Have you been dreaming of living in New York? Transferring to NYU can give you access to everything New York City has to offer, while at one of the most well-known and well-respected colleges in the country. NYU definitely has the cool factor as far as colleges go. Home to more young celebrities and influencers than we care to count, we’ve found that a rising number of students are looking to NYU as a transfer option because it offers the opportunity to build their career outside of academia parallel to earning their degree. Like with many transfer programs, though, housing is not guaranteed. If you’re looking to transfer to NYU, you may also have to accept the reality of being young and hustling in New York City — numerous roommates in tiny apartments included.
The acceptance rate for transfers at NYU is just under 28%, which is double the 2021 first-year student acceptance rate. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to get in, though, and for your best chance you need the best help (hint: us). In the meantime, review the transfer applicant requirements for NYU, and for specific programs at the university that you may be interested in. It’s important to also be keeping in mind that simply being qualified to apply as a transfer doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re likely to get in. The “most competitive applicants,” NYU admissions states, “have completed at least 32 credits/points of coursework by the time they enroll at NYU,” and have exemplary academic and extracurricular profiles.
WRITING
Once you’ve decided to apply to transfer to NYU, the next step is to…well…do it. In the application, you’re going to have to explain why you want to transfer and why NYU will be a better fit than where you are now. Navigating this can be tricky, so it helps to have an outside eye that knows what the application readers at NYU will be looking for.
The Problem
The hardest part of the transfer application is explaining why you want to transfer in a way that is equal parts thoughtful, honest, and respectful. It takes some finessing, and it’s critical that you get it right. How you talk about your desire to transfer reflects more on you than it does on your current school. If you talk badly about the student body, it makes you look bad. If you say your classes haven’t been hard enough, the application readers will ask why you didn’t push yourself beyond those limits. If you say anything negative about your professors, you risk coming off as entitled or as having an inflated sense of self-worth.
Rather than being critical of your school, focus on interrogating yourself and your deepest motivations for applying to transfer. Ideally, this should all be academically focused, as that’s something the right academic program at NYU can directly fix — which brings us to the solution.
The Solution
Why you want to leave your current school is only one piece of the transfer essay puzzle, you also need to make it abundantly clear why you want to be at NYU. When students apply to transfer, they — on average — apply to far fewer colleges than first-year applicants.
Students applying to colleges as high school seniors often apply to a dozen or more schools. Students applying to transfer typically apply to three or fewer schools. This makes it a very different experience for you, and it also means that the application readers expect something different from you. They need to know why you’ve picked them in particular as your new best fit.
Your reasons for applying to transfer to NYU need to be clear, they need to be precise, and they need to be well-researched. Do not start writing any of your application essays until you have specific classes, professors, and programs that you can cite. Including these details emphasizes that you aren’t simply applying on a whim. NYU truly is the place you need to be.
RECOMMENDATION
After your essays, the recommendation is the most important non-grade part of your application. Most transfer applicants have only been at their current school for a year at most, so it can be difficult to find a professor that you’re close enough with to ask not just to hype you up, but to hype you up so you can leave. NYU has some advice for picking a recommender that we love:
“Choose someone who knows you. Your recommender should speak to your academic skills, character and, if possible, be someone you’ve worked with in the past year or two. Above all else, you should make sure they’re advocating for your success (insert smile).”
The key word here is “advocating.” An ‘impressive’ or well-known recommender isn’t helpful if they can’t or won’t speak passionately on your behalf.
Instead of asking the professor who taught your hardest class simply because he’s well-known or the class was objectively impressive, try to ask someone who you have taken more than one class with and have a genial relationship with already (this is also a good time to remind yourself that going to office hours can pay off big time.
ONCE YOU’RE THERE
Before you press submit on your application, take some time to explore the resources NYU offers transfer students once they get to campus. The Center for Student Life as robust Transfer Student Programs that assist students in transitioning, including Transfer Student Ambassadors who operate as a critical resource. They even have a NYU Transfers Instagram, which we think is pretty cool.
If you’re considering a transfer, send us an email. We help students like you defy transfer statistics to find their dream school.