How to Apply

How to apply for undergraduate studies

Our application process is simple and straightforward. Submit your information, send us your supporting documents, and you’ll receive your admission decision. 

If you’re interested in spending one or two semesters at AUP as a visiting student, submit a Study Abroad application instead.

 

Application deadlines

We review completed applications in rounds throughout the year. You’re strongly encouraged to apply by 1 February (Priority Admission).

Fall Admission
Review Rounds Application round deadline
Early Action Admission by 15 November
Priority Admission by 1 February
Regular Admission by 15 March
Late or International Admission after 1 April

 

Spring Admission
Review Rounds Application round deadline
Early Admission by 1 October
Priority Admission by 15 November
Regular Admission after 15 November

 

Application requirements

An application to The American University of Paris requires several supporting documents and sometimes tests. Most requirements can be uploaded directly in your online application.

 

Online application form

We offer students two options to apply to the University, both of them online: 

 

Personal statements

We ask that you include both a personal statement and a supplemental essay in English as part of your application.

The 650 word personal statement prompts listed below match the Common Application, If you are completing the Common Application, you will complete the personal statement, as a part of the main application, and the supplemental essay (in the additional questions section of the Common Application specific to AUP).

If you are using the AUP Application Portal, you can upload both the personal statement and the supplemental essay as one document to your online application.

The personal statement prompts this year are listed as follows:

  • 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?
  • 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?
  • Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

The AUP supplementary essay enables us to get an insight into your motivations to come and study in a uniquely international setting, surrounded by a community of students interested in the world around them.  This is a shorter essay to highlight your own academic, career and personal goals. The 300-word supplemental essay prompt is: “What is it about The American University of Paris that has led you to apply here and how will studying here fit with your educational and personal goals? (300 Words)”

Extracurricular activities & work experience

Using the AUP Application Portal you can submit your list of activities and work experience in .pdf format.
In the Common Application use the “Extracurricular Activities & Work Experience” section.

 

Two letters of recommendation

Online forms for your recommenders (including at least one from a teacher or professor) are provided in both the AUP Application Portal and Common Application. In the Common Application, first-year applicants use the School Report and the Teacher Evaluation; transfer applicants use two Instructor Evaluations.

Homeschooled applicants: please do not present letters written only by people in your household. We need additional objective evaluations from educators who have interacted with you, for example someone who has known you in a professional context, such as a part-time job or volunteering setting.

Veteran & Military Applicants: We welcome letters of recommendation from Commanding Officers as they make ideal recommenders.

 

Official transcripts from the past three years of schooling

These transcripts must be in English or French, or be accompanied by a certified translation.

Transfer applicants: you need to submit individual transcripts for every college or university attended. If you have completed fewer than the equivalent of 6 full-time US-college semesters, you must also submit your secondary school transcript.

Homeschooled applicants: you must provide detailed transcripts similar to those provided for traditionally-schooled students for the past four years. If you did attend high school or university at any time, please have the institution send your transcript for coursework completed. In addition, please provide, written verification from the appropriate school district or authority, or by the state Department of Education indicating that the homeschooled education meets the equivalency to what is taught in the high school district and/or what is required in the student’s state.

 

English language test

Students must demonstrate sufficient English fluency. If English is not your first language, we require that you submit one of the following tests and that the results be no more than two years old.

  • TOEFL – Internet Based Test (ibT) minimum score: 88. To have your results sent directly, use our institutional code 0866.
  • Cambridge English - First, Advanced, or Proficiency level, minimum score: 176. 
  • TOEIC - Listening and Reading, minimum score: 810. To have your results sent directly, use our institutional code 0866.
  • IELTS - Academic Option, minimum score 6.5. 

The English language test requirement is waived if you meet one of the following criteria:

  • You have been living in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States where you have recently studied in an all-English curriculum for at least two consecutive years.
  • You have studied for at least four years in an all-English curriculum in any other country, although we continue to reserve the right to request English test results from any applicant.
  • You will complete or have completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme or A Levels and will be able to submit your official IB Diploma before the start of the semester.
  • The only program you are applying for is AUP’s French Immersion summer program.

We reserve the right to request English test results from any applicant.

Covid-19 Special Measure: As a result of the disruption to English Language Testing caused by Covid-19, AUP is trialing the acceptance of the Duolingo Language Test. For undergraduates we require 115+. The test must have been taken after 20 July 2020 and include sub-scores for the 4 component elements. AUP reserves the right to ask for an alternative English Test. 

 

SAT/ACT test scores

AUP is a test optional university and as such we allow applicants to decide themselves whether or not their SAT or ACT results accurately reflect their academic ability and potential.  If you are a first-year applicant and you have already taken SAT or ACT examinations, you may voluntarily submit your official scores and they will reviewed along with other indicators of academic ability. Our SAT institutional code is 0866 and our ACT institutional code is 5295.

Homeschooled applicants: Test scores (SAT or ACT or GED) are required of all home-schooled applicants. For SATs taken prior to 2016, please include your score from the SAT Writing section.