NYU Abu Dhabi

kameronsmith · February 20, 2012, 4:46pm

Plotinus, have you personally interacted with anyone from NYUAD? Because I have and I really don’t feel like I’m somehow being deceived. If I were, all the current students would be as well…

Honestly, I agree that it likely has comparable SAT averages. I was never told that it had higher SAT averages and agree they probably shouldn’t be insinuating that.

First of all: those components are a fairly component of the candidate weekend. Most of it is about interacting with fellow students and the school. And honestly, if I had gone to Abu Dhabi and not done some stuff like that I would’ve been a little disappointed—after all, it’s good to have some stories to tell friends about my time there. Also, we don’t stay in a beachfront hotel.

But you’re right in one thing: NYUAD is anything but normal. It is a highly abnormal college experience and people need to understand that. But the school certainly does. John Sexton essentially stands up and says if you have any doubts you should rescind your application. Hell, their early decision isn’t even binding and they’ll assist you in getting in somewhere else (most of the reps recently worked at other top-tier colleges) if you decide NYUAD isn’t right for you.

Agreed. It’s unlikely that candidate weekends will be a permanent component of NYUAD. In fact, students are already encouraging the school to phase them back and the number of weekends was cut from 5 to 4.

It’s a new institution. It’s not perfect. It’s definitely in flux. But I still think it’s pretty awesome and I don’t think I’m some gullible or impressionable high school student: I’ve been living away from home the past 2 years, held multiple professional jobs, and turned down seemingly amazing opportunities which weren’t right for me.

nrousep · February 21, 2012, 10:57am

Every university indulges in it’s share of hype, snobbery, elitism & so on. We all know that ! So its a little silly to leap up & yell " Its a lie !!" each time they said something as simple as 'you kids are in among the top 1 % in the world " After all they are all well known, seasoned, admissions officers who have been doing this for years at some of the best univs in the US- Al Bloom, Carol Brandt , Sexton, etc. Their expertise cannot be questioned by anyone as they all have SOLID years at very good colleges backing them!

And NYU is no small school. Not even H, Y or P will touch them in fields like Film, Theater, Philosophy ( world no 1 for several years !) , mathematics, Finance , etc.

" NYU’s philosophy department is ranked #1 among 50 philosophy departments in the English-speaking world.[73] NYU is also ranked #1 in finance, mathematics, Italian, and theater in the U.S. by the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index…" (Wiki)

" The university counts 34 Nobel Prize winners, 3 Abel Prize winners,[10][11] 10 National Medal of Science recipients,[12][13] 16 Pulitzer Prize winners,[14] 21 Academy Award winners,[14][15][16] and Emmy,[17] Grammy,[18] and Tony Award[19] winners. NYU also has MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowship holders[20] as well as National Academy of Sciences members among its past and present graduates and faculty.[21]" ( Wiki)

The only area in which one or two top Ivy schools will beat them here is with Nobel Laureates . But when it comes to academy award winners, Pulitzer, Emmy, Grammy, etc. they just stand TALL - even all the Ivys put together cannot beat that count. But in its over all ranking is just 21st & that is mostly because its endowments dwindled to a dismal amount. Academically, NYU is a power house.

And when such a univ teams up with Abu Dhabi, one of the richest nations in the world, things are bound to happen . No one can brush that combo aside lightly. And yes, LOTS of guys are going to see green , feel threatened & cry foul. You can bet that NYUAD will do something SOLID with the awesome kids they select each year . When u plonk such kids in the middle of all the action in the world, taught by Profs from around the world , by real life heavy weights ( corrupt or not ) , you can bet you last dime that they will benefit a lot more than sitting in some isolated frozen New England country side with just a 6% diversity far removed from the rest of the world.

