Apply online using the Common Application or Coalition Application. Your file will not be reviewed until all of the materials below have been received by the Office of Admissions:
The following item is only required from students who need a student visa (F or J):
Admitted international F/J visa-status students who deposit and enroll at AU will need to submit additional documents. The list of required documents can be found on our International Student & Scholar Services Office (ISSS) website. Visit the site and read the required steps carefully, as mistakes will delay your I-20 preparation. An admissions representative will connect with you and collect a copy of your passport Information page, AU CFIS form, and supporting financial documents.
Your application and all supporting documents must be received by the respective application deadline.
Early Action (New): November 1
Early Decision I (ED I): November 1
Early Decision II (ED II): January 15
Regular Decision (RD): January 15
All spring applicants October 1
For students living outside the United States, we strongly recommend September 1
If your secondary school prefers to use a courier service, keep your tracking number and have them send your transcripts and recommendation letters to:
Undergraduate Admissions
Office of Enrollment
4801 Massachusetts Ave., NW STE-218
Washington, DC 20016-8001
USA
Tel: +1-202-885-6000
Questions? Contact intadm@american.edu.
Complete the application carefully. Please make sure to include your full name exactly as it appears in the machine-readable section of your passport (check the bottom of your passport page). The first three letters stand for your country of citizenship. Omit those three letters when completing the admission application form. Also include date of birth, complete educational history, country of birth, citizenship, current mailing address and a permanent address outside of the United States, even if you currently live or study in the United States.
Please have your official academic records from each secondary school you attended for the U.S. equivalent of 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades sent directly from those schools to American University, Washington, DC via the Common or Coalition Application or mailed by courier service to American University in sealed envelopes. Students who study in 3-year secondary school systems only need to provide transcripts for those three years.
These records should be submitted in their original language and accompanied by notarized English translations if applicable. Ask your secondar school to include any predicated or final examination results from exams such as IB, GCSE, GCE, Bagrut, French Baccalaureate, CAPE Units One and Two, Abitur, Attestat, or Secondary School Leaving Certificates, if available.
Certain exam results such as, but not limited to, IB, WAEC, GCE, GCSE, and CAPE must come directly to our office from the examination board or authority.
Although only one letter of recommendation from a teacher is required with your application, we strongly encourage you also ask your school's university counselor, principal, or headmaster to submit a second letter of recommendation. These letters are confidential. Each letter must be in English. Recommenders can upload recommendation letters directly onto the Common or Coalition Application. If sent by courier mail, please have your reference sign or place a school stamp across the sealed flap of the envelope.
AU requires strong English language skills. All first-year applicants (including U.S. citizens and U.S. Permanent Residents) can prove English proficiency by either curriculum or testing.
IMPORTANT: Students cannot self-report English proficiency exam results. Ask the testing agency to send your official results directly to American University, Undergraduate Admissions, Washington, District of Columbia (DC).
Important: Though English proficiency may be met in one of the above ways, the Office of Admissions may still request TOEFL, IELTS, DET, Cambridge Assessment English, PTE scores or other additional documentation if deemed necessary.
Note for Native Speakers of English: For native speakers of English from the U.S., UK and Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, Canada (except Quebec), Singapore, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and these countries in the Caribbean (Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands) who list English as their first language on the Common Application, proof of English proficiency is not required, but may be requested.
Applicants who require a student or exchange visitor visa (F or J) must submit to the Office of Admissions the AU Declaration of Finances Form (AU DFF) showing proof of at least US$81,620 for your first year of studies and living expenses.
The AU Declaration of Finances Form (AU DFF) must be submitted by the application deadline date. Once you submit your admissions application and create your portal, the completed and signed two-page AU DFF form can be uploaded via your AU applicant portal.
Application packets without the correctly completed AU DFF will be considered incomplete and will not be considered for admission.
An official bank letter, the AU CFIS form completed by applicant and parent, and a copy of the student’s passport will be required at a later date if the student is accepted and decides to enroll at AU.
Students may be eligible to receive advanced credit for exams passed during secondary school. If you took IB, A Level, AP, the OIB English, or CAPE Unit Two exams while in school, please visit Credit by Exam page for full details on AU exam policies.
If you have already graduated from secondary school at the time of application, you must submit a short interruption of studies statement describing your activities (e.g., work, travel, internships, study at another university, etc.) since graduation.
Once you submit your application, what happens next? You will receive one of the following decisions:
Fall admissions is familiar to most students and means you will begin as a degree-seeking student in the fall semester for which you applied.
A select group of students admitted for the fall will also be invited to participate in our AU Cornerstone Program, which allows for a study abroad or internship experience in a student’s first year.
We offer a limited number of students a waitlist decision each year. If space becomes available in the fall class and you sign up to remain on the waitlist, we will notify you in May if we’re able to offer you admission. But we do suggest that students deposit at another institution to secure a spot somewhere for the fall.
Each year, we have to deny a number of students due to the high level of talent in our applicant pool. But if you have your heart set on attending AU, we encourage you to consider transferring after at least one year at another college.
Each year, we have to deny a number of students due to the high level of talent in our applicant pool. But if you have your heart set on attending AU, we encourage you to consider transferring after at least one year at another college.
For further assistance with the application process, visa, and pre-departure orientation sessions and information specific to your country, please contact the Public Diplomacy Section at your local U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate for referral to an overseas educational advising center near you. You may also wish to consult the U.S. Department of State’s website, https://educationusa.state.gov/, to locate an EducationUSA Advising Center in your region.