<p>Probably moot at this point (given the CW candidate Facebook page communications) but I received my e-ticket a few hours ago.</p>
<p>Hey guys! Sorry I disappeared for a little after getting accepted. Congrats to my future classmates! And to those who didnāt get in, Iām sorry, I know it must suck, but really, there is something out there for you. It doesnāt have to be NYUAD. You will undoubtedly succeed if you put in the right effort, where ever you may go. Best of luck to everyone!</p>
<p>Congratulations HangingOnStars - you certainly hung in there. I am the mother of a third year student. Currently he is in London - but he will be doing his last year in Abu Dhabi. For him and us as his parents it has been an incredible experience. Hold on to your seat dear, you are in for the ride of your life.</p>
<p>Thank you abudhabi-mama! Yeah, it was a long ride. Glad I finally made it! 
I can only imagine what the next four years will be likeā¦ Iām so excited :)</p>
<p>Hello abudhabi mama - I just joined College Confidential and my daughter has been accepted to NYU AD (ED) class of 2017. I have seen some of your helpful posts in CC and I hope you would be able to answer some questions that I have as a new āNYU AD momā. Have you had a chance to visit the campus, especially to help your child settle in AD? What items would my daughter need to bring along? Compare to moving in process in U.S. campus, how is it different in NYU AD? Thanks in advanceā¦as my account name indicates, this is my first child going off to college so I appreciate any advise you can share.</p>
<p>OhMy NewBmom, where to start. First off, congratulations, your daughter is a lucky, lucky duck, with so many great experiences in the next four years. This advice might benefit others, so Iāll post it on CC rather than by PM. And some of the advice will come as I think of it, so little bits at the time.
First off - do not try to ship things. Everyone gets provided with one set of sheets, blanket and pillows. The apartments are furnished with beds, couches, desks and garbage cans. Students have ready access to local stores for night lights, hair dryers, kitchen stuff & appliances, etc. All the items that are fun to shop for.
And they can only bring two suitcases with them. They will have to pack up for J-Terms and summer terms and will only have two cardboard boxes to store possessions in between semesters in and out of Abu Dhabi. My son has been living out of 1 main checked suitcase, 1 smaller checked suitcase, 1 carry-on case and 1 backpack. And that is really all he owns at his point. Depending on the flight, he will pay the extra fee for the second checked bag or heāll cram everything in the backpack and carry-on and pretends it doesnāt weigh anything. He is always ready to gate-check anything theyāll take of his hands.
That said, some items being light and colorful are nice gifts. I gave him twin sheets and a great soft pillow that folded into almost nothing. I also gave him some favorite tea cups and of course family pictures.<br>
We skype once a week. I did see the sheets and the pillow and one teacup. He had a lot of little stick on notes on the wall behind his bed with arabic words from class - no family pictures on the walls really. But I did see other studentās walls and especially the girls had more posters and pictures up.
Skyping has been really important to us. Like I said, once a week. If he is tired a short one, same for me. I actually saw him fall asleep a couple of times (we have a 9 hour time difference so it often late for him) and I felt just like I was at home when he would sometimes fall asleep at the table. Itās fine really.
Once there they are very busy. That means they sometimes are too tired to talk. But they are fed extremely well and from what I could see/tell the REās are very attentive to make sure everyone is comfortable and feeling well. There really will be no depressions/alienation/ deaths/suicides - they are well guarded. That doesnāt mean some things do not happen. I know there has been some drinking and smoking in the dorms, just like every other dorm in the world. And just like everywhere else it gets shut down when noticed by REās or staff.
