I don’t know of any audition school who will admit a student who is not talented. I’m not saying that it has never happened in the history of man /womankind…but that if it has, it is the exception and not at all the rule. Yes, academics will get a student into non-audition schools, but not audition ones.
The way admissions takes place in Steinhardt (and I believe Tisch as well) is that the students are auditioned by the department. A list of those who pass this talent screening is made. At the same time, NYU admissions is screening applicants based on criteria set for each program. This criteria includes test scores, gpa, leadership, EC’s, essays, etc…all the things used to admit all applicants of NYU. Depending on the school and program, there may be some variations of what academics meet the criteria for admissions–ie, higher math test scores for Stern, a slightly lower overall SAT score for talent programs.
So the audition committee of Steinhart (and Tisch) have their list of talented applicants and then they get a list of students that have applied to their program and have been accepted through admissions.
These two lists are cross-checked by Steinhardt and Tisch. If a student is on the talent list and on the academic list, then it’s an easy admit. If a student is on the academic list and not on the talent list…they are automatically rejected. There is no input from admissions anymore even if they are academic stars. The bucks stops here.
If a student is on the talent list and not accepted academically, the department might try to persuade admissions to take another look. There is a little wiggle room if the music or theatre department really want to go to bat for a particular student, but not much. Lots of talented students are rejected without the academic acceptance. In the end, the student needs to be academically successful at NYU. If they are far below the benchmark that NYU feels it wants to see in successful students, they will not be accepted. But the argument will never go the other way.
@transmom As you can see, talent does come first and foremost. It’s just that academics is another hurdle that must be dealt with.
@toowonderful, how lovely that you helped your D’s friend with her college apps. It is a real gift when the process is so complicated for MT students! And congratulations for her on so many BFA acceptances! However, in good spirit, a quick reminder to everyone that as soon as your student (or friend) can mark some acceptances off their list as ‘no longer interested’, it would be very generous to let those schools know that the student will not be attending, so other students who have been placed on wait lists may get an offer. I know that many folks have to wait for financial offers and need to hang on to acceptances until then. But please spread the happiness around to those on wait lists as soon as possible!
And for those waiting on NYU, I am placing my bet on you all finding out this coming Friday!
In 2014-15 there were 17 mt and 15 classical vocal performance majors ar Steinhardt.
D is a freshman at Steinhardt in MT. Steinhardt MT yields a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance. She is taking dance and acting with voice being the main focus. Tisch NSB is drama driven yielding a BFA.
@Christie2 Wait so NYU does call accepted applicants before the portal change on the first of April?
Great explanation @uskoolfish, but I am failing to understand how academics counts for 50%. I assumed that if it were 50%, then admissions would rank the academic portion (or give each student a score based on gpa, test scores, etc.) and the talent portion would also be given a rank (or score based on vocal, acting, dance, etc.). Then both scores would be added together and the top 60 scores would get the 60 spots at Tisch.
The explanation you gave makes perfect sense and that was the explanation given by several colleges. I just never considered that to mean that academics were counting as 50%.
@Christie2 - the person I was referring to has already chosen their school and released the others 
@missyuri - last year NYU released their decisions the friday before April 1st- which would be this friday. Tisch does not call accepted students (I don’t think Steinhardt does either - but have no idea) If I am remembering correctly you get an email that tells you the portal has been updated. Last year my D’s email started with “Congratulations!” - which was nice- no last minute panic as you try to remember your portal id/password etc- which was good as we were driving at the time
@Dusing2 - maybe the idea of academics at 50% (brilliantly explained by uskoolfish) just means that the “bars” of academics and talent are meant to be equal- meaning NYU doesn’t (significantly) lower their academic standards for BFA applicants. Compare that to say CMU - which is a highly competitive academic admit for say a chemistry major, but very non academic for a BFA major. (Though caveat- the young person I mentioned in a earlier post with 8 BFA acceptances was not able to audition for CMU b/c grades scores were too low.)