Seriously - u have no idea what it means to be knowing people from around the world in the manner like these kids do . I have a book on the class of 2015 at home. The faces snapped in it are as diverse as diverse can be. I can tell you this Plotinus, Its simply not what you will get anywhere in New York City ( i have been to NYC more than once )

And Abu Dhabi is not a small city by any means - its FAR larger than Philly, New Haven or Boston. Throw in excursions to India, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Turkey, etc. during short holidays & you have something hard to beat!! Clearly the combination is formidable & not something you can get ANYWHERE else. An education from a power house like NYU along side real life experiences like what these kids get at NYU Abu Dhabi is unbeatable whatever your SAT score based analysis says !

awaaaa1 · February 21, 2012, 12:06pm

Plotinus -

As a current student at NYUAD, I’m finding your comment quite unintelligible. I was a student assistant for the last CW and thus attended the same lectures and talks that the candidates attended.
I have to say that the candidate who you just talked to must be exaggerating about certain things.
I am shocked to hear that you are taking everything that your friend said to be objective and true. First of all, there were no “guarantees” of any sort. Of course, John Sexton and Al Bloom said something similar and mentioned that the prospective students will be having stellar opportunities at NYUAD, but neither of them didn’t give any promises or guarantees that I heard of. A candidate weekend is a PR trip and of course it is natural for NYUAD personnel to only promote the good side of NYUAD.

You are making it sound as if John Sexton is luring kids with lies about NYUAD, but that is simply not true. I also believe that you are just mistakenly interpreting simple encouragements to mean something official. That really is pointless. People should seriously put a hold on (or perhaps never) even start making comparisons between NYUAD and other schools that are just so DIFFERENT. NYUAD is a new paradigm on its own. I do agree with you that many NYUAD students would be rejected if they applied to HYP but I also know that many HYP students would not be qualified for NYUAD. At this level of education, it is kinda ridiculous to judge schools/students by SAT scores.

Cardgames · February 21, 2012, 12:21pm

I was going to leave this thread alone, but then I read Plotinus’ …intriguing post. This is gonna be good.

Plotinus, I’d like to address the ninth point you made, which is an extremely serious rumor. First, we need to establish just who is responsible for deciding how much money NYUAD gets. While I’m not 10% confident, I believe it’s the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi -a board of important and influential chairmen headed by Sheikh Mohammed- that would make such a decision. I worked for a place that’s called the General Secretariat of the Executive Council, a government entity that gives recommendations to the Executive Council. I was part of the educational matters team. I can confidently say that, while most people hate NYUAD (we have legit reasons), there hasn’t been any talk about discontinuing any funding. There’s a chance that it’ll get its budget cut by a considerable amount, but even that is uncertain. Unless it’s the Executive Affairs Authority or the Crown Prince’s Court that provides the recommendation, that rumor is false. If it’s EAA’s or CPC’s job, then I don’t know.

I would like to know what are these “sources” he heard from. If it’s just a bunch of high school students’ schmoozing, I’d be rather disappointed in that student’s judgment.

@ nrousep
Abu Dhabi ain’t big. I wonder whether you’re making some kind of mistake between Abu Dhabi city and the Emirate (state) of Abu Dhabi. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi is way bigger than Boston, but Abu Dhabi city is like a fourth of Boston (I’m going by Wikipedia, since I never visited Boston or the US). There is no reason to leave the city of Abu Dhabi (unless you want to go on an excursion or something), so you might as well just take Abu Dhabi city into consideration. Also, Abu Dhabi isn’t a nation (you probably just didn’t proof read your post, but that’s what you said). Are you actually comparing Abu Dhabi to NYC? Really? I find that both flattering and inconceivable. Are you serious? The university isn’t really teaming up with Abu Dhabi; NYUAD is more of a mooch :p.

I do agree with you that sitting with corrupt politicians is an awesome experience. However, other schools also have heavy weights in their disposal. My brother, who graduated from Wharton, was taught by the former Turkish central banker, a former White House employee, and many others. He attended many seminars and meetings with current politicians and heavy weights. I don’t believe that NYUAD has an advantage over other schools in this particular area.

