Candidate Week Experience Overview
📌 Maria Rojo, an NYU Abu Dhabi student from Bolivia studying Economics, shared her experience during the Candidate Week (CW).
📍 The CW is an NYU-organized event designed to give selected candidates a preview of life in Abu Dhabi, including sample classes and interviews.
🚗 Travel logistics involved arriving in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, with ground transport provided to the hotel, which served as the initial meeting point for candidates.

Activities and Assessments During Candidate Week
🚌 Activities included meeting potential classmates, campus tours, attending a sample class, a trip to the desert often involving group sharing, and student mixers.
🗣️ Candidates interacted with current students and staff members who volunteered to help answer questions about life on campus and in Abu Dhabi.
📝 The assessment process generally involved two interviews and a reading comprehension/writing assessment.

Interview Insights and Preparation
🧐 Interviews were generally calm and conversational, focusing on understanding the applicant better—why they want to attend and diving deeper into their application.
💡 Tip: Reviewing one's application thoroughly beforehand is crucial, focusing on understanding the core motivations and strengths you presented.
💖 Interviewers seemed genuinely interested, which helped ease nervousness; being respectful but authentic is key.

Campus Environment and Socializing
🌍 The campus environment is described as highly international and multicultural, with many languages heard daily, reflecting the competitive nature of the student body.
🤝 Making friends during the CW is highly recommended, as these connections can last throughout university and provide support.
🌟 To stand out, applicants should be highly involved and interested in learning about life at NYU Abu Dhabi by actively engaging with staff and current students.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ The acceptance rate post-CW is considered very high; if invited, the focus should be on performing well in the interview and assessment.
➡️ For the writing assessment, Maria found it to be basic and did not require intensive preparation; not struggling was her main takeaway.
➡️ Final Advice: Review your entire application, stay calm, remember everyone else is equally nervous, and prioritize being yourself while making as many connections as possible.
💵 Financial aid awarded to Maria was very accurate for what she requested, suggesting the university analyzes need strictly when processing applications.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Dec 15, 2025, 17:06 UTC