S.E. Cupp was born in California and raised primarily in Andover, MA. She was a classically trained dancer and danced for Ellicott City Ballet, Washington Ballet and Boston Ballet for a period of 10 years. After high school, she studied art history at Cornell University and worked for her college paper, Cornell Daily Sun, as the Arts & Entertainment editor. She graduated a year early from Cornell and subsequently worked at an online magazine and a PR company. In 2002, she was hired by the New York Times to write and edit for the Index Department. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree at NYU in religious studies and plans to write about American culture—including politics, sports and religion, in the future.