You mention that kids who attend NYUAD meet people from all around the world; that’s most certainly true. However, again, you can meet people from all around the world at other schools. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but my brother forged bonds with people all around the world without attending NYUAD. Actually, he plans to visit a friend who lives in Gaban soon. Is it really necessary to attend NYUAD to forge friendships and connections all around the world? It helps, but it’s not a requirement.

You talk about how the kids are in the middle of all the action in the world. What do you mean? Are the kids in the middle of all the action in the world because they visit a number of countries? Are they in the middle of all the action just because they’re living in the Middle East? Please, elaborate.

@ awaaaa1

Indeed, NYUAD is quite different. However, I still think comparisons are good. They are a good way for prospective applicants to obtain a picture about each school.

kameronsmith · February 21, 2012, 1:03pm

At this point, I think this debate/thread has lost its value. Plotinus, I am frankly highly skeptical that you had a 5-hour debrief with a candidate, since it couldn’t be your own child.

I never said NYU-Abu Dhabi was perfect. (Note that I’ve repeatedly said it’s not.) In terms of access, I never got the impression that we had much superior access than other institutions. But nobody at the candidate weekend gave any sort of guarantees like that.

Your “candidate” either has a penchant for exaggerating (I certainly never remember being told we’re on the fast-track to world leadership) or you’re just lying.

If you don’t mind, just ask him/her this question: what adjective did John Sexton use to describe candidates? Anyone who was actually there should easily know this.

Cardgames · February 21, 2012, 1:14pm

It looks like Plotinus’ last post got deleted.

kameronsmith · February 21, 2012, 1:16pm

Perhaps because it was actually fiction?

Cardgames · February 21, 2012, 1:19pm

Probably…definetely. So kameronsmith, what did you think of Abu Dhabi? Did you like it? What are your impressions?

kameronsmith · February 21, 2012, 2:07pm

Haha, yes indeed. I hope that’s the end of this faithless debate.

As for Abu Dhabi, I actually quite liked it. The city is nice enough and certainly seems accessible. You have to realize that I’m from a very small town, so the city being “boring” isn’t an issue for me. Honestly, it felt like the sort of place I’d like to go to college: it’s small enough that I can actually gain a good knowledge of it in 4 years, while still having nice streets and places to explore. I do think that a good job has been done with planning it out, especially regarding walkability.

Cardgames · February 21, 2012, 2:50pm

I’m glad you like it. Abu Dhabi is actually a very nice place to live, but it isn’t a great adventure venue. What really makes Abu Dhabi interesting is that it’s a city where locals only comprise 8% or so of the population. It has a very peculiar social predicament that’s hard to deal with. Personally, as rather conservative local, I honestly get annoyed when I see inappropriately dressed women loitering in malls and on the Corniche. However, because I’m flat out outnumbered, I have to deal with it. It is almost as if I’m not welcomed in certain areas of the city. However, there are certain areas where you’ll see only locals and other Arabs. You could say some serious social segmentation is going on. Also, while it may not be apparent, Abu Dhabi is filled with politics and issues. However, we keep it all buried rather well.

You can definitely get around in Abu Dhabi. Taxis are abundant, and the bus service is decent-and really cheap. Also, if you have an American driving license, you can drive in the UAE with no problems (Maybe you’ll have to take a day of theory-based driving lessons, but that’s not an issue). We don’t exactly have shopping streets, so you probably will take a taxi more often than walk around. I really disagree with the part about good planning. Come to Mussafah (Yes, I live in Mussafah. I have the right to complain), and then tell me that Abu Dhabi was well planned. Actually, go to Al-Shamkha and tell me that we have good planning. Of course you’d probably never visit those areas (there’s no reason), so I guess you’re fine. You’ll probably visit all the interesting areas and places in a few months, but there’s always Dubai or the Northern Emirates if you feel bored. Also, in before abudhabimama talks about Shami restaurants :p.

kameronsmith · February 21, 2012, 3:01pm

I’m sure you’re absolutely correct, but honestly, I’m comparing it to some major American cities which are extremely difficult to navigate without a car. At least from walking around the NYU area, the city seems more accessible than a lot of US cities.

