Advise about Gemstone

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
1

<p>Well, I just received my acceptance today. I got into Gemstone (and therefore Honors). My major is apparently Biology but I think I'll change it to Environmental Science & Policy.</p>

<p>However, I'm really not sure if I should do Gemstone or not. Back when I was filling out my application, I was sure that I'd do Gemstone mostly because it's considered prestigious and science-oriented. After talking to my brother (who hates it) and a few other people, I'm starting to think twice about possibly joining Gemstone. </p>

<p>I suppose the best people to ask a few questions about it would be current Gemstone students other than my brother. I'd appreciate any responses...</p>

<p>Firstly, is it really that prestigious? I want to go to grad school, but I'm not sure what type - it'll probably be medical or some sort of Ph.D program. How important would it be for a UMD student to be in Gemstone if he/she wants to go to a top-ranked medical school? Does it really look that good?</p>

<p>How technologically-focused is it? I know the program is part of the Clark school, and I'm not really interested (at all) in engineering or anything that has to do with it. Are the projects all focused on technology and engineering, or would there be some that might cater to the interests of someone who is more into zoology, ecology, and the environment?</p>

<p>Is it a lot of work? I understand you have to take some extra courses, and I might double major, so would that be too much? Having a social life is important to me so I don't want to be overworked etc. Are the extra courses hard?</p>

<p>How are the other kids in it? This may seem like an insensitive question, but I really want to know. Would you say they're...um...nerdy? The freshmen all live in the same dorm, and I'd really like to be surrounded by kids who have a balance of social and academic lives. </p>

<p>I just don't want to be at a DISadvantage if I don't accept the invitation. Honors seems like enough and I'm not sure how interesting Gemstone would be for me. It's a four year commitment...what do you all think? I really have no idea if I should do it.</p>

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<p>I think if you spend some time reading the material provided on the website, you will answer a lot of the questions you asked.</p>

<p>Gemstone</a>, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland</p>

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<p>Thanks for the link...I did that, but I just want to hear firsthand from current Gemstone students if possible.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
How technologically-focused is it? I know the program is part of the Clark school, and I'm not really interested (at all) in engineering or anything that has to do with it. Are the projects all focused on technology and engineering, or would there be some that might cater to the interests of someone who is more into zoology, ecology, and the environment?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Here's a list of current teams. You'll see that the projects run the gamut of topics. The projects are student initiated. Every student proposes a topic, and they whittle them down until everyone is on a team.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.gemstone.umd.edu/teams/junior-teams.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gemstone.umd.edu/teams/junior-teams.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>i would suggest accepting the invitation. i am in gemstone, and i still am not sure how prestigious it is (i go back and forth). i think you should accept because you haven't experienced it yet, and you can't really know what it's like right now. the first semester of gemstone and regular honors are mostly the same. you take a 1 credit class introducing you to the university and to the program. the intro to gemstone class will tell you a lot more about it, and then i think you can make an educated decision from there. afterwords, if you decide that you don't like it, then the intro gems class will count for the intro honors class. honestly, right now, you have nothing to lose by accepting.</p>

<p>as far as social life, it's no secret that gemstone kids are nerdy. but with that said, there are all different sorts of people in it, just like the university at large. there are a lot of kids who party, there are a bunch who don't. if you live with the gemstone kids, you won't have problems with socializing. not everyone around is in gemstone anyway.</p>

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<p>Hmm okay well thanks for the advice guys. The projects seem...somewhat interesting, I guess. I'll probably accept the invitation and then decide if I should stay or not after being immersed in the program a little bit.</p>

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<p>i recently had a friend drop out of gemstone after less than half a year (he's a freshman this year). he basically just said it was a huge waste of time and not something he wanted to be involved with. however, i am sure every person has a different experience but if you are wary going into it, i wouldn't say that bodes too well for you staying in the program because it will most likely be just what you expect</p>

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<p>D1 chose not to do Gemstone, but it was truly a personal decision....she's more of a loner, when it comes to class projects (had way too many projects from hell in high school), and planned to get a double degree and a minor, and felt that she couldn't commit to another outside program. I think that it's a great program for most kids, and a great opportunity that some kids would never have otherwise.</p>

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<p>I'm somewhat worried about Gemstone because of the strong emphasis on helping society, etc. I would love to do team research, but my main interest is pure math, and none of the projects listed sound terribly interesting to me. Is it possible to do theoretical math or science research in Gemstone?</p>

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<p>Bump...</p>

<p>eisensteinprime, I talked to my brother and he said there is a HUGE variety of of projects available but I don't know if there are any that would cater specifically to your interest in math. I guess you could check online.</p>

<p>By the way, I've decided that I won't do Gemstone if I end up at Maryland...it just doesn't seem like a great fit and even if I decided to go for it I probably wouldn't be too excited.</p>

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<p>Keep in mind that there are also lots of Undergrad research opportunities on campus, as well. D was an undergrad research assistant 2nd semester of her freshman year. (Her duties were re-designing a website for a professor in a science dept outside her own). There were lots of different things available, and if you begin work early with a professor that you really mesh well with, you still have the possibility of getting research published while you're an undergrad. (which was one of the big reasons why I thought D should do Gemstone). She vetoed Gemstone and has never regretted it....it just wasn't her "cup of tea".</p>

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<p>So, I don't know if this thread is still current, but I just saw it and thought I should put in my two cents. Well, I'm a freshman right now in Gemstone, and I was also considering not accepting the invitation. I ended up accepting, with the ideology that I could always drop out if I didn't like it, but that if I didn't accept, I wouldn't be able to get back in. It is true that some people dislike Gemstone, but it actually is a prestigious program - the most prestigious on here at UMD. Plus, instead of being a research assistant, you are doing your own student-led research. I am a Psych major, and while it's not that common in Gemstone because most people are chem/bio/engineering, there are plenty of other random majors like Spanish, Lit, etc. It would be a major plus for med/grad school, and you can still do outside research on campus - it doesn't take up THAT much of your life. Along those lines, most of the projects are technologically/medically based, but there are some that are not, for people more interested in research that doesn't revolve around physical science.</p>

<p>As far as the extra work, gemstone requires that you take 1 class per semester (the first semester is ridiculously easy..it's an intro class taught by other undergrads and I'll be teaching next fall!!) Second semester you take 2 (4 credits)...not so easy, and this is when most people drop the program, but if you stick with it, I have heard that the actual researching and project isn't as hard as the second semester makes it seem.</p>

<p>Finally, I noticed some people put on here that its obvious Gemstone students will be nerdy, but this definitely isn't the case for a lot of the people I know. Everyone is super nice, and the one thing I love about our dorm is that you don't have drunken idiots running around at all hours of the night keeping you awake...that doesn't mean we don't party...I myself am not one to go out much (I do drive the UMD shuttle buses for people who go out!!), but a few people on my floor go out to parties/bars regularly on the weekends. You will find that generally, Gemstone kids are the most involved on campus, so they have lives outside of class and work! </p>

<p>Oh yeah, and the definite plus about Gemstone housing is that you are right next to the dining hall and the gym...so while everyone else is hiking in the winter to get food, you literally just walk across the sidewalk!!
Hope this helps, and I hope anyone looking at this will consider Gemstone (btw, I rejected Princeton for UMD and I love it here!)</p>

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<p>i agree with everything that brunababi said. it's sad that a lot of people come in with misconceptions about gemstone. no, not everything is for everybody, but a lot of people don't even give it a chance. im glad someone else around here likes gemstone aside from me. after freshman year, it only gets better.</p>

<p>p.s. i am a section leader also.</p>