Why NYU Abu Dhabi

As soon as I received the offer of admission from NYUAD, I knew what to do: accept it.

Without the generous financial package that the school offered me, I would not have so easily turned down various offers from many prestigious institutions in the States. Yet, underneath the NYUAD's financial offer lies a principle that the school holds: a student's financial situation should not hinder him or her from receiving outstanding college-level education. For this reason, almost all students receive partial, if not full, financial aid - not to mention the stipend that the school provides for some.

Another remarkable feature of NYUAD, though it could be obvious, is its location. The Gulf region, or the Middle East in general, is prospering and partaking in global politics and economy, seeing this growth and development firsthand is such a unique learning experience. Also, one can travel to Europe, Asia, and Africa with relative ease. I myself am going to Sri Lanka in a month, and other destinations include Zanzibar, Maldives, Nepal, Jordan, Czech Republic, Georgia, and more. In addition to individual travels, the university offers programs and classes that include trips (for which all costs are paid by the school). For my January term, I will be taking a class about the relationship between culture and psychology, and the course includes a week-long trip to Ethiopia. I genuinely believe that no other college can offer so much learning outside the classroom like NYUAD.

What makes NYUAD truly unique, however, is the diversity within the student body. Just we the Class of 2020, as a group of 320 some students, represent 76 nationalities and speak 70 languages. I will use my roommates as an example. We represent four different nationalities, Korean, American, Bosnian, and Syrian, and we can collectively speak six languages besides English. Here, a normal dining hall talk could consist of discussions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syrian civil war, Putin's presidency, and of course, the American presidential election. Although these conversations could be held anywhere, only at NYUAD can you find students who actually live in the places of interest and know the information. This is crucial in understanding the world today because media cannot (and sometimes will purposefully not) represent the situation accurately. This kind of multiculturalism within the student body certainly cannot be found in a typical American college, nor in any college for that matter.

If I had stayed in the United States, I would have undoubtedly received amazing education in an already familiar environment. Yet, I did not want to be part of a rather homogeneous, Americentric student body. I wanted an institution that could attract a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds. And after a month of school, I can attest to the school's efforts to challenge our opinions and viewpoints. This is why I'm glad that I chose NYUAD.