That being said, you certainly are correct about the interestingness of Abu Dhabi as regards to locals vs. expats. Honestly though, that’s part of what attracts me to the city/school: it’s still trying to come to grips with and develop its identity, at least as compared to somewhere like NYC. Hence, I would certainly find it much easier to make my college home there than at other major cities.

And while I might visit all the interesting places in a few months, at my other college choices I’d visit all the interesting places in a maybe a week…

Cardgames · February 21, 2012, 3:27pm

Aye, Dubai is like those American cities you mentioned. Dubai is basically a highway, if you really think about it. The only area in Dubai that’s actually walkable is BurDubai (Oh man), I guess. No worries- you should be just fine with getting around.

You know, that local vs. expats issue plays such a huge role in everything that happens in Abu Dhabi. It’s definitely a topic worthy of research. There’s one particular subtopic that should definitely be researched (seriously, if some NYUAD student reads this, do a paper on this topic): the minority behavior of the locals. You know how in America certain minority groups (Blacks, Hispanics, etc.) display certain features such as underachievement and a strong sense of identity. Basically, compare the behavior of locals to those minority groups in America. You’d find that there are some key similarities and discrepancies; it’s a pretty interesting phenomenon.

abudhabi-mama · February 21, 2012, 5:06pm

No plontificus, my son is not the one who keeps the youtube diary. I’m glad the thread has gone back to non-sat related matters. I’m not sure what cargames’ reference to the restaurant was about - Way over my head.

nrousep · February 21, 2012, 9:51pm

@cardgames

Cardgames you are a very level headed guy for a school kid - on one hand you hate NYUAD and yet you have good things to say about it. And no Abu Dhabi is not as big as NYC ( did i say that ?!) & it may not be bigger in terms of population, suburban development, etc than some of the US cities i mentioned. But looking at the building mass , that cluster of buildings packed into down town area - Abu Dhabi is way bigger. I was in Pilly in 2008 and i was shocked at how small it was & at how it looked like an abandoned city that could do with paint jobs & some solid face lift. In fact even NYC looked run down, sagging & had lost its sheen from what i had seen in '86 . It was sad . I then realized that it was because i got used to the slick new highways, roads, footpaths , flyovers, sleek glass buildings, brand new cars, etc both in Abu DHabi & the Dubai end of Shk Zayed Road had raised the bar. ( lets not forget those sleek metro station in Dubai ) -

And yes - Abu Dhabi is not a nation - u r right - i just shot off that response without a second read

And to get back to the topic at hand - so as you said NYUAD also arranges for top out of work diplomats & politicians like Wharton ! Great ! The fact that you are comapring NYUAD to Wharton is credit enough for NYUAD. Wharton offers a decent diversity as PENN is the most diverse university in the US & i have even read complaints about this aspect of it being too diverse! ( its all here at this great little site - <a href="http://www..com/%5B/url%5D">http://www..com/</a> - a great place to read up about so many aspects of Univ life : how the international students club together at the mess hall, games, etc. quite isolated & ignored at most univs. , sometimes taunted, jeered, etc., how Jewish kids feel lousy at some univs, & so on)

But even PENN simply cannot match NYUAD in diversity as NYUAD is outside the US & has been constituted thus. It is unfair to compare. NYUAD has been designed from the foundations up to be a global univ catering to the whole world. It is not , a US university really (& yet, is…:-). It is probably the first of a new breed of univs that cater to the whole world. Practically every other well know univ today across the world started off as a univ catering to whatever country it was built in. NYUAD is probably the only univ in the world today set up as a univ that will cater to the world. That is why they keep saying global university. Its not that they have some 5% seats set aside for non-citizens or some such thing as in the case of EVERY UNIV in the world today. This fact is what sets NYUAD apart. Doing something like this will surely have several problems & they are working at it. Even the faculty is to be come diverse as they call on experts from around the globe to teach . Its trying a Wikipedia in a way which broke or rather smashed the mould of what an encyclopedia is or was !!

