Summer High School Application Requirements

Get revved up for college.

Please read the following admissions information before starting your online application. You can find important dates on the Tisch Special Programs Admissions Calendar.

How do I apply?

  • Step 1 - Requirements and Eligibility
  • Step 2 - Online Application
  • Step 3 - Verification
  • Step 4 - Notification
  • Step 5 - Confirmation

STEP 1: REQUIREMENTS AND ELIGIBILITY

  • You must be a current high school junior or sophomore (rising senior or junior) to apply. Only juniors (rising seniors) are considered for the Filmmakers Workshop. For all other tracks, preference is given to current high school juniors. Freshmen and seniors are not eligible.
  • You must have a 3.0 minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 unweighted scale and be in good academic standing at the time of submitting your application. SAT and ACT testing grades are NOT reviewed.
  • If accepted, you must live in NYU assigned housing. You will not be permitted to commute / live with family or friends on or off-campus during the program 
  • You may apply to only ONE program.

Tisch is a collaborative and rigorous program so your presence is keenly felt. The program is competitive; we receive over 800 applications. You should arrive ready to absorb, challenge, and internalize what is being offered. Your prior accomplishments are not as important as being open to the ideas and training that will be presented.

Your admissions decision is based on a faculty review of your entire application, including your personal statement, two letters of recommendation, résumé, and transcripts.

All communications regarding your application, including your admissions decision, will be communicated to you via the email address that you designate as your primary email address on the application. Please check this email account regularly, as you will be receiving communications that are often time-sensitive and require a response.

STEP 2: ONLINE APPLICATION

You must submit the following items:

  • Online application form (remember to use your name exactly as it appears on your birth certificate/passport in your application and supporting documents)
  • Personal statement
  • Creative résumé
  • Passport (non-U.S. citizens only and required dependent on program acceptance)
    •    U.S student visas are required for all non-U.S. citizens and/or residents.
  • English language proficiency test results (non-native English-speaking applicants)
  • Two recommendation letters
  • Unofficial high school transcripts (please upload to your application)
  • Homeschooled Candidates: Please review the policy for documentation in the Transcripts section below
    •    Please begin the first portion of your application prior to sending your transcript
  • $75 non-refundable application fee*

*Need-based application fee waivers are available. Applicants can request a fee waiver by sending an email with an explanation of financial hardship to tisch.special.admissions@nyu.edu.

PASSPORT (NON-US CITIZENS ONLY)

If accepted to the program, you will be asked to provide a valid passport.

  • Your passport must be valid for at least 6 months past the end of the program you are applying to.

  • Your passport should contain at least two adjacent blank pages.

Further information about passport requirements can be found here.

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Type or copy and paste your statement in the Personal Statement section within the online application. The personal statement prompt consists of Part A and Part B which should be answered separately.

Your complete personal statement should total 500-1500 words. You may not re-submit the same statement from another Tisch Special Programs application.

Part A: Answer all of the following questions, no matter which program you are applying to:

  • Tell us about an experience you had working as a part of a team on a collaborative project. What was your role? What did you learn from that experience? What do you feel you can contribute to a collaborative environment?

  • Why do you think you are prepared for this type of experience, and what do you hope to gain from it?

  • Why do you feel training and education are necessary to sustain a career in the field that you are applying to?

Part B: You must also respond to the question(s) for your specific track:

  • Dance:
    • Answer the following question: What does dance mean to you and how can you contribute to the greater dance community? 
    • Please provide a brief personal response to the Tisch Department of Dance mission statement, presented here: We seek to develop and prepare fully realized dance artists to be critical thinkers, fearless leaders, and fluent performers who understand their global responsibility and the transformative power of collaboration inherent in the expansive language of dance.
  • Drama (All Studios): Please describe an event that happened to you on stage, in performance, or while participating in a production, and what you learned from this experience.

