<p>*** Full ***</p>
<p>^^ CONGRATS! </p>
<p>btw, I don’t know anything about the Stamps B/K thing. It’s new. They are always looking for ways to expand the B/K program (i.e. find new/more $)
:)</p>
<p>Thanks, plumazul. </p>
<p>What I was trying to determine was whether the nomination for the Stamps meant that he’d already been awarded the full Banneker/Key. I guess now we know.</p>
<p>Just a few more weeks to this whole process. He’ll need to see who else accepts him and what sort of aid/scholarships he might receive before making a final decision. However, we’ve all been extremely impressed with Maryland, and it is high on his list.</p>
<p>notjoe, did it come in the mail? guess that means i’ll be finding out monday then… D=</p>
<p>Who got mail, today???</p>
<p>It came todayyyyyyyyyyyyy</p>
<p>smwhtslghtlydzed,</p>
<p>Yes. It was dated March 16 (yesterday). It arrived today.</p>
<p>In Maryland–son received letter yesterday. FULL!!!</p>
<p>congrats to everyone who got the full ride! 
what was the letter like, and did anyone get the partial scholarship yet? i’m really nervous that i’ll read ‘congratulations,’ get really excited, then find out i’m getting the partial (which would obviously still be great, but a bit disappointing…)</p>
<p>smwhtslghtlydzed,</p>
<p>It’s on UMD letter head, Office of the President, dated March 16, 2012. </p>
<p>The full scholarship letter opens up with “Congratulations!” It mentions the full scholarship in the second sentence of the first paragraph. Then, in the third paragraph, it elaborates that this is a full tuition, room, board and books scholarship, “indexed to accommodate increases in these expenses.”</p>
<p>It’s a very nice letter, of course, and came with a certificate of the scholarship award, suitable for framing.</p>
<p>Yup, what he said. :D</p>
<p>Congrats!!!</p>
<p>Full ride!!!</p>
<p>I’m so happy and relieved right now! What are you guys doing in terms of other colleges? I really can’t see myself turning down a full ride in my perfect location, but it’s going to be hard turning down colleges that I’m in love with…</p>
<p>smwhtslghtlydzed,</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>“What are you guys doing in terms of other colleges?”</p>
<p>That’s a good question. My son will need to weigh carefully whatever offers come his way. We’re still waiting on five more schools. His initial favorite, Johns Hopkins, just may not be cost-competitive. He’s visited the campus multiple times, met with the faculty from his two projected majors (and been warmly and personally received by them), and really loves the place. But when I do their net price calculator, it shows us paying out of pocket around $18K per year. And that doesn’t include the estimate of $3.5K per year in loans. So - Maryland, $0, Hopkins, $70+K + $14K in loans.</p>
<p>Did I mention, he really liked Maryland, too?</p>
<p>He’s applied to Notre Dame, but he’s visited there and they’re about his ninth pick out of the eight schools to which he’s applied.</p>
<p>He’s also looking at Harvard, Princeton and Yale. The net price calculators for each of these provide more attractive EFCs than Hopkins, and with NO LOANS!! And modest work-study.</p>
<p>And then, it’ll be important for him to actually get into any of these schools, LOL. Even though he’s a NMF, has a great GPA, and other good stuff going, these schools have way more qualified applicants than seats. Obviously, even highly-qualified students are rejected from all these schools.</p>
<p>His favorite of the three Ivies is Yale. He believes (and I think rightly) that the atmosphere at Yale may be the one that would fit him best. But they don’t have civil engineering (one of his two projected majors). He’s willing to do mechanical engineering if he goes somewhere without civil, but it becomes a question of, with the offer from Maryland, why? Maryland’s engineering holds its own with most anyone else’s and that includes these three. In fact, US News & World Report rates Maryland’s engineering higher than either Harvard’s or Yale’s (but lower than Princeton or Hopkins).</p>
<p>But his other projected major is classics. This is where the Ivies (and Hopkins) stand tall and Maryland falls down a bit. He loves the classics, is fluent in Latin and getting pretty good in Greek. He’s planning to meet the classics department faculty, but all the other schools on which he’s waiting all have significantly more reputable classics programs. He’s met several of the faculty and Hopkins, and the director of undergraduate studies really, really would like him to come there, and has stated that he could get a BA/MA in classics in four years there, even while double-majoring. Also, this particular professor studied in Europe and brings stuff to the classics program at Hopkins that interests my son, that is usually only found in classics programs at universities in Europe.</p>
<p>He’s already been accepted to UVA. They’re good at both fields, but they aren’t so attractive as to overcome the huge cost disadvantage, even with projected financial aid.</p>
<p>At this point, we’re all happy and relieved that he has an excellent choice in Maryland, whether he’s accepted anywhere else, or whether anyone gives him sufficient aid to make the choice realistic.</p>
<p>Maryland at $0/year for four years will be extremely tough to beat.</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone who got B/K!<br>
