New York University Shanghai has chosen 500 students to participate in a series of evaluations to whittle down the number of candidates for its inaugural freshman class this fall, the university announced Friday.

The evaluations will take place at an open house later this month.

The university will use activities at the open house, such as demo classes, group discussions, interviews and team work assignments, to evaluate applicants on their leadership, teamwork, communication and writing skills, according to a university announcement.

"We are going to have five or six open house events at East China Normal University starting at the end of February. Each of the students will be randomly assigned to participate in one of them," said Wang Zhenji, a senior associate for communications and public affairs from NYU Shanghai.

The 500 candidates will be vying for the 151 slots in the freshman class that the university has set aside for students from the Chinese mainland.

"When students attend the demo classes, the admission committee will pay more attention to whether a student is an active and attentive learner, instead of testing how many things he or she can memorize," Wang told the Global Times.

The open house events will last for one day. The university will set the students up in nearby hotels the night before so they can participate in "candidate weekend."

Sixteen students from the US and Europe have already been admitted to NYU Shanghai through the early admissions process.

The university is still considering candidates for the remaining slots open to international students.