Required Credentials for First-Year Applicants

Note: Current high school students taking college courses during high school should apply as first-year applicants, regardless of the number of college credits earned while in high school. If you are graduating from high school after three years, earning a high school equivalency diploma, or are home-schooled, please review the required credentials for non-traditional applicants.

Creating Your Rutgers CommunityID

If you are using the Rutgers Application, you will create your CommunityID upon beginning the application. If you are using the Common App, you will receive an email with instructions for creating your Rutgers CommunityID approximately 24-48 hours after submitting your application. Do not attempt to create your CommunityID until you receive this email. Your CommunityID will allow you to access your Rutgers Applicant Portal, where you can view your application status and track required credentials.

Using Your Rutgers Community ID

Getting Started

• Complete and submit your undergraduate application
• Pay application and enrollment fees
• First-year Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) candidates can access the EOF application
• Access your Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) - current high school seniors only
• View schools of application
• View a list of credentials that are still required
• View a list of received credentials
• View official admissions decisions
• Admitted students can accept their offer of admission and change their enrollment status
• Rutgers –New Brunswick Mason Gross School of the Arts candidates can access the Supplemental Application

Self-Service

• Change your account email (note this does not change the email address used to log into your application portal)
• Change or reset your password
• Update your mailing address
• Update your phone number
• Add a school to your application
• Semester Change Form (request change from spring to fall)

Changes in legal name, date of birth, as well as corrections to or the addition of a social security number, must be done with documentation (a government issued photo ID for name change or date of birth update and a signed copy of a social security card to update or change social security number). Send a request to make these types of changes to our admissions offices. The student's application portal can then be updated to request the needed documentation and such documentation can then be uploaded directly to the application portal.

Always include your full name, RUID, and email address used on your Rutgers application, when sending communications about your application.

Online Application

Complete the Rutgers Application or Common App carefully as it can’t be changed after it has been submitted.

You should submit only one application.

Please note, older versions of Internet Explorer are not supported. We recommend using the latest versions of EDGE, Google Chrome, or Firefox for your browser when accessing your applications.

Extracurricular Activities

• Information about activities, employment, community service, and other personal experiences, though not required, can enhance your application.
• To be considered, information about extracurricular activities must be included in the space provided on the application.
• A list of extracurricular activities may not be submitted separately.

Essay

Whether applying with the Common App or Rutgers Application, Rutgers requires that first-year applicants provide a short, original essay. The essay must be included in the space provided on the application and submitted on the application form. The essay may not be submitted separately. Be sure to clear any formatting before pasting your essay into the online application. If you do not clear formatting, the punctuation in your essay may change.

Please address one of the following topics or submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

• Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

The Rutgers Application essay is limited to 3,800 characters, including spaces.

The Common App essay is limited to no more than 650 words. The application will not accept a response with less than 250 words. Please note there are no supplemental essays required for the Common App. A short statement is required if you decide to be considered for honors.