The NYU Law School application requires applicants to submit a personal statement and a resume. In addition, NYU allows applicants to provide supplementary information in support of their candidacy. Their optional supplemental request is detailed below:
New York University School of Law seeks to enroll a student body from a broad spectrum of society. The Committee on Admissions encourages you to provide any information that may be helpful to us in reaching a thoughtful decision on your application. While the choice as to whether and what information to submit to the committee is entirely yours, any information you provide will be used to give the Committee a more complete understanding of your background: to help the committee reach an informed decision on your application, and to aid the Committee in selecting a student body with a range of experiences.
This is an opportunity to share with the Committee information about how your background will enable you to contribute to the NYU Law community. Information that has been helpful in the past includes, but is not limited to, meaningful leadership experience; significant community involvement; personal/family history or educational or socioeconomic disadvantage or unusual circumstance which may have affected academic performance and how you excelled despite those circumstance; and the skills you have developed to overcome adversity. This list is not all-inclusive, but we offer it for you to think about as you consider whether such information might be relevant in your case, and to assure you that it is quite appropriate.
Approach this optional essay as you would a diversity essay. Start by thinking about: What makes you unique? How has your personal journey likely differed from other applicants? And how has it shaped your world-view and goals? Have you encountered significant setbacks, yet through perseverance and grit, succeeded? How have these setbacks shaped how you approach challenges today? You will also want to reflect on past experiences when you learned and thrived alongside peers from different backgrounds and/or took on significant community or leadership roles. Are you a passionate environmentalist who has spent a great deal of time volunteering for environmental causes and hopes to spearhead a sustainability initiative within the law school? Were you a leader in the student government at your undergraduate institution and hope to take on a similar role at NYU?
Use this essay to show NYU’s admissions officers who you are and how you will be a valued member of their community.