So, while you are there, you might want to see if you can arrange for your daughter to shadow a student - they haven’t opened up the dates yet, but the official program is
Terp For A Day
Learn first-hand what it’s like to #BeATerp in this immersive experience. Terp For A Day sessions during the spring semester are reserved for admitted students only; the fall semester is open to prospective and admitted students. Registration will be available in late February 2019.
If you don’t want to commit that much time but still want to see the campus, I would just arrange for a general 90 minute Terrapin Tour - here’s the page to check out the options https://www.admissions.umd.edu/visit/daily-visits. You will def want to book in advance.
Interestingly, when you look on the engineering preview page, under the schedule, there is this paragraph: "This event precedes the Spring Admitted Student Open Houses (ASOH) on Friday, March 8th and Friday, April 5th offered by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. During all Admitted Student Open Houses, you will meet with one of the eight engineering departments to learn more about the majors, classes, and research available. "
I’m not seeing the March 8 ASOH date that follows the first engineering preview session, so it may be that it’s already booked…but, as I said, you can just do the 90 minute Terrapin Tour. The engineering preview session is really going to cover all you need. And, of course, if you have any other questions, you have several resources willing to give input here on this forum!
If you will have a car, a great place to eat that’s down the road in Hyattsville (about 10-15 minutes away) is Busboys and Poets. https://www.busboysandpoets.com/locations/?location=hyattsville&venue=hyattsville
If you don’t have a car, there’s plenty of food around campus also - and I’m sure the food at the Hotel (Old Maryland Grill) will also be good, though I’ve never actually eaten there myself. I only had breakfast there at the bagels n grinds and I really liked the flagel (flat bagel).
@maryversity THANK YOU SO MUCH! I’m going to review this entire thread with my husband and daughter this weekend. You all have provided such valuable information and I can’t thank you enough!
To all helpful parents…my daughter is accepted Honors, engineering, and got University Honors (not really her top choice but ok). She is also interested in Flexus and, yesterday, got invited to FIRE… I am a little confused by all the options and 1) what are the + and - of each 2) what does it mean for lodging. Do some of these conflict? For instance, for Flexus it says that prriority will be given to students that are not in an LLP already. All look like great options, just want to help her navigate all this. Thanks!
@maryversity I can’t thank you enough for all the great info you are providing! MUCH more helpful than trying to navigate the school website when I don’t know what I don’t know! We had no idea about the Clark School open house this Thursday night so we are now signed up. I think it’s just what we (my son) needs. We’ll also be headed to the Admitted Student day on Friday.
My son has been accepted to Mechanical Engineering and the Scholars program (I didn’t even realize there was a Scholars program, just assumed it was what they called the Honors program–it’s terribly confusing. They need a grid somewhere on the site with a breakdown and comparison of all these programs! For now, thank you so much for all the time you are putting into this–you should be on the payroll!
Haha, believe it or not, Maryland web pages are a lot easier to navigate than other schools…but, hey, I think SoofDad and I, along with all the other parents that respond to posts, just really love to share info about Maryland because our kids have had/are having such a great experience. I think that speaks volumes. So feel free to ask anything you want…
Our son is a freshman in the Clark School and also Gemstone. He loves it. So happy with H-level Calc classes. Applying for summer study abroad and loves all the clubs, competitions, etc. would definitely suggest admitted students day for engineering students.
I have a question though as he looks to future years - what is Hinman CEO and can Gemstone students participate?
@“Momwith?” I am in the same situation, my son got into University Honors and then invited to FIRE. He is also interested in VIRTUS. It is a little confusing, trying to evaluate all the options…
@ScubaMoma So my daughter and I went to an admitted students day on Friday that was quite helpful…
Usually Fire does not “work” with Honors, except if they go to University Honors, hence the invite that came after the LLP was released. they actually have 2 sections of the first semester of FIRE reserved for Honors students. FIRE sounded quite interesting, though they have a number of streams and not too many that would look to apply to engineering. Not sure how Virtus is structured, but for Flexus, this year, they have decided to give priority for Flexus to students that are not in another LLP - so… they kind of passed the message that, if my daughter was to apply and get accepted in Flexus, she would have to decide between Honors and Flexus.