ANd Diversity is getting to be important in an increasingly networked world that is shrinking with each cable laid & with each satellite sent up. I doubt if the idea of physically getting all profs & students to a campus with rooms & halls to teach will last very long. They may just land up for a few months for practicals as lectures will all be online & as interactive as a class room. That way the Profs can teach a lot more kids each year as they farm out the lab facilities at 3 month intense sessions & have say 4 times the no of kids. But that wont happen very soon even if the technology is already there because mind sets & traditions dont bend easily. That is also where NYUAD stands out. It is an opportunity for those at the helm to break out of frustrating stronghold of traditions & precedences to to conduct a univ in a manner that they wished they could have at their previous Univs. You can sense that in NYUAD. They may indeed be laying the foundations of a new way to run a univ that fits into tomorrow’s globalized world far better than the old ones. NYUAD has in my opinion gone way beyond what SAT or USNEWS dictates on what a uinv should be by its very constitution & location. I think USNEWS & SAT will need to catch up !

Abu Dhabi will not stop funding this. On the contrary it likely to increase funding as the MS & PhD programs begin in NYUAD. why ? because the oil is running out & this is one of the best things to get into - in terms of new findings, inventions, breakthroughs & what not that a univ can throw up. Research is founded on funding. If u have deep pockets to fund research, u can get the best minds to join you. And investing in research is one of the best investments today if u have that kind of money. The US has grown on it !

This UG phase of NYUAD is just one small aspect of the whole program & is just the beginning. If they play their cards well (no pun intended cardgames !!) NYUAD will create history.

( warning : not proof read well !!)

nrousep · February 21, 2012, 10:02pm

oops - my warning in the last input got sent to the bottom when i had to copy paste as i had got logged out of CC. also that website i mentioned has been blanked out by CC for obvious reasons - If CC wont mind ( since it such a useful site ) i wud like to fill in for the Astrixes student reviews -without the space as written here. or google - student reviews
CC is a great site ! really - helped us a lot ! thanx CC

Cardgames · February 22, 2012, 5:36am

@abdudhabimama

Every post you make seems to mention food in Abu Dhabi, in particular Lebanese food. It’s just me, but I think I’ll pass on the shwarmas and grilled platters.

@ nrousep

Oh, that makes more sense. Yes, Abu Dhabi is far more compact than most American cities. Because everything is packed in, the city is more accessible, and thus feels bigger than it actually is. Fair enough. I still wouldn’t say it’s bigger in any way, but I don’t see how size really matters (unless you want to talk about activities), anyway. In truth, depending on how one looks at it, Abu Dhabi is spread out. Everyone seems to forget that Khalifa City, MBZ, Mussafah, Bani-Yas and other areas are pretty far from Abu Dhabi and require one to have a car. However, no NYUAD student will find himself in those places, so it’s all good. Abu Dhabi is a nice, clean city because every building, crossing and road is rather new. That’s definitely a plus for those who want to live in a city that looks pleasing, rather than disturbing (I’m referring to Philadelphia).

Actually, you brought up an interesting point. Is NYUAD really an American university? In what sense is it an American university? Why does being an American university even matter? What does CC think? (I think it’s more American than not)

I agree with the points you made. NYUAD is different in a number of fundamental ways. I really don’t give a hoot about the diversity NYUAD brings, but if it’s one’s cup of tea, then one should consider NYUAD.

