First-year students are defined as students who have not enrolled in college, or whose only college courses were completed prior to high school graduation. First-year applicants will be reviewed holistically on the basis of academics, extracurricular involvement and contextual information.

Any applicant who has received a high school diploma or its equivalent and who has subsequently taken college coursework at another college or university is considered a transfer applicant. The top factors that SUNY Plattsburgh considers in a transfer applicant include cumulative grade point average, coursework completed, academic trend, letter of recommendation and essay. Transfer students with less than 24 college credits completed will be asked to submit their official high school transcripts and will be reviewed holistically on the basis of academics, extracurricular involvement and contextual information.