Gearing up for university success and life as a student

SFS-Q’s GPS students

The third annual Georgetown Pre-College Summer (GPS) Programme of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) is now under way for university-bound students.
The three-week programme, running until July 19, is geared to give students the opportunity to prepare for university success, experience life as a university student and explore topics with professors on a world-class campus.
“This year, we have about 40 students who we will challenge with preparations in English; specifically in writing, Math; especially its use in Economics, and SAT; offered by Kaplan instructors,” the programme co-ordinator Kevin Gomes said.
Additional workshop sessions feature important insight into university life, including stress and time management, note taking and more.“We focus more on 11th and 12th grade students, but are open to anyone in high school or those just finishing high school. The GPS Programme definitely sees diverse participants, not exclusively students who are university ready,” he explained.
The GPS Programme scouts students throughout the year through websites, contacts with school counsellors, admission trips, open houses and events such as its Model United Nations Conference.
GPS has a three-fold goal, according to Gomes. The first is to make sure that ‎Qatar’s secondary education community is informed of what it takes to get a seat in Georgetown University. The second is to give the participants a firsthand look at what SFS-Q’s international affairs curriculum is about.
“The third part for us is getting to know the high school students from around the area and offer assistance,” he said. As a testament to the impact of the GPS Programme, Gomes recalled a former participant who is now a peer tutor at SFS-Q and a rising sophomore, after first touching grounds at GPS two years ago.
“Although completing the GPS Programme does not guarantee admission into Georgetown, SFS-Qatar has accepted quite a few past GPS students, and so far, they have done well here,” Gomes added.