  • Dramatic Writing:
    • Why do you want to write stories for theater, film, tv/streaming?
    • What do you want out of this experience? Why are you willing to commit to 4 weeks of summer to develop your craft and voice?
  • Filmmaking:
    • Please list your five favorite films and/or television programs.
    • Create a one minute video where you show & tell us about yourself and why you’re interested in filmmaking and storytelling. Your video should be in your own voice and in your own format. Be creative and have fun! We will not be judging the production value of the video; you are encouraged to use cameras that are readily available to you (i.e. cellphones or computers).
      • Videos should not exceed 1 minute in length. Any videos that exceed the time limit will not be viewed past the 1 minute mark.
      • Please upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo and make sure it is accessible to us and link it below. Make sure a password is not required to view your video on these sites.
    • Find (or take) a photo of something that inspires you visually. Then, tell us a story. This prompt is intentionally open-ended. We want to learn more about you and your approach to storytelling. You will be asked to upload your photo along with your short story (250 words max). Be sure to credit the image source if you did not create it yourself.
      • You should upload the image to the beginning of your document before beginning your story.
      • Please upload a PDF file of no more than 10MB in size. In terms of image quality, we recommend image uploads be a minimum of 72 dpi. Images should be either .jpg or .png file embedded in your PDF file in order to display proper in SlideRoom.
  • Game Design: Describe a game that you've designed yourself. What type of game was it, what was the main idea, and how did it play?  If you haven't made any games of your own, describe one of your favorite games and what you like most about it.

  • Photography and Imaging: 
    • In your own words, describe the art and practice of photography and imaging. 
    • Choose a photograph or image that you consistently return to view. Describe the photograph with as much detail as possible. After your description, tell us why you keep returning to the photograph. Why does it speak to you? 
    • Outside of photography, what do you love to do?
  • Recorded Music: 
    • Let's travel in time and envision what the music industry of 2035 looks like. You've just launched a new music venture. What is it? Tell us how your music venture fits into the marketplace and how it has added value to the music industry of the future.  
    • Upload a two-minute detailed video statement to YouTube or Vimeo in which you speak to the following: *
      • (a) Your interest in the holistic curriculum at the Clive Davis Institute - business & technology, production, writing, history & culture, songwriting & musicianship, and performance (b) Your entrepreneurial spirit - for example, are you promoting your work on social media, designing merchandise and promo materials, collaborating with other artists, launching music companies, etc (c) How you hope to contribute to the program’s collaborative community and culture
      • Please make sure the video is accessible to us and link to it below.

CREATIVE RÉSUMÉ

 In the Attachments section of the online application, upload your creative résumé. Your creative résumé should highlight creative and artistic work accomplished, activities, and relevant employment. Your résumé should also include:

  • Your full name and contact information
  • Any extra-curricular activities or work in your community
  • Additional information such as awards, hobbies, and interests
  • OPTIONAL: URL links to your online media (e.g. video, music, photography, etc.)

Recorded Music applicants: feel free to also include links to your music, SoundCloud, YouTube, or other supplemental materials.

Dance applicants: please feel free to include links to performance and/or choreography video.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TEST RESULTS

In the Personal Details section of the online application, non-native English speaking applicants are required to upload copies of one of the following English language proficiency examinations:

 

Exemption from English language proficiency testing will be given:

  • If your native language is English.

  • You already completed (at the time of application submission) at least 3 or more consecutive, full academic years at a school/university where the primary language of instruction was English.

 

Exams should be completed before the application deadline, and results cannot be more than 2 years old. While we will consider scores received after the application deadline, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to wait for those scores to arrive before making an admissions decision.

 

We don’t have minimum score requirements, but competitive applicants will receive: 100 and above on the TOEFL iBT, 7.5 and above on the IELTS Academic, 70 and above on the PTE Academic, 191 and above on the Cambridge English Scale, or 125 and above on the Duolingo English Test.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Within the online application, please enter the names and email addresses of your recommenders. One recommendation must be from a high school representative and the second can be from another academic representative, a community group leader, a mentor, or a coach, etc. Ideally both recommendations should be from people who are familiar with your interest in the performing or media arts. Recommendations from friends or family members will not be accepted.

