I don’t have a very good SAT scores, so can I keep it only for myself?
First, where you born? Where you live in? Middle east? Asia? Or western?
I don’t know too much about GUQ. I major computer science in CMUQ. About the academic, I think it is pretty good. Although the students are not as competitive as students in US (because we have a smaller student pool), we still have the same curriculum and requirement. And I have to mention, for basic education, here maybe stronger than US. Because of the small professor-student ratio, it is even more hard for us to get high GPA than the students in main campus. However, if you are a genius, don’t come here. Because you will soon find that this place cannot satisfy your ambition.
About why I hate here, well, I don’t have too much comment to the college. It is fairly decent. That’s all I want to say. I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it either.
There are several things I really hate. First, weather. HOTHOTHOTHOT!!! If you never been to Middle East, you could never imagine the weather here. In summer, even at night, you will feel quite hard to breath.(It is also very humid too) You will be kept in the building all the time. If you live in a place with a lot trees, grasses, flowers, soon you will miss them. What we have here are only sand and dying trees. You even don’t have the chance to breath the air directly from nature rather than from air conditioner. Some people, like one of my upperclassman, may get depression( I mean the mental disease) because of the high stress and the lack of nature.
Second, entertainment. The only entertainment here are shopping mall and FIFA game. Just like what I mention, you would never want to get outside for some outdoor activities because it is too hot. If you want to have some beer, sorry, that’s almost impossible here. The only place to get alcohol is bar and hotel, and it will cost you a lot! Trust me, if you work very hard, you will need alcohol. When you realize how stressful the coursework and how frustrating staying in dorm all day long, you will need it.
And about party, you also don’t have too many chances. Most students here are local ( Don’t be cheated here. When Education City says they have a lot students from different countries, it means that the students have different nationalities. However, Qatar won’t accept a foreigner into its nationality, even you born there. So, the truth this, even CMUQ say 60% students here are not Qatari, they spend most their life here and never been to other countries. They are actually the local, with a label says they are international students. The direct result is, they have families here. So most students will go back home, and the library will close at 8 pm (fuck that). So who will have party with you? Think about that. This is not a college, here is just a high school with college courses.
Third, transportation. It is so hot here so you may never want to take a bike in EC. But the public of EC and doha also really suck. The only way you can leave EC is to call taxi or Uber.
And, man, please listen to me. I am little elder than you, so please listen my advices. You may think you don’t care college life, but soon you will find that that is totally wrong. You must learn, you must grow and you must face challenges. But these won’t just come from your courses, but also from other aspects. How to interact with others? How to persuade your professor give you a higher gpa? How to work as a volunteer or a leader? These things may even help you more than your diploma and your gpa, and they all come from your college life. Trust me, DO NOT look down the impact of your college life.
Let me give your a summary. This place may offer you a decent education ( at least for CS in CMUQ), but it would never help you grow as a college student. This place is too small for a student with a big ambition. And the lifestyle here would never be suitable for a student from other countries except that country have the similar or same culture with Qatar. ( I not really like muslim) The students here are warm-hearted, but sometimes you will feel tired for that and think the activities here are quite naive.
If you have a big ambition and want to have a life with nature, with a little more happiness and a little less stress, don’t come here. (That stress is unnecessary for you)
From the states I can learn that you are a very strong applicant. You are strong enough to apply any US college. So you can’t come here, or you will feel very painful because the students here are so great as you. Go to GU main campus or UCB or Northwestern or CMU or RICE even IVY. This place doesn’t worth wasting your time.