As an undergraduate Rubin attended the accelerated Princeton University PhD program where he was one of a cohort of 20 students mentored by the physicist John Wheeler (the intention of the program was to confer degrees within 5 years of freshman matriculation).
During his undergraduate studies, Rubin participated in the fast-track PhD program at Princeton University, alongside 20 other students under the mentorship of physicist John Wheeler. The goal of this program was to confer degrees within five years after freshmen matriculation.