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| Pictured (from left) are: Kerry Schneidewind, SMU representative, Yousif Rashid, Spring Creek Campus Provost Tom Rodgers, Ceci U, Matt Lagos, Chloe Longstreet, Maggie Fox, Carina Jones, Abbie Prister, SMU transfer representative,and Brenda Kihl, Collin College associate vice president of strategic initiatives. |
Collin College’s partnership with Southern Methodist University (SMU) is turning five.
Both institutions paid homage to the latest crop of university pre-admission partnership students -- seven, in all -- during a reception at the Spring Creek Campus Oct. 19.
The students were:
Matt Lagos, economics
Ceci U, biology
Yousif Rashid, political science, economics
Carina Jones, international studies
Chloe Longstreet, international studies
Maggie Fox, political science and history
Penina Sendawula, political science and education.
Rashid, 18, from Allen, was going to apply to SMU anyway when he discovered the program online.
“It’s the best university in the area for government and other areas of study I’m interested in,” Rashid said. “The partnerships are a very good way to get into a university.”
Collin College has partnership programs with eight universities – Baylor University, SMU, Texas Tech University, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Texas A&M University, Texas Woman’s University, the University of North Texas and The University of Texas at Dallas. Through these partnerships students attend Collin while working with advisors in their chosen majors from those universities.
Collin College students receive access to a number of amenities at SMU including university libraries, tickets to lectures and sporting events, passes to university wellness centers and more. Amenities change from partnership to partnership.
Ceci U, a 19-year-old Plano student, was one of the seven students honored at the reception. She was notified of the program by a friend and learned more by visiting the program webpage.
“For me, I’m an international student, so it’s better to apply to the program and start the transition to SMU. I can get advising directly from (SMU). It’s very effective,” she said. “The reason I want to go to SMU is because it is a good school and some of my friends go there.”
U will study Biology and hopes to go to dental school.
“I still have a long way to go,” she said.
Spring Creek Campus Provost Tom Rodgers applauded the students for their forethought about their future.
"This is one of several programs in place to benefit students. It's a special opportunity for (the students), and I think (they'll) take advanage because (they) all have a plan. And it's important to have a plan," he said.
Current and future Collin College students have until Saturday, Dec. 1, to apply for the Southern Methodist University (SMU) pre-admissions program. The program allows students to attend Collin College and earn core credit. All the while, they can work with SMU advisors to ensure a seamless transfer of those credits to the university. Also, students can take advantage of lecture and sporting event tickets, a DART pass, access to SMU’s library and more. Interested students must have a grade point average of at least 2.95 with fewer than 30 transferable hours or a grade point average of 2.70 with more than 30 transferable hours. Students also must complete an application and two essay questions and possibly a recommendation from a faculty member. For more information or for an application, visit http://transferu.ccccd.edu/smupreadmit.pdf or http://transferu.ccccd.edu/smu.html .
The SMU program is limited to 20 students per year and application can be made to the program for fall and spring admittance. For more information about the dual admissions program, call 972.985.3734 or visit http://transferu.ccccd.edu/smu.html.