The last point you made, about why Abu Dhabi will continue funding NYUAD, is flawed at a fundamental level. It is true that part of the 2030 vision of Abu Dhabi involves establishing a knowledge based economy, but NYUAD is not the solution. It’s exacerbating the whole local vs. expat issue we have. If we keep bringing in more and more foreigners to do our jobs, we will reach 1% of the population. Unlike the US that has no problems with naturalizing, we seldom naturalize anybody. To be extremely blunt, NYUAD is benefitting other nationalities who come here for free, get a quality education, and leave with the knowledge they gained. Emiratis, on the other hand, don’t really gain much. If we want to establish a knowledge based economy, we should be focusing on our local universities, not an American university that really isn’t concerned with our problems and could leave at the slightest sign of trouble. Is there any real need for NYUAD? For us, no, not really. We could simply bring big names to work in our local universities through hefty funding. If we want an American education, we could simply send our students abroad to study at the actual NYU, Harvard, MIT, etc. That would actually be a lot cheaper, since we wouldn’t have to pay for the buildings, the foreign students (who comprise 90% of the student body), the trips, and whatnot. Actually, why don’t we just have one of our local universities affiliate with NYU? We could bring in their professors to teach students at Zayed University or something. NYUAD is more of a luxury than anything else. However, as I mentioned in a previous post, it does diversify the workforce and provides an education not found at local universities. (After reading my post, I realized how xenophobic I can be. Oh well, it’s the truth.)

Also, I could see how NYUAD would get its budget cut. The Abu Dhabi government wants to cut spending in general. The government wouldn’t just be cutting NYUAD’s budget, but pretty much everything’s budget.

I miss Plotinus :(. Come back, O beloved ■■■■■. You made the thread quite interesting.

Plotinus · February 22, 2012, 10:12am

To kameronsmith:

How would you compare Abu Dhabi to Princeton, New Jersey? I went to Princeton as an undergrad (I graduated summa cum laude phi beta kappa). I think the undergraduate program there is just first-rate, especially its emphasis on research. I turned down offers from Harvard and Yale to go there. I find it difficult to see how anyone could compare either NYU (USNWR 33) or NYU Abu Dhabi to Princeton (USNWR 1) in terms of the quality of the faculty, campus facilities, endowment, research, etc. The only aspect that looks similar to me is the financial aid. Is full financial aid guaranteed for all 4 years?

kameronsmith · February 22, 2012, 1:20pm

While I’m reticent to engage when you’ve demonstrated willingness to manipulate facts in the past, I’m happy to respond to reasonable questions.

Abu Dhabi is a city while Princeton is a town. While I do quite like Princeton, it definitely doesn’t have the same amount of activity which Abu Dhabi has, even as a relatively quiet city. (I’ve visited both.) There’s things to be said for the pastoral environment which Princeton provides, it certainly doesn’t have (for example) beaches, clubs, or areas to explore on the scale of Abu Dhabi.

I quite agree that Princeton is excellent, hence why I applied to it over both Yale and Harvard. In fact, if I’m admitted everywhere, then my choice will likely come down to between Princeton, NYU-AD, and Dartmouth. But, NYU-Abu Dhabi certainly is infinitely superior to NYU-NY in many ways, particular when it comes to teaching and access to resources. (Ex. faculty:student ratio is significantly lower and nearly all sophomores I spoke to had been doing some form of research.) In particular, having seen the resources of both schools, NYU-Abu Dhabi definitely has superior student resources (remember, everything is state-of-the-art since it’s just built today). So while Princeton might have more distinguished faculty in general and a richer history/campus, NYU-Abu Dhabi has fairly unparalleled access to both faculty and resources.

No, it’s not similar. Princeton aid is purely need-based. According to their methodologies, my family would likely have to pay probably $20k annually. In contrast, NYUAD essentially offers a full ride to most American students. I think this is the most crucial point. If they cost exactly the same, I likely would go to Princeton without question. But NYUAD should be compared to full-rides at second-tier schools, in which case it undoubtably wins.

As far as the specifics, I’ll let you know if it renews when/if I receive my financial aid award.

nrousep · February 23, 2012, 3:32am

Yes - i always wondered how Abu Dhabi was to benefit from NYUAD since UAE citizens are restricted to about 5% . But i am begining to see a lot of sense in it now. Had NYU tied up with Zayed or UAE univ, like usaid , it will not be as well known ( atleast no heated sessions like this one will pop up in CC !! )

In a way this CC thread is proof of the wisdom in doing a NYUAD on Abu Dhabi. None of the alernatives you mentioned (to NYUAD)would attract kids from across the globe like this one has. Do you think that wud have happened with your alternatives? I doubt it.

