Second summer college preview program wraps up at Carnegie Mellon Qatar

The program is designed to introduce intelligent and academically motivated students to the demanding curriculum of selective American universities such as the ones in Education City.

"The Summer College Preview Program gives high school students some exposure to college-level teaching," says Gloria P. Hill, Ph.D., Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar vice provost for education.

"This program teaches students to think in a different way. They learn critical thinking skills and how to become independent learners."

During the rigorous program, students took daily courses in English, math and SAT Exam preparation.

They also attended personal development workshops and worked on a project in business administration, computer science or information systems.

Through this, the 34 women and 17 men learned first-hand how heavy a college course load can be and what caliber of work will be expected of them if they are to succeed.

Each student also had a mock college admission interview with a Carnegie Mellon admissions counselor.

This gave students a chance to see what would be expected of them in the highly competitive admission process.

The students also got to act as an admission counselor and review applications so they could see what other students' applications may look like.

"This makes the whole admission process more real for them," says Bryan Zerbe, Admission Director at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

"Many of the students tell us the mock interviews and serving on a fake admission committee are some of the most beneficial parts of the program."

This was the second year for the Summer College Preview Program and Zerbe says the number of students accepted into the program was a direct reflection of the high quality of the students who applied.

"We initially increased enrollment from 35 students last year to 40 this year. Then when we saw that we had such a highly qualified pool of applicants, we increased it even more."

Four of the students who took part in last year's program came back for a second year. Additionally, one student came from Saudi Arabia and one student came from Kuwait.

"This shows the level of interest and commitment to education that young people in Qatar and the Gulf Region have," Hill says.

"These students were very bright and very inquisitive. We saw a huge improvement in their skills in three short weeks. We hope they will go back to their high schools this fall and study differently. This way they will be able to excel at a top university."

Thirteen instructors came from the United States to teach the courses.

Current Carnegie Mellon staff and students served at peer tutors and counselors, helping students with coursework, special projects and answering questions about life at Education City.