@pizzagirl Considering my personal list of “desirable schools” differs quite a bit from the list I posted - what you were saying doesn’t apply to me. Some of the “most desirable schools” were ones that I quickly ruled out. But yes, you are right. By no means should a list like this be the biggest factor in determining what schools to apply to. As far as USNews go, they don’t directly compare liberal arts colleges with universities, which was my original goal with this list.
As far as the ice cream analogy goes, I think a better analogy would be: you have the option of trying two different flavors of ice cream - you can only have one. You have never had either option before, and both sound equally tasty to you, but most people say they prefer one flavor over another. Would it not make sense to try the one that most people like better?
@tk21769 True, there are many hidden factors. Part of it has to do with many NYU applicants never hearing of NYUAD and only applying because it is an extra check box on their application. Undoubtedly their acceptance rate is skewed high. That being said, NYUAD would still have a 6% acceptance rate if you only considered the primary applicants. That is a more representative statistic as virtually no one who applies to both NYU and NYUAD get in (around two students per year - probably both had NYUAD as their primary choice). Either way, NYUAD’s yield is extremely high, nudging out Harvard’s. I know anecdotes do not mean much, but two out of three of my friends chose NYUAD over other elite institutions. Two chose NYUAD over Harvard, and one chose Stanford over NYUAD. Part of this has to do with how well NYUAD treats their students - basically putting them in the nicest living quarters, pampering them, and giving more aid than schools like Harvard. As far as the quality of the NYUAD students - it is very high. I received a book of short biographies of ALL the students that attend there (due to my interest in the school), and every single one is exceptional, with tons of interesting hooks.