@“Momwith?” Thanks for the info. I looked it up and Virtus works as Flexus, if they are in another LLP they do not get priority, so slim chances of getting in. And I agree with you about FIRE, I took a look at the streams and they didn’t seem to apply to engineering at all. I guess he will just stay in the University Honors LLP.
@Jwoyal Congrats on receiving an invite to the Clarks Scholars Program. My freshman daughter is part of the inaugural cohort for the program. Although I suspect many of the students interviewing have received some form of other merit scholarship, the committee is likely using a much more holistic approach to the process as opposed to how University scholarships are determined. I also believe everyone receiving an invite gets some form of scholarship as long as they show up for the interview day later this month, even if they aren’t invited into the program (based on last year). You might end up doing better $-wise than if you had already received a scholarship- except for BK. One nice thing about the program is that it’s much more than receiving $, the students are part of a tight group with many additional opportunities within the engineering school that go beyond what most students are offered. Feel free to pm me with any additional questions. Just remember even if you don’t ultimately get into the program, Clark School is great for engineering with excellent opportunites for all the students in the school.
@MDmom11 Yes, you absolutely can be in Gemstone and Hinman CEO’s. One of my son’s (Hinman) roommates was in Gemstone and his degree is in Electrical Engineering. Gemstone is the most demanding honors program and my son thinks EE is the most difficult engineering discipline, so his friend did the double dose of difficult, did a semester abroad AND Hinman!
So, in answer to your question about what Hinman is…it’s a two-year, upper class LLP that is based in South Campus Commons. It’s all about entrepreneurship. Hinman teaches you how to start your own business, which, for engineering is very helpful if you plan on capitalizing on your own designs at some point…
Some of the more famous alum of the program include Kevin Plank (Under Armor) and Anthony Casalena (Square Space), to name a few. This is the web page http://www.hinmanceos.umd.edu so you can check out the program, classes involved, experiences, opportunities…click around to see all the cool stuff they do and perks of being in the program. You get a chance to compete for seed money and many times students develop a business that goes on to great success. They teach you how to secure funding, provide coaching, and many other aspects that help with start-up business ventures that you don’t get in other classes. This is especially helpful for engineers!
FYI, it is open to any major, and you have to apply. While it is primarily a Junior/Senior year program, you can apply as a freshman to start your sophomore year. Applications were due on Feb 10 for starting in the Fall of 2019. Applicants also have to undergo an interview process.
Everyone in the program is pretty much a go-getter. You get to meet a lot of like-minded people that makes for a great network! The director, James Green, really knows his stuff and is pretty awesome. There’s a reason he’s so successful, and why the program has such a great track record for launching student ventures.
@Momwith? - that’s interesting about Flexus implying a need to choose. Virtus has always been an either/or program, so guys have always had to choose. However, girls used to be able to do both honors/scholars and Flexus (FIRE is new though, so that may be the extra thing that’s tipping that scale?) so I would speak to the program director of Flexus. @terpiedad may be able to answer/respond to this.
@Scubamoma While I don’t know anything about FIRE, if your student is interested in research, please know that you do NOT need to be in FIRE to be involved in research. You can start as early as freshman year without issue, but I personally would recommend waiting until your second semester to start research only because I believe the first semester has so much else going on with respect to transitioning to college life that it’s important to focus on that first. I think it’s easiest to make friends the first semester because everyone is in the same boat of trying to find their core groups of people they want to spend free time with. I said groups intentionally because different friend groups for different interests. That’s the beauty of Maryland. Lots of diversity!
@jwoyal - wow - congrats! That’s a brand new program that sounds really impressive!
@maryversity Thanks for the info. he decided to sign up for FIRE today, i guess he does not want to loose any opportunity, i assume he will be able to change his mind if he does not like the program.
Thanks so much @maryversity. I really think all these special programs are the differentiator for UMD. Looked at a lot of really good schools for my son but UMD’s living and learning programs truly stood out. And Gemstone is proving to be outstanding, along with the Clark School. That’s why I think he might also enjoy Hinman CEOs as an upperclassman. Struggling to find time to study abroad as an engineering/Gemstone student so probably will do a summer program.
