According to the NYUAD Admissions Profile page,
15,520 “dual NYUAD & NYUNY” applications were submitted for the class of 2016,
but only 2,470 for “NYUAD primary”, up from 957 for the class of 2014
(http://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/admissions/information-for-counselors/admissions-profile.html).
Doesn’t this mean that for 13,050 (or 84%) of applicants, NYUAD was not a more desirable choice even than NYUNY?
How many of those NYUAD applications were from US residents?
How many were admitted to both NYUAD and a “top” US college, but chose to attend NYUAD?
At least with respect to US high school students, I think we’re talking about a tiny niche population of self-selecting students.
Still, in the course of figuring out which are the most desirable colleges for YOU, I don’t think there is anything very wrong with looking at which colleges are most desirable for some appropriate population of other people, according to some appropriate measurement.