<p>To anyone going to the interview days, are you coming with parents or by yourselves? The travel voucher I got said it would only pay for my travel fees, implying that they expect most students to come alone, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only awkward one who came alone…</p>
<p>We’ve been to the interviews twice before and both times most of the B/K scholars were accompanied by one or both parents. They sort of make a day of it with lunch and speeches, etc. The interviews are generally 15-20 mins. They take place at the end of the day and are nothing to worry about. Some get the full some the partial and the decision is final. All the candidates are pretty amazing kids.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I decided to take my mom with me so that’s perfect 
What kind of things did they ask in the interviews? And in general how did people dress? Was it semi-casual or did people dress pretty formally?</p>
<p>Good questions. </p>
<p>Interviewers would often pick out something from your app and ask you about it. It is all very chill.</p>
<p>Dress is not at all formal. Most kids looked very nice, few if any were in jeans. Guys were typically in slacks and a nice shirt and women were in comfortable casual dress. Look good but be comfortable and relaxed</p>
<p>Maximus001 - My son will be going on Tuesday for his interview. When do they let folks know how much their scholarships will be? Thanks.</p>
<p>@notjoe, </p>
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<p>My letter was dated March 12. They decide very quickly. Good luck.</p>
<p>I attended the first B/K event today. What an outstanding group of scholars, very impressive. It was fun talking with so many of them. I was surprised how many asked me questions about music. When the word got out that I could answer music questions, I was immediately surrounded! :)</p>
<p>plumazul,</p>
<p>You were there yesterday? So were we. I assume you were a student ambassador, or whatever they call those folks?</p>
<p>We asked about notification, and they said the beginning of April, but you said your letter was postmarked March 12. Are they just sandbagging us?</p>
<p>My son, who hadn’t been considering Maryland very strongly, was pretty favorably impressed. I think Maryland moved up a few notches in his own personal hierarchy of schools. Whether or not he gets the full tuition + room and board or just a half tuition scholarship will likely weigh heavily in the final decision. A half-tuition Banneker/Key is only worth about $5500, and it really doesn’t bring the cost of UMD much below what it would likely cost me to send him off to Hopkins or an Ivy (assuming he gets into any of those schools), when taking into account estimated financial aid.</p>
<p>I noticed that your profile indicates that you’re 17, but you note that you’re class of 2014. Are those two pieces of information accurate? Thanks.</p>
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<p>Yes. I was with CMNS.</p>
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<p>:) no one is unhappy when they get news before they expect it. </p>
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<p>Before I attended my B/K interview, Maryland was LAST on my list. The more I learned that day, the more Maryland moved up. One of the keys was how they handle AP credit. The top 20 schools that accepted me all had strict limits, Maryland does not. This means that instead of taking years of intro courses, most of my transcript will be upper division with some graduate level classes. As for the partial, I thought it was $8K/yr + a book allowance? But I do understand what you mean. They offer more partials than full, but more fulls matriculate. Good luck with the Ivy League schools. I was WLed at Harvard and it was agonizing. A tip for Hopkins, they use the “Tuft’s system”, so if your S is a very high stats applicant, he could get WLed, but if he stays on the WL, chances are good he will get off. The year I applied, Hopkins almost emptied their WL. </p>
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<p>Yes, I was 15 when I interviewed but I don’t think I was the youngest.</p>
<p>I came as a prospective student yesterday and had a really great experience! After I knew that I was a finalist I was ok with coming to UMD, but now I’m really excited about it, and especially since we’re unlikely to get the aid we want at other schools, I’m like 80% sure at this point that I’m coming to UMD next year Just hoping for the full ride now which would make everything perfect!!</p>
<p>plumazul,</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. What is CMNS? I’m not really familiar with all the UMD lingo just yet.</p>
<p>What is the “Tuft’s system” and how does it apply to admissions to college? Frankly, any school that waitlists my son will likely not be considered further.</p>
<p>Partials/Full scholarships - Actually, of the roughly 370 students they interviewed, they’ll offer full scholarships + room and board + books to over 200, and half scholarships + books to the rest, or so we were told. Tuition is about $8700, so it’s a total scholarship of less than $5500 for the partial.</p>
<p>“Yes, I was 15 when I interviewed but I don’t think I was the youngest.”</p>
<p>Wow. Congratulations.</p>
<p>plumazul</p>
<p>“The top 20 schools that accepted me all had strict limits, Maryland does not”</p>
<p>Why would anyone apply to 20 different schools?. You must have deep pockets to afford all the application fees</p>
<p>Previously, the partial B/K was indeed $8K/year + a book allowance, which covered nearly all of tuition (although it wouldn’t go up as tuition increased, which the full would). Have they changed that?</p>
<p>They are still offering other $8K/year scholarships that are not under the B/K name, so that does seem odd that one could be tapped to interview for B/K and wind up with less support than if one had been “passed over” and awarded a different merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Who can ever know how these things work?</p>
<p>plumazul,</p>
<p>Regarding the amount of the partial scholarship, I was just looking at the Banneker/Key website, and it does say, as you said, that the partial is $8,000 per year for in-state students. However, the folks at the event clearly said “half-tuition.” Perhaps they meant half-tuition and half-room and board, which would work out to something closer to $8,000. Oh well, we’ll know soon enough.</p>
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<p>[College</a> of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences - University of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.cmns.umd.edu/]College”>http://www.cmns.umd.edu/)</p>
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<p>[Yield</a> protection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufts_syndrome]Yield”>Yield protection - Wikipedia)
:)</p>
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Thank you.</p>
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<p>LOL, I probably should have put quotes around “top 20”.</p>
<p>plumazul,</p>
<p>CMNS - Okay. My son is looking at a double major in civil engineering and classics. So, we hung out with the engineering folks much of the day. The newish Kim engineering building is extremely impressive.</p>
<p>Tuft’s system - I’m not sure I believe that Johns Hopkins does that. There just aren’t that many schools more prestigious, and the ones that are are crapshots. My son applied to several Ivies, but even for a very strong applicant, they are, at best, 50-50. When the school gets 10 fully-qualified applicants for every spot, that’s what it turns into.</p>
<p>“Top 20” - In case you didn’t notice, that was a comment from someone else. I got it. My son has applied to a number of “Top 20” schools (although it depends on whose “Top 20” you’re looking at).</p>
<p>Anyway - thanks for all the help. When we look at different factors, Maryland is looking better and better. We did a run-through on the impact of AP exams and figured out that our son could likely get as many as 42 credits, depending how he does in his last exams in the spring. Hopkins, on the other hand, would likely only give him around 12 credits, if that much, and the Ivies, possibly even less. With the desire to double-major (and to do the 5-year bachelors/masters program), starting off with all the general education requirements fully satisfied would be really, really helpful.</p>
<p>How do you find academic advising at Maryland? I’ve heard horror stories, even in the Honors College.</p>
<p>plumazul,</p>
<p>Any insights as to the date of the mailing this year? I thought that maybe it might have been mailed on the corresponding Friday to March 12, 2010, which would have been this past Friday, but nothing showed up in today’s mail.</p>
<p>I’m guessing it varies every year so we just won’t know until we get it…I’m so anxious right now since I just want to know where I’m going - if I get the full ride it makes my decision so easy b/c I’d love to go to UMD, but if I get the partial I’ll be waiting to see my other financial aid offers.</p>
<p>They said beginning of April, during the luncheon.</p>
<p>Also, they said more than half get the full ride (others have said more get partial).</p>