Banneker/Key Scholarship

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
481

<p>@smwhtslghtlydzed
Yes, I do think it is worthwhile to do an overnight, but that’s me. Assuming that you are within a day’s driving distance, it doesn’t cost you anything but time (ok, gas/mileage also) and I think you’ll get a more complete picture to help make your decision. A daytime program is scheduled to get certain things accomplished in a set time frame. An overnight, after the scheduled portion, gives an opportunity to explore a different “side” of the campus, spend time with actual students, stay in a dorm (I think they’ll try to match you with someone doing the honors program you selected, but not 100% sure on that) etc. After the program is over, you can even take a test run of getting to DC from UMD campus. That will help give you a better sense of how easy transport is, should you get a political internship in DC. </p>

<p>As for studying abroad, UMD has a lot of great programs and they even have a “passport day” to help make it happen - they really encourage it. I was told that it is possible to do several overseas programs and still graduate on time, IF you plan well (with an advisor). Actually, it was at an overnight that a friend found out about the first opportunity to study abroad this summer, just for incoming freshman, called Terrapin Takeoff</p>

<p>[Terrapin</a> Take Off](<a href=“http://www.international.umd.edu/studyabroad/12290]Terrapin”>http://www.international.umd.edu/studyabroad/12290)</p>

<p>The way I see it, the more info you have, the better. That way, you can make an informed decision and be happier about whatever you decide. :)</p>

482

<p>smwhtslghtlydzed,</p>

<p>I guess that for my son, it’s tough to make anything more than some sort of provisional decision when most of the schools to which he applied haven’t yet gotten back to him. This is especially true of the Ivies, which have the best financial aid.</p>

<p>Hopkins at $70K + $14K in loans vs. Maryland at $0 is probably not too tough a choice. But what about Yale at $25K + $0 in loans vs. Maryland at $0?</p>

<p>That might be a tougher choice.</p>

483

<p>Congrats everyone. I haven’t checked this thread in a while, and was thrilled to return to find so many full rides.</p>

<p>@notjoe–that is the decision my D made. She was accepted to Harvard SCEA and, though she liked UMD, couldn’t imagine turning down Harvard. When she received the initial B/K letter, she immediately let UMD know that she didn’t plan to pursue it (in the event it might help someone else). I’m sure many people turn down the Ivies for the B/K–UMD is a great school and a full ride is a beautiful thing. I’m also sure that many choose the Ivies and other highly-selective schools over B/K, and I gather UMD is well aware of that. As a parent, I would have preferred that my D pursue the full ride, but she’s worked very hard to have these choices, so I left the decision 100% to her. It’s a very personal decision–what’s right for one student may not be right for another.</p>

484

<p>bcisaidso,</p>

<p>All the best to your daughter.</p>

<p>That’s a big part of the decision - what sort of institution does one’s child wish to attend?</p>

<p>Many of the schools to which my son applied are academically elite, where he would be, at best, just one of the crowd, an average joe.</p>

<p>One or two of the schools to which he applied, including Maryland, are a bit broader in terms of their enrollment. You have to be a pretty bright kid to get into Maryland, but there’s a place for a kid with a 3.6 UW GPA and a 1900 SAT (a score, by the way, that still places one well within the top 15% of the college-bound population, intellectually).</p>

<p>At a school like Maryland, you still have a large number, in absolute terms, of really smart kids, kids who are comparable to the ones going HYPS,etc. The median CR+M SAT of the Honors college, which admits 25% of the incoming freshman class, is 1410 (Banneker/Key median is 1500 CR+