york university essay

How to Write the NYU Supplemental Essay: Examples + Guide 2023/2024

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is the nyu supplemental essay prompt.

• How to write the NYU supplemental essay prompt
• How to write the MLK Scholars essay prompt

NYU only has one supplemental essay—you have the option to choose from a few different quotes (or choose your own), and share what it inspires in you, and why.

If you want to get a clearer sense of what NYU is looking for, you can explore an extensive, by-the-numbers look at its offerings, from enrollment and tuition statistics to student life and financial aid information on its Common Data Set . And for insights into how the university envisions itself and its role, and how it wants to grow and evolve, read its strategic plan . Reading through this will give you a strong idea of what NYU values—and may offer nuggets you can sprinkle into your essay.

We are looking for peacemakers, changemakers, global citizens, boundary breakers, creatives and innovators - Choose one quote from the following and let us know why it inspires you; or share a short quote and person not on our list who inspires you, and include why. (250 words) “We’re used to people telling us there are no solutions, and then creating our own. So we did what we do best. We reached out to each other, and to our allies, and we mobilized across communities to make change, to benefit and include everyone in society.” Judith Heuman, 2022 NYU Commencement Address “I encourage your discomfort, that you must contribute, that you must make your voice heard. That is the essence of good citizenship." Sherilynn Ifill, 2015 NYU Commencement Address “If you know how to fly but you never knew how to walk, wouldn’t that be sad?” Lang Lang, 2015 NYU Honorary Degree Recipient "You have the right to want things and to want things to change." Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland, 2023 NYU Commencement Address "It's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair.” Taylor Swift, Change, Released 2008, 2022 NYU Commencement Speaker

Share a short quote and person not on this list, and why the quote inspires you.

MLK Scholars - Incoming first-year applicants who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, leadership, and commitment to civic engagement and social progress are invited to apply to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholars Program at NYU

(Optional): In what ways have you enacted change in your community and what has been your motivation for doing so? This can include enacting change globally, locally, or within your family. (200 words)

(Note: This question is only available to those who select "yes" to being considered for the MLK Scholars program in the "New York Campus" section of the CommonApp)

How to Write The Supplemental Essay Prompt for New York University

• “We’re used to people telling us there are no solutions, and then creating our own. So we did what we do best. We reached out to each other, and to our allies, and we mobilized across communities to make change, to benefit and include everyone in society.” Judith Heuman, 2022 NYU Commencement Address
• “I encourage your discomfort, that you must contribute, that you must make your voice heard. That is the essence of good citizenship." Sherilynn Ifill, 2015 NYU Commencement Address
• “If you know how to fly but you never knew how to walk, wouldn’t that be sad?” Lang Lang, 2015 NYU Honorary Degree Recipient
• "You have the right to want things and to want things to change." Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland, 2023 NYU Commencement Address
• "It's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair.” Taylor Swift, Change, Released 2008, 2022 NYU Commencement Speaker

NYU replaced its previous “Why Us?” supplemental essay with this one, and comments by Assistant VP of undergrad admissions, Billy Sichel, illuminate the intention and expectations behind this new prompt. 

“[W]e already know why NYU is a great place to spend your 4 years, so we thought: if you want to tell us more about your passion for NYU, let’s make the question about you.” 

So it’s about you, but it’s also still about NYU.

Sichel continues that the quotes chosen are from people who have “shared our vision over the years” and “been honored for their embodiment of the NYU ethos.” So you’ll probably want to speak to that vision and ethos in your essay. NYU gives ample clues to what those are in the prompt itself: “We are looking for peacemakers, changemakers, global citizens, boundary breakers, creatives and innovators.” As you think about what inspires you, consider how you identify with—and embody—these roles.

Think about your experiences of innovating, creating, making social change, or doing the hard things, and reflect on what drives you. Then select a quote that aligns with your inspiration. Is it collaborating within or across communities to develop novel solutions (quote 1)? Using your voice (quote 2)? Laying strong foundations (quote 3)? A driving desire to see change happen (quote 4)? Addressing injustice (quote 5)? 

And if one of these doesn’t resonate with you, bring in one that does. If you go that route, take the opportunity to flex intellectually and show something about your interests and values by the speaker  and text you choose. Meaning probably steer clear of well-known quotes, such as Gandhi’s “you must be the change.” 

Sichel’s guidance continues:  

We want to know where you will turn to for inspiration , and what experiences have shaped you and resonate with you . Four years at NYU will propel you into a future you might not even be able to imagine yet, but take a minute (if you want – it really is optional!) to tell us about the ideas that have gotten you to this point , and those that might shape you into the person you’re about to become .

The bolding is ours, and it lays out a pretty clear map of what to cover in your essay. What has inspired you to do what you do (ideas, experiences, people, texts, events…), and where do you plan to let it take you—at NYU and beyond? What have been your most impactful experiences, and what are the unique qualities and perspectives you’ve developed as a result?

By the way, that part about this prompt being optional… Hmm, would you take a pass at the one opportunity NYU is giving you to share your vision, talents, and experiences? Technically you could, but we’d recommend writing something here.

Final tip: If you use one of NYU’s provided quotes, it’s not necessary to waste word count restating the whole quote in your essay. You can simply refer to it by speaker (e.g., “Ifill’s quote”) or speaker and few-word allusion (e.g., “Ifill’s definition of good citizenship). 

Because this is a new prompt for NYU, we don’t have an example written for the quotes above. But here’s an example, written for a different school, that illustrates the direction to head in.

Essay Example:

“Creating an environment that allows students to build lasting friendships, including those that cut across seemingly entrenched societal and political boundaries...requires candor about the inevitable tensions, as well as about the wonderful opportunities, that diversity and inclusiveness create." The buzz spread across campus like a California wildfire. My waterpolo teammate, an international student, had been ostracized by the community in an instant. An exaggerated rumor destroyed his reputation at school, cost him his friendships, and led to his suspension. Was this fair? Was it the truth? How could I help? For the past two years, as a member of SLAC, a student life advisory committee focusing on restorative justice, I have partnered with my school administration to build an inclusive community to prevent conflict, de-escalate disputes, and reintegrate students. To solve my teammate’s conflict, we were tasked with the responsibility of bringing resolution both on the micro and macro levels.  First, we had to solve the issues between the immediate students at harm. I applied my training in active listening and tailored my questions so that the students could communicate more honestly, share their concerns, and help resolve their own conflict. Then, we had to address the grade-wide friction and show our community the harmful effects of spreading rumors. To do so, we hosted interactive ice breaker games, team building activities, and conversations about non-inclusive behavior. Conflict is bound to take place in communities -- cliques are natural -- but so long as we are willing to be vulnerable and learn how to communicate better, we can be a stronger community and build new relationships.  My experience in SLAC has made me a more empathetic listener and an active participant in creating a positive community -- one where the students can feel safe, engaged, and supported. At Amherst, I am excited to participate in the First Year Experience and get involved with the Center for Restorative Practices to help build a strong 2025 class culture where we encourage reflection, mindfulness, and student engagement.  — — —

Tips + Analysis:

Draw your reader in. This essay starts with campus buzz spreading like California wildfire. Both the descriptive language and the mystery evoked prompt the reader to lean in to find out what the author has to say. Although you can’t go too big with your intro in this 250-word essay, a short hook can help you start off strong.

Consider a problem/solution approach. This student leads with a problem: a rumor destroyed a reputation, cost friendships and ended in suspension, implicating truth and fairness. Then in the essay, they set out how they solved the problem. You can read at the link about this powerful structural tool, which we call the Powerwall approach .

Show and name your values. At the start of the second paragraph, we understand that this individual is committed to restorative justice. In this prompt about your inspiration, lean heavy into the values that underlie your efforts. Peep this Values List to identify what’s most important to you—one of the best ways you can tell NYU about yourself.

Delineate your specific role and actions. This student describes their role on the student life advisory committee and how they used active listening and created a community-building event at their school to resolve the conflict. Detail about what you actually did highlights the skills you’ve gained and will bring to NYU. Yes, it’s ok to brag.

Relate back to NYU. In the conclusion, the writer says how they’ll extend their restorative justice work in college, by participating in the First Year experience and getting involved with the Center for Restorative Practices. How will you be a peacemaker, changemaker, global citizen, boundary breaker, creative or innovator at NYU? Don’t talk in generalities. Research the school and hone in on specific opportunities that illuminate your inspiration—academic, research opps, programs, extracurriculars, etc.—and that you plan to engage with at NYU. The research tips in our Why Us? Guide will help you dig deep for offerings that align with your values and interests.

And here are two more example essays that were written for other schools but whose authors wrote about taking inspiration from something someone else said.

Every season, my high school volleyball coaches pick an inspiring quote to label on the back of our practice shirts. My favorite? “Be a voice, not an echo.”  After wearing braces for several years to correct a persistent jaw pain, I was elated when they were removed. However, after just a few months, my orthodontist noticed my teeth shifting to their previous position and recommended tongue therapy.   Though reluctant at first, I gained a newfound confidence through tongue therapy. In the classroom, no longer the last to speak. On the volleyball court, effectively communicating plays and rotations. Tongue therapy allowed me to freely speak my mind.  As my confidence soared, so did my desire to help others. Through Lion’s Heart, I once provided baby supplies to needy families in Santa Ana and noticed a long line forming for the provisions. Realizing many immigrant families were struggling with filling out the forms, I offered to translate for them. Through Chinese and Spanish translation, I not only reduced wait times, but became the voice for those who could not speak, literally. As a selected participant for Girls Who Code, I found even more voices. Introduced to coding for the first time, I  now know more languages, including HTML and JavaScript. I now plan to help others discover their voice. Using technology-based solutions, I will develop innovations for society’s problems. Perhaps, a device that can both translate multiple languages and teach correct pronunciations.  After all, I am a voice, not an echo. — — —

