What Is NYU's Acceptance Rate? 2026-27 Guide

TL;DR: NYU's 2025-26 Common Data Set reports 10,340 admits from 114,125 fall 2025 applicants, a 9.1% acceptance rate. Of those admitted, 5,662 enrolled, a 54.76% yield. NYU separately reported a 7.7% offer rate for its New York City campus in the Class of 2029 announcement. Choose a campus and school that fits your interests, then show your curiosity through work you have actually done. An independent research project can give you a question and process to discuss in your application; Lumiere's Individual Research Program pairs students with a researcher mentor to develop one.

If you're a high school student considering NYU, the acceptance-rate headlines tell you how selective recent classes were, but they do not tell you which campus or school fits your interests. New York City, Abu Dhabi and Shanghai offer different courses and settings; the New York schools also have distinct fields and application requirements. This guide separates the two published acceptance rates, helps you compare those options, and walks through activities, writing questions and deadlines so you can plan your application.

What is NYU's acceptance rate for fall 2025?

NYU acceptance rate	Scope	Applicant group covered
9.1%	Fall 2025 CDS	All NYU campuses; 10,340 admits from 114,125 applicants
7.7%	NYC campus release	New York City campus applicants in a separate release

These are two acceptance rates for different applicant groups. The Common Data Set's 9.1% covers all NYU campuses in fall 2025; NYU's March 2025 announcement says it admitted 7.7% of more than 120,000 New York City campus applicants for the Class of 2029. 

In that same announcement, NYU said the College of Arts and Science, Stern and Rory Meyers Nursing each admitted fewer than 5% of applicants. NYU did not publish an acceptance rate for every undergraduate school. Takeaway: choose your school by the courses and work you want to pursue, then check its application requirements rather than treating an overall rate as your own odds.

Which NYU campus should you apply to?

NYU lets you apply to New York City, Abu Dhabi, Shanghai or a combination. Compare what you can study and how each campus structures its courses before choosing. Each selection brings its own questions in the application; NYU's application guide explains the steps.

Campus	What sets it apart	Academic approach
New York City	Choose among New York undergraduate schools, including Stern, Tisch and Tandon.	Specialized New York schools in arts, business, engineering, humanities and sciences
Abu Dhabi	Study in a liberal arts and sciences setting with a shared core.	A shared core with majors in arts, humanities, engineering, science and social science
Shanghai	Study at a Sino-American campus with Chinese-language learning.	A liberal arts and sciences core followed by majors; Chinese-language study

Which NYU undergraduate school fits your interests?

The New York campus has several undergraduate schools, each with a different academic center of gravity. Start with the questions you like working on, then compare the courses and application requirements. Stern, Tisch, the College of Arts and Science, Tandon, Steinhardt, Gallatin and Liberal Studies give you quite different starting points.

School / path	Academic center	Who may fit
Stern	Business, economics and management	You want to study business decisions and their impact
Tisch	Film, performance, writing and other arts	You make creative work; most Tisch programs require an audition or portfolio
College of Arts and Science	Humanities, social sciences and natural sciences	You want room to explore a broad academic field
Tandon	Engineering, applied science and technology	You like building and testing technical solutions
Steinhardt	Education, media, health and the arts	You want an applied field; some Steinhardt programs require an audition or portfolio
Gallatin	Self-designed interdisciplinary study	You want to design an individualized course of study across fields
Liberal Studies	Interdisciplinary liberal-arts foundation	You want a broad interdisciplinary start before choosing a later major

Use this comparison to narrow your school choice, then read the course list and any audition or portfolio requirements for the programs that interest you.

What are the best extracurricular activities for an NYU application?

NYU's application gives you room to explain the work you care about. Choose examples that help a reader picture your contribution, and connect them to your chosen school when that connection is real. A few kinds of experience can do that in very different ways:

• Creative work: If you want Tisch or Steinhardt, show the choices behind a performance, portfolio piece or collaboration, as well as the finished work. Follow your program's actual audition or portfolio instructions.

• Community or work: A neighborhood project, part-time job or sustained volunteer role can show how you work with others and follow through. Describe a specific decision you made, not a long list of titles.

• Research or project: A question you pursued can show curiosity and persistence. Tell NYU how you framed it, tested an approach and responded to something unexpected. Use the activities section or a relevant essay to describe what you did and learned.

The Lumiere Individual Research Program pairs you with a researcher mentor to shape a question, plan a method and complete an independent project. For examples of college outcomes reported by former Lumiere students, see our admission results.

How do you answer NYU's 2026-27 writing question?

NYU's published optional 2026-27 question asks what your experiences taught you about helping people with different perspectives learn or work together. It explicitly suggests three ways into the question: a different viewpoint you encountered, a time you worked across backgrounds, or someone you saw bring people together. The ideas below are ways to develop a specific example, not promises about what admissions will value:

• If you met a different viewpoint: Describe the conversation and the assumption you brought to it. Explain what you learned about the other person, the issue or yourself.

• If you worked across differences: Name the group's goal, the disagreement or obstacle, the part you played and what changed. You can say what remained unresolved.

• If you observed someone else: Show how that person made room for others, handled a difficult moment and changed the group's work. Then explain what you took from watching them.

Whichever route you choose, spend more space on what happened and what you learned than on calling yourself a connector. Campus and school selections may bring up additional questions, so check NYU's 2026-27 Common Application walkthrough and the version generated by your choices before submitting.

When are NYU's application deadlines and what is required?

NYU's main application deadlines are:

• Early Decision I: November 1.

• Early Decision II: January 1.

• Regular Decision: January 5.

Early Decision is binding if you are admitted, subject to NYU's stated exceptions. Submit the Common Application, a school report, one recommendation and any materials your program requires. Testing is optional through the 2027-28 cycle. Tisch and some Steinhardt programs require an audition or portfolio; NYU recommends submitting the Common Application about a month early for those programs.

FAQs

Can you apply to more than one NYU campus?

Yes. NYU's Common Application lets you select any combination of New York City, Abu Dhabi and Shanghai. Each campus choice adds its own questions. Select only places where you would be happy to enroll, then check the programs available there.

Does NYU have one acceptance rate for Stern and Tisch?

No. The overall 9.1% calculation covers the Common Data Set's university-wide fall 2025 first-year counts. NYU's separate announcement says Stern was among three New York schools below 5% for that class, but does not provide a Tisch rate there. Choose your school by its curriculum and requirements.

Can you apply to NYU without SAT or ACT scores?

Yes. NYU is test-optional through the 2027-28 cycle. If you submit testing, choose one form from NYU's accepted options and follow its current instructions. Your school and program may have other requirements, such as an audition or portfolio.

Do you need a research paper to apply to NYU?

No. NYU says it cannot review unsolicited research papers. You can explain a meaningful project in the activities section or a relevant response. Name the question, your choices and what you learned instead of uploading a paper that the university did not request.

How can you strengthen your extracurriculars for an NYU application?

Choose sustained work that fits your interests and describe your own contribution. A portfolio piece for Tisch, a build for Tandon, a community project, or an independent investigation can each give you concrete choices to discuss. If you want to pursue research, Lumiere's Premium Research & Publication Program pairs students with a mentor to refine a question, carry out a longer project and work toward a paper. In your NYU application, explain the question, the work you did and what you learned.