CMU-Q admits freshman with world’s highest marks in IGCSE math

The Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) can now boast of having one of the world’s best math wizzes studying at its college in Doha.

Mohammed Nurul Hoque, who received the highest mark in the world in the IGCSE math exam, recently joined the Computer Science program at CMU-Q as a freshman. He had also earned the highest A-level math result in Qatar, and perfect scores on his SAT subject exams.

“We are thrilled that such an accomplished young mathematician has joined CMU-Q. Mohammed has a bright future in computer science,” said CMU-Q’s dean and CEO Ilker Baybars.

International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is the world’s most popular qualification for secondary school students. The standardised exit exam is taken by an estimated 250,000 students each year in 140 countries around the world.

A Bangladeshi by birth, Nurul Hoque was born and raised in Qatar and graduated from Tariq Bin Ziyad Secondary School. He participated in the inaugural Pi Day Mathematics Competition held at CMU-Q last spring, with his team placing second out of 250 participants.

In July, Nurul Hoque earned an Honorable Mention at the 47th International Physics Competition in Zurich, Switzerland, a competition which hosted 400 secondary school students from 86 delegations.

As he considered universities, Nurul Hoque looked to Education City, which has strong programs in the scientific disciplines. He considered different fields in engineering, but ultimately decided on computer science at Carnegie Mellon.

“I chose to study at CMU-Q because computer science is all about math. It’s a very diverse field, I am still learning about it,” he said.

Nurul Hoque will graduate with the Class of 2020, which comprises 100 students from 23 nations.