“Maybe you haven’t thought about it this way, but shade is an equity issue.” Mayor Eric Garcetti’s quote in the New York Times article “‘Turn Off the Sunshine’: Why Shade is a Mark of Privilege in Los Angeles” changed the way I see the world. The article discusses how socioeconomic and class disparities in LA intersect with climate change in a starkly obvious way: where there’s shade. The local slogan “72 degrees and sunny” describes higher-class suburbs with the luxury of tree-lined streets and parks, but ignores how summer heat suffocates tightly-packed urban neighborhoods, forcing people to search for shade against the sides of buildings.  This article helped me “see the light”—how sunlight defines the Angeleno existence. In my beach-adjacent suburb, small parks dot the town, awnings are abundant, and one street’s tree canopy renders the sky nearly invisible. Neighborhoods that were historically redlined and deemed undesirable still feel the effects—far less shade.  As I now move through LA, I recognize the importance of every tree, courtyard, and bus stop. Lacking shade forces people to change their lifestyles and go out of their way to find (and often create) this basic human necessity.  Shade and equity is an issue I care about, but it’s also an example of how I approach everything—with attention to detail, a hunger for understanding, and deep empathy. Even something as seemingly insignificant as a street-cart umbrella has a deep significance behind it, and recognizing that is key to bettering society and achieving understanding. — — —

Since 10th grade, I have been offering TED Talks on topics of self-expression and inclusivity. I have learned to turn my experience of being bullied and silenced into a determined voice to combat bullying and promote a spirit of inclusivity. In 11th grade, I created an anti-bullying organization, which teaches middle schoolers how to deal with the transition to high school. I would like to take these conversations about the importance of safe space and inclusivity to middle schools in Providence, working with organizations such as “No Bully” and initiatives such as Be Fearless Be Kind to encourage kids to stand up for each other.  As poetry has become the cornerstone of my personal growth and a tool for helping others,  I plan to contribute to The Round Magazine and organizations such as WORD! I would explore opportunities to bridge poetry and the visual arts by possibly collaborating with Artbeat.  I am also interested in studying connections between poetry and the sciences, their mutual applicability, and ways science can help me write better poetry while becoming an outstanding psychiatrist.  By working with Providence organizations such as AS220, a non-profit community arts organization in downtown, I could tap into my passion for the arts and writing. I would be a AS220 volunteer teacher and possibly introduce activities and workshops to encourage others to express themselves more fully and vulnerably.  (228 words)

Tips + Analysis

Write an intentional opening sentence. You’ll notice there’s no prolonged introduction or hook for this essay. Since the word count here is pretty restrictive, opening with a sentence that 1) hints at or tells the reader exactly where this essay is going, and/or 2) opens with values, means you’re saving space for more words later. The writer here opens with an activity they’ve been doing, but emphasizes their values of self-expression and inclusivity. 

Envision yourself at the university. This plays into the “Why us?” part of the response. Through careful and thorough research, you’ll be able to identify campus organizations and programs that resonate with you, especially in terms of the ways you’ve outlined your areas of diversity. Going this extra mile shows NYU officials that you’re familiar with what the community has to offer and that you can envision yourself on campus, not just thriving but contributing. This writer names a handful of organizations and programs at Brown or in the nearby community, drawing specific connections to their interests.  

Tie in your career aspirations. This is not necessary, but if it comes up organically while writing, it’s a nice nugget of information to include—it gives some backstory and motivation to your interests, and how you can use the university’s programs to achieve that goal. By noting their dream of becoming “an outstanding psychiatrist,” this student is able to add additional context around how these experiences will combine to enhance and inform their journey after college.

Show diversity through community. This essay is a good example of the community approach mentioned above. The writer touches on varying activities and interests, expanding by sharing how those experiences would help them contribute to the Brown community in specific ways. Like this: “As poetry has become the cornerstone of my personal growth and a tool for helping others,  I plan to contribute to The Round Magazine and organizations such as WORD! I would explore opportunities to bridge poetry and the visual arts by possibly collaborating with Artbeat.”

MLK Scholars 

How to Write The MLK Scholars Essay Prompt

( Note: This question is only available to those who select "yes" to being considered for the MLK Scholars program in the "New York Campus" section of the CommonApp) 

When you hear the words “your community,” what comes to mind? Your school, your local area, cultural or religious connections, your orchestra section, the discord you started… ? The foundation of this prompt is the community(ies) you’re a part of and how you’ve made change within it/them. 

So think for a minute about all the different communities you participate in. They can be based on geography (like your city, or country of national origin), identity (religion, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.), circumstances, interests, groups, shared activities, and more. Check out our guide to “community essays” for more ideas and sample essays.

Choose one where you’ve had measurable impact bringing positive change to that community. Might be the Girls Who Code club you started at your school, a city-wide initiative connecting young social entrepreneurs with sponsoring organizations, a pride festival you organized, or service work with the mosque. Explain why you’ve chosen to engage in this way, answering the prompt’s inquiry about your motivation. Lay out the details of what you did—as well as the impact you had—in order to emphasize your scholarship-worthy talents, skills and accomplishments.

Here’s an essay that was written for a Boston College prompt, but that demonstrates the direction to head here (though it would need fairly big word count cuts).

In 2020, various racially motivated hate crimes such as the slew of disturbing police killings and spread of Asian hate caused me to reflect on racial injustice in America. While such injustices can take many different forms and be overt or subtle, all are equally capable of creating racial inequality. A societal issue significantly impacting minorities is educational injustice between private and public schools since students of color account for more than 75% of public-school enrollment. The pandemic exacerbated this problem as some private institutions (like my school), not impeded by a lack of financial resources or bureaucracy, could return to in-person instruction, while many public institutions stayed closed for the majority of the 2020-21 school year, their students’ educational experience less optimal as a result. The values of service instilled through my Sacred Heart education prompted me to act in response to this injustice and do my part to propagate educational equality across races in the Bay Area. My interest in tutoring began in middle school when I volunteered in my school’s peer tutoring program. In high school, I created a tutoring club, giving my peers the opportunity to help younger elementary students on financial aid with their homework. With the club being sidetracked by COVID-19, I joined 826 Valencia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced students in the Bay Area. This experience prompted me to transition my old club to a remote format, adapting to restrictions posed by the pandemic. I worked with my friend to rebrand the club, naming it TutorDigital, registering it as a non-profit, and designing a website, efforts which expanded our reach to include local public schools. Through our efforts, we’ve helped provide tutoring services to 32 underprivileged Bay Area students, while also identifying other opportunities to support public schools, such as donating upwards of 60 iPads and creating a book donation program.  While educational injustice is an issue that unfortunately will not be solved overnight, it’s an issue that must be aggressively addressed, now more than ever given the massive impacts from the pandemic. I look forward to continuing this work at Boston College. But for now, I gain comfort from each thank you note from a parent or good grade achieved by a student, knowing my efforts have potentially improved the academic trajectory of these children and helped to address racial injustice in America. — — —

Use the problem/solution structure. This student starts the essay by naming how racially motivated hate crimes raised their awareness of racial inequity and then identifying the specific context that concerns them, educational injustice. Once they flesh out the problem in the second paragraph, they launch into a description of the steps they took to address it. The structural approach used here can also work well in other essays you may be writing about volunteer or community service.

Be specific about your role and activities. The bulk of this essay—the third paragraph—clearly lays out this student’s actions on the issue: started a tutoring club, joined a nonprofit, rebranded the club, registered it as a non-profit, etc. Using clear, active verbs with this kind of detail helps you highlight your skills and achievements for your admissions reader.

Show your impact. Thank you notes and good grades let this student know how they might have improved their students’ academic trajectory and achieved their goal of addressing racial injustice. And offer tangible evidence when possible: 32 students, 60 iPads, book donations. What has happened because of your efforts? What outcomes can you report? Whom have you affected and how?

Looking ahead… at NYU. This author points out that there’s still much to do and that they plan to continue their work in college. You could go further by suggesting one or two specific things you plan to do on campus on your issue, building on what you’ve already done. For ideas, do a little “ Why Us? ” research and link back to the MLK, Jr. Scholarship mission: outstanding academic achievement, leadership, and commitment to civic engagement. 

New York University (NYU) 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 5

You Have: 

New York University (NYU) 2023-24 Application Essay Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 250 words

We are looking for peacemakers, changemakers, global citizens, boundary breakers, creatives and innovators – Choose one quote from the following and let us know why it inspires you; or share a short quote and person not on our list who inspires you, and include why.

“we’re used to people telling us there are no solutions, and then creating our own. so we did what we do best. we reached out to each other, and to our allies, and we mobilized across communities to make change, to benefit and include everyone in society.” judith heuman, 2022 nyu commencement address , “i encourage your discomfort, that you must contribute, that you must make your voice heard. that is the essence of good citizenship.” sherilynn ifill, 2015 nyu commencement address , “if you know how to fly but you never knew how to walk, wouldn’t that be sad” lang lang, 2015 nyu honorary degree recipient , “you have the right to want things and to want things to change.” sanna marin, former prime minister of finland, 2023 nyu commencement address , “it’s hard to fight when the fight ain’t fair.” taylor swift, change, released 2008, 2022 nyu commencement speaker , share a short quote and person not on this list, and why the quote inspires you..

Through this selection of quotes, NYU is asking you to share ways in which you are not like everyone else. Grab a notebook and spend a few minutes with each of the quotes in turn, jotting down whatever words, ideas, or images come to mind. If none of them speaks to you, think about a person or quote that has resonated with you over the years. When you’re done brainstorming, go back through your notebook and see what came up. You can describe past events (maybe you clashed with school administration over unfair policies), experiences you anticipate in college (perhaps you plan to do research to find innovative climate solutions), or your plans for the future (maybe you want to become a diplomat to foster peace internationally). You can also reference the quoted individual’s life and how that inspires you. Remember, this isn’t an essay about your accomplishments or academic interests; your response should, rather, offer admissions insight into your values, passions, and worldview.

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Published December 08, 2023

NYU Admissions Counselors Tackle the 2023-24 Supplemental Essay

Staff Writer

NYU Supplemental Essay (Jimmy's Version)

“we’re used to people telling us there are no solutions, and then creating our own. so we did what we do best. we reached out to each other, and to our allies, and we mobilized across communities to make change, to benefit and include everyone in society.” judith heumann, disability rights activist and 2022 nyu commencement address speaker.

Humanity is a web within which we are all intrinsically tied. Realizing one’s own agency is the key to better community. Realizing that we as humans can leverage that agency together is the key to a better world.