Register your recommenders early! You should allow your recommenders 1-2 weeks to complete the recommendations. Recommendations must be received by the application deadline.

Once you submit the recommenders' information, they are emailed instructions on how to submit their online recommendations. If your recommenders have trouble completing their online recommendations please have them contact our office. You will be emailed confirmation that the recommendation has been received. 

TRANSCRIPTS

Please upload your transcript in the Attachments section of the online application. It will be required in order to submit your application. It is recommended that you contact your school one to two weeks in advance to obtain your most recent transcript. If you have multiple transcripts, please combine them into one file and upload. If you have any difficulties requesting a transcript from your high school please contact us ahead of time at tisch.special.admissions@nyu.edu. 

Need to convert your GPA to a 4.0 scale? Try CollegeBoard’s GPA Calculator.

Sophomores

We understand that you may not yet receive your first term grades by the time of application. In this case, please submit your Freshman year transcript. 

Homeschooled Applicants

In place of a formal transcript from a high school, please have your parent/guardian in charge of your homeschooling email a document to tisch.special.admissions@nyu.edu detailing the following:

  • Completed and in-progress coursework
  • Summary of each course's content
  • Explanation of academic achievement in each course, summarized with a letter grade (A-F) if possible
  • If you have previously attended a high school, please upload your transcript to the application portal

International/Non-US Candidates

Non-US/Non-English transcripts: Please note that you are required to submit both the unofficial transcript or grade report and its English translation. If the institution you attend does not provide an English translation with the official transcript or grade report, you must obtain a certified English translation. Following these steps will ensure the validity of your transcript:

  • Secure an unofficial transcript from your institution. 

  • Submit your unofficial transcript to the translator.

  • Ask the translator to prepare an official English translation.

  • Upload the translated transcript to the application portal.

STEP 3: VERIFICATION

  • Email is our primary method of communication; therefore, please make sure to allow emails from tisch.special.admissions@nyu.edu to be viewed.  
  • Upon submitting your application, please check the application portal to make sure your application is complete. If a portion of your application is missing or incomplete, you will receive an email notifying you to submit those items. 
  • "Application Received" -You will receive a confirmation email verifying that it was successfully received. However, you must fill out the NYU Tisch Supplemental Profile Form to complete your application. Upon submission of your application, you will receive a link to the Supplemental Profile Form. You must complete this in 24 hours to be considered for the program.
  • Only once your application and NYU Supplemental Form are verified as complete will you be evaluated by our faculty for admission and receive final status notification.  

STEP 4: NOTIFICATION

  • Final status notifications will be available on the dates listed on the Tisch Special Programs Admissions Calendar.

  • Early final status notification is not available.

  • You will receive an email with more information on how to log in and access your admissions decision through NYU Home.


STEP 5: CONFIRMATION

If accepted, you will be required to confirm your participation. To confirm your participation, the following must be completed by the confirmation deadline found on the Tisch Special Programs Admissions Calendar:

  • Confirm your spot.

  • Pay the non-refundable and non-transferable $1,500(USD) deposit by eCheck, wire transfer, credit card, or personal check.

  • Please note that New York University does not accept personal checks from non-US banks and credit cards for final tuition payment.

Please submit your confirmation deposit as soon as possible, as it can take 3-5 business days for your payment to clear. Deposits must be received by the Confirmation Deadline. Tisch Special Programs reserves the right to rescind admission to any student whose deposit is not received in our office by the deadline.

It is important that you review and understand the Tisch Special Programs Cancellation Policy prior to submitting your confirmation.

If you are having difficulty with the online application, please contact us at tisch.special.admissions@nyu.edu or (212) 998-1512.