The recent intake of first year students to the New York University Abu Dhabi campus has sparked many discussions as the new class increased dramatically in size. Many students have mixed opinions on the matter, with some questioning the capacity of facilities on campus to accommodate such a large student population. This change has affected students’ ability to navigate shared living and common spaces on campus with ease.

To many students, this is an abrupt, unexpected change, though it is important to distinguish that the issue at hand is the way first years have been integrated into the institution, and not the class itself. In fact, they are doing quite well and have settled into campus life. On the bright side, some first years see their numbers as an opportunity to meet more people and have a more diverse community.

“It’s good to have such a big class size because it's fun, we get to meet more people, more different nationalities,” expressed Chloe Delena, Class of 2026. There seems to be a greater sense of community between first year students in having similar experiences and relating to one another. However despite the positive feedback, they are also facing the consequences of this change.

“The primary problem is course enrollment, panic at the time for course registration and not getting first options for courses,” said Paulo Faelnar, Class of 2026. The increase in the size of the student body has caused major concerns for first year students over enrollment in their introductory level courses because of higher demand.

Other first years offer a more understanding take: “It's not bad that class size has increased, it's still pretty small compared to other universities,” Esther Jung, Class of 2026 shared. This shows that while the increase might seem like a big leap to our small community, NYUAD is still on the path of catching up to other institutions in terms of growth.

Perhaps the shock over the increased intake is based on the fact that the university has always been centered around a very small community, which has become a significant characteristic to students. The intake of first year students this year might have been the first step to real growth; to students, that might look intimidating because it is going against the perceived NYUAD identity. The university is only 12 years old, eight of which were on the Saadiyat Island campus. We are a young institution, and we are still growing, so we still have a lot to learn.

Some upperclass students commented on the changes that have come with this increase. Their concerns mostly center around the distribution of resources and facilities.

“Them as a collective hasn't impacted me,” says Gianluca Campanile, Class of 2023. “The university should not be accepting so many when the resources are already spread out and they're having to reduce a lot of resources,” Luca continues. “If I were to change anything I would reduce the class sizes until they can equitably distribute resources and bring back some of the previous benefits we got as students.”

A number of other upperclass students share Campanile’s concerns. For a lot of them this is the first time since Covid-19 that they have witnessed this many people and in-person activity. Students are accustomed to receiving a certain amount of benefits and breathing room when it comes to facilities on campus. However, the increase in traffic is not something we are used to having to deal with on a daily basis.

“I think for seniors, Class of 2023, it's very overwhelming because Covid-19 happened our freshman year, and being back in this environment sort of feels like we are freshman all over again,” expressed Grace Bechdol, Class of 2023. She continues, “I think campus culture has changed a lot with the bigger class sizes so you don't really feel like it's the same small community that it once was … There is a big strain on housing, people are living in A3 and A4 which was never meant for undergrad students. Dining is always flooded; laundry rooms and other facilities are really feeling that strain from the amount of students that are here, so it's just been a huge shift in experience and culture on campus.”

When asked if things would have been different if the increase would have been implemented more gradually, she replied, “In some ways they did do it gradually, and I'll give them that, it's not like they went from 350 to 650 students in a year but with Covid-19 this is the first time that everybody has been back so it feels so much more abrupt. Everybody was on study away or at home the last two years so it feels like a much bigger jump than it actually is, which is why I think it's so overwhelming.”

The general consensus is that the size of the first year class is not entirely negative; in fact it is a testament to our growing community. Some upperclass students welcome the change and the new first years on campus. “It's a very big batch and it feels different but I feel like it's not bad, it's decent. It's not good, not bad, it's just different. It's nice, seeing new people everyday, meeting new people everyday,” says Hamad Al Shamsi, Class of 2024.

Suddenly having to share a space and to share resources and facilities which were already being used at high capacity is overwhelming, to say the least.

“I think it's great that they are expanding the class size but if they do they also need to take into account how much space they have on campus, because the current campus is not built to accommodate so many new freshman and so many study away students so it just puts everyone on edge, because there's no space for anyone, first years or upperclass students,” Afra Shaikh, Class of 2023, expressed. “So I feel like if you're going to increase the class size, make the space for an increased class size.”

The Gazelle reached out to the Office of Admissions team requesting further elaboration regarding their response to the first year intake issue. The matter was deferred to the NYUAD's External Affairs team, who provided the following statement.

*“This year we welcomed our largest ever first-year class, which speaks to the strength and global reputation of NYUAD, and the growing interest of talented and highly motivated students in receiving an NYUAD education.

In this era, it has become harder to predict student choices, and especially the choice to study outside one’s home country. We are therefore very pleased that despite the uncertainties related to the pandemic so many students from the UAE and around the world chose to come to NYUAD to study.

From its inception, NYUAD expected the student body to keep growing, and strong interest in recent years led to record applications and larger incoming classes. In anticipation of such growth, the University was built with sufficient capacity to accommodate expansion. That capacity has made it possible to accommodate the impressive student body this year.

To accommodate our growing student community, the University has increased the number of core courses offered in the Fall, increased First Year Writing sections, increased the number of courses without prerequisites that first year students could take, and increased course capacity where appropriate. In proportion to the class size, the availability and distribution of courses is no different this year for students, compared to previous years. This year we also welcomed 66 new faculty members from top institutions around the world to meet the needs of our students and our academic mission.

All students have been allocated accommodation, including requests received through the Moses Center, and Student Life introduced the Bed4Bed scheme, which allows upper class students in undergraduate residences to switch by mutual agreement into housing they prefer.

Indoor athletics facilities are being utilized at pre-pandemic levels and dining halls are offering full service in all their sites, with higher traffic during busy periods. These trends are always more pronounced early in the academic year as students settle into their daily routines.

We are proud to be a University that offers a world class education across geographies and socio-economic boundaries, and we welcome the members of the Class of 2026 to our outstanding student body and the NYUAD family as a whole.”*