Even the tiniest drops of water can create a new path over time. The power of persistence has motivated me my entire life. Each individual voice, relationship, and community is a work of art, and that art is a powerful medium of change. The world we experience today needs that art, the persistence that comes with it, and passion that inspires it. The fact that almost 8 billion of us around the globe are writing a story together, whether we want to or not, is a harmony of existence. As humans on this planet, we have the ability to steer that pen on paper.

Through my community engagement, extracurricular leadership, and academic exploration, I have already learned an incredible amount towards how I want to show up in this world. I’ve learned that when people come together over a cause, there is no hurdle too high. I’ve learned that diversity is essential, and diversity of thought results in innovative ideas and solutions. I’ve learned that sustainable design principles can build healthier, happier environments.

From a pool of individuals’ solutions comes the collective future of our dreams. I would love nothing more than to roll up my sleeves and learn amongst the greatest minds of my generation as a student at NYU. 

NYU Supplemental Essay (Ayham's Version)

“you have the right to want things and to want things to change.” sanna marin, former pm of finland and 2023 nyu commencement address speaker.

I grew up in a household that valued tradition wholeheartedly and held a profound connection to following our beliefs, customs, and legacy till the day we leave this world. I loved my traditions and customs, but I also loved change: learning, growing, prospering, and reimagining tradition. Yet, at times, these two values clashed, unfortunately, and I was faced with the dilemma of “what is right?” I remember staring at my computer screen, looking at my academic record, and being happy with my grades and position at my school. I made my mother proud, and that’s all that mattered… But was it?

Part of me, deeply hidden inside, was unsatisfied. I was good at what I did, but I wasn’t happy. I wanted to be in a more open, diverse, and inclusive environment. I wanted to feel more challenged –  I wanted change. I remembered my traditions and beliefs, but I also wanted to remember myself, my wants for change, and I wanted to better myself. These two parts of my identity don’t always have to clash. So, I catered to the next step of my life, applying to college, to situate myself in spaces where I can experience the growth I want to see for myself. The challenges I want to endure. I am applying to NYU because I do have the right to want things, and I want to experience my new self in the global education NYU has to offer.

NYU Supplemental Essay (Bridget's Version)

Share a short quote and person not on this list, and why the quote inspires you..

“Everybody wave goodbye to Juice Box!” So screams Will Ferrell in the 2005 cinematic masterpiece Kicking and Screaming . Admittedly, this is a weird quote for a college essay, but hear me out. Every Friday night growing up, my family would choose a movie to watch. Most often, we would choose Kicking and Screaming , a comedy about a crazy soccer coach.

Every week, we’d sit in the same places and settle in to watch the same movies in rotation. And every week, regardless of how many times she’d seen it, my younger sister laughed hysterically when Will Ferrell screamed at the “juice box boy.”

How could she think it was so funny? I didn’t. And after all, she was basically a mini-me – or so I thought. When you’re 13, it seems like your siblings are non-player characters; you live in the same house and occasionally chat about chores, but you never think about them as real people with independent thoughts. Or, at least I didn’t. My sister’s laughter led me to realize that, even though we lived in the same house, I didn’t actually know all that much about my siblings. Since then, I’ve made an active effort to learn more about the people around me. In college, I strive to extend this sense of curiosity about people into the rest of my life, too. I believe that everyone has a unique perspective to share. By learning about other people, I can learn more about the wider world around me.

Your Guide to the NYU Supplemental Essay

Looking for advice on the 2023 NYU supplemental essay question? NYU Admissions Counselor Katie Hindman has advice and tips for applicants.

Announcing the 2023-2024 Common Application for NYU

Planning to apply to NYU during the 2023-2024 academic year? Here's what you need to know about recent changes to NYU's Common Application.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, writing the why nyu essay.

College Essays

If you're applying to New York University, you'll need to submit both the regular Common App materials as well as the NYU supplement, which includes a short essay. At its heart, the NYU essay prompt asks you to answer a single straightforward question: why do you want to go to NYU?

In this article, we'll fully analyze the "Why NYU?" essay prompt and what successful essays need to accomplish. We'll also go over potential topics to write about and look at the essay that got me into NYU's College of Arts and Science.

First, however, we'll begin with a quick discussion of why schools ask students to write "why this school?" essays

feature image credit: Sagie /Flickr

Why NYU Essay 2023 Update

NYU has discontinued the "Why NYU" for the 2022-2023 admissions cycle . That means there won't be an NYU-specific writing supplement provided as part of the Common Application process. 

However, students can submit an optional 250-word response as part of NYU's additional questions section. This response deals with students' perspectives on diversity. Here's the prompt for 2023-2024: 

We are looking for peacemakers, changemakers, global citizens, boundary breakers, creatives and innovators. Choose one quote from the following and let us know why it inspires you; or share a short quote and person not on our list who inspires you, and include why.

“We’re used to people telling us there are no solutions, and then creating our own. So we did what we do best. We reached out to each other, and to our allies, and we mobilized across communities to make change, to benefit and include everyone in society.” Judith Heuman, 2022 NYU Commencement Address

“I encourage your discomfort, that you must contribute, that you must make your voice heard. That is the essence of good citizenship.” Sherilynn Ifill, 2015 NYU Honorary Degree Recipient

“You have the right to want things and to want things to change.” Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland, 2023 NYU Commencement Address “It’s hard to fight when the fight ain’t fair.” Taylor Swift, Change, Released 2008, 2022 NY Commencement Speaker

Share a short quote and person not on the list and why the quote inspires you.

What's the Point of "Why This School" Essays?

While the Common App essay gives students a chance to showcase something of who they are that might not be evident elsewhere in their application, the "why [school]?" essay allows students space to explicitly state why they are such a good match for the school.

Presumably, if you're applying to the school, your test scores, grades, course rigor and curriculum, extracurriculars, and volunteer experience all put you at least somewhat in line with other students at the school.

The "why this school?" essay is your opportunity to discuss not just why you could excel at the school, but why you are a good fit (and why you want to go there).

"Why this school" essays are also a useful way for schools to judge student interest in a school (which can indicate whether or not a student will attend if admitted). Based on students' "why this school?" essays, colleges can distinguish students who are specifically interested in attending that school from students who clearly applied just because of the school's location or ranking

Writing a strong "why [school]?" essay not only gives you another instance to showcase your writing and reasoning skills, but also tells the school that you care enough to invest time in researching what makes them special. It signifies that you have put in the time to realize whether or not you're a good fit. (And, it secondarily shows that having put in that time, you're more likely to attend if admitted than someone who just wrote some generic statements about why they want to attend college ).

For a more in-depth look at what schools hope to get out of your "Why [This School]?" essays, read this article .

Why NYU Essay Prompt, Analyzed

Here's the complete NYU supplement essay prompt for 2021:

We would like to know more about your interest in NYU. What motivated you to apply to NYU? Why you have applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and or area of study? If you have applied to more than one, please also tell us why you are interested in these additional areas of study or campuses. We want to understand - Why NYU? (400 word maximum)

Besides the standard "what motivated you to apply to [school]?" question that almost every "why this school" essay asks, the NYU prompt gives you one extra nudge for what to focus on in your essay.

Specifically, NYU wants you to talk about what's drawn you to "a particular campus, school, college, program, and/or area of study?" (or, if you're drawn to more than one, why you're drawn to each campus/school/college/program/area of study).

Keep in mind that you should be discussing all of this in the context of NYU . Obviously, if you're interested in NYU because of one of their 10 undergraduate schools, then that's particular to NYU, but the same goes for their campus locations, programs, and areas of study.

For instance, if you're passionate about studying theater, you wouldn't just write that you want to attend NYU because you love theater and NYU has a theater program and is in New York, a city that has theater; that description could apply to half a dozen schools. Instead, you'd go into the details of what attracts you about specific classes and professors at Tisch, or other opportunities that are unique to NYU (ability to do certain kinds of projects, the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration, etc).

This prompt also hints at a few different directions you can go with your "Why NYU" essay:

Why have you expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, or area of study? If you have applied to more than one, please also tell us why you are interested in these additional areas of study or campuses.

If you're already certain of what you want to study in college or have a " spike ", you'll want to go the "particular" route in your essay . This means mentioning specific classes, professors, programs, or how you see NYU supporting your future career/academic plans.

On the other hand, perhaps you're not at all sure what you want to study in college (AKA me in high school). In that case, you'll shape your essay more around how you believe going to NYU will allow you to explore many different avenues to find your passion .

Finally, if you already know that you want to spend time abroad during college in a place where NYU has a campus, you can emphasize your interest in continuing to receive an NYU-level academic education while living in another country .

Potential "Why NYU?" Essay Topics

Earlier, we briefly touched upon some topics that you might write about in your essay, including specific courses/teachers/programs and study abroad opportunities.

We're now going to take those broad topic categories and go into a little more depth for how to write about them in your "Why NYU?" essay.

Colleges/Programs

NYU has the following 10 undergraduate schools, colleges, and programs:

• College of Arts & Sciences
• Gallatin School of Individualized Study
• Liberal Studies
• Meyers College of Nursing
• School of Professional Studies
• Silver School of Social Work
• Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
• Stern School of Business
• Tandon School of Engineering
• Tisch School of the Arts

Because there are so many different undergraduate programs within NYU, it's a good idea to identify which program(s) you're applying to and why in your NYU supplement essay.

Since you'll need to decide on a program before applying to NYU anyway, you might as well use the time you spend reading about each college to figure out if there are any programs within particular colleges that call out to you.

For instance, if you're interested in the intersection of different fields (like psychology and computer science, or biology and philosophy/ethics) and are self-motivated to create your own program of study, you should talk about that in your application to the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. If you've spent the last 12 years devoting all your extra time in and out of school to theatre and want to attend a conservatory with opportunities to go see live theatre, then write about that in your application to Tisch.

Courses/Professors

NYU is a world-renowned university for a reason, and it's not just because of its immense real estate holdings; it has a wide variety of courses and professors renowned in their fields. If one of the main reasons you're drawn to NYU is for its academics, then this is a good topic to get into in your supplemental essay.

Flip through the online course catalogs and read about professors in departments you're interested in. Are there any classes you really want to take (that seem particular to NYU)? Or any professors you absolutely have to study with?

