New York University is a private research school with nearly 200 years of history. With a curriculum originally founded on the tenets of secular education, NYU stands today as one of the top schools in the nation with a diverse community and competitive admissions process. To help students in their essay responses, here’s InGenius Prep’s guide to the NYU supplemental essays 2024-2025.
NYU Supplemental Essays 2024-2025
“In a world where disconnection seems to often prevail, we are looking for students who embody the qualities of 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 to understand how your experiences have prepared you to build the bridges of the future. Please consider one or more of the following questions in your essay:”
1. What personal experiences or challenges have shaped you as a bridge builder?
Here, NYU is asking students for their experiences as links between communities. NYU is known for being the center of certain types of activism and political change, and Admissions Officers want to know what students have accomplished in their communities.
Katerina Jennings, InGenius Prep Former Admissions Officer from NYU, offered her insights on this prompt. “This is the opportunity for the student to talk about their own personal activism and community issues that they’ve worked on. It’s really looking for a student to, basically, show a passion for social justice in some form. Or at least, a passion for a community or group of individuals that is not their own.”
The goal of these new prompts for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle is to try and establish a match between the applicant and NYU’s values. These values include self-awareness, the ability to connect with others different from oneself, and building community. Keep these values in mind as you respond to these questions. Focus on the experiences that highlight your commitment to the community and align them with what Admissions Officers are looking for.
2. How have you been a bridge builder in your school, community, or personal life?
This prompt is a good choice for students who have not had much advocacy experience or weren’t particularly engaged in social work. Here, students have the opportunity to talk about a different kind of outreach, especially on a more personal level.
“[This prompt] is for someone who wants to talk about a different type of community building. Perhaps someone who put together a sports team, or started a school newspaper, or deals with a certain family life where they deal with a lot of conflict at home. This is the opportunity for a more personal angle to community building rather than a more social justice angle.” —Katerina Jennings.
Engaging with one’s community and serving as a bridge-builder can apply in more ways than just social justice. One can understand others and take in different perspectives in a variety of ways, even if it’s just between two people. The key is that even if you don’t have a vast amount of experience in activism on a large scale, the small ways you engage with your community can still highlight your ability to connect with others.
However, you should also stay authentic. Though these traits are important for NYU applicants, you should avoid writing a response that you think Admissions Officers might want to hear.
Katerina Jennings offered her insights about authenticity for these essay responses, “I would also avoid using this essay as an opportunity to create links that simply aren’t there. So, if you aren’t engaged in activism and social justice in your extracurriculars, that will be clear to the Admissions Officer—and that’s totally fine. So, do not conjure an essay about your belief in advocacy for a certain group. Instead, use the experiences that you have had. Have you built community in the classroom, in your science club, in your football team? Focus on genuine, authentic aspects. It’s very unusual to have a student that’s never been part of a team, so focus on that rather than conjuring something the Admissions Officer hasn’t seen throughout the rest of the application.”
3. What specific actions have you taken to build bridges between diverse groups, ideas, or cultures?
This is a great prompt for students who have had a lot of experience in advocacy and community outreach. Here, students can highlight the specific achievements they’ve had and the ways they’ve grown as community members. However, students should take care not to repeat other sections of their application.
“I think that students who approach [these essays] as a second personal statement are going to hit some trouble. This is supposed to connect you to activism and NYU in some way, so I would avoid writing about ‘me’ statements unless you can then connect them to the ways your experience would relate to NYU.”
Admissions Officers will read every section of your application, so there’s no benefit to reiterating the same points. Instead, aim to bring a new angle to your essay and introduce new information with the space you’re given. Every sentence is an opportunity to make an impression on your Admissions Officer.
For this question, focus on connections you’ve forged between groups different than yourself. Katerina says, “This is great for students who are politically-minded. So, for students who are an ally of the LGBTQ+ group rather than a member of that group, or they’ve joined a student union at school that focuses on raising money for the local community. This is an opportunity to really brag about your achievements in that area and also connect them to NYU. So, perhaps if you look up certain clubs or organizations that are published [on NYU] online, you can say where you would like to bring your experience.”
4. How do you envision being a bridge builder during your time at our university and beyond?
This is one of the more open-ended questions from NYU, and it’s one that all students should try to answer. A key aspect of making a good impression on Admissions Officers is making them envision you at their school, and this is a great chance to show exactly how you would engage in the NYU community.
“This is my favorite question. The reason being that I think it gives students the most leeway to brag about how much they know about NYU. This is the one I would pick, personally, and I would talk about the clubs I’m going to join, the professor I can’t wait to do research with in a certain area—as long as you’re tying that [knowledge] to you and your personal experiences.”
To answer this prompt, Research NYU, its mission statement, and the values it holds in its students. Use that knowledge to show Admissions Officers that you’re committed to the school. There will be thousands of other qualified candidates also applying to NYU. This essay (along with the others) is your opportunity to set yourself up as the ideal NYU candidate.
Remember NYU’s values: self-awareness, the ability to connect with others different from oneself, and building community. Embody these traits in your response and establish a connection between your student profile and the school.
Additional Tips for Writing the NYU Supplemental Essays 2024-2025
Here are some additional things to keep in mind as you write your NYU supplemental essay:
• Writing at a college level: This is a given, but it remains critical. NYU Admissions Officers want to see that students are using a mature voice (an advanced narrative flow) with proper syntax/spelling/grammar/punctuation – but this doesn’t mean that the essay can’t be creative!
• Self-aware & culturally-aware introspection: NYU Admissions Officers want to see that students are self-aware, display a mature, thorough understanding of their views and perspectives, and can rationally back up their arguments as needed.
• Done the research: Whenever and wherever possible, students should tie their response to programs and/or opportunities at the university that interest them, especially if they’re related to the program(s) they’re applying for. If applying to a NYC program, they should tie the response to the school and/or major that they’re applying for. If applying to NYU Abu Dhabi or NYU Shanghai, they can tie it to either the campus or their major(s) of interest.
While supplemental essays are a great way to stand out from the crowd, students must approach them with the right mindset. Take every opportunity to show a new side of your profile and make the connection between your experiences and your future at NYU. Admissions Officers are looking for applicants who will make a good fit for their school, so research NYU’s values and embody those traits throughout your supplemental essay and your application.
If you need personalized advice from an admissions expert, InGenius Prep is here to help! Our team of Former Admissions Officers has helped over 6,000 students get accepted into the school of their dreams, including Princeton, Harvard, and Dartmouth. We can help you, too!
Book a free strategy call and get started on your admissions journey today!
