On Oct. 18, NYU Abu Dhabi hosted 23 graduate school representatives for its first Graduate School Fair which was held in the Arts and Humanities Building.

The Career Development Center hosted the fair in order to allow students to interact with universities within the UAE and throughout the world. At the fair, students met with admissions officers about the different graduate level programs they represent, scholarships available and application deadlines. The fair was also open to the entire Abu Dhabi community as part of a collaborative effort to spread the wealth of knowledge at NYUAD.

The CDC created a list of schools to invite to the Graduate School Weekend in discussion with students from different classes. Among the schools present were NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Oxford and Lund University.

“I loved it. I was amazed at the number of reputable schools turning up to the fair. Also, almost all school representatives were approachable and helpful when clarifying my doubts and queries,” Senior Yunze Wen said.

The CDC also hosted a preparation session beforehand for students interested in attending the event. At the session, students learned about the participating schools that were attending and were taught how to effectively approach admissions officers.

On the second day of the Graduate School Weekend, the CDC hosted panel discussions with admissions officers, faculty and other administrative staff who had attended the Fair. The panel discussions addressed admissions, letters of recommendation, faculty connections and personal statements. NYUAD faculty or staff chaired the panels and included representatives from different schools.

The director of the CDC and Assistant Dean of Students Hazel Raja explained that the CDC plans to improve the Graduate School weekend in the years to come by opening the fair to schools in the UAE, outside of the Abu Dhabi.