You don't need to go so far as to read the professors' research or anything like that (unless you're super excited by it!), but doing even a little research into the courses and professors you'd be learning from and mentioning it in your "Why NYU?" essay will go a long way toward showing the admissions officers that you're serious enough about NYU to check out its specifics.

Extracurricular Opportunities and School Traditions

If there's an extracurricular at NYU that you've been particularly involved in during high school (or are excited to start getting involved in at college), you can write about it, as long as you're clear about why it's something unique to NYU.

In a similar vein, you can also try reading through some of the campus-wide events offered throughout the year and see if there's anything special about them that speaks to you.

NYU Essay: Topics to Avoid

The "Why NYU" essay prompt makes it pretty clear that you should focus your 400 words around a specific college/program/area of study.

What you absolutely should avoid is gushing about NYU's location (whether you're applying to the New York campus or not).

Back when I applied to NYU, the "why NYU?" essay prompt was even more blunt about not centering your essay around New York City:

"Many students decide to apply to NYU because of our New York City location. Apart from the New York City location, please tell us why you feel NYU will be a good match for you."

If New Yorkers have heard it all and seen it all before, NYU admissions officers have certainly read any and all paeans you could care to write to New York City.

It's fine to write about how being in New York gives you access to opportunities relevant to your course at NYU (e.g. you can get amazing internship opportunities for journalism and theatre there that you wouldn't be able to get anywhere else). However, you need to be clear to center your essay around the program at NYU, with the New York location (and its opportunities) being an added bonus.

Unless you have a unique take on why NYU's location is so important to you (e.g. your grandparents used to live in a building that was demolished to make way for Bobst law library and you were brought up on vengeance that has since turned to adoration), stay away from NYU's location in your explanation of why you want to go there.

Brainstorming for the Why NYU Essay

Before you start to narrow in on what angle you'll take in your "Why NYU?" essay, you should first examine your reasons for applying to NYU. By "examine," we don't just mean "list your reasons"—we mean you need to go a few levels deeper into each surface reason that occurs to you.

For example, this is the list of reasons I had for applying to NYU (roughly in order of importance):

• My test scores and grades/course rigor make it likely I'll get in
• NYU has lots of good schools and programs
• It's easy enough to get from NYU to my family, transportation-wise

On the face of it, none of these reasons are very compelling. If I'd just gone on to write my "Why NYU?" essay (or in those days, essays) with those three bullet points, I doubt I would have been accepted.

Instead, I went deeper with each reason to see if there was anything there I could mine for the NYU supplement essay.

Surface Reason 1 : My test scores and grades/course rigor make it likely I'll get in.

• One level deeper : I'm applying to NYU as a safety school, because I'm pretty sure I'll get in there, even if I don't get in anywhere else, and I'd want to go there if I got in.
• Should I write about this in my "why NYU" essay? Definitely not. No school wants to hear that it's a safety (even if it's a safety you would be fine with attending because it's still a good school).

Surface Reason 2 : NYU has lots of good schools and programs.

• One level deeper : I'm extremely undecided about what I want to study—I know that I'm interested in English (Creative Writing), Math, Neuroscience, Chinese, and Music, but I might end up deciding to study something entirely different in college. It's important to me that I go somewhere that I'll have the opportunity to explore all of my interests (and develop more), which I can do at NYU.
• Should I write about this in my "Why NYU" essay? This reason is definitely promising, although I'll need to do more research into the particular programs and courses at NYU so I can namedrop (and in the process, double-check that I'm right about being able to study all these things there!).

Surface Reason 3 : It's easy enough to get from NYU to my family, transportation-wise.

• One level deeper : My parents want there to be good transportation options for me visiting home (or them visiting me). NYU's location (New York City) definitely makes that possible (there's easy access to planes, trains, buses, rental cars, fixed-gear bikes…).
• Should I write about this in my "Why NYU" essay? Probably not. The prompt asks me about why I've expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and/or area of study, not a geographic area. Plus, it's not like there aren't plenty of other New York schools. I maybe could throw in this reason if I'm running short on things to say, but as it is, it looks like my second reason is going to be the best bet for the "Why NYU?" essay.

Why NYU Essay Sample

Below, I've created a "Why NYU?" essay example that draws verbatim from what I used in my (successful) NYU application. (The essay requirements were slightly different then, with different word counts, so I had to expand a little upon what I originally wrote.)

I feel NYU would be a good match for me because of the number and kinds of programs it has. I am very interested in a variety of subjects, and NYU seems to encompass everything. In fact, I'm applying to the College of Arts and Sciences because I can’t specify my interests any more than that at this time. I have so many things that I want to learn that I can’t imagine limiting myself before I even enter college.

Take Chinese, for example. I'm learning Mandarin now (and have been for the last five years), but I would also like to learn Cantonese. There are not many other schools that offer Cantonese classes that can boast trips into Chinatown as part of the curriculum! Furthermore, I am excited by the possibility of studying abroad at NYU Shanghai. I'd not only be able to go to China for a semester for a year and immerse myself in the language and culture, but I'd be able to do so with the continuity of being on an NYU campus, even halfway across the world.

The music theory program in the College of Arts and Sciences also really interests me. I've picked up some theory here and there, but I haven't had all that much formal training. I'm also really intrigued by NYU's early music ensemble and the chance to explore different modes and tunings. At the other end of the spectrum, while I've written a few pieces on my own and taught myself a little bit about MIDI, I have not really had a chance to experiment very much with computer/electronic composition, and would really like to use those Steinhardt facilities that would be available to me at NYU to help remedy this.

Finally, I cannot stress enough how important reading and creative writing are to me. Because of how much the two feed into one another, I'm excited by NYU's Reading Series and the potential to be able to attend organized events for interacting with other writers outside the classroom.

The opportunity to expand my Chinese language abilities beyond Mandarin (and have the chance for practical application) is what first intrigued me; the chance to explore computer music and get my hands on NYU's facilities was the next breadcrumb; but the breadth and depth of the courses for writing lure me in even more, until I can resist no further.

This essay isn't necessarily the best piece of writing I've ever done. However, it still effectively conveys my desire to attend NYU because I mention a few key reasons I want to attend NYU:

• The variety of courses available . I began by stating that I'm undecided and part of what attracts me to NYU is the opportunity to get to do lots of different things. I then go on to discuss several different examples.
• Specific NYU opportunities . I looked up various courses, events, and opportunities offered by different departments and mentioned a couple of them specifically (the Reading Studies program for creative writing, Cantonese classes, studying abroad in China).
• While I did mention a New York City thing (going into Chinatown), it was linked with something that's relatively NYU-specific (the opportunity to study Cantonese as well as Mandarin).

Tips for the Why NYU Essay

To wrap up, we've summarized our top four tips for writing the "Why NYU?" essay.

#1: Look over the descriptions of the different schools/programs. This will help you figure out both which one you want to apply to as well as what makes those schools interesting for you to apply to.

#2: Read through the course catalog and look up professors in departments you're interested in. As the NYU Admission blog states , you don't have to go overboard in stating exactly what course you want to take with what professor at what time, but you should demonstrate that you're aware of what kinds of things you will be able to do and learn while at NYU

#3: Look into whether there are any extracurricular activities or NYU traditions that particularly appeal to you--and explain why they matter specifically to you.

#4: Avoid writing odes to New York City. If there are particular opportunities you're interested in that are only available in New York (e.g. internships at the American Museum of Natural History, research into immigration history at Ellis Island) you can mention it, but don't lean too heavily on the location.

#5: Remember that while you should make it clear why you want to attend NYU with your essay, you don't need to agonize for hours over it. Ultimately, other parts of your application (including your test scores and grades/course rigor, letters of recommendation, and personal statement) are more important factors to your acceptance than your NYU supplement essay is. You just need to show that you've done at least a little research into NYU and why you want to apply there in particular.

And if along the way you find that you don't really have a super good reason that's getting you excited to apply to NYU? It might be worth reconsidering whether or not you should apply there.

What's Next?

Have a bunch more college-specific supplement essays to write? Be sure to check out our overview of the "why this college" essay .

Looking for application tips for other selective schools? Read our complete guides to the University of California system and to the Georgetown application .

Should you apply early or regular decision to college? Find out the pros and cons of early decision in this article . ( And read up on the distinctions between early decision, early action, and the different kinds of each here. )

Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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New York University | NYU’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Select-a-prompt short response.

We are looking for peacemakers, changemakers, global citizens, boundary breakers, creatives and innovators - Choose one quote from the following and let us know why it inspires you; or share a short quote and person not on our list who inspires you, and include why.

“We’re used to people telling us there are no solutions, and then creating our own. So we did what we do best. We reached out to each other, and to our allies, and we mobilized across communities to make change, to benefit and include everyone in society.” Judith Heuman, 2022 NYU Commencement Address

“I encourage your discomfort, that you must contribute, that you must make your voice heard. That is the essence of good citizenship." Sherilynn Ifill, 2015 NYU Commencement Address

“If you know how to fly but you never knew how to walk, wouldn’t that be sad?” Lang Lang, 2015 NYU Honorary Degree Recipient

"You have the right to want things and to want things to change." Sanna Marin, Former Prime Minister of Finland, 2023 NYU Commencement Address

"It‘s hard to fight when the fight ain‘t fair.” Taylor Swift, Change, Released 2008, 2022 NYU Commencement Speaker

Share a short quote and person not on this list, and why the quote inspires you.

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you‘ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

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How to write the new york university essays, updated for 2023-2024, question 1 .

We are looking for peacemakers, changemakers, global citizens, boundary breakers, creatives and innovators – Choose one quote from the following and let us know why it inspires you; or share a short quote and person not on our list who inspires you, and include why.

Explanation:

Although NYU gives you the option not to answer this supplemental question, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the opportunity to tell the school a little more about yourself.

That being said, the key to writing a strong supplement is choosing a quote that allows you to shed more light on your values, accomplishments, and the reasons why NYU is a good fit for you.

You should also highlight how you fit into one of the roles the university mentions they are looking for at the beginning of the prompt: a peacemaker, changemaker, global citizen, boundary breaker, creative or an innovator. How do you fit into one of these categories? Does one of the quotes provided mirror that which inspired you to take on that role?

