Missed the November 1st deadline for NYU? We have good news. If you’re still interested in applying early to the school, your Early Decision 2 application isn’t due until January 1st, 2021 – and you’ll hear back by mid-February. Keep reading for our tips on how to perfect your application.
Keep doing well in school and pursuing your extracurricular activities.
A lot of people seem to think that senior year is the time to focus on college applications and let the rest of the items on your proverbial plate take a back seat to the successful completion of your essays. This is not true, and can work to your detriment long after you’ve submitted your application. NYU will be certainly looking at your grades, and you’ll need to be able to speak to how you spend your time outside of the classroom for part of your supplement. Colleges will be looking at everything, so keep your grades up and don’t stop showing up for your other commitments.
Research the school (more than you think you need to).
Supplements that stand out make a strong case for the link between NYU’s offerings and your interests. This is why you need to do even more research than you think is necessary. If you only scratch the surface with your research, the admissions team will know right away that you’re not very serious about attending NYU. Let’s compare two fictional applicants. Applicant #1 writes that they want to attend NYU because of the city location, an English 101 class, and the school spirit. Application #2 writes about two high level (and specific) classes and a professor who they want to do research with. Which applicant do you think will stand out? Keep this is mind before you move on to tip number three.
Go beyond surface level to find links to NYU’s offerings.
Looking through extensive course catalogues is not the most fun activity in the world. We get it. When working with TKG clients, we ask them to find about five classes that might work. Why? Because while you might be genuinely interested in taking all of them, some classes will offer a better opportunity for you to humble brag about what you’re currently doing. We understand the desire to stop researching as soon as a few buzzwords used in the course description make sense. “Machine learning! I know what that means, let’s go with this one.” No. Read through everything until you truly grasp at least some of the material, and then make a list of things you might be able to write about. When we say go beyond surface level, we mean that you should really dive into your interests. Think about the books you’ve read, the classes you’ve taken, passion projects, etc. It might also be helpful to try out a few different reasons, and then choose the one that makes the most sense within the context of the rest of your application and supplement.
Edit your supplement.
400 words is a lot of space. But the space will start to disappear if you aren’t being concise, or if you’re being repetitive. There is almost always a way to condense two sentences into one! We suggest writing your first draft without regard to word count, and then editing it down to 400. Keep track of what you removed, and then see if it’s possible to add some of that material back in once you’ve streamlined your second draft. Keep in mind that a few more sentences about why you want to take a certain class, or research with a specific professor, is much more useful than the traditional conclusion paragraphs you’re used to writing in school.
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