Undergraduate Application Process

Early Decision (ED) is binding, meaning that if you are admitted, you must commit to enrolling at Emerson. ED applicants cannot apply Early Decision to other institutions. ED applicants can apply EA to other colleges, but must withdraw those applications if admitted to Emerson.

Early Action (EA) is a non-binding early deadline. EA applicants may apply to other Early Action colleges. You apply earlier and receive a decision earlier.

Regular Decision (RD) is a non-binding deadline and is selected by the majority of our applicants. RD applicants may apply ED or EA to other institutions.

If you opt to forgo submitting a standardized test score (such as the SAT or ACT), your application will not be penalized. Many of our students since implementing Test Optional in Fall 2017 did not submit standardized tests. Other portions of your application will be weighed more heavily, in particular your coursework during high school.

At Emerson, we define a transfer student as anyone with a high school diploma or GED (General Equivalency Diploma) who has matriculated full-time at another college or enrolled part-time for three or more college courses (9 or more college credits). Students with college credits earned prior to high school graduation (e.g., dual enrollment) are considered first-year applicants.

At Emerson College we value creativity and critical thinking and believe in the power of every human voice. While we also encourage the growth of new technologies and recognize the growing importance of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, the Office of Admission believes that the most discerning, thoughtful, and compelling personal statements and writing samples are representative of the author’s uniquely human voice, research, and effort.

If you elect to use these tools at any point while writing your essays or producing any other material for your admissions application, they should only be used to support your original ideas rather than to compose your work in its entirety.

Applicants are expected to adhere to the same standards of academic honesty as current Emerson students, who are expected to act with integrity when producing academic work and to abide by the College’s Academic Misconduct Policy.

Your admission counselor is assigned based on the location of your current school. Find your admission counselor here or reach out to the Office of Undergraduate Admission at 617-824-8600 or admissions@emerson.edu.

Absolutely! You can sign up for an in-person or virtual campus tour online. Some visits fill up quickly, especially during school vacation weeks, so we recommend booking in advance.