As you write your essay, be sure to both explain why the quote you choose inspires you, and shed light on one of your own related values or accomplishments.

A strong NYU supplemental essay might look something like:

Quote 1: “We’re used to people telling us there are no solutions, and then creating our own. So we did what we do best. We reached out to each other, and to our allies, and we mobilized across communities to make change, to benefit and include everyone in society.” Judith Heuman, 2022 NYU Commencement Address”

“Drumroll please…We raised $220,000 for this year!”

Since the beginning of my sophomore year, I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside 24 of my peers to host an annual gala to raise funds for ALS research laboratories. Our group has carried on the work started ten years ago by our peers, who sprung into action when they learned of their teacher’s diagnosis.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis has no cure, and to this day, 5,000 people learn of their own diagnoses annually.

So, in Heumen’s words, we work to enact change, and we do it as a community by collaborating with local vendors, restaurants and businesses, both local and national, to secure the monetary donations, raffle items, decorations, and food and beverages necessary to host a successful gala. Every summer, two of us travel to Northwestern to partake in the Feinberg Institute’s ALS research—funded in part by our efforts.

Cold calling and soliciting donations from businesses in an effort to raise funds was daunting at first, but it ultimately brought me out of my shell. Last year, planning the gala as a Junior Lead taught me the importance of delegation, and working alongside my mentor at the Feinberg last summer, I learned the power of sheer dedication in the face of a problem for which no solution is in sight.

Heumen’s words reflect that which I have most loved about fighting for a cure alongside my peers: when communities work together in pursuit of a goal that supersedes their personal gain, far-reaching positive change is possible.

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How to Write the “Why NYU” Essay

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Moriah Adeghe in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info. 

What’s Covered:

• How Essays Set You Apart

Writing About NYU’s Campus

• Writing About NYU’s Different Colleges
• Writing About NYU’s Areas of Study

New York University (NYU) asks its applicants to reply to its “Why NYU” supplemental essay . The prompt states:

“We would like to know more about your interest in NYU. What motivated you to apply to NYU? Why have you applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and/or area of study? If you have applied to more than one, please also tell us why you are interested in these additional areas of study or campuses. We want to understand—Why NYU? (400 words)”

In this article, we discuss how best to respond to this prompt and provide examples of successful essays. For more writing tips and tricks for this prompt, check out our post on how to write a stellar “why this college” essay .

How Essays Set You Apart  

The admissions officers at NYU have to filter through many applicants with similar grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities. Reading essay responses is how the admissions officers learn about your personality and see whether you would be a good fit at NYU. Developing a unique supplemental essay that showcases your personality and values will give admissions officers a chance to get to know you beyond your grades and test scores. As with many essays, the “why NYU” essay differentiates you from other applicants with the same level of qualifications . 

NYU admissions want to see that you actually care about attending their school and that you are not just applying for superficial reasons. You want to convince NYU that you are passionate about the school. The best way to do this is by submitting a highly personal and specific essay response that shows that you’ve done your research and can envision yourself as an NYU student. 

This prompt has a 400-word limit, so instead of writing 400 words about the location and prestige of NYU, you want to dive into the specifics. The length of this essay and the questions in the prompt enable you to go into extensive detail. Admissions officers don’t want to read a general description of the campus; they’re looking for your specific interest in particular areas of the campus and the program that you’re applying to. Make sure to respond in a manner that is specific to you and to NYU. A great tip to keep in mind while you’re writing is this: if you can replace NYU with Columbia or another school in your essay, you haven’t made your essay specific enough. 

There are three buckets that you can write about in your “why NYU” essay: the campus, college, and area of study. Each of these buckets can get broken down into smaller areas. For example, you can write about the New York City, Abu Dhabi, or Shanghai campus for the campus bucket. A weak response to this bucket would be saying that you wanted to attend the NYU Abu Dhabi campus because you visited the area once and want to live in the city. This is a general answer with no specific information about what you will get out of and be a part of by going to NYU. The admissions officers at NYU know exactly what makes their school unique, but they want to read this from your perspective, so be as specific as possible. 

A stronger response would be talking about how you want to study at the Shanghai campus to major in global China studies because it aligns with your interests in working in international marketing. There’s no better place to pursue this major than on a campus located in the heart of a major Chinese city. You can talk about how the Shanghai location would grant you the opportunity to see the topics discussed in the classroom firsthand.

This type of response immediately demonstrates that the student has done their research and is genuinely interested in the program that they’re writing about. This example clearly outlines their trajectory at NYU in a way that is clear to the admissions officers and shows that NYU is their first choice.

Writing About NYU’s Different Colleges 

Like many other schools, NYU is divided into several schools and colleges. The biggest one is the College of Arts and Sciences, which is a general liberal arts college, so you don’t want to spend too much of your essay talking about it. Instead, focus on your area of study or specific extracurricular interests at one of the campuses. 

However, if you are planning to apply to one of NYU’s smaller colleges, you should spend the bulk of your essay writing about the college that you chose. You want to do this because it will automatically set you apart from the other applicants. You will have more specific programs and classes to write about than applicants applying to the larger colleges.

Writing About NYU’s Areas of Study  

Within each school or college of NYU, there are multiple different programs and majors to write about. For this topic, pick the major or program that appeals to you, and write about why you want to be part of it. The unique thing about this essay is that since there is a 400-word limit, which is long for most supplemental essays, you can dive into your motivations a bit more while writing about the area of study that you want to pursue at NYU. 

By going into your background, you can connect your past experiences to your future goals at NYU. This will allow you to differentiate yourself from other applicants by showing your personality and bringing out more of your authentic self.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

• Pulling It Together:
• Module Objectives
• 1. Citing Sources – Part of Academic Culture
• 2. Plagiarism
• 3. Citations and Bibliographies
• 4. Citation Style
• 5. Citation Management
• 6. Annotated Bibliographies
• 1. The Writing Process
• 2. Essay Format
• 3. Where to Begin
• 4. Strategies for Starting
• 5. Drafting
• 6. Developing a Working Thesis
• 7. Your Reader
• 8. The Conclusion
• 9. The Introduction
• 1. Why Revise?
• 2. Thinking Like a Reader
• 3. Take a Break
• 4. Ask Others
• 5. Reviewing
• •  The Whole
• •  Reviewing the Paragraphs
• • The Sentences
• 1. Why Edit?
• 2. Editing:
• •  Citations
• •  Language
• •  Punctuation & Format
• •  Test Your Knowledge
• 3. Tracking Frequent Errors

• Pulling It Together
• Writing Strategies

• Developing a Working Thesis
• Starting Techniques

Essay Format

There are many different essay forms that might be acceptable or expected for a specific assignment. Clarify any uncertainties about your instructor’s expectations as early as possible.

Common in North American universities is the general three-part persuasive form known as the Anglo-American Essay Form . An essay following this form repeats its main ideas three times with different degrees of depth and length: once in an introduction; again in the body; and finally in the conclusion.

• An introduction tells your reader what they should expect the essay to discuss (the topic), how the discussion will proceed (a road map for what’s to come) and what conclusion you will reach (often in the form of a thesis statement).
• The body of the essay contains the detailed presentation and discussion (analysis) of information, evidence, models, alternatives and reasons for the positions you or the authors being considered are taking.
• A conclusion reminds your reader of the most important points of discussion and analysis, and comes to a decision (or decisions) about them.

Objectifs du module

Ce module sur la compréhension des travaux fournit des stratégies pour :

• vous familiariser avec les exigences générales d’un travail de recherche universitaire;
• déterminer le but d’un travail afin de vous guider dans le processus de rédaction;
• reconnaître les différents types de travaux de recherche et les mots-indicateurs qui y sont associés;
• appliquer noter des approches disciplinaires différentes
• identifier le public cible et tenir compte de son rôle dans le travail.

New York University (NYU) Supplemental Essays Guide: 2021-2022

Not sure how to approach the “Why NYU” essay prompt? CollegeAdvisor.com’s “Why NYU” Essay Guide will show you exactly how to write an engaging “Why NYU” essay to maximize your chances of admission. This guide will also reference CollegeAdvisor’s “Why NYU” essay examples  article  from last year. The piece includes two “Why NYU” essay examples from students who were admitted to NYU. We also reference feedback from former admissions officers on why each “Why NYU” essay was successful.

If you need help crafting your answers to the NYU application essay, create your free  account  or  schedule a free consultation  by calling (844) 343-6272.

New York University ( NYU ) Essay Guide Quick Facts:

• For the class of 2025, NYU accepted  12.8% of applicants  to its New York Campus.  U.S. News  considers this school to be  most selective .
• We recommend answering the required NYU essay, and any additional prompts, comprehensively and thoughtfully.

What is NYU known for?

NYU prides itself on the fact that the city is its campus. In 1831, the university’s founders aimed to create an institution of learning that would be “in and of the city.” Thus, NYU’s main campus has no gates or walls separating it from the rest of Greenwich Village. This differs from other schools in the city, such as Columbia University that has a central quad and gates separating itself from the Morningside Heights area. Side note: Barnard College, Columbia University’s affiliated women’s college has its own quad and set of gates, albeit adjacent to Columbia’s campus.)

However, the breadth of NYU students’ learning extends far beyond the confines of Manhattan. NYU has more international students and students studying abroad than any other university in the United States. Students hail from 133 countries and nearly every state in the U.S.

What are three interesting facts about NYU?

• NYU’s main campus is located in Manhattan. However, the university also has campuses in  Shanghai ,  Abu Dhabi , and other  global academic centers .
• The origin of NYU’s color, violet, is  obscure . Many believe it’s a nod to the violets that grow in Washington Square and around the original university building. Others trace it back to Athens, Greece—a center of learning in the ancient world. The violet flower was strongly associated with the city.
• NYU has many world-renowned  alumni , including Lady Gaga, Adam Sandler, and Angelina Jolie.

How many essays do you have to write for NYU?

