A total of 71 students from 27 high schools across Qatar, participating in the Summer College Preview Programme (SCPP), recently completed the four-week preparatory programme at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ).

Now in its eighth year, the programme continues to grow, this year welcoming the largest number of students to date, including 48% Qatari students.

SCPP introduces students to the programmes offered at CMUQ; biological sciences, business administration, computer science, computational biology and information systems, through interactive lab-based projects that provide hands-on experience of the disciplines.

The university brings together high calibre educators from across the world to mentor students throughout the programme. This year, the students were led by 14 professors from international high schools and universities.

The professors guided students through intensive college-level courses to help prepare them for the admissions process to American universities as well as tracking the students’ progress throughout the programme.

Brian Kell, a fifth-year doctorate student at Carnegie Mellon’s home campus in Pittsburgh has been teaching calculus since 2010.

“What keeps us coming back is the feeling of satisfaction we get from SCPP. We are doing something worthwhile. There is a sense of fulfilment in seeing such progress in the students in four weeks,” Kell said.

He added: “What we need to keep in mind is that it is the holidays and there are a number of other activities that these young people could be doing, but they commit their time and energy to pursuing education.”

A key feature of applications to American universities is the requirement to take standardised exams that are designed to assess academic readiness for college. SCPP offers Kaplan courses to help students prepare for ACT or SAT tests and improve their standardised test scores.

CMUQ staff, students and SCPP alum served at peer tutors and counsellors, helping students with coursework, special projects and answering questions about life at Education City.

Insight into life at university is an important element of the programme. Peer tutors organised various activities around campus to help students experience life as a CMUQ student.

Amna al-Sharif, a sophomore at CMUQ and a SCPP alum, said: “Participating in the SCPP gave me a glimpse of what university is like for students.  My experience has helped me grow as a person and has encouraged me to think about my future career.  It enabled me to understand the hard work that is needed to succeed at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.”

Since its inception in 2007, the SCPP has continued to grow. Damian Dourado, manager of pre-college programmes said: “SCPP has evolved through the years, each year we further develop the programme to ensure we are strengthening the academic profiles of the students we work with”.

 

 

 

 

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