I think that the term “50%” academics" and “50 talent” is used loosely to try to simplify a more complicated process. I think the admissions department has benchmarks which probably will automatically disqualify some candidates. So if a student has a 1500/2400 on the SAT and a 2.5 gpa, they may be out if the running and their essays, EC’s and other factors don’t matter. They are not on the list sent to Tisch or Steinhardt, and they will not get in even with talent. However a kid with an 1800/2400 and a 3.2 might have their essays, letters of rec, EC’s etc. considered more closely and in a holistic review might get on the list from admissions. But if a kid with those scores had not great essays or mediocre recommendations, they might not make the cut from admissions. So there are ither variables that admissions considers and not just scores and grades.
At many BFA in MT programs, the audition counts more than the academic review. Further, many BFA in MT programs are located in not overly selective universities (higher acceptance rates to the university, lower “stats” for admitted students, etc.). As uskookfish has explained, there is a separate academic review at NYU that counts just as much in the admission decision as the artistic review. It is not enough to be artistically talented at NYU if you don’t meet their academic admissions standards on their own, which are pretty high/selective to the overall university. Further, the academic review at NYU is far more than meeting some GPA or test score bar! Sometimes a state university (not all) admits by numbers, but NYU has a far more holistic review on the academic front whereby the rigor of one’s high school course load matters, test scores, GPA, class rank, recommendations, essays, extracurricular activities and achievements, personal characteristics and so on all count. It is not like the kids with the highest GPAs and test scores are the ones who are admitted. You can have a lower SAT and GPA than another kid but have more rigorous classes or better essays, ECs and recommendations. That’s how academic admissions works at very selective (academic) colleges. Students would not be “ranked” in terms of admission. Getting in academically to NYU is not a slam dunk, and so even if you are super artistically talented, you may not get in on the other half of the admission decision. The university has an acceptance rate of 32% and you can examine the profile of the student body in terms of “stats” online.
@missyuri, Yes, traditionally, NYU sends out emails to all admitted students the Friday following spring break/the last Friday before April 1 at 5:00 PM NY time. They push the ‘big button’ and then go party! That would be this coming Friday. There were no phone calls. In the past, when most students could only apply to one program, that meant they got in to the program they wanted, since there was only one decision, both artistic and academic at the same time. TISCH folk got their studio assignment a week or 2 later. I’m not positive, but I think I heard that now students could be offered a ‘sideways’ admittance into a general ‘arts’ program instead of the one they applied for, but I could be wrong. Not sure how that is handled with the emails if true. My daughter got her email from Steinhardt 4 years ago as we were sitting in a very rustic restaurant meeting for the first time with another CC mom and daughter a year behind mine. Needless to say, everyone in the restaurant celebrated! And now, she’s graduating . . .
@toowonderful @Christie2 Thank you both!!
NYU is the last school I hear a decision from. It’s been a crazy ride, figuring all this out. My parents are doctors so I was raised in that environment, but they (after several years of endless persuasion) decided to let me follow my passion but that also means I have to figure all this out without their help! It also doesn’t help that my school isn’t big on theatre so no one else I know is seriously pursuing it. I’m totally a lurker but I wanna thank you all for the dedicated responses. You all have helped me so much and you don’t even know it! So thank you. 
I will be thinking of you on Friday @missyuri!
@missyuri do let us know how you fare with an NYU acceptance, even by pm if that is more comfortable for you. And, if you have any questions about NYU now, or in the future, please pm me and I will try to get answers for you or connect you with my daughter. Best wishes to you!
In more recent years, most acceptances begin a bit after 3:00pm. The emails go out at staggered times, with most students receiving them by about 4:00/ 4:30pm. Rejections are sent out first, throughout the day. They start in the early morning hours, maybe at 5:00am or even before.
If students log into their Albert account about an hour prior to receiving their official email, they might be able to view an accept/ decline button that is an unofficial indication of acceptance. For D it popped up at about 2:15pm, along with a financial aid tab that showed her offer of zero dollars.
Good luck to all!
@Christie2 I’ve heard you mention the “big button” and a video of it before, but I’ve never heard anyone else mention it but you (in the last 8 to 10 years I’ve been following NYU.) Where do they post it? I’d be curious to see it!
How soon do Tisch studio decisions come after acceptance?
Last year I think it was about 10 days later
@toowonderful @Christie2 Hi! I was actually admitted to Tisch earlier today!! No idea how I’m going to afford it, but I am deliriously happy…
Good for you @missyuri! So glad that you are happy. I will freely admit the $$ part is a challenge, but our family has definitely found the opportunities to be worth the sacrifices.