Wait till this happens at MS & PhD levels! NYUAD will then be a landmark in this region , the land mass stretching from Morocco , Algeria , Egypt to India , China & up to Russia. See it as an international University that belongs to Abu Dhabi & also belongs to NYU. It is a lot more than being an US univ- a truly global Univ for a global sudent body its like a multinational company , like a JV that you find in Biz, like say Airbus Industrie

In phase 2, with research in full swing here (& recession in full swing in the US?) , u could see a lot more activity here ! Its only when an international atmosphere is created at a uinv that good researchers will come. Just the money alone will not attract them like u suggested. And that is what NYUAD is creating.

whatever the case, it is a gutsy thing the Rulers are doing. And it could very well succeed . It probably already has if u ask me in this phase one - at UG level or why wud this thread be here!? Why would Plotinus be this upset? why would kids dump HYP & join NYU?

Its a tricky situation nevertheless - it could flop with a war in the gulf or take off to be a famous Univ. who knows? lets all wait & see…

Plotinus · February 23, 2012, 3:32am

To kameronsmith:

Do you know what you plan to major in? It looks to me as though NYUAD has only 2 or at most 3 professors in each department. How can 2 or 3 department members adequately teach 8 courses in different areas of the field, the distribution requirements of a major? Who will teach all the courses in the different sub-specializations? You don’t think a department has to have a critical mass?

Have you checked the cv’s of the resident faculty at NYUAD? Have you compared these cv’s to the cv’s of the resident faculty at Princeton (or at NYU)? The standard measures people in academia use to assess the quality of a professor are the academic credentials on his or her cv, and these academic credentials include (1) prestige of the universities from which the faculty member received his or her degrees; (2) the prestige of the universities at which the faculty member previously held academic appointments, and the level of these appointments (e.g., assistant, associate, full professor, endowed chair, etc.); (3) the number and prestige of publications; (4) academic honors and awards; (5) professional association memberships; (6) journal refereeing and membership on editorial boards.

Have you looked at these cv’s, or you don’t care about the cv’s of the people who will be teaching you, only the student/faculty ratio?

Princeton has a very lengthy track-record in placing students at top graduate and professional programs and in top jobs. The prestige of a degree from Princeton is very well established. I don’t think anyone would compare the prestige of an undergraduate degree from NYU to the prestige of an undergraduate degree from Princeton. NYUAD has no track-record. The prestige of a degree is tied to the prestige of the faculty of the university that issued the degree. I don’t know if the prestige of highly-paid visitors will rub off onto the degree. People in academia know how to read cv’s.

I admire that you are so candid about the financial considerations. I graduated from Princeton with loan debt, but it was deferred through graduate school and no trouble at all to pay off over 10 years once I had a job. I thought the new policy at Princeton was that all financial aid is in the form of grants, and that loans had been eliminated. But even if you would have $20,000 in debt, would it not be a good investment and have good returns? Of course, this depends upon what line of work you plan to go into. I can fully understand that someone who wants to be an actor would prefer not to take on a huge loan burden. Although I believe that loan repayments can be deferred during periods of unemployment or other financial hardship.

You are right, the town of Princeton is a terribly boring place. The restaurants are abominable. The hottest spot is Firestone Library, where many undergraduates more or less live, even at night, interrupted only by what we used to call the “Wawa run” for coffee and doughnuts. Another nice place is the Institute for Advanced Studies, with the fields and woods where Einstein used to stroll. When it snows people go cross-country skiing there. But NYC is only about 1 1/2 hours away (not that an undergrad is likely to have much time to go). I don’t think anyone goes to Princeton for the location.

NYU Abu Dhabi

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