In answer to the question how to choose…</p>
<p>I know someone that was accepted with a full ride to UVA and turned it down to go to Yale. He made the choice after spending overnights at both. While he really liked UVA (and the price was unbeatable), he felt that Yale was a better “fit” - it just felt right - and has not looked back. He considers it an “investment.”</p>
<p>HOWEVER, there are other students who turned down ivies because B/K was too good to refuse; they too have not looked back and have no regrets about choosing UMD.</p>
<p>So, how to choose? My suggestions, for what they are worth:</p>
<ol>
<li>Compare curriculums for your major(s) - literally, course for course. That info should be available online - one may be more appealing when you look at the fine details as opposed to the general reputation. </li>
</ol>
<p>Notjoe, for engineering, is cross-disciplinary training important to your son or not? That’s something to look at when comparing the engineering departments. Another question is theoretical v hands-on learning. Princeton was crossed off the list because more theoretical, another school was crossed off because not cross-disciplinary. It’s all personal preference. </p>
<ol>
<li>Go to accepted student day - overnight if you can - and see what “feels” more right. </li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck, and congrats again!</p>
<p>There are more fundamental questions to be answered that go deeper than questions regarding curricula.</p>
<p>True. And oops on my “curriculums” instead of “curricula” - a classic mistake (pun intended)… :)</p>
<p>My son is choosing Maryland. It’s an amazing financial incentive not to have any loans (or costs)! It’s an excellent school (and my alma mater 
) and it’s rated highly for both of his majors (Computer Science and Classics). </p>
<p>notjoe, I see your son, like mine, is interested in both tech and humanities. Is he going to be in Gemstone? That’s the LLC my son chose (his twin sister will also be going to Maryland, but she’s not in the honors program and won’t be in an LLC).</p>
<p>Re: Classics, my son leads his school’s Certamen club and has been active in Latin for 5 years (he goes to Greece in 2 weeks and Italy in a few months!), and his Latin teachers have raved about Maryland’s program. I don’t think it compares to Yale (or Cornell, etc.), but it’s well-regarded.</p>
<p>Great to know that this isn’t an automatic decision for everyone else - I can see myself being happy at UMD and I love having the option, but I’m just a little torn because Swarthmore has fewer requirements which makes it easy to double major and study abroad, whereas at UMD that would be a struggle. Swarthmore and Georgetown also offer more courses in my field of interest (Middle Eastern Studies) than UMD. On the other hand, UMD has DC (and I want to get into politics which makes that perfect) and it’s free, so at this point I’m 99% sure I’m coming to UMD. </p>
<p>@maryversity: you mention doing overnights; do you think it would make any difference for me to visit UMD again considering I’ve already done an honors ambassadors day and the banneker/key day? I’ll likely be doing accepted students weekends at Swarthmore and Georgetown but I think I’ve visited UMD enough times to have a basic feel for it - do you think it would be a waste of time to visit again?</p>
<p>JenPam,</p>
<p>Yes, my son intends to double major in classics and civil engineering. No, he’s not in Gemstone. He’ll be doing the Entrepreneurship and Innovation program.</p>
<p>Maryland’s STEM programs range from very good to world-class. Maryland’s STEM programs turn up on many “top 50” lists. USNWR has their engineering school at 21 in the country - above Harvard or Yale. In terms of engineering programs favored by big company recruiters, the WSJ had an article a couple of years back that showed Maryland at #8 overall, and #3 in the country for engineering (and computer science does very well, too, at #10). If you want a job in engineering (or computer science), Maryland’s a really good place to get your degree.</p>
<p>However, the classics program appears to be little better than adequate. Maryland “checks the box” for classics, but not much more. His current classics teacher also teaches at Maryland. His previous classics teacher is a doctoral candidate at Maryland. They both agree, in the words of the previous teacher, “Maryland is good at turning out good high school Latin teachers.”</p>
<p>Maryland’s classics program doesn’t show up on anyone’s lists of top programs. It’s a decent, respectable, reputable program, but nothing like what the school has done in the STEM fields.</p>
<p>The program is clearly not at the level of Berkeley, Harvard, Yale or Princeton, or even Hopkins, Catholic University or Notre Dame. But, hey, at least Maryland has a classics program, unlike some really great STEM schools. </p>
<p>So, that’s one choice that my son will need to make, depending on who accepts him - how to balance the two major fields in which he is interested.</p>
<p>This is one reason why his initial favorite was Hopkins - highly-rated engineering and top-notch classics. But they give very little by way of merit scholarships, and have nothing comparable to the Banneker/Key. Even with financial aid, or even with one of the few scholarships they provide, it would amount to nearly $100K for four years, when you add in the loan money. Ouch.</p>