Paper Application - Do's and Don'ts
Note: NYU no longer publishes a paper application. If you wish to apply using a paper application, you must use the Common Application.
- Pay attention to deadlines. Applications postmarked after the deadlines will be considered only if space remains available in the NYU School/College and the program you desire.
- Don't wait until just prior to the application deadline to apply. Snowstorms might close your school or disrupt mail service; your hard-drive might crash. All sorts of things can go wrong if you wait until the last minute!
- Use your legal name on all your application materials. We won't be able to match your test scores or your other credentials with your application if you've used a different variation of your name on each document.
- Use your social security number on your application and your application forms if you have one. It helps us match up your credentials, and you won't be able to receive federal financial aid unless we provide it.
- Keep photocopies of your application and all forms that you complete.
- If the application fee is a financial burden to your family, check with your guidance or transfer counselor regarding a fee waiver.
- Be sure to have official test scores sent directly to NYU from the testing agencies, and be sure you know which tests you need and when you should take them.
- Don't send supplementary materials - portfolios, videotapes, CDs, or other samples of your artistic ability - unless you are applying to one of the programs that specifically requires an audition or portfolio as part of the admissions process. If such materials are not required for admission, they will not be considered by the committee.
- We will inform you of any missing items in your application file. However, it is your responsibility to make certain that the Office of Undergraduate Admissions receives all of the information required to complete your application.
- Read and follow instructions. Please don't decide that you have a "better" way. We wouldn't ask you to do something in a certain way unless it was important that you do it that way.
- Be sure to refer to the Applying for Admissions section of the NYU Web Site for application instructions and requirements, especially if you use the Common Application.
- If you are not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, be sure to provide the information requested in the "Other Citizenship" portion of the application - even if you have an application for permanent residency or citizenship in progress.
- Be sure to check the e-mail address you provide on your application for important messages. We wouldn't ask for your e-mail address if we didn't plan to use it!
- We will send you both an e-mail and a written acknowledgement shortly after we receive your application. If you do not receive an acknowledgement that your application has been received by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, you should contact us to be certain that we have received your application.
- Be sure that your handwriting is legible. It may be easy for you to decipher, but we are seeing it for the first time!
- Proofread what you've written. Be sure to answer all the questions, and to sign your application.
- When you use the paper version of the Common Application, and are making photocopies so you can send it to more than one college, be certain that the photocopies you provide are legible, and that you include all the pages. (Students sometimes provide two copies of some pages and none of some others!) Be sure to include the NYU Supplement to the Common Application with your application.