BRILLIANT QUESTION!

Basically, NYUAD has a very small class size. What this means is that rather than having say 1600 slots like Harvard, NYUAD has far fewer slots. This means that there is simply less seats to go around.

Secondly, NYUAD can be applied by ticking one extra box on the New York University application. Because the marginal effort to apply is so low and lots of people tick the box, it generates a high number of applications.

Ultimately, the massive number of applications (inflated by the tick box mechanism similar to Yale-NUS) and the low number of seats yields a low percentage rate.

The fascinating thing to consider is the yield rate i.e. of every offer given out to attend NYUAD what proportion goes? This number is very low (similar to Yale-NUS) and basically students will choose NYU, any Ivys, Duke etc over this consistently. While the acceptance rate is low, the yield adjusted acceptance rate measured by acceptance rate/yield (a better measure for quality) paints the real story.

Hope that helps

Thank you, that explains it very well. The financial aid there is so great. Would NYUAD be a good uni to go into IB or private equity?

Thanks!

Well, it is not true “yield rate i.e. of every offer given out to attend NYUAD what proportion goes?” is low. It is… super high in fact.

NYUAD Class of 2018: 80% yield rate
https://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/news/latest-news/community-life/2014/september/by-the-numbers-the-class-of-2018.html

NYUAD Class of 2020: 79% yield rate

NYUAD Class of 2021 : 82% yield rate

NYUAD Class of 2022 : 83% yield rate (link:https://nyuad.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyuad/news/documents/class-of-2022-by-the-numbers.pdf

NYUAD Class of 2023: 83% yield rate

Class of 2022 others university:

Harvard: 82% (https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/5/16/matriculation-rate-2022/)

Princeton: 69% (https://paw.princeton.edu/article/yield-class-22-exceeds-target-10-transfers-enroll)

Uchicago: Close to 80% (https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/7/20/university-turns-grants-outside-landlords-enrollme/)

Dartmouth: 64% (https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2018/08/admissions-yield-increases-to-new-high)

Duke: 52% (https://admissions.duke.edu/images/uploads/process/Classof2022profileWEB.pdf)

Others data: https://www.collegeevaluator.com/best-schools/highest-admission-yield/

So… NYUAD is not “This number is very low” in term of yield rate. However, they do lower than the top Ivy in term of standardize test score.

While the acceptance rate is low, the yield adjusted acceptance rate measured by acceptance rate/yield (a better measure for quality) paints the real story. Hope it helps

Bonus: Class of 2023 this year has median overall SAT score was 1,490; median ACT composite score; IB was 39 out of a 42-point scale (no bonus).