** NYUAD CLASS OF 2021 - ED1 **

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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@wakinguptoschool
My general advice for Candidate Weekend is to be yourself and enjoy the experience- it’s a lot of fun!- but also show your unique interest in the university and talk to as many people as you can. Don’t be shy- the admissions staff, professors, and students are friendly and will be casual with you. Come prepared with questions about the school and its programs; you will participate in a lot of seminar/ Q&A panel sort of events where you will be able to get your questions answered, and you will stand out if you can ask questions that show your interest. You will be asked “Why NYUAD?” again and again- by admissions staff, current students, and interviewers. You need to have an answer to this question, and preferably something more specific than “diversity of the students” because that’s everyone’s answer. You will have the opportunity to get to know the campus and its programs and visit some well-known locations around Abu Dhabi.

This might be obvious, but avoid any comments that could be potentially interpreted as racist/ sexist / culturally insensitive / stereotypical, even if you think no one is listening, because that kind of thing automatically shows the admissions staff that you are not suited for the diverse environment at NYUAD. Don’t try too hard to sound impressive or you will come across as fake-- be honest about your accomplishments and your unique worldview. Before you come, maybe read and familiarize yourself with recent world news- you don’t have to be a political science expert or anything, but a little bit of background knowledge about the Gulf region/culture and current events might help you be more informed.

The interviews will be fairly informal and will involve 2 conversations with a faculty member and an admissions officer. Be prepared to talk about things like your extracurriculars, your goals for the future, what you will contribute to the NYUAD community, etc. The sample class will be given by a faculty member, and varies from class to class but will probably involve a short lecture on the topic of interest, along with the opportunity to ask questions. The professors generally like to talk about their research, so that’s a good thing to ask about if you’re curious.

Overall, just go with the flow of the experience- it’s an incredible few days. Best of luck!

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@mightychondria Thank you so much for such a detailed description! Btw can you please provide specifics about the background knowledge of the Gulf region/culture and current events that we should look upon and research? And thanks once again.

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@wakinguptoschool Don’t worry too much about that- real “research” isn’t necessary at all. The only reason I mention it is that one of my interview questions asked me to name a current event that I felt was important. The rest is totally optional, but if you’re interested in learning about the U.A.E. before you go, look up things like the U.A.E. national clothing (abaya/kandura), geography of the region, who Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Khalifa are, culturally insensitive things (best to avoid public display of affection and taking photos of strangers without permission), a few Arabic words like “marhaba”, “shukran”, “inshallah”, “halal”, “haram”, a little about the Syrian refugee crisis and the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a little bit about Islam (you’ll be visiting the grand mosque). They don’t expect you to know these things at all, but a little preparation in advance never hurts.

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They said a “couple of days” from today (21st November) so it should come out either by this coming Thursday or next Thursday - the suspense is simply brutal. They also stated that this 2nd batch would contain invites for mostly UAE residents/nationals, but that doesn’t necessarily exclude international students. Good luck! (I’m a UAE resident as well, so I’m waiting just like everyone else, hoping for the best!) 8-| :)>-

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@mightychondria Thank you so much for the detailed advice! This is so helpful. <3

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@HiroHamada I’m glad it was helpful! Let me know if you have any further questions. :slight_smile:

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I will be applying to NYUAD in the ED2 round. Mentioned below is my profile. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think of my chances.

My stats:

GPA: 95.6/100
SAT 1: 1560/1600 (790 Math, 770 R&W)
SAT 2s: 780 (Math2) and 770 (Physics)
TOEFL: 116/120
Class rank 3/60

Preferred Major: Economics, Management, Business, CS (all feed my ambition to be an entrepreneur and I am indifferent between these).

ECs and Co-curriculars:

-First choice member of the Debate/MUN teams for the last 3 years in highschool.
-Have won multiple regional and national level debates/MUNs.
-Olympiads: International rank 33 in the International English Olympiad, Certificates of High Distinction in the Australian National Chemistry Quiz for two years (11-12) as well as regional champion.
-Have organised multiple events in school: school MUN conference and IT Festival etc.
-Held the post of the INFORMTATION TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR in the Student Council for the year 2016-17.
-Avid Filmmaker: have won numerous regional filmmaking competitons, and of late have been making films to raise social awareness in collaboration with local NGOs.
-Have also done some drama: played the protagonist for my school’s platinum jubilee production, incidentally it was my first audition and I was picked ahead of seasoned actors in my school.
-Achieved Rank 86 in the UCEED, an undergraduate entrance exam for Bachelors in Design at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs: Indians would know what the hype is abut).
-Silver Standard holder in the Fryer Mathematics Challenge held by the University of Waterloo.

THREE MAJOR POINTS ON MY RESUME:

I have been interning with Kailash Satyarthi, 2014 Nobel Peace Laureate for an upcoming venture named ‘100 Million for 100 Million’ and will be organising the Opening Ceremony which is to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (Indian equivalent of the White House). 100 Million for 100 Million is a large-scale venture which will be launched in 100+ countries to combat child labour, and I was intern #1 to be recruited for the campaign. As an intern, I have worked on event marketing, mass mobilisation and have even participated in dangerous RAIDS TO RESCUE CHILD LABOURERS FROM FACTORIES at great personal risk, since owners can often turn violent. Currently, I head a team of 150 interns from colleges in and around New Delhi.

