SFS-Qatar Student Responds

...to FLG's older post about how he thinks SFS-Q is a huge mistake.

I am currently a student at SFS-Q, and I would just like to point out the many mistakes you have made in your blog post.

Firstly, I would like to address your statement about SFS-Q students having a different experience. That, of course, is true. QF is not trying to recreate Main Campus in EC, instead, we have developed our own unique community. However, the Hoya spirit is definitely going strong. You also talk about how some SFS- Q alumni will "never have set foot on campus". That is completely false. Most students tend to do their semester abroad at Main Campus/ have visited as a part of the Service Learning trips that take place every semester. Also, students have the chance to take classes with Main Campus students and Professors through video conferencing. Ahh ... the miracle of the technological age...

It will be a completely different experience, as you readily admit. Doing a semester abroad on the main campus is not required, and therefore some will, in fact, never set foot on the Hilltop. Furthermore, doing a semester in DC or teleconferencing is completely insufficient to thoroughly experience Georgetown.

Secondly, I would like to discuss your description as "a glorified finishing school for the royalty of Qatar and the surrounding Gulf states". Why don't we take a look at the statistics for the class of 2013 at SFS-Q. There are 45 students. 12 are Qatari, and only 5 are from the Al-Thani (ruling) family. On Main Campus, approximately 12% of students are International. Also, Georgetown does not seem to mind mentioning that various members of European, Saudi, and Jordanian royalty are alumni.

Are you seriously arguing that because only 11% of the students are from the ruling family that this negates my contention? I'd argue it only supports my position that SFS-Q is a glorified finishing school. It couldn't be solely or mostly ruling family for both aesthetic and practical reasons. Aesthetic because they must maintain the illusion that the school isn't simply a glorified finishing school for which the Emir paid a great deal of money to place the Georgetown name on. Practical because a school that enrolled all or most of its students from a small family in a relatively small state wouldn't be very useful in teaching international relations. Basic point is this: 5 is still a very large number to come from the ruling family out of 45.

Oh and a little side note, I greatly disagree with the statement made in The Hoya. I am Qatari, and I was accepted into some top universities in both the US and the UK. I gained A grades in from an international curriculum (exams being externally marked). My combined SAT I Math and Critical Reading score was 1400, and I took 5 SAT Subject tests, all of which I scored significantly above the US average. In my ACT exam I was in the 90th percentile. All of the Qatari students I know who attend the University (and trust me, we are a minority) have attained similar scores. I would also like to point out that most accepted students come from either the IB, British or their national education system. But I know you "don't particularly care".

Point taken, but The Hoya's point was that students like you are in a minority, as you mention. It's not like SFS-Q is in a location with a huge population of students with adequate preparation to whom it will provide an education. It's an expensive import to serve the ruling family and elite.

Shall we move on? You say SFS-Q students do not receive the same "outside of the classroom" education. That is correct. We at SFS-Q have a greater opportunity. 10 students each semester go on Service Learning trips, and the co- curricular "Zones of Conflict/ Zones of Peace" class. For the latter, two trips are planned, one to Israel/Palestine, and another to China. I would also like to reiterate a point I made earlier. We do have our own diverse Hoya community at SFS. We even have our own clubs, student organisations, and sports teams (some are, in fact, planning to attend overseas competitions). We even had a couple of members of our student body win Best Speaker awards at an International MUN conference held in Germany.

That all sounds great. Perhaps SFS-Q should morph into a Qatar University for International Relations. My concern is about conferring degrees upon students who didn't experience an undergraduate Georgetown education on the Hilltop.

And now we come to your ultimate point. You state that Main Campus has "no intention of offering the MSFS anywhere except in Washington". It may not be within the next year or two, but let me tell you... it will come. Actually, VCU-Q just opened up a Masters in Design Studies, it's only logical that the rest will follow suit. SFS-Q are opening up their third major now, International Economics. One of the Deans even mentioned that it may be possible to work out a situation where the International History major could be made available if enough students wish to do it.

I actually think the MSFS makes more sense. The academic and social community surrounding the school is far less important for graduate students.

It should also be noted that Georgetown has many other campuses around the world including ones in Turkey and Italy.

So, I really do not see how you can claim that it is a "mistake".

Students who study in Turkey and Italy do so for a semester or year abroad, not four years. That is entirely different from creating a degree conferring campus in Qatar.