NYU Admissions Guide: Stern, Tisch, CAS, Gallatin, Steinhardt — Which to Choose?

New York University is the largest private university in the United States by undergraduate enrollment — roughly 28,000 undergraduates across its main NYC campus, plus full degree-granting campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, plus eleven academic centers across Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. NYU is also the most decentralized of the major US privates: applicants do not apply to a single "NYU." They apply to one of NYU's undergraduate schools, and the choice of school determines the admit rate, the curriculum, the dorm, and the four-year experience.

For international applicants this is the central, often-misunderstood fact: NYU is not a single university, it is a federation of schools that happen to share Washington Square. Choosing the right school is the difference between a 6% admit rate at Stern and a 20%+ rate at some Steinhardt programs. This guide walks through each undergraduate school, what each one actually does, and how to choose.

The "No Walls" Philosophy

NYU's central campus is Greenwich Village, with Washington Square Park as the literal and symbolic heart. There are no gates, no closed quadrangle, no separation between campus and city. NYU buildings — the Bobst Library (the imposing red sandstone block on the east side of the park), the Kimmel Center, the Tisch Building, the Stern Building — sit interspersed with bagel shops, wine bars, residential apartments, and the foot traffic of one of Manhattan's most photogenic neighborhoods.

This urban-immersion model is fundamental to NYU's identity. Applicants who want a traditional grass-and-brick collegiate experience should look at Boston College, Notre Dame, or the rural liberal arts schools. Applicants who thrive on density, public transit, and the absence of a campus bubble are who NYU is built for.

The Five Main Undergraduate Schools

1. CAS — College of Arts and Science

The largest NYU undergraduate school, CAS enrolls roughly 6,500 undergraduates. CAS is the traditional liberal arts and sciences school: economics, English, biology, chemistry, history, mathematics, philosophy, politics, psychology, sociology, and so on. Around 50 majors and 70+ minors.

CAS is the default choice for academically broad students who want flexibility to explore before declaring a major. CAS students also have the strongest access to NYU's Global Network — most of the study-away semesters in Florence, London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Prague, Tel Aviv, Accra, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi flow through CAS.

2. Stern — Undergraduate Business

The Leonard N. Stern School of Business enrolls around 650 undergraduates per class, making it one of the most selective parts of NYU. Admit rate: roughly 6%, the lowest of any NYU school and competitive with Wharton.

Stern is finance-heavy by reputation but offers concentrations across Finance, Accounting, Marketing, Management, Information Systems, Statistics, Actuarial Science, Real Estate, and the Stern-affiliated programs in Business and Political Economy and Business, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. The signature program is the BS in Business with a Finance concentration — many graduates go directly into Manhattan investment banking and consulting.

The Stern building sits at 44 West 4th Street, a five-minute walk from Washington Square. The trading floor, the bond markets, and the major banks are a 15-minute subway ride south.

3. Tisch — School of the Arts

The Tisch School of the Arts enrolls around 3,000 undergraduates across Film and Television, Drama, Dance, Photography and Imaging, Recorded Music (Clive Davis Institute), Game Design, Performance Studies, Interactive Media Arts, Cinema Studies, and Dramatic Writing.

Tisch is portfolio- or audition-based. Applicants do not apply to "Tisch" as a single school — they apply to a specific program (e.g., Tisch Film and Television or Tisch Drama), and the audition or portfolio is the dominant factor. Admit rates vary dramatically by program: Tisch Drama and Clive Davis are highly selective (5-10%), Photography and Cinema Studies are more accessible.

Tisch's location in the heart of NYC means students work alongside the Broadway theater industry, the Manhattan film and television scene, and the New York music industry — internships and professional opportunities that have no equivalent on a rural campus.

4. Gallatin — Self-Designed Interdisciplinary

The Gallatin School of Individualized Study is NYU's smallest and most unusual undergraduate school: around 1,700 students who design their own concentration. There is no fixed major; instead, each Gallatin student writes a concentration rationale — a coherent intellectual project that draws on courses from across NYU's other schools.

A Gallatin student might design a concentration like "Sustainability and Urban Design," "Art and Activism," "Philosophy of Mind and Neuroscience," or "Music and Cultural History." The capstone is a colloquium with three faculty examiners plus a list of 25 books the student has read closely.

Gallatin attracts students who already know what they want to study but cannot find that combination in any single department. The application essay matters more here than at any other NYU school — admissions officers are reading for genuine intellectual coherence, not novelty for its own sake.

5. Steinhardt — Education, Health, Arts, and Communications

The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development enrolls around 5,000 undergraduates across an unusually wide menu: Applied Psychology, Music Business, Music Technology, Music Performance, Studio Art, Media Culture and Communication, Educational Theatre, Nutrition and Food Studies, Public Health, Speech-Language Pathology, and Teacher Preparation.

Steinhardt is the school NYU applicants most often misunderstand. It is not a "less selective" version of CAS — it is a different kind of school, focused on applied programs that combine theory with professional preparation. Music Business in particular is a flagship program that places graduates throughout the global music industry. Applied Psychology is highly competitive and prepares students for graduate work in psychology and counseling.

The Other NYU Undergraduate Schools

Beyond the main five, NYU also enrolls undergraduates in:

• Tandon School of Engineering — engineering and computer science, located in Brooklyn at MetroTech, NYU's separate engineering campus
• Silver School of Social Work — undergraduate path into social work
• Rory Meyers College of Nursing — undergraduate nursing
• School of Professional Studies (SPS) — applied programs in hospitality, real estate, sports management, etc.

For international applicants, Tandon is a substantial option: NYU's engineering school, with all the NYC employer access and global brand, but with a more accessible admit rate than Stern or CAS and a Brooklyn location that offers slightly more affordable housing.