New York University has  one  required NYU essay prompt in the 2021-2022  Common App . Each applicant will produce a “Why NYU” essay in addition to their Common App personal statement. As you look at the  NYU admissions page , you’ll notice that there are additional requirements for Steinhardt (an  audition or portfolio  for all applicants to the Music Department with the exception of Educational Theatre, and a  portfolio  for those applying to Studio Art) and Tisch (an  audition or portfolio  for applicants to all programs). A pplying to one of these programs? Make sure you complete all of the requirements referenced on the pages linked above.  This NYU essay guide will only cover the required “Why NYU” essay. However, you can use the tips here to help craft the  Steinhardt portfolio ,  Tisch portfolio , and  Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholars Program  essays as well.

How long is the NYU essay?

When writing your “Why NYU” essay, you have a maximum of 400 words to convey your interest in attending NYU. While 400 words may seem like a lot, you will want to strategize to use them wisely. You’ll also see below in the “Why NYU” essay prompt breakdown that there are several layers to the NYU application essay. Accordingly, you’ll need to answer each portion of the NYU essay prompt in order for it to be considered complete.

Due to NYU’s relatively low acceptance rate and competitive admissions process, a strong NYU application essay is key to maximizing your admissions odds. In fact, this is your chance to show NYU your demonstrated interest (DI). Demonstrated interest is what universities use to gauge just how interested a student is in attending their particular school. Want to read more about using supplemental essays to convey DI to each school that you’re applying to? Check out this article on DI by  Forbes .

Why does the NYU essay have a word limit?

The “Why NYU” essay has a word limit because admissions officers have a limit. Last year, over  100,000  first-year undergraduate hopefuls applied to NYU. In short, the “Why NYU” essay has a word limit to help admissions officers process the large number of applications.

There’s more to the picture, however. The NYU supplemental essay prompt also enforces a strict word limit to test your (the applicant’s) ability to respond to their prompt clearly and succinctly. The NYU supplemental essay prompt is intentionally broad. Thus, each writer has ample opportunity to discuss their research on the school, passion about their potential major(s), and general excitement about NYU.

Finally, the NYU admissions committee is looking for well-edited, dynamic writing in each “Why NYU” essay. Having a 400-word limit helps admissions officers identify both strong and weak writing quickly. Most importantly, they’re looking for students who they believe will bring diversity to their community and will excel in a rigorous academic environment.

“Why NYU” Essay Prompt (Required)

We would like to know more about your interest in NYU. What motivated you to apply to NYU? Why have you applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and or area of study? If you have applied to more than one, please also tell us why you are interested in these additional areas of study or campuses. We want to understand – Why NYU? (400 words)

This NYU essay prompt is more than just a simple “Why NYU” essay question. In fact, there are several layers to the NYU essay. The admissions team is interested in your reasons for applying not only to NYU, but your interest in a particular campus, college, program, and area of study. Consequently, it’s best to approach this NYU supplemental essay as an NYU-specific personal statement. Similar to your Common App personal statement, you’ll want to treat this NYU essay as an introduction to the admissions committee.

How do you write the “Why NYU” essay?

Begin your “Why NYU” essay writing process with a brainstorm/free-write session. Start a list and write down every reason that contributed to your decision to apply to NYU. It can be as simple as “wanting to live in NYU;” as big as “majoring in education studies to make sweeping reforms in NYC’s school systems;” and as specific as “taking a music course with adjunct professor Questlove.”

Take no more than ten minutes to write this list. When you’ve finished, write two more lists, one titled “academic goals,” and the other titled “professional goals.” Spend ten minutes each completing these lists–these don’t have to be specifically related to NYU like the first list, but this is simply an opportunity to think about your area of study and goals for the future.

Make connections

Now that you have these three lists, take some time to draw connections between the three. For example, if your “why NYU” list includes the bonus of living in New York City while attending school, try to connect it with one of your reasons from the other lists. In other words, consider the fact that many students will list wanting to study in New York City as a reason for attending NYU.

To help your NYU essay stand out, you’ll need to create stronger connections between the school and your academic, personal, and professional goals. An example of this in a “Why NYU” essay could look like a student who is excited to study urban planning at NYU. In their NYU essay, they could link their interest in studying the history and future of New York City as the main reason for pursuing this particular program at NYU.

In fact, in the first of the “Why NYU” essay examples, the writer draws a clear connection between their interest in studying at the Stern School of Business and the opportunity to participate in the International Business Exchange Program:

Essay Example 1:

The Bachelor of Science in Business Program excites me, as it entails a well-rounded yet intensive study in core business disciplines. However, what draws me to Stern is the emphasis on gaining a global perspective, which is crucial in today’s rapidly changing world economy. Through the International Business Exchange Program, I will be able to gain a first-hand cultural experience that will mold me into a global citizen and business leader. Not only will I be taking courses in the most prestigious business schools across the globe, but I will also have new doors opened for me to network with alumni.

In just a few short sentences, the writer is able to state their school of interest (Stern), connect it to a program (the International Business Exchange Program), and talk about how NYU can help them accomplish their professional goals.

Identify the connections in your lists of personal, professional, and academic goals related to NYU. Then, it’s time to think about how you’d like to open your NYU essay. The second of our “Why NYU” essay examples perfectly demonstrate the power of a persuasive opening anecdote or story. The first few sentences are meant to draw the reader into your story. This is true of any essay, the “Why NYU” essay included. Consequently, you’ll want to use dynamic language that sets the tone for your NYU supplemental essay. Let’s look at our “Why NYU” essay examples for inspiration:

Essay Example 2:

Before I began interning for the International Rescue Committee’s refugee youth acclimation program—right in the heart of the Lower East Side—I underwent weeks of training in providing trauma-informed support, reminded repeatedly that these kids have gone through more than I could possibly imagine.

Similar to the language in the first of our “Why NYU” essay examples, this writer is able to say a lot in a few sentences. They’ve not only identified their extracurricular/internship work with IRC but also established their level of commitment to helping refugee youths.

As you can see, both of these “Why NYU” essay examples deal with the very different subject matter. One essay deals with a refugee volunteer looking to study racial policy. The other focuses on a finance student looking to network with future NYU alumni. Both candidates, however, are clear in what they want to study at NYU and why it is important for them to pursue that particular program there. They are also able to draw connections between their passions and interests to their proposed academic programs.

Do your research

Make a strong case for why you want to pursue a particular program at NYU. Use the “Why NYU” essay examples for reference; this is the most important part of your “Why NYU” essay. If you’re unsure of what you want to study, now is the time to research  NYU’s programs . The major referenced in your NYU essay may not be what you pursue if admitted, and that’s okay. If you can, however, identify potential majors of interest in your NYU essay prompt response and connect them to your overall candidate profile. This can help you write a stronger NYU essay.

For example, if your extracurriculars deal with creative writing and your high school courses are mainly in literature, picking a STEM major, simply to impress the admissions committee will likely raise red flags. In cases like this, you may want to talk about the ways that an NYU education will help you find your academic area of focus. Your “why” may not be as clear, but you can still write a successful “Why NYU” essay that focuses on what draws you to the unique community at NYU.

In other words, authenticity is key. Don’t submit a NYU essay that simply tells the admissions officers what you think they want to hear.

“Why NYU” Essay Draft Key Questions:

• Does your “Why NYU” essay talk about your motivations for attending NYU?
• In your NYU essay prompt response, do you demonstrate that you’ve done research on the schools, programs, courses, and organizations that NYU offers?
• When applicable in your NYU essay, do you mention specific NYU campus traditions, courses, regional attractions, professors, etc.?

What should I include in my “Why NYU” essay?

The NYU supplemental essay prompt asks two deeper questions: “What motivated you to apply to NYU?” and “Why have you applied or expressed interest in a particular campus, school, college, program, and or area of study?”. Both of these questions should be answered when drafting your “Why NYU” essay.

Naturally, NYU’s desired location in New York City leads many of its applicants to apply to the school. You can speak about the unique opportunities that the big city presents. However, you want to ensure that your response is specific enough to NYU. What does NYU have to offer that Columbia and Fordham don’t? Remember in the second of the “Why NYU” essay examples, the writer was able to specifically name the major (public health policy) that they wanted to pursue at NYU, as well as where they wanted to carry out research ( CASSR ). As in the “Why NYU” essay examples, it’s best to be as specific as possible.

After all, the NYU essay prompt asks “What motivated you to apply to NYU?”, and not “What motivated you to apply to college in New York City?”. A solid strategy in approaching this NYU supplemental essay, then, is to center your essay around NYU. This might seem obvious. However, you’d be surprised how many students realize  after the fact  that their completed NYU essay revolves around the city of the school and not the school itself.

Tell a story

For this NYU supplemental essay, it’s important to reflect on the past experiences that have led you to be interested in a given area of study. Was it a specific moment in your life or a series of experiences? You have the option to choose either path in writing this NYU application essay. Take a look at both of the “Why NYU” essay examples on the CollegeAdvisor  blog . The first NYU essay example highlights multiple experiences that led the author to their interest in pursuing a finance major. The second of the “Why NYU” essay examples makes one volunteer experience the focus of their NYU essay prompt. Both are strong and a great reminder that your “Why NYU” essay should be as unique as you are!

To recap, the NYU application essay you submit should be thoroughly researched. After familiarizing yourself with NYU’s  campuses  and  programs , you should include specific details related to your program of interest in your “Why NYU” essay. If it’s relevant to your essay you may also want to write about specific NYU  clubs/organizations  and  events/traditions .

NYU Application Essay: Final Thoughts

Completing the NYU supplemental essay can seem daunting, but don’t let the NYU essay prompt discourage you from applying. At the end of the day, the NYU essay prompt is not intended to trip you up. Rather, view the NYU application essay as an opportunity to further introduce yourself to the admissions team.

Use this NYU supplemental essay guide to help you approach the NYU application essay with confidence. Before and during your NYU essay writing process, make sure to spend some time reading over our “Why NYU” essay examples. Use the feedback from former admissions officers included with each NYU essay as guiding criticism for your own draft. While your experiences are going to be different than what is outlined in the “Why NYU” essay examples, your reasons for wanting to attend NYU should be just as clear as you read in the sample essay.

After completing your NYU supplemental essay, make sure to revise your NYU application essay. You should ask a counselor, advisor, or other trusted adult to help you proofread for spelling, grammar, and clarity. Good luck!

