About Summer Bridge

The Summer Bridge Program is a six week, transition program that helps incoming, first-year students adjust to Carolina by providing academic enrichment, community building and, co-curricular and experiential learning activities.

Any student who has been admitted to UNC Chapel Hill and is a North Carolina Resident is eligbile to apply. The cost of housing and tuition are covered by the program. All participants receive a stipend that can be used to assist with costs associated with books, on-campus dining options, and other personal expenses. Students are responsible for providing meals, supplies for the residence hall (bedding, toiletries, etc.), supplies for classes and any extra curricular expenses.

The courses we offer are ENGL 105 (English Composition and Rhetoric), EDUC 330 (The Science of Learning), MATH 110 (Algebra), and CHEM 100 (Foundations of Chemistry). All participants enroll in ENGL105 in the morning and choose one of the other three courses for their afternoon course. Enrollment in EDUC 330, MATH 110, or CHEM 100 are determined by placement information and/or major and career interests. All courses fulfill a general education requirement or are a prerequisite for advanced STEM courses at Carolina. More information about mathematics placement can be found by visiting the Deparment of Mathematics here.

COURSE UPDATE

In addition to the above courses, we have recently added a 1 hour course to the summer curriculum. All students, with the exception of Honors students, will enroll in IDST 101: College Thriving. This course will be offered on Monday and Wednesday afternoons only. See below for the course description.

Course Descriptions

ENGL 105 (English Composition and Rhetoric) Introduces students to academic writing across the disciplines of natural sciences, social sciences (or business), and humanities. This course develops advanced writing skills that focus on identifying how genres, styles of writing, arguments, and forms of evidence differ across disciplines, audiences, and purposes. Studying and practicing the conventions of writing in different disciplines will help you become a more versatile writer, which in turn should help you in other college courses.

EDUC 330 (The Science of Learning) Students study several facets of learning in the modern world, and investigate what scholarship in cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and the learning sciences can do to help us maximize that learning.

MATH 110 (College Algebra) Provides a one-semester review of the basics of algebra. Basic algebraic expressions, functions, exponents, and logarithms are included, with an emphasis on problem solving. This course does not satisfy any general education requirements. It is intended for students who need it as a prerequisite for other classes. A student cannot receive credit for this course after receiving credit for MATH 231 or higher.

CHEM 100 (Foundations of Chemistry) This course is an introduction to fundamental threshold concepts in chemistry as preparation for the two-course sequence of General Descriptive Chemistry (CHEM 101 and 102). This course emphasizes developing contextualized algebra skills for solving chemistry problems including physical unit conversions, molar mass, and reaction stoichiometry. MATH 110 is a pre-requisite.

IDST 101 (College Thriving) is a required First-Year Foundations course within the IDEAs in Action General Education curriculum. College Thriving empowers students to successfully transition to college, to participate more fully in campus opportunities, and to better recognize the resources available for academic support. We will cover topics including science-based strategies for effective learning, engaging with the campus community, self-care, and wellness.