What is a First-Year Applicant?

You are a first-year (or freshman) applicant if:

• You are currently enrolled in high school, even if you’ve completed college credits while in high school, or
• You’ve graduated from high school and have never attended college, or
• You’ve been enrolled in college but will have completed fewer than 12 academic post-high school graduation college credits by the time you enroll at Rutgers.

Note: Current high school students who are also taking college courses during high school should apply as first-year applicants, regardless of the number of college credits earned while in high school.

Steps to Apply

All applicants are required to complete two applications:

Rutgers University Application – if you are interested in a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) or Bachelor of Music (BM) be sure to select Mason Gross School of the Arts as a school choice. If you are interested in a Bachelor of Arts (BA) be sure to select the School of Arts and Sciences as a school choice. If you would like to be reviewed for both, be sure to select both schools as a school choice. For more information on the difference between these degrees, scroll down.

Mason Gross Talent Assessment – all applicants to the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Bachelor of Music (BM) programs as well as Bachelor of Arts (BA) applicants to dance and art are required to complete a talent assessment. For more information on the talent assessment for the program you are applying to, please visit:

• Art & Design – Apply
• Dance – Apply
• Filmmaking – Apply
• Music – Apply
• Theater Acting – Apply
• Theater Design & Production – Apply

Deadlines

Early Action (only available for Art & Design applicants):

November 1: Rutgers University Application
November 15: Mason Gross Talent Assessment
February 15: Admissions Decision

Regular Action

December 1: Rutgers University Application
January 15: Mason Gross Talent Assessment
April 1: Admissions Decision

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Bachelor of Music (BM)

We offer the following degrees: BFA dance, BFA design, BFA filmmaking, BFA theater, BFA visual arts, BM performance, BM music education, BM jazz studies, and BM Composition. Students pursuing a BFA or BM must complete a minimum of 120 credits to graduate. Of the 120 credits, BFA and BM students complete a minimum of 85 credits at Mason Gross School of the Arts in their major field. All BFA and BM students are enrolled in Mason Gross School of the Arts and must complete a Mason Gross Supplemental Application, which includes a talent assessment (audition, interview, and/or portfolio). Some programs allow double majors and/or minors, but some do not.

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

We offer the following degrees: BA art, BA dance, BA music, and BA theater. Students pursuing a BA must complete a minimum of 120 credits to graduate. Of the 120 credits, BA students complete between 41-48 credits at Mason Gross School of the Arts in their major field. The BA Art and BA Dance programs require students to complete a Mason Gross supplemental application and talent assessment (audition or portfolio) before the major can be declared. The BA Music and BA Theater programs do not require students to complete a Mason Gross supplemental application and talent assessment before the major can be declared. All BA students are enrolled in the School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. More than 50% of our BA students are double majors.

Minor

We offer the following minors: art, dance, music, music technology, and theater. Mason Gross minors require students to complete between 18-25 credits at Mason Gross School of the Arts. The minor in dance requires students to complete the Mason Gross supplemental application and talent assessment (audition) before the minor can be declared. The minors in art, music, music technology, and theater do not require students to complete the mason gross supplemental application and talent assessment to declare the minor.