Admissions
First-Year Applicants
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 a Rutgers Application AND the Mason Gross Talent Assessment.
Step 1:
Rutgers University Application OR Common 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.
To learn more about the Rutgers Application process, please visit the Rutgers University Undergraduate website.
Step 2:
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 ART are required to complete a talent assessment. For more information on the talent assessment for the program you are applying to, please visit:
Deadlines
Early Action (only available for Art & Design, Dance, Music and Acting applicants):
November 1: Rutgers University Application
November 15: Mason Gross Talent Assessment
Admissions Decision by no later than January 31
**To receive an early action decision, Dance, Music and Acting applicants must meet these deadlines and also complete a December audition. Music applicants may alternatively submit a recorded audition by November 15 for early action**
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)
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.
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
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.
BA Art: Students who have already been admitted and are enrolled in an academic unit at Rutgers–New Brunswick for a full year may apply to declare the BA in Art (i.e. SAS, SEBS, RBS, SOE, Nursing, Pharma, etc.). For more information on this process, click here!
The BA Music, BA Dance, and BA Theater programs do not require students to complete a Mason Gross talent assessment before the major can be declared.
Minor
We offer the following minors: art, dance, music, music technology, theater, and a variety of interdisciplinary minors. Mason Gross minors require students to complete between 18-25 credits at Mason Gross School of the Arts. Students who wish to declare the art minor must be approved by the Department of Art & Design. For more information, click here.