I worked with Ragad and Tala as they explored and applied to colleges in the U.S. They went to an international school in Saudi Arabia and their English was impeccable. Originally, their goal was to study in the States, but ultimately, the twins decided to stay closer to home and to study at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. Here I’ll share what Ragad told me about CMU-Q.

A little bit about my experience in CMU-Q so far:

The university as I mentioned in our meetings before is tiny (total about 500 students), which has its advantages. I think all of my classes have less than 25 students! I know all my professors well. And almost all faces on campus feel familiar already, which I think made the transition easier.

Culture

Speaking of easy transitions, Qatar’s culture is extremely similar to that of Saudi and their time zones are the same. It is really comforting knowing I’m not too far from home – only a 90 minute flight away.

Perhaps you already know this, but CMU-Q is part of what is called Education City, which is basically a small city with 8 international branch campuses, including universities like Georgetown University, Northwestern, and Texas A&M, each of which teaches the majors it’s known for. So, despite CMU-Q being small, it is part of a larger community.   You can cross-register for courses at other universities and even do minors at other universities. The place is really beautiful and well-kept. It has the Qatar National Library, one of the stadiums that were used in the World Cup, a large air-conditioned park, an art exhibition center, and Qatar National Convention Center where Tala and I watched Moscow Ballet La Classique perform “Swan Lake” just last Friday.

The dorms are really nice as well!  

A few drawbacks, to be fair

Of course, not everything is perfect. Due to the size of the campus, the variety of courses is a bit limited, which is not great when it comes to choosing electives. Another thing is that since it is CMU after all, I feel that more attention is given to majors like computer science and information systems when it comes to things like career fairs, competitions, and other events.

Hott: I hope that a field trip to Education City might one day be in store for me! Thank you, Ragad, for this close-up view of CMU-Q!