The Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing is highly selective and provides an academically and creatively demanding curriculum.
1. Complete your Common Application, select Dramatic Writing as your major of interest, and submit it in advance of the deadlines below.
2. When you submit your Common App, you will receive a link to log into your Artistic Review Portal within a couple of business days, where you can submit your Dramatic Writing Portfolio.
Note: You won't be able to submit the Portfolio until after the Common App is submitted. However, you should begin working on the portfolio before submitting your Common App based on the Dramatic Writing Portfolio instructions.
Applications and portfolios are both due on the deadlines listed in the sections below. We strongly advise applicants to submit the Common App in advance of the listed deadline to avoid any delays in submitting the portfolio.
In addition to the NYU Undergraduate Application, all applicants for the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing must submit a creative portfolio with the following components:
1. Cover Sheet
Name (Last, First, MI)
Date of Birth
Deadline (ED, Regular, Transfer*)
Program (Undergraduate)
Type of Writing Samples (script for television, play script, screenplay, short story, etc.)
Mailing Address Contact Telephone/Email
* If you are a transfer applicant, please include the name of your current college or university, or the name of your current college or department at NYU or Tisch.
2. Statement of Purpose
Why do you want to pursue a BFA in dramatic writing at Tisch and what do you feel you will bring to the program? (500 words)
Identify a work of film, television, or theater you’ve read or seen in the past year, which has had an impact on your identity as a dramatic writer. Tell us why. (500 words)
3. Writing Portfolio
Submit 3-4 separate writing samples that together total at least 15 pages and that do not exceed 25 pages. At least one of these samples MUST be a sample of dramatic writing (a play, screenplay, or television/episodic script). The other 2-3 samples may be, but are not limited to, additional dramatic writing samples, memoirs, short stories, fictional material, and adaptation based on fact. Choose material that is dramatic and self-contained, with an inherent conflict, a strong protagonist, and a beginning, middle, and end.
Unacceptable Submissions:
Do not submit co-written material (the work must be yours and yours alone), poetry, elevator pieces (i.e., two people, total opposites, get stuck in an elevator), journalism, or “writing prompts” from other colleges or universities. Do not submit digital media of any kind.
Please label all pages of the Statement of Purpose and Writing Portfolio with: Last Name, First Name of the applicant (i.e., Smith, Susan).