Doha: Thirty high school students, who took part in this year’s Georgetown Pre-College Summer programme were recognised for accomplishments in a closing ceremony at the university’s Education City campus.
The programme unique to Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q), gives local high school students a head start in the university application process.
Over three weeks, it gave students a competitive advantage and experience developing and practicing academic and personal skills necessary to meet challenges of university life. The schedule included full-time classes in English, college entrance exam preparations and one-on-one mentoring from Georgetown’s students and staff.
“The programme is incredibly beneficial for students in the final years of high school because it offers a chance to experience academic demands and social environment of university life,” said Jacqui Snell, GU-Q’s educational enrichment manager and programme organiser.
“For many students, this is the first introduction to the pending transition in their lives and can make a significant difference in how well they do in the next stage of their educational careers.
“Dedicating three weeks of summer isn’t easy and we want to make sure that the students are recognised for dedication to education. We also want them to know that after graduating from the programme, they can always consider GU-Q as their resource, whether enrol here or not.”
Brendan Hill, Dean of Students, chaired the award ceremony, which featured speeches by two participating students.
The classes included topics in English, reading, research, note-taking and presentation skills, with a focus on preparations for university applications. Courses in maths focused on applying it to economics with an emphasis on algebra, precalculus and calculus.
Students were also given a sneak peek into the international affairs majors at GU-Q through lectures, seminars and activities organised by GU-Q staff.
“A little taste of each of the majors enables students to determine whether GU-Q is the right place for them. It’s a useful exploratory period for students regardless of whether they attend Georgetown because we are teaching students how to make the best choices for themselves,” said Snell.
For the first time, this year’s programme included preparations for ACT college entrance exam and SAT. “We found that many students take ACT and SAT tests, so we decided to accommodate both. The standardised SAT exam has been changed, so we made sure that our curriculum was updated to reflect the changes,” said Snell.
Details about this year’s programme and how to enrol in future classes are available on the GU-Q website.The Peninsula