Worked as a content developer at The Dais Education Initiative, where I developed modules on Public Speaking, Ethics and Morality to be used with high-school students. My modules have been used in close to 25 schools, in collaboration with Teach For India, which is a pan-India NGO.

During high-school, I joined as Employee #3 at The Football Chronicle, a football news website. Headed marketing and content development. TFC was widely lauded for its coverage of Indian Super League (2014 season) and gave Goal.com, the industry leader, a run for its money in the ISL coverage niche. TFC also organised 5-a-side tournaments in New Delhi and Noida. Had 125,000 unique users in and around New Delhi, and I bought the site from the original founders (both left for UC San Diego in fall 2015) in 2015. Due to excessive academic pressure, had to put it up on sale, and lack of suitors fored me to shut it down.

ESSAYS: I would say my essays are good, and while we cannot quantify essay excellence, I would say they would be in the 95th percentile of college essays.

LORs:

English and Physics teachers have both written me glowing recommendations.
I have two more LORs from my debating coach, and the Vice President of Mr Satyarthi’s NGO.
I also have a peer LOR which I might consider sending, but am not sure as of now.

LEMME KNOW GUYS!! :smiley:
@mightychondria help me out please :slight_smile:

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@asliwelhamite I can’t really help you since there are so many factors that go into an admissions decision, but looks like you have excellent academic and extracurricular qualifications. Seems like you’re the kind of student NYUAD is looking for.

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@mightychondria Thank you so much for your detailed and concrete answers. :slight_smile:
I wonder …In the ED1 round, how many are invited for the CW, and how many of the invitees are accepted?

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@Cool_Aspirant I was ED1 last year and we had about 130 people invited, and I think around 80% of us were accepted, at least it seemed like the admission rate was pretty high. Your CW will likely be around that number of people, maybe slightly more.

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Hello, please is NYUAD still sending invitations for the CW for ED1 applicants?

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@boldtype I believe they stopped sending on Sunday Nov. 22. I am also an ED1 applicant and unfortunately did not receive an invitation

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Hello guys! I am applying as an ED2 applicant and I have a question for the people who are applying/have applied with O-Level, AS-Level and A-Level Predicted Grades as the standardised testing requirement… Did your counsellor just put the results in the school transcript or are you going to send the official certificates to NYUAD? Please tell me how you are going to report your results… THANKS! :smiley:

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Chance me pls, I am doing the British Curriculum. I have 6A* and 2A for my IGCSE ,4A for AS-Level, 4A* Predicted for A-Level… Extracurriculars: Head Boy(Head Prefect) of my school which has 1300+ students, Karate Shotokan 1st Degree Black Belt, Vice-Captain of my school Cricket Team, President of the Computing Club, President of my School’s Broadcasting Unit, interned as an IT assistant at a reputed company, started my own charity website and have helped numerous families in my home country, part of my school band(I play the side drum)… I guess my letters of recommendations were good… and my personal essay is (to me) very good… I hope I can get an invite :confused:

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@mightychondria Is it possible to get deferred if you are an ED1 applicant?

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Possible, but unlikely. I think it has happened before? but usually due to visa issues or schedule conflicts or some other unusual circumstance. @dimitririgas

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@RadiationSpike9 You have a good shot but some people in my CW with stats similar to yours got accepted and some got rejected. There are a number of factors that go into their decision apart from just stats.

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Hey guys! So a few days ago, NYU’s dean, Mr. Shawn Abbot, informed me that I was deferred to ED2 as they couldn’t come to a final conclusion on my application. Has anyone else received this bitter-sweet, hopeful piece of news?

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Greetings,

I’m from Ethiopia and I was hoping to apply ED2 to NYUAD (nominated by counselor).MY SAT score is 1370. If i get my national exam scores predicted I know they will be much better but i am a worried that i might irreversibly f*** myself if my actual and predicted scores don’t match. I can’t afford to take the SAT again so it will be my final score. I am hoping my essays and ECs will get me out of this jam. Here’s a list of my Ecs:

  • Economics, Law and Finance Club (Founder, President)
  • Law Review (founder, Editor-in-chief)
  • Business Review (founder, editor-in-chief)
  • Physics and Astronomy Club (member for 5 years, President for one year, head of general operations for the current year)
  • MUN (Co-Founder and Chair of ECOSOC) Participated in a City wide conference 3 times, won honorable mention at a Model AU
  • Taught myself how to code (summer)
  • Medical Intern (one summer) (observed during surgeries)
  • Worked for an AIDS charity(one summer)
  • Ethiopian Space Science Society (very active member, Letter of Rec from Outreach Director)
  • Economic/Scientific/Political Blog
  • Volunteered as a peer tutor
  • Poet and writer
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thanks in advance