Top US school scouts for best talents in the UAE
DUBAI — One of the top US schools is in the UAE and it is on the hunt for ‘the best’ for its four-year undergraduate university programme. With a cut off date of March 15, its chairman and CEO Ben Nelson is urging bright students to put their best foot forward.
Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) — a WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) senior college and university commission — is a San Franciscobased, innovative undergraduate programme founded by Stephen Kosslyn, the former dean of social sciences in Harvard, and Nelson, a silicon valley entrepreneur.
It offers a reinvented university experience for the brightest, most motivated students from around the world.
“Dubai, being a top multicultural, and talented hub in the region, is poised to breed the best in terms of innovation, talent and smartness. We would like to pick up our future students from this region. Although we do have students from various Middle East countries we want to expand our footprint in the UAE,” Nelson said.
Minerva Schools has announced its plans to select the creme of students from this region. Smart students from the region will get the chance to pursue one of the most sought-after degree courses in the world from the highly selective college, where students learn in ways no other university offers.
Nelson said: “We are aiming for a higher intake of students from the UAE and Middle East. The intensive four-year experience at Minerva is deliberately designed to challenge the students accelerating their intellectual growth and preparing them for success in today’s rapidly changing and interconnected global context.”
He said the new partnership with the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education is one of its efforts to reach students in the region who are “brilliant but do not have the financial means to afford such a higher education experience”.
“The university a student chooses to attend will impact more than the next four years. It will define how they learn and shape the way they think, for the rest of their life.”
Minerva pushes students in ways no other institution will, by teaching the students the skills needed to solve the most complex problems of our time, he added.
“The students at Minerva will be provided the opportunity to learn 21st century skills with the world’s brightest students and veteran experts from multiple fields of study, through seminars, and projects with coveted institutions and companies,” he said.
Minerva’s unique university programme combines global exposure during study. They start in San Francisco in their first year and then experience a different world city each semester through a curated global rotation that includes cities like Berlin, Buenos Aires and Seoul. This is coupled with practical experience and an internship at the likes of Apple, Amazon, Airbnb, and Uber.
The tuition is $12,000 per year – a fraction of the cost of peer institutions, like those in the Ivy League.
Minerva offers need-based financial aid (incl. scholarships, low-cost loans, work-study) to ensure no admitted student is denied the Minerva experience due to finances.
The application to Minerva is simple and free and can be accessed and completed here: https://www.minerva.kgi.edu/application/1/.sandyha@khaleejtimes.com