- M.A. in Africana Studies
- M.A. in Africana Studies/Museum Studies
- Joint M.A. in Africana Studies/Journalism
Africana Studies
Applications and all supporting materials must be submitted online by 5PM Eastern Time. If a listed deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or U.S. federal holiday, then the next business day will be the actual deadline.
M.A. in Africana Studies & M.A. in Africana Studies/Museum Studies
- March 15: Fall admission, final deadline with financial aid consideration
Joint M.A. in Africana Studies/Journalism
- January 4: Fall admission, deadline with financial aid consideration
- March 15: Fall admission, final deadline without financial aid consideration
Requirements
In addition to the general application requirements, the department specifically requires:
GRE Not Required:
- M.A. in Africana Studies
- Please do not send GRE test scores — they will not be reviewed by our Admissions Committee.
- M.A. in Africana Studies/Museum Studies
- Joint M.A. in Africana Studies/Journalism
TOEFL/IELTS
Applicants must submit official TOEFL or IELTS scores unless they:
Are a native English speaker; OR
Are a US citizen or permanent resident; OR
Have completed (or will complete) a baccalaureate or master's degree at an institution where the language of instruction is English.
All Programs
In a concisely written statement, please describe your past and present work as it relates to your intended field of study, your educational objectives, and your career goals. In addition, please include your intellectual and professional reasons for choosing your field of study and why your studies/research can best be done at the Graduate School of Arts and Science at NYU. The statement should not exceed two double-spaced pages.
Joint M.A.
In addition to the Statement of Academic Purpose instructions above, Journalism requires applicants to write a personal essay. The essay is an extremely important part of the application, so treat it accordingly. The essay should be 1,000 to 1,500 words in length.
The goal of the essay is to give the Admissions Committee a concrete sense of who you are as someone who aspires to a career as a professional journalist, writing and reporting for print, online or broadcast media. It should address the following questions: What do you expect to get from the program? What aspects of your experience are most relevant to your interest in journalism? Tell us about your background--your academic degree, intellectual interests, work experience, life experience, and other sources of inspiration--and explain how this background informs what you want to do as a journalist.
Applicants should also describe their existing "body of work" as a journalist, critic or just someone who writes. We are mostly interested in published work, but if you have yet to break into print, then tell us what kind of writing you have done. What have been your major themes? What issues and phenomena most engage you? What publications do you read regularly and why? Which journalists do you admire, which do you dislike, and which have influenced you?
Please append to your essay a brief statement of your plans for financing your graduate work. This statement must be included, whether or not you are applying for financial aid.
All Programs
An academic writing sample is required.
Joint M.A.
Two different writing samples are required. One should be an academic writing sample. The second should represent your aptitude for journalism. A clip from your college newspaper, a personal essay, academic research paper, and short fiction are all acceptable.
Useful Links
The Graduate School of Arts and Science reserves the right to change this information at any time. This page supersedes all previous versions.
Last updated August 2023.