A large group of 62 students have completed a four-week programme to prepare for college admissions, during the Summer College Preview Programme (SCPP) at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q).
The programme, in its seventh year, offers an all-round experience of what life is like at an elite institution and exposes prospective students to college-level courses to strengthen their academic backgrounds.
Participants are taught university-level maths and academic writing, preparing them for the SAT exam.
Personal and professional developmental workshops give students an edge on their college applications, while English classes train them in admission interviews, application essay and personal statement.
Student’s fun activities took place every Saturday, immersing students into Carnegie Mellon University traditions such as a trivia quizzes, football matches and various Carnegie Mellon carnival activities.
“I applied for the program because I wanted to get a deeper understanding of the Biological Sciences major taught at CMUQ as well as to improve my score on the SAT exam. I really enjoy working in the lab and taking part in the extra-curricular activities. And we had a football match against Georgetown, which we won,” said a participant from the International School of Choueifat.
CMU alumni from Pittsburgh took on the role of instructors in biological sciences and business administration and offered first-hand insight into life at the university this year.
“I participated in a similar programme when I was in high school, it’s a really great opportunity for students to be exposed to college level academics and get a real sense of what life is like at a high level university,” said Bertrade Mbom, SCPP project leader in biological sciences.
“I want students to learn more than just the tools and techniques, I want them to understand the long term potential of the research and the impact it can have globally.” she added.
Each participant selected a practical project aligned with one of Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s majors – biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science or information systems.
Students who enrolled in the business administration project worked together to develop a business plan and experienced the roles and responsibilities that real life business executives encounter.
Other students got a taste of computer science through working on the theory of design and programming.
The information systems programme showed students how fun and applicable the programme is by working on Android smart phone applications.
Damian Dourado, manager of pre-college programmes at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar said “We are really proud of all of the students who have participated in SCPP. Over the last four weeks, the students have worked extremely hard and have shown that they have the capabilities and potential to go on and become successful Carnegie Mellon Qatar students.”
Source:
Qatar Chronicle
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