Comparison Table: NYU Undergraduate Schools

Combined, NYU receives roughly 120,000 applications per year for around 15,000 admit offers — an overall admit rate of approximately 12%, but as the table shows, the per-school rate varies dramatically.

The Global Network

NYU operates three full-degree-granting campuses: NYU New York, NYU Abu Dhabi, and NYU Shanghai. Plus eleven academic centers for study-away semesters: London, Paris, Florence, Berlin, Prague, Madrid, Tel Aviv, Accra, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Washington DC.

International applicants can apply directly to NYU Abu Dhabi (a distinct university, with full need-met financial aid and around 250 students per class — admit rate around 4%, comparable to Yale or Princeton) or NYU Shanghai (similar profile, smaller scale). These are not "NYU branch campuses" — they are autonomous institutions sharing the NYU degree.

For students admitted to NYU New York, the Global Network means a typical CAS student can spend a semester or year at any of the academic centers, with NYU faculty teaching in NYU classrooms across the world. This is unique among US universities at NYU's scale.

TOEFL, SAT, and the Standardized-Test Reality

NYU is test-flexible: applicants may submit any of the following to satisfy the standardized-test requirement:

• SAT
• ACT
• Three SAT Subject Tests (rare now)
• Three AP exam scores
• IB Diploma
• A-Levels (with predicted scores)
• National leaving exams from many countries

For English proficiency:

NYU does not require English proficiency tests for applicants who have completed three or more years of full-time study in English-medium high school or in countries where English is the dominant language.

SAT middle 50% for admits is 1440-1550; ACT 33-35. Stern and Tisch admit profiles run higher (Stern often 1500+).

The Application: One Common App, One School

International applicants apply through:

• Common Application (primary)
• Coalition Application

You complete one application per cycle but specify one undergraduate school as your first choice. Some schools allow a second choice. Stern, Tisch programs, and certain Steinhardt programs require school-specific supplements in addition to the main NYU supplement.

The NYU "Why NYU?" essay is the single most important supplement. Avoid two failure modes:

1. Generic NYC enthusiasm — every applicant says they love New York
2. Failure to engage the chosen school — admissions officers read whether you understand what makes Stern different from CAS, or what Gallatin actually requires

Specific, accurate, school-aware writing wins.

Greenwich Village Walk for Visiting Applicants

If you visit, the canonical walk is:

• Washington Square Arch — the symbolic entrance to NYU, on Fifth Avenue at Washington Square North
• Bobst Library — the red sandstone block on the east side of the park; non-students cannot enter, but the exterior and the iconic interior atrium are visible from the entrance
• Kimmel Center for University Life — student union, restaurants, performance spaces, on LaGuardia Place
• Tisch Building — 721 Broadway, the home of the Film and TV program
• Stern Building — 44 West 4th Street
• Silver Center — main classroom building for CAS
• Greenwich Village neighborhood — walk west on Bleecker Street, MacDougal, or 8th Street to feel the actual student environment

Continue south to SoHo or east to the East Village to understand the city environment NYU students live in. Take the F train one stop to Brooklyn for a glimpse of NYU Tandon's MetroTech campus if engineering is on your list.

Housing: Limited and Mostly Downtown

NYU guarantees housing for first-year and second-year students. After that, most students move into off-campus apartments in the East Village, Lower East Side, or Brooklyn — apartment hunting is part of the NYU experience.

NYU dorms cluster around Washington Square (Weinstein, Rubin, Hayden, Founders, Lipton, Goddard) and in the Financial District (Gramercy Green, Third North, Carlyle Court, Palladium, University Hall). All are within walking distance or a short subway ride of Washington Square.

Tandon students typically live in Brooklyn near MetroTech.

Financial Aid: The Honest Picture

NYU is need-aware for international applicants — your ability to pay can affect the admission decision. International financial aid is limited and very competitive.

NYU Abu Dhabi, by contrast, is need-blind for all applicants including international students and meets full demonstrated need. Financially constrained international students serious about NYU should consider applying to NYU Abu Dhabi alongside or instead of NYU New York.

NYU's full cost of attendance (tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, personal) runs around $85,000 per year for the New York campus. Plan accordingly.

"Which NYU School?" — A Decision Tree

• You want broad liberal arts and global study-away: CAS
• You want a finance/business career with NYC internships from year one: Stern
• You are a serious actor, filmmaker, dancer, photographer, musician, or game designer: Tisch (specific program)
• You have a clear interdisciplinary intellectual project that no department covers: Gallatin
• You want music business, music tech, applied psychology, public health, or nutrition: Steinhardt
• You want engineering or computer science with NYC access at slightly more accessible admit rates: Tandon
• You want NYU brand with full need-met financial aid and a smaller campus: NYU Abu Dhabi or NYU Shanghai
• You want a global liberal arts experience without committing to NYC for four years: any of the above with study-away semesters

The honest summary: NYU rewards applicants who choose the right school for genuine reasons. A Tisch applicant who would actually be happier in Gallatin, or a Stern applicant who would actually be happier in CAS, is far more likely to be unhappy at NYU than at a comparable peer school. The decentralization is a feature, not a bug — but it requires applicants to do the work of self-knowledge before pressing submit.

For TOEFL planning, target 105+ for any of the more selective NYU schools. Begin focused preparation 12 to 18 months before the application deadline. Adaptive mock exams in the 2026 multi-stage format are the most efficient way to identify section weaknesses early — most often the integrated Speaking and Writing tasks.

Preparing TOEFL iBT for NYU admissions? ExamRift offers adaptive mock exams in the official 2026 multi-stage format, with AI-powered scoring and section-level feedback to help you hit the score range Stern, Tisch, CAS, Gallatin, and Steinhardt actually expect.