This 2021-2022 essay guide on NYU was written by  Juliana Furigay , Columbia ‘23. For more resources on the college admissions process, click  here . If you need help crafting your answer to the NYU essay prompt, create your free  account  or  schedule a no-cost advising consultation  by calling (844) 343-6272.

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10 things to do before you submit your essay

Final draft checklist.

You have finished your essay and you think it is ready for submission. Now go through the checklist below, as it should help you spot possible flaws in your essay before submitting it. You are also strongly advised to have the essay ready between 24 and 12 hours before the final submission deadline (ideally, if not earlier), as some of the “things” in this checklist require reading the essay a few times.

Read your essay for references

1.  check you have referenced every idea that is not yours.

Your marker will look for your own individual voice and original ideas as well as engagement with secondary sources. You have to be particularly careful in differentiating what you have quoted or paraphrased from somewhere else, and what is actually your own opinion. It also has to appear clear to the marker whether you are paraphrasing a source or quoting directly from it.

2. Check your references are accurate and correct

Whether you choose to use MLA or Chicago (footnotes and bibliography), make sure you are following your referencing style closely. If you are in doubt, you should ask one of your tutors.

Is your bibliography in order?

3.  Check you have referenced primary sources as well

This may appear obvious, but make sure you have referenced primary sources too, and the editions you are using. If you are quoting from a play, indicate where in play that particular line is from (eg Act I, Scene II, ll. 123-38); if from a novel, the page number will suffice.

It may be useful to divide your bibliography in “primary” and “secondary” sources, and have the primary sources listed first.

Read your essay for style

4. edit for grammar and spelling.

Look for mistakes in sentence construction, and typos.

5.  Edit for syntax and punctuation

Do the sentences flow as you read them? Is the connection between sentences and also that between clauses clear? It may help to read your essay out loud, or only the sentences that look dubious. Your argument will appear much weaker if the logical links between sentences are not clear. If they are not clear to you, they will not be clear to your reader either.

Is a semi-colon really the punctuation mark you need to separate those two clauses?

6. Edit for style and vocabulary

Avoid vague words and broad, banal generalizations, ie ‘Sappho’s poetry is beautiful’, ‘ The Odyssey is the most famous book in the history of Western literature’, ‘No woman was free to act in Ancient Rome’. Consider whether the words you have picked at central moments in your argument are the best possible words you could use.

Is the register you have used similar to what you would see in scholarly essays? Check if you have used any colloquial words or phrases, as those are generally not appropriate for a university essay. 

Read for argument and structure

7. edit for structure.

Is any paragraph in your essay longer than a page? If so, it may need cutting or re-formulating. Most of the times, long paragraphs read better when they are split into two shorter ones.

8. Check the flow of your argument

Does your argument flow naturally from one paragraph to the next? Is your argument clearly laid out from the beginning? Are you making it clear when you are disagreeing with a source or an interpretation?

9. Re-read your introduction

Your introduction should be neither too short nor too long; ideally, you would aim it to be around 300-500 words (NB: this will depend on the overall length of your essay). Make it sound interesting: your introduction is the first thing your marker will read and it will shape their judgement of your essay as they go on reading it. Of course, an academic essay is not a catchy blog post, but there are many ways in which you can make the first paragraph interesting, such as using a nice quotation from the primary source or one of the secondary sources you have read, or for example engaging actively with the essay question/title. The other thing that the introduction should do is give a sense of what is going to happen in the actual body of your essay: this should not be a summary of your arguments (you do not want to give too much away from the very beginning!), but it should give the marker a good grasp of your essay theme and argument.

10. Re-read your conclusion

Do not think of your conclusion as the moment when you submit your essay in sighs of relief (well, it may be that too!), but rather as the culmination of your argument, when the whole of your essay comes together. It is not enough to write “In conclusion” to conclude. Your conclusion is also not the same as your introduction, although you may want to draw on what you mentioned there and create connections. Similarly as with your introduction, your conclusion is ultimately the last thing your marker will read and you should want to impress them a little. Especially, you want them to feel you have reached a conclusion, rather than simply found one.

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College essays that worked and how yours can too.

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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - JULY 08: A view of Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University on ... [+] July 08, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have sued the Trump administration for its decision to strip international college students of their visas if all of their courses are held online. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The college essay is a pivotal piece of the college application showcasing your individuality and differentiated outlook to admissions officers. What makes an essay truly shine? Let’s dive into the words behind three standout essays so you can get into the right mindset for crafting your own narrative.

Embracing Differences: Finding Strength in Uniqueness

Essay Excerpt: " Bra Shopping " (Harvard)

This essay recounts a student's humorous and insightful experience of bra shopping with her grandmother, weaving in her unique family dynamics and challenges at her prestigious school.

What Works:

• Humor and Honesty: The student's humor makes the essay enjoyable to read, while her honesty about her challenges adds depth.
• Self-Awareness: She demonstrates a strong sense of self-awareness, embracing her uniqueness rather than trying to fit in.
• Resilience: Her narrative highlights resilience and the ability to find strength in differences.

For Your Essay : To write an essay that embraces your uniqueness, start by identifying a quirky or challenging experience that reflects who a key insight into your experience. Think about how this experience has shaped your perspective and character. Use humor and honesty to bring your story to life, and focus on how you have embraced your differences to become stronger and more resilient.

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, finding connections: humor and self-reflection.

Essay: " Brood X Cicadas " (Hamilton College)

Nicholas writes about the cicadas swarming his hometown every 17 years and draws a parallel between their emergence and his own transition to college life. He uses humor and self-reflection to create a relatable and engaging narrative.

• Humor: Nicholas uses humor to make his essay entertaining and memorable. His witty comparisons between himself and cicadas add a unique twist.
• Self-Reflection: By comparing his life to the cicadas’, he reflects on his own growth and readiness for change.
• Relatability: His narrative about facing new experiences and challenges resonates with readers who have undergone similar transitions.

For Your Essay: To infuse humor and self-reflection into your essay, start by identifying an ordinary experience or object and think about how it relates to your life. Write down funny or insightful observations about this connection. Use humor to make your essay more engaging, but ensure it still conveys meaningful self-reflection. This balance can make your essay both entertaining and profound.

Persistence and Multicultural Identity: Life Lessons from Tortilla Making

Essay: " Facing The Hot Griddle " (Johns Hopkins University)

In this essay, the student uses the process of making tortillas to explore her multicultural identity and the challenges she has faced. Her story beautifully weaves together her Guatemalan heritage and her experiences growing up in the United States.

• Metaphor and Symbolism: The process of making tortillas becomes a powerful metaphor for the student’s journey and struggles. The symbolism of the masa harina and water mixing parallels her blending of cultural identities.
• Personal Growth: The essay highlights her perseverance and adaptability, qualities that are crucial for success in college.
• Cultural Insight: She provides a rich, personal insight into her multicultural background, making her story unique and compelling.

For Your Essay: To write an essay that explores your identity through a metaphor, start by thinking about an activity or tradition that holds significant meaning for you. Consider how this activity relates to your life experiences and personal growth. Use detailed descriptions to bring the activity to life and draw connections between the process and your own journey. Reflect on the lessons you've learned and how they've shaped your identity.

A winning college essay isn’t simply about parading your best accomplishment or dramatizing your challenges. It’s not a contest for which student is the most original or entertaining. Rather, the essay is a chance for you to showcase your authenticity, passion, resilience, social awareness, and intellectual vitality . By sharing genuine stories and insights, you can create an essay that resonates with admissions committees and highlights your unique qualities.

For you to have the best possible essay, mindset is key. Here’s how to get into the zone:

• Reflect Deeply: Spend time thinking about your experiences, challenges, and passions. Journaling can help you uncover deep insights.
• Discuss and Share: Talking about your stories with friends, family, or mentors can provide new perspectives and emotional clarity.
• Immerse Yourself: Engage in activities that you are passionate about to reignite the feelings and memories associated with them.
• Draft Freely: Don’t worry about perfection on the first try. Write freely and honestly, then refine your narrative.

The secret to a standout college essay lies in its authenticity, depth, and emotional resonance. By learning from these successful examples and getting into the right mindset, you can craft an essay that not only stands out but also provides a meaningful insight into who you are. Remember, your essay is your story—make it a piece of writing that you will always be proud of.

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English Graduate Course Descriptions

Summer 2023, english 792.s01 topics: gothic film, sharon smith.

Horace Walpole’s 1764 novella "The Castle of Otranto " established many of the conventions we associate with Gothic narrative: distressed heroes and heroines pursued by tyrannical villains; gloomy estates with dark corridors, secret passageways, and mysterious chambers; haunting dreams, troubling prophecies, and disturbing premonitions; abduction, imprisonment, and murder; and, of course, a varied assortment of corpses, apparitions, and “monsters.” These conventions infiltrated cinema early in its history, establishing Gothic film as a significant genre that continues to engage audiences in the present day. Like their literary predecessors, these films explore the darker side of family, marriage, gender, and sexuality, often revealing the power dynamics that shape them. As they do so, they demonstrate how the true horrors of human existence often have less to do with inexplicable supernatural phenomena than with the horrific realities of life. Among these realities is our inability to escape a past that relentlessly haunts the present and that must be confronted before it can be left behind. During this five-week online course, we will watch films that engage Gothic conventions and concerns and will read a selection of criticism focusing on the films we watch. Films may include Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca , Stanley Kubrick’s "The Shining," Tim Burton’s "Edward Scissorhands," Georgina Lightning’s "Older Than America," Ana Lily Amirpour's "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night," Jennifer Kent’s "The Babadook," Jordan Peele’s "Get Out," Rian Johnson’s "Knives Out," and Jane Campion’s "The Power of the Dog."

ENGL 592.S01 Professional Editing and Publishing

On Campus: Mondays 3-5:50 p.m.

Katherine Malone

This course focuses on the theory and practice of professional editing in the field of English studies. Our readings will consider questions relating to authorship, textuality, and the role of the editor in journal, book, and web publishing. In addition to exploring contemporary debates in scholarly editing, we will consider how editorial decisions (such as introductory essays, appendices, footnotes, illustrations, and textual sources) shape meaning across various editions of a work. You will learn how to build style sheets, ensure error-free copy, and manage editorial projects while gaining hands-on experience with a top-tier academic journal. Assignments include a course blog, two edited articles, a textual history essay, and a final project for which you will use your research and editing skills to create an anthology of nineteenth-century short stories.

