Undergraduate Programme Holistic Admissions and Process

Holistic Admissions

The Admissions criteria and processes are based on holistic principles and values held by Ashoka University. All applicants will be evaluated on their level of engagement with their academics, extra-curricular activities, interests and potential within their unique life journeys. Throughout their academic and residential life at Ashoka University, students work towards developing faculties and values such as:

• Intellectual curiosity and critical thinking
• Academic rigour, research, and writing
• Open-mindedness and willingness to learn
• An interdisciplinary and problem-solving approach
• Resilience, tolerance, and teamwork

Admissions Process

Ashoka University’s holistic admissions process ensures that each application is evaluated in its unique context. 

Please find the details of the stages involved in admissions in the table given below:

Admissions Process

Stage 1: 

Application & Assessments

• Application: Academic scores, SAT/ACT scores, Personal Essays, Recommendation, Non-academic Engagement
• Assessments: Ashoka Aptitude Assessment (Mandatory); On-the-Spot Essay (Mandatory)

In depth review of all applications and assessments by the Office of Admissions

Stage 2:

Shortlist for Interview

• Interview with Panel (Mandatory)

Interviewers will interact with shortlisted candidates to get to know them and evaluate their suitability for academics at Ashoka

Stage 3:

Decisions and Financial Aid

Confirmed Offer

• Conditional Offer
• Waitlist (upon availability)
• Deferral of Decision
• Denial of Admission

Admissions Committee declares decisions. A separate Financial Aid application form will be opened for those granted an Offer of Admission

• Holistic Admissions Process where each applicant is evaluated within their unique Context

• • Strong focus on Affirmative Action based on social, personal, medical, geographical, educational backgrounds, etc, to name a few

• Merit based Admissions process and decisions

• Need based Financial Aid Policy after offers have been made

Please refer to this image-

Application

Registering and starting the Application Form

• An applicant needs to register with a personal email address (Gmail, Yahoo or Personal Domain IDs preferred) to start an application form. Use a personal email address and not a school or office-affiliated email address to ensure that they have access to this email address till the duration of their undergraduate degree programme
• All communication from Ashoka University will be sent only to the applicant’s registered email address

Instructions to fill in the Application Form

• The application form has multiple sections and is designed to get to know the applicant. The applicant is advised to carefully and thoughtfully engage with all the sections in the form
• The applicant should supply all relevant information in both mandatory and non-mandatory sections of the application form
• The applicant should attach all mandatory documents to prevent the application form from being considered ‘incomplete’. The applicant’s photograph, government identification document, and examination mark-sheets should be clearly visible and not password-protected
• Haryana Domicile Applicants will be required to submit their Government issued Haryana Resident Certificate (Domicile) to avail of benefits (if relevant) as per the Haryana Private Universities Act. Eligible applicants may attach a receipt of their Resident Certificates if they do not have access to their Resident Certificates at the time of submitting their Application Forms.
• The applicant should attach collaterals (certificates, photographs, artwork, writing samples, web-links, letters of experience/completion/appointment, etc) for optional sections to substantiate their listed activities and areas of engagement
• The applicants are required to respond to three mandatory personal essay prompts. They should be written by the applicant and should aim to address the stated prompt/cue as genuinely as possible
• The applicant should get the consent of the recommender before enlisting the recommender’s name on the application form
• The applicant’s choice of preferred Majors under the Course Preference Section in the application form is only indicative in nature
• Ashoka University also offers extensive support to its students for English language, writing, learning disabilities, medical, mental health, and counselling. Please find the details for these support centres here: Support at Ashoka. To enable the university to extend adequate support to the applicant during the admissions process and on campus (if made an offer of admission), the applicant is requested to submit all relevant details in the Support at Ashoka Section of the application form
• Please make sure that you click SUBMIT after you finish completing your application form

Please click on the links below to download the sample application forms:

Sample Application 1

Sample Application 2

Assessments

Instructions regarding Assessments

Once an application form has been submitted within the deadline of a particular round, the applicant will be required to mandatorily participate in the Assessments on the date(s) mentioned in the Admissions Calendar. The Assessments consist of the following:

• On-the-Spot Essay; Mandatory (30 minutes)
  The on-the-spot essay evaluates the following parameters: engagement with the prompt, critical thinking, clarity of thought, and creativity. The candidate will be given two topics to choose from at the time of writing the essay. The candidate cannot use any external resources to help them write the essay. The essay has no word limit and can be attempted with minimal preparation
  
  Please click here to download sample essays and prompts of the On-the-Spot Essay.

• Ashoka Aptitude Assessment; Mandatory (90 minutes)
  The Ashoka Aptitude Assessment has been developed for Ashoka University’s admissions purposes by Cambridge and is based on the Thinking Skills Assessment to evaluate the thinking skills of the applicant. It consists of questions on problem-solving skills (includes numerical and spatial reasoning) and critical thinking skills (includes understanding arguments and reasoning using everyday language). It has a total of 40 Multiple Choice Questions (20 problem-solving questions and 20 critical thinking questions) and is designed to be taken with minimal preparation.
  
  Please click here to download a summary and a sample paper of the Ashoka Aptitude Assessment.
  
  Please click here to read the instructions for the Ashoka Aptitude Assessement scheduled on 21st November 2021 for applicants who have applied in Round 1.

Interview

Instructions for the Interview

Each Application Form is read in detail and evaluated along with the Assessments in a holistic manner by the Admissions Committee, which shortlists candidates for an interview. Interviews are usually conducted across multiple cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, etc) in India. For applicants who are unable to travel to any of the cities where in-person interviews are conducted, there is a provision for an online interview with the interview panel. 

In light of the Covid-19 Pandemic travel and safety restrictions, all interviews will be conducted online, till further notice.

• Interview with a panel; Mandatory
  The Ashoka Interview seeks to understand and get to know the candidate, their background and story. It also evaluates various parameters of the application form submitted by the candidate to gauge the candidate’s suitability to Ashoka University’s academic and residential life programme. The candidate will be interviewed by a panel. The time taken for the interview might vary depending on the interaction