The Summer Academy will introduce students to the principles of a liberal arts education in the summers following their 10th and 11th grades through a rigorous educational experience set across three of NYU’s international locations: Abu Dhabi, New York, and Florence, Italy. The curriculum will include courses that emphasize critical thinking, writing and discussion in English, quantitative reasoning for the sciences, standardized test preparation, leadership development, and college admissions counseling.

"I thought it would be a challenge and it has," scholarship winner Darwish Al Marar, a student at the American International School, told The National. "But I've learnt so much in these two weeks which I wouldn't have in school, like handling the SAT exam, and I've improved my English."

NYU Abu Dhabi has announced the 24 inaugural recipients of the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Scholarship for Outstanding High School Students. These high-achieving, Abu Dhabi-based Emirati high school students will participate in the newly launched NYUAD Summer Academy, a two-year summer program designed to prepare young students for entry into top-tier international universities.