REQUIRED TEXTS

• Einsohn, Amy, Marilyn Schwartz, and Erika Buky. The Copyeditor's Handbook and Workbook: The Complete Set . Oakland: University of California Press, 2019. (9780520306677)
• Keleman, Erick. Textual Editing and Criticism: An Introduction . New York: Norton, 2009. (9780393929423)
• Williams, Joseph M., and Joseph Bizup. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace . 12th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2016. (9780134080413)

ENGL 592.ST1 Screenwriting

Steven wingate.

Students will learn the fundamentals of screenwriting: good format, believable and imaginative stories, solid characterization, and well-turned narrative arcs. The class will read outstanding screenplays as craft examples, adapt a literary work to learn format, then draft, workshop, revise, and expand original scripts or adaptations. At the end of the course, students should have either a complete and polished first act of a feature script they can complete on their own time, or a fully-realized script for a short film or series episode. While we will not focus on “making it” in Hollywood, we will cover the basics of how the film industry works and what that means for writers who want to see their work onscreen.

ENGL 705.S01 Seminar in Teaching Composition

On Campus: Thursdays 1-3:50 p.m.

Nathan Serfling

This course will provide you with a foundation in the pedagogies and theories (and their attendant histories) of writing instruction, a foundation that will prepare you to teach your own writing courses at SDSU and elsewhere. As you will discover through our course, though, writing instruction does not come with any prescribed set of “best” practices. Rather, writing pedagogies stem from and continue to evolve because of various and largely unsettled conversations about what constitutes effective writing and effective writing instruction. Part of becoming a practicing writing instructor, then, is studying these conversations to develop a sense of what “good writing” and “effective writing instruction” might mean for you in our particular program and how you might adapt that understanding to different programs and contexts.

As we read about, discuss, and research writing instruction, we will address a variety of practical and theoretical topics. The practical focus will allow us to attend to topics relevant to your immediate classroom practices: designing a curriculum and various types of assignments, delivering the course content, and assessing student work, among others. Our theoretical topics will begin to reveal the underpinnings of these various practical matters, including their historical, rhetorical, social, and political contexts. In other words, we will investigate the praxis—the dialogic interaction of practice and theory—of writing pedagogy. As a result, this course aims to prepare you not only as a writing teacher but also as a nascent writing studies/writing pedagogy scholar.

At the end of this course, you should be able to engage effectively in the classroom practices described above and participate in academic conversations about writing pedagogy, both orally and in writing. Assessment of these outcomes will be based primarily on the various writing assignments you submit and to a smaller degree on your participation in class discussions and activities.

ENGL 726.S01 Seminar in English Literature since 1660: Living “In the Wake” of Colonization and Slavery

On Campus: Tuesdays 3-5:50 p.m.

This course examines representations of race in literature of the long eighteenth century, considering how these representations were used to both rationalize and critique colonization and transatlantic slavery. Though we’ll consider texts written from the perspective of the colonizing culture, a significant portion of the course will focus on voices from multiple historical, geographical, and generic contexts that push back against and fill gaps within colonial narratives. Engaging a “presentist” approach to the study of eighteenth-century texts, we’ll discuss how twenty-first-century Americans are currently living “in the wake”—to use Christina Sharpe’s phrase—of colonization and slavery, as can be seen in the movements for and reactions against ending systemic racial violence, teaching Black and Indigenous histories, reforming the prison system, and returning stolen Indigenous lands. Literary texts will include Aphra Behn’s "Oroonoko," Daniel Defoe’s "Robinson Crusoe, The Woman of Colour," Olaudah Equiano’s "Interesting Narrative," Mary Prince’s "Autobiography," and a variety of shorter texts that engage with subject matter related to colonization, indigeneity, enslavement, abolition, and rebellion. We will also consider the work of more recent authors and scholars, including Robert Hayden, Toni Morrison, Saidiya Hartman, Christina Sharpe and Layli Long Soldier.

ENGL 792.ST1 Reading Contemporary Poetry and Creative Nonfiction

Amber jensen, m.a., m.f.a..

In this course, we will explore how contemporary poetry and creative nonfiction build upon traditional models but also continue to innovate and blur genre distinctions. We will draw from theoretical texts "How to Read (and Write About) Poetry, Second Edition " by Susan Holbrook and "The Next American Essay (A New History of the Essay) " by John D’Agata and read individual poems and essays, as well as complete collections and memoirs, including (selections subject to change): Kaleb Ray Cadrilli’s "Water I Won’t Touch," Tyree Daye’s Cardinal, Christine Stewart’s "The Poet & The Architect," Joy Harjo’s "Crazy Brave," and Mary Alice Haug’s "Out of Loneliness." Our rhetorical reading of these texts will focus on the relationship between text and context, examining how these works reflect and impact the world they are produced and consumed in, what we bring to our reading of these texts and what these texts offer to us.

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What Happened to Stanford Spells Trouble for the Election

By Renée DiResta

Ms. DiResta is the former research director of the Stanford Internet Observatory, a unit of Stanford University that studies abuse of online platforms.

In 2020 the Stanford Internet Observatory, where I was until recently the research director, helped lead a project that studied election rumors and disinformation. As part of that work, we frequently encountered conspiratorial thinking from Americans who had been told the 2020 presidential election was going to be stolen.

The way theories of “the steal” went viral was eerily routine . First, an image or video, such as a photo of a suitcase near a polling place, was posted as evidence of wrongdoing. The poster would tweet the purported evidence, tagging partisan influencers or media accounts with large followings. Those accounts would promote the rumor, often claiming, “Big if true!” Others would join, and the algorithms would push it out to potentially millions more. Partisan media would follow.

If the rumor was found to be false — and it usually was — corrections were rarely made and even then, little noticed. The belief that “the steal” was real led directly to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Within a couple of years, the same online rumor mill turned its attention to us — the very researchers who documented it. This spells trouble for the 2024 election.

For us, it started with claims that our work was a plot to censor the right. The first came from a blog related to the Foundation for Freedom Online, the project of a man who said he “ran cyber” at the State Department. This person, an alt-right YouTube personality who’d gone by the handle Frame Game, had been employed by the State Department for just a couple of months .

Using his brief affiliation as a marker of authority, he wrote blog posts styled as research reports contending that our project, the Election Integrity Partnership, had pushed social media networks to censor 22 million tweets. He had no firsthand evidence of any censorship, however: his number was based on a simple tally of viral election rumors that we’d counted and published in a report after the election was over. Right-wing media outlets and influencers nonetheless called it evidence of a plot to steal the election, and their followers followed suit.

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Rethinking English essay scores: The argument for argument over grammar

To get high scores at essay writing tests, learners of English as a foreign language need to focus on good arguments more than on complex grammar. The Kobe University finding challenges conventional approaches to test preparation and scoring rubrics.

Writing essays is a well-established tool for monitoring progress in learning English as a foreign language, as it provides a snapshot of a student's mastery of grammar and vocabulary. Especially in Japan, where English language tests are often required for university admission and students closely follow advice on how to achieve high scores on these tests, a "good essay" is often seen as one that demonstrates a high level of grammatical complexity. But is this actually reflected in test scores?

Kobe University linguist YASUDA Sachiko expresses her doubts: "Based on my experience of teaching academic writing to students at various levels in Japan, I believe that linguistically complex texts do not always result in better writing." She therefore decided to conduct an experiment with over 100 Japanese high school students. Yasuda had them write a short essay on a given topic and looked at the relationship between the linguistic complexity of the texts and the writers' ability to present complex arguments, and how these two related to how the texts were graded according to official rubrics. She adds, "This study is the first to focus on the relationship between features of linguistic complexity and features of meaning complexity; no one else in the relevant fields has looked at the relationship between these two."

The results, published in the journal Assessing Writing , confirmed her suspicions. She found that high-scoring essays shared features related more to the ability to express complex meaning, such as lexical diversity, noun modification, and soundness and number of arguments, than to structural complexity. "Interestingly, low scoring essays showed the highest level of complexity in finite adverbial dependent clauses," the linguist writes in her paper. Emphasizing this point, the ability to express complex meaning was strongly correlated only with using diverse expressions and the ability to modify their meaning, but not with grammatical features. Yasuda concludes, "Simply having complex sentence structures does not necessarily lead to a better essay."

The findings have implications for how essay writing tests are scored. The Kobe University researcher explains: "Current rubrics for writing questions on language tests instruct test-takers to 'use complex grammar appropriately' or 'a variety of complex structures.' However, since sentence complexity does not significantly affect overall essay quality, it may be more appropriate to use terms such as 'contextually appropriate grammar' or 'genre-appropriate grammar.'" Thus arguing that the ability to express one's opinion in varied and complex ways is a marker of students' writing ability, she advocates that this characteristic should be more represented both in the way tests are scored and how feedback is provided to students.

This so-called washback effect of test scoring rubrics on the way language is taught is at the heart of what drives Yasuda. She says: "I am committed to using the results of this study for practical applications, such as refining assessment criteria for evaluating students' writing, developing tasks and materials to improve their writing skills, and identifying the key knowledge that teachers need to help students become better writers. The ability to write in English has become increasingly important in the 21st century, as it is a crucial medium that allows us to connect with others around the world."

This research was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant JP24K04031JSPS).

• Educational Psychology
• Intelligence
• Language Acquisition
• K-12 Education
• Learning Disorders
• Intelligence quotient
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Story Source:

Materials provided by Kobe University . Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Sachiko Yasuda. Does “more complexity” equal “better writing”? Investigating the relationship between form-based complexity and meaning-based complexity in high school EFL learners’ argumentative writing . Assessing Writing , 2024; 61: 100867 DOI: 10.1016/j.asw.2024.100867

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Elektrostal

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Elektrostal , city, Moscow oblast (province), western Russia . It lies 36 miles (58 km) east of Moscow city. The name, meaning “electric steel,” derives from the high-quality-steel industry established there soon after the October Revolution in 1917. During World War II , parts of the heavy-machine-building industry were relocated there from Ukraine, and Elektrostal is now a centre for the production of metallurgical equipment. Pop. (2006 est.) 146,189.