Depending if I get any/bad/good/ feedback on this post, will continue later, or Iāll PM you (Iām sure thatās what my son will vote for)
We did go and visit him on in December 2011 - his sophomore year. More on that later.</p>
<p>Thanks ADMama! Great info. I just returned from CW and was very impressed. Will find out about (RD) admissions in a few weeks. </p>
<p>Please keep the info flowing. There is a relative lack of āground levelā information about day-to-day NYUAD life and travel/communications between AD and the USA. </p>
<p>Does your son have any thoughts/impressions regarding the Saadiyat Island campus and the expansion in the size of the student body that will come with it? It seems to me like a big, positive step forward for NYUAD, but maybe the current students have a different opinion? </p>
<p>Anyways, thanks again!</p>
<p>Hey guys, sorry I havenāt replied for sometime. I was in AD for the Feb. 14th to 17th CW!! Best experience in my life!!! I actually got to know what they were about and trust me, to call my reaction starstruck would be an understatementā¦ (Yes!!! We met a man named Gordon Brownā¦ He shook me and said ācongratulations on getting this farā but no biggieā¦ Heās just a former Prime Ministerā¦ lol!!)
btw, been reading all the postsā¦ Hearty Congrats to the EDs and ED2s that got in
Congrats to those (like me) who made the CWā¦
thanks @ADmama for the infoā¦Iām sure itās been glorious being the mum of a college kid in UAE
Wishing everyone good luck as April approachesā¦
btw @scswickmanā¦ I also asked about that expansion tooā¦ Not many people gave it a thumbs upā¦ I mean, one of the reasons NYUAD is NYUAD now is the extremely closely knit family that is the Student body
But I have to say, Saadiyat is one of the most amazing places I have seenā¦ with Louvre and all
However, an increase to the estimated 2000 may not necessarily remove the close community feelingā¦
Whatever, I hope NYUAD goes on to break records (which it has already begun to doā¦as we were told by NYUAD himself)</p>
<p>My daughter is also at NYUAD. Sheās a sophomore this year. I agree with and echo everything abudhabi-mama has said about the school. We feel so happy that our daughter is thriving at a place we never even dreamt she would go.</p>
<p>We have not yet visited but plan to. We live in the U.S., so airplane tickets are spendy. But we also skype once a week; sometimes sheās too busy, but most times, we keep our date.</p>
<p>The one thing I was a little teary about in the beginning was that I couldnāt go to Bed Bath and Beyond and buy her everything sheād need for her dorm room and drop her off in her new room. But the school takes care of all of that. They will give the new students opportunities to purchase room items during Marhaba week at Ikea, for one. The only things my daughter took with her freshman year were two suitcases full of clothes and toiletries and some personal items, like photos. She was a little bit homesick in the beginning, but everyone is, and everyone helps one another adjust. They really become a very close knit family.</p>
<p>She has met amazing people, both known and unknown, and her professors and staff have been very nurturing and caring. I couldnāt have left her in better hands.</p>
<p>GrnMtnMom - yes, I too was a little sorry I couldnāt furnish my sonās room for him, but in reality, he wouldnāt have let me do that if he was going to school in town - darn boys. But the sheets and pillow worked well and I could see in Skype that they were being used. Skype is really the one important part for me, and sometimes for him as well. Make sure you have set up everything before you leave, it is much harder to get all programs in place after you are there. Also of importance, but really only for the students and not for the parents, is to have a phone that will take a local chip into it. They text each other all the time about meetings either for school, or take-out food.
