Spring at Tisch Application Requirements

Type or copy and paste your statement in the Personal Statement section within the online application. 

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

• Cinema Studies, Dramatic Writing, Theatre Production and Design:
   
  • What New York-centric artwork (film, TV show, play, photograph, etc.) have you found influential in your craft? How has it informed your worldview? We leave it to you to define what constitutes "New York-centric".

• Interactive Media Arts:
   
  • Please submit a document (pdf or doc) with brief explanations of what you are submitting as creative materials. Please also include a short statement (about 100 words) about why you are interested in making interactive media and thinking about its implications on society.

•  Photography and Imaging:

  • Introduce yourself and address the following:

    • List the Photography, Art and Art History courses, if any, that you have taken.

    • Do you have any other experience relating to your photo-based work that you would like to share?

    • If you have a website or blog you would like to share, please include the URL.

  • Write a brief statement about your submitted work. Discuss the primary issue that you want to address in your images and include what drives you to make your work.

  • Describe a photograph or photographer that you consistently return to view and explain how this photograph or photographer's work engages you.

  • In your opinion, what does it mean to make photo/image-based art in the 21st century?

     

     

In the Documents 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

In the Documents section of the online application, upload a clear, fully legible copy of the identity page of your passport.

• If you have more than one passport, upload both.
• 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 and application requirements may be found here.

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:

• TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test)
• IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System)
• PTE Academic (Pearsons Test of English Academic)
• CAE or CPE (Cambridge English: Advanced or Proficiency)
• Duolingo English Test

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.

• If you are currently matriculated in a full-time NYU degree program.

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.

Within the online application, please enter the name and email address of your recommender. Your recommendation must be from a college/university 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. A recommendation from a friend or family member will not be accepted.

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

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

Request your transcripts early. You should allow at least 2-4 weeks for processing and delivery to Tisch Special Programs. Your official transcripts must be received (not postmarked) in our office by the application deadline. If we have not received your official transcripts by the application deadline, your application will not be considered for admission.

We must receive your official transcripts sent from your college/university by the application deadline, via one of the following methods:

• Email: This is our preferred delivery method.
  • Emailed transcripts must come from a school representative or an official transcript service on behalf of your school.
    
    
  • Our email address is tisch.special.admissions@nyu.edu.

• Mail: Mailed transcripts must be sealed and issued directly from your school to:
  • New York University
    Tisch Office of Special Programs Admissions
    721 Broadway, Rm 1248
    New York, NY 10003

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

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

• Secure an official transcript from your institution in a sealed envelope.

• Submit your unopened official transcript to the translator.

• Ask the translator to prepare an official English translation.

• Ask the translator to provide you with one sealed envelope containing both your original transcript and its English translation. The back of the envelope must contain the translator's signature to reflect the unaltered, true contents.

Photography and Imaging Portfolio Requirements

Up to five images can be non photo-based. We encourage submission of sound, video art, and other “new media” based work. The Photography and Imaging deparment is committed to photography’s contemporary directions, yet anchored in the medium’s rich history. We are excited about quality work where content and craft are developed. We look for diversity in student thinking, experience, and media presentation.

Theatre Production and Design Portfolio Requirements

Please present a digital portfolio of the theater (and art) work you have done. Upload your portfolio in the media section of the online application.

• If you are a scenery, lighting or costume designer this portfolio should showcase three or four theater projects of which you are especially proud.  Please indicate with these images your job on the production and where it was produced.  If possible, please include the design drawings, drafting, renderings, and sketches along with photos of the finished production.  If you have taken other art classes – drawing, painting, 3D artwork, photography, etc., please include examples of that work as well.

• If you are a sound designer, please include audio files along with descriptions of how those sounds were incorporated into a show.

• If you are a stage manager, please create a .pdf version of a prompt book from one of your shows – you do not need to include every page from every section, just representative selections.

Within your creative résumé, please include your theater work including the name of the show, performance dates, presenting organization and what job you did on the production.

Interactive Media Arts Portfolio Requirements

Please submit any work that shows the skills, creativity, curiosity, or generosity that you could bring to the emerging interactive forms we are inventing at IMA. We know that creativity does not just happen in art class so we want to read things you wrote, see any of your work, your musings, your tinkerings and experiments in any discipline. This can be artwork, it can be programming, DIY projects, songs or poetry you wrote, projects you were involved in, it can be anything you made, the toaster you took apart to see how it worked, the treehouse you built, the videography you captured for the drama club, the activist work you spearheaded, to name a few.

If you have a personal website to show your work, you can simply share the URL. Another option is to upload individual files (jpgs, pdfs).

There are no minimum or maximum number of works or any particular mediums that we prefer or require. Please upload your creative materials in the media section of the online application.