athletic events. C3 offers a wide variety of academic programming ranging from information sessions about financial aid, major selection and career development workshops.

When you first begin as a C3 student, you’ll attend C3 Orientation, which will help you understand how our program bridges your experience at the community college and NC State. Then, after you’re admitted to a degree program, you will attend NC State’s Transfer Orientation.

We think you’ll want to! C3 students are encouraged to attend social and academic programs offered on NC State’s campus. We strongly believe that participation in these events will enhance your experience in the C3 program, better connect you to NC State campus resources and provide for a more positive transition to NC State. However, we understand you may not be available to attend these events due to other personal, family or work commitments; therefore, students are not required to participate in these events.

MyPack Portal is your starting point for all your NC State records – and as a non-degree studies (NDS) student, you have access to MyPack while you’re at the community college. It’s how you’ll view your bill, register for courses, view an unofficial transcript, manage your financial aid and more. The MyPack Portal User Guide will help you learn to navigate the system.

The MyPack Portal Student Guide provides step-by-step instructions for accessing all of your NC State academic, personal, and financial records.

If you are having issues logging into MyPack Portal, have your NC State Unity ID (typically a combination of your first initial, middle initial, and start of your last name) ready and contact the Help Desk.

We receive updated course information twice a semester from our community college partners – once at the beginning of the semester and once after grades have been reported at the end of the term. We will update your degree audit within two weeks after receiving your data. If your degree audit is incorrect, please let us know by emailing transfer-c3@ncsu.edu.

The Pack Planner is a great tool, but it assumes you are a freshman and does not take into account that you will have met your general education requirements through the CAA. When planning your courses, we recommend using the Transfer Guides for your desired major. The Transfer Guides take into account articulation agreements, departmental and recommended courses.

The Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) is a statewide agreement that allows you to transfer courses smoothly. But your degree audit will not show all of your General Education Program (GEP) being met until we have your final community college transcript showing your associate degree was awarded.