Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ) recently guided some 54 high school juniors and seniors through a crash course - the Summer College Preview Programme (SCPP) - in the academic rigour that will be expected of them at a top university.
Junior and high school students who took part in the summer programme
Over three weeks, SCPP prepped students for the college admissions process, strengthened their standardised test-taking abilities, exposed them to collegiate-level courses and presented them the student life at Carnegie Mellon.
Students are exposed to university-level math – including differential calculus – academic writing, and an array of personal and professional developmental workshops to improve their competitiveness on college
applications.
“While their peers are on their summer holidays, these 54 students were on campus, working hard and demonstrating their true passion for learning,” CMUQ Pre-College Programmes manager Damian Dourado said.
Israa Salama, a senior student at the Cambridge International School for Girls, said she participated to improve her English skills and learn more about the university’s biological sciences programme.
“The professors are very detail-oriented. They make sure you really understand the material. It’s been great to get a view of what college is going to be like. I enrolled in the Biological Sciences project because I want to become a scientist and researcher,” Israa said.
Initiated in Qatar six years ago, SCPP is modelled after a decade-old programme at Carnegie Mellon University’s campus in Pittsburgh known as Summer Academy for Math and Science (Sams).
The programme aims to infuse interest in Stem majors (Science, Technology, Math and Engineering) amongst high school
students in the US.
Each participant selected a project aligned with one of Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s majors – biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems.
In the biological sciences project, students were introduced to the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (Term), including an overview of the current design strategies, theories and potentials of the field.
Students who enrolled in the business administration project worked together to apply concepts and techniques learned in the operation of a business, which enabled them to experience the responsibilities and challenges that real life business executives encounter.
Another project introduced students to the field of computer science through the theory of design and programming. Programme participants learned how humans interact with various devices by developing computer programmes that are at once usable yet sophisticated.
They were further introduced to the basics of systems design and even developed a prototype using a programming language during their short introduction.
Those who elected to participate in the information systems project learnt how information is represented, processed, presented and shared in today’s highly connected world.
Students were introduced to the development of web animations, applications, games and simulations – learning the core design principles of modern information systems.
In the past, about 30% of SCPP participants have joined CMUQ.
“At Carnegie Mellon, we understand how important it is that new undergraduates are well prepared for higher education, especially those seeking admission to top universities in the US and the UK,” CMUQ dean Ilker Baybars said.
