New York University, or NYU, is a famed mid-sized university headquartered in the heart of downtown New York City. Going to NYU is immersive, exciting, and launches students into meaningful careers — but it isn’t only in the Big Apple. The university has three degree-granting campuses globally: New York, of course, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai. The international campuses off much more than most remote campuses. Whereas other schools may have a small outpost, NYU has really gone all out to create unique learning environments globally. We’ve been to the Abu Dhabi campus, in fact, and it is stunning. They received more than 120,000 applications for the Class of 2029 and accepted only 7.7%.
Regardless of campus you prioritize in your application, you can choose to apply Early Decision I, Early Decision II, or Regular Decision. Admissions is also test-optional, so you can decide whether to submit an SAT score, an ACT score, or no standardized test scores. You also have the option of submitting AP scores, IB predictions or results, A-Levels, or other exams.
As you begin working on your application for NYU, remember that the demand for a spot is very high. Applications for undergraduate admission have doubled over the past decade, and standing out is critical if you want to get noticed among the tidal wave of interested applicants. How you stand out, though, is what really matters. If your goal is solely to get noticed, it may be in the worst way and a path to a quick “no.” Instead, we work our students to craft applications that get noticed in the right ways. One of the best ways to make this type of impact is in the supplement. Below, we’ll break down how to write an NYU supplement that seriously increases your chances of acceptance.
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The NYU supplement is technically optional, but it isn’t really. One of the ways that NYU has driven up the number of applications submitted by prospective first-years, and subsequently have shrunk the acceptance rate, is by making the supplement optional. That doesn’t mean that students who skip the supplement actually get in, though. While they do not release the statistics on how many applicants submit the supplement, and their outcomes, we believe it is safe to say that not submitting the supplement is like saying “ehhh, but I’m not that into you.”
That is the opposite of what you want to be doing for your NYU application. Instead, you want to convince them that you absolutely adore NYU, even if you aren’t applying EDI or EDII. Now let’s get into how to do that.
THE SUPPLEMENT
We are looking for students who want to be bridge builders—students who can connect people, groups, and ideas to span divides, foster understanding, and promote collaboration within a dynamic, interconnected, and vibrant global academic community. We are eager for you to tell us how your experiences have helped you understand what qualities and efforts are needed to bridge divides so that people can better learn and work together.
Please consider one or more of the following questions in your essay (250 words):
Before we go into each question NYU poses, let’s pause on this for a moment. They do not ask you to select a single prompt to respond to. You can respond to just one, or more than one. Whichever you decide, remember that more is not more. You will not get bonus points for responding to more than one question. What makes a supplement work is strong writing, not taking on too much. Keep that in mind as you review your options.
Question 1: Tell us about a time you encountered a perspective different from your own. What did you learn—about yourself, the other person, or the world?
This is the “it” question of the 2025-2026 application cycle. Dozens of schools have added a “civil disagreement” question to their supplement, and we don’t really love them. We understand the intention. They want to calm things down on campus. It’s been an exciting few years for administrators and students, and they’d like it to be exciting for reasons more evenly enjoyed by all in the future. To that end, they are trying to filter for applicants who are committed to finding points of connection and community, even where opinions and perspectives diverge.
If you choose to write in response to this question, the most important thing is to avoid writing about the person with a different perspective as if they were an exotic animal that you survived an encounter with. Instead, we like when students write about friends, family members, co-workers, or fellow volunteers. Basically, someone they engage with on a fairly regular basis. Maybe this conversation was a surprise, or it was something you knew was coming but had been avoiding for a while. Whatever the situation, remember that being the ‘winner’ does not matter. In fact, positioning yourself as the ‘winner’ actually weakens your writing in this case. Instead, emphasize common ground.
Question 2: Tell us about an experience you've had working with others who have different backgrounds or perspectives. What challenges did your group face? Did you overcome them, and if so, how? What role did you try to play in helping people to work together, and what did you learn from your efforts?
This question is basically the same as the first. All the same rules and guidelines apply that we gave before, but we like this one a tad more because it asks for a story that involves collaboration and teamwork, which we prefer over a one-on-one encounter.
Question 3: Tell us about someone you've observed who does a particularly good job helping people think or work together. How does this person set the stage for common exploration or work? How do they react when difficulties or dissensions arise?
We have said that we aren’t fans of the “civil disagreement” premise in prompts one and two, but we love those when compared to this. This prompt asks you to write all about someone else. That’s sort of counter to the point of writing an application. Instead of spotlighting who you are as an individual, team member, and friend, this prompt suggests that you should look entirely beyond yourself. That doesn’t make sense to us if you are aiming for an acceptance — which you are, obviously.
The NYU supplement leaves a lot to be desired, and we wish they had a more creative set of prompts to pick from. That isn’t a reason to write it off or to rush through it, though. You need to write a powerful response to strengthen your application, and that’s where we can help.
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