And it is hot, really hot. I was glad I taught my son how to operate the washing machine so he can change clothes and wash them often (the sheets not so much I think)
Light cotton, crinkly linnens, etc. Sorry have to go - more later.</p>
<p>Thank you Abudhabi-mama & Grn-Mtn-Mom for very informative posts. Looks like students are independent enough to make the big international move without any help. My husband and I thought maybe one of us need to tag along to help initially (bank account?, local phone, shopping?), but it is helpful to know that is not necessary. Congratulations to both of you as well!</p>
<p>And congratulations to you, too, NewBMom, and all the students and families here.</p>
<p>About the cell phone - also during Marhaba week, there is a point where they will take the students to get cell phones, if they want, for local use. My daughter is not a heavy cell phone user, but she got a prepaid dumb phone, and Iām not sure how often she uses it. We only use skype to call each other weekly (and thatās how she stays in touch with her friends from high school). She has a prepaid US cell phone that she makes sure to charge before leaving to come back to the US, so she can be in contact if she gets stuck somewhere en route.</p>
<p>Regarding the bank account - we made sure that she had a bank account here, at home, that is part of a larger network abroad (Cirrus maybe?) That way, she can use her debit card for purchases or for ATM transactions to get cash.</p>
<p>Yes, great suggestion, abudhabi-mama. It is like a sauna in late August/early September. Bring light clothes. But also bring a sweater for those air-conditioned interiors!</p>
<p>Thanks for posting, Moms! Weāre waiting on decision for RD, but my son loved his CW and depending on whether heās admitted, and what his other options are, I may have lots of questions! For now, I wonder about any costs weāre not thinking of. Travel back and forth will be high, of course. Iāve read these students do a fair amount of international travel around the region. Does the student pay extra for these trips, or is this somehow part of tuition? Same question about the winter term- are travel costs associated with that term extras? Thanks.</p>
<p>Hi all. my NYU albert shows āundecided (abu dhabi campus)ā in description for Abu dhabi program and just āShangaiā for NYU shengai program. I am kinda confused! :/</p>
<p>Hii I applied Regular Decision and was wondering when the invites for April Candidate Week were sent out or if they have already?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Is there an April CW? [Candidate</a> Weekend - NYU Abu Dhabi](<a href=āhttp://nyuad.nyu.edu/admissions/candidate-weekend.html]Candidateā>Candidate Weekend - NYU Abu Dhabi)</p>
<p>Hi riverrunner - depending on what aid your child gets - in our case it was full aid - there really is not much to spend. He gets two trips home a year, one at Xmas and one in the summer. The class trips are all paid for, inclusive food and hotels. Books and supplies are paid for and they get a stipend for small personal expenses. In our case it comes down to buying him some clothes, a back-up hard drive for his computer and when it comes to it a new one, and an incidental airline charge for when he has more than one suitcase.
He spend his first summer in New York, where he was rehearsing for the annual Back to School musical. His flights there and back home were covered, so was food and housing, and a stipend again. The second summer he went on a workshop to India and an internship at Theater Mitu. We paid for part of the workshop because that did not give academic credit. The internship gave him again free housing and food. This is were he decided to take the money for food instead of the meal plans. He saved quite a bit. Fall was in New York and again taking money instead of meal plans he saved enough to now go on a spring break in Marokko.
He is quite thrifty with his money and manages to save on his stipend as well. This allowed him to take some other independent trips to Armenia and Oman. There are a lot of internships or summer activities that can be totally covered to be had. They have to write proposals to make a case of why they should be given this. It takes extra work to obtain this and I can imagine some students just want to be home and do nothing for a while. </p>
<p>On another note, yes, sweaters or jackets against the airco inside the buildings and something nice to wear for āofficial/festive occationsā. I do not know how girls do it with luggage, at that age my shoes would have filled one.</p>
<p>There is some cooking going on - cookies, little meals, in one case even dim sum. But everything can be bought there without problem. I did send him away with some of his favorite tea, but once there he became quite found of the cardamon tea.</p>
<p>He is a hero at buying little exotic presents from everywhere he goes. He has a stack of them ready when he comes home for ready distribution.</p>
<p>Thanks for the details, abudhabi-mama. Itās so difficult to not think about this possibility! My son made some great friends at CW and talks to many of them on a daily basis by facebook/skype. If he gets in and the money works, itās hard to imagine him choosing any of the other options. </p>
<p>What is your sonās major? Iām trying to figure out if the travel and internships you write about are specific to his field, or if it seems that every NYUAD is doing this extensive travel?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>He is a Theater Major, acting mainly. But I think most other students also get to travel a lot and do internships all over.</p>
<p>Have any RD candidate heard from NYUAD yet?</p>