HOUSING SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION
GUIDELINES AND INSTRUCTIONS
VERY IMPORTANT: THE SVA ALUMNI SOCIETY HOUSING SCHOLARSHIP IS MANAGED BY THE SVA ALUMNI SOCIETY—NOT THE SVA FINANCIAL AID OFFICE. If you have any questions, please contact Miranda Pierce at alumnisociety@sva.edu or 212.592.2305.
Key URLs
Eligibility information, application guidelines, and how-to-apply instructions are below.
SlideRoom online application portal FAQ and Help Desk: support.slideroom.com
IMPORTANT DATES
Application portal opens Friday, May 2, 2025.
Applications are due Monday, May 19, 2025, at 11:59pm ET.
Letters of recommendation are due Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
All applicants will be notified and finalists will be announced on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
Finalists: Zoom interviews will take place on Thursday, June 12, 2025, in the morning. (All applicants must be available on this date—no exceptions. Do not apply if you cannot make this date.)
ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATION GUIDELINES
The intent of the SVA Alumni Society Housing Scholarship is to provide on-campus housing for students who would otherwise commute from home. The scholarship covers the cost of on-campus housing for the duration of study at SVA (not to exceed four years). The scholarship does not cover the cost of tuition, supplies, and meals. All applicants must be able to cover the costs of tuition, supplies, food, and other out-of-pocket living expenses. The housing deposit and placement fee will be waived for the scholarship recipient. The scholarship may not be deferred. There is no application fee for the scholarship. The scholarship does not apply to summer housing. Please note: Scholarships designated for room and board are taxable to the recipient and must be included in gross income.
As an eligible student, you have been pre-selected from applicants already accepted to SVA for the fall 2025 semester based on the following criteria:
Incoming freshman (non-transfer student)
Home address is within a 25-mile radius of SVA’s zip code, 10010
Minimum high school GPA of 3.0 (as on file with SVA Admissions)
Demonstrated financial need
The final decision will be based on individual merit and financial need, as demonstrated in a personal essay, financial aid essay, a portfolio review, letters of recommendation, and select finalist interviews—independent of the College’s admissions process. Financial need will be verified by SVA Financial Aid, and special circumstances may and should be addressed in the applicant’s financial aid essay. The scholarship is renewable after the first year for each of the subsequent three years of attendance at SVA, not to exceed four full academic years. Annual renewal of the scholarship is dependent on maintaining full-time enrollment and a minimum GPA of 3.0. The intent is to allow the recipient to live on campus during their entire full-time matriculation period at SVA.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants who do not comply with the application instructions or who submit incomplete or late applications will not be considered. To be considered, please complete the following steps:
Submit all required materials using the online application portal hosted by SlideRoom. To begin and complete your online application, click here. You can save your progress and log in and out of SlideRoom as many times as you need to before submitting.
Required application materials include the following:
Basic applicant information
Written personal essay
Written financial fid essay
Financial aid appeal letter
Work sample/portfolio submission
Two (2) letters of recommendation
VISIT SLIDEROOM + CREATE AN ACCOUNT/UPDATE YOUR EXISTING ACCOUNT
Link to application
Use your legal name—the same name with which you are registered as a student at SVA. We must be able to verify your identity based on the information in your SlideRoom account. If you are using a name other than your legal name, make sure the SVA Registrar has it on file.
Use your SVA email address for this SlideRoom application. We will contact you via the email address listed in SlideRoom for all notifications and updates. Please make sure to check your SVA email address for updates regarding the scholarship.
If you have an existing SlideRoom account, please make sure your contact information and email are correct by logging in and selecting “Account Information” under your name in the upper-right corner.
Please note that we must be able to verify your identity based on the information in your SlideRoom account.
PERSONAL ESSAY
Your personal essay is an essential part of your application. It is your opportunity to express how receiving this scholarship would benefit your personal growth and educational experience at SVA. Share specific details about what you see as the advantages of living on campus. Include detailed information regarding any advantages or disadvantages in your current living situation that may impact your need to live on campus. Do you plan to live on campus regardless of receiving this scholarship? Or do you plan to commute to school? If you are planning to commute, do you have a dedicated space at home where you can make your art? You can share any additional thoughts or information about yourself that you feel might be important for the review panel to know about you. If you have not yet registered for classes, please explain why. You are allowed up to 5,000 total characters (including spaces). Be sure to check your spelling and grammar.
TIP/WARNING: If you write this in another program and copy and paste it into SlideRoom, you will NOT be warned if it is cut off. Before you copy and paste, make sure it is under 5,000 characters (including spaces), and always double-check that your whole write-up has been pasted.
FINANCIAL AID ESSAY
Your financial aid essay is an extremely important part of your application. It is your opportunity to show the complete picture of your financial plans for attending SVA. Write an essay explaining your financial plans for attending SVA, including how you plan to pay for your tuition. Detail any unmet needs as compared to your Expected Family Contribution/Student Need Index. Will financing your tuition, fees, supplies, food, and other out-of-pocket living expenses be an issue? Please provide as many specific examples and details (including specific dollar amounts) as possible. If you plan on borrowing a student loan and have not signed your Master Promissory Note, please explain why.
If you have not already filed an appeal letter with your Financial Aid Advisor, it is required that you submit an appeal letter to your Financial Aid Advisor by May 19, 2025 (see below for more information).
FINANCIAL AID APPEAL LETTER
As explained above, all applicants will be required to file a financial aid appeal letter with their Financial Aid Advisor. If you have not already submitted a financial aid appeal letter to your Financial Aid Advisor, you must do so for this application. You can submit your financial aid essay as your appeal letter. If you do not know who your Financial Aid Advisor is, please reach out to fa@sva.edu. Due date: Monday, May 19, 2025.
WORK SAMPLE/PORTFOLIO SUBMISSION
You must submit work samples from your portfolio. These samples can be the same ones that you submitted for your application to SVA, or you may include new or different samples. Include the work that best represents your skill and talent. Once you create an account on SlideRoom, more information is available regarding the types of work samples allowed. Please select 8-12 samples representing your artistic talent and ability.
Technical questions? Visit support.slideroom.com.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Two (2) letters of recommendation are required from high school art teachers or community leaders, such as mentors, counselors, or program directors who know you well and can speak to how this scholarship would benefit your academic and creative studies at SVA. Your recommenders must fill out a written recommendation directly in SlideRoom. Letters will not be accepted via email. You and your recommenders will receive instructions in SlideRoom. The deadline for these letters is Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
VERY IMPORTANT: SlideRoom does NOT warn you if you enter an invalid email address. You are responsible for contacting your recommenders directly before completing and submitting your application to confirm that they have received the link from SlideRoom so they can complete their recommendation.
Technical questions? Visit support.slideroom.com.
FINAL SUBMISSION NOTES
Do not wait until the last minute to submit your application.
Final submission and portfolio upload can take some time, depending on the traffic on the SlideRoom server.
After you submit your application, you cannot go back in and make changes.
Technical issues? Consult SlideRoom’s FAQ and Help Desk. Responses are typically provided within 48 business hours. Business hours are Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm ET.
General application questions should be directed to Miranda Pierce, Associate Director, SVA Alumni Affairs and Development: alumnisociety@sva.edu. Miranda will be available during regular business hours (Monday – Friday, 9:00am – 5:00pm ET).
AFTER SUBMITTING
After submitting, you will land on a final confirmation screen and receive a unique ID number. This is your SlideRoom receipt. If you do not receive your receipt, your submission did not go through. You should also receive a confirmation email.
VERY IMPORTANT! FINALIST INTERVIEWS
If you are selected as a finalist for the award, you must be available on the morning of Thursday, June 12, 2025, for an interview via Zoom. Please mark your calendar now. No exceptions will be made.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Monday, May 19, 2025, by 11:59pm ET.
Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.
VERY IMPORTANT: THE SVA ALUMNI SOCIETY HOUSING SCHOLARSHIP IS MANAGED BY THE SVA ALUMNI SOCIETY—NOT THE SVA FINANCIAL AID OFFICE. If you have any questions, please contact Miranda Pierce at alumnisociety@sva.edu or 212.592.2305.