How to strengthen your Pace application

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What Pace weights most

Pace favors applicants with clear vocational focus and practical experience, especially in business, performing arts, and tech. Successful candidates show demonstrated engagement with career-oriented activities - internships, workplace projects, arts portfolios, or coding competitions - and an appetite for urban internship networks, not just high test scores. They are more flexible on GPA/SAT within that practical context, so real-world experience or a portfolio can offset a slightly lower GPA better than at more purely selective peers.

Supplemental essay strategy

Tailor the "why Pace" answer to a specific campus and program, for example referencing Lubin School internship pathways and Wall Street connections, the NYC internship/externship centers, or particular faculty, ensembles, or the 3+1 co-op options. Cite concrete resources you plan to use (career labs, NYC internship programs, performance spaces, specific labs or clubs) and give one brief example of past experience that matches that resource.

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Where to focus next

If you only have time for one thing this month, do this:

1. Read 2 admitted-student essays from Pace (search official admissions site or Reddit r/pace). Notice the level of specificity — that's the bar.
2. Write the ‘why this school’ supplement first, before anything else. If you can't fill 250 words with school-specific reasons, pick a different school.
3. Find one current student to ask about their experience — admissions offices often connect prospective applicants with current students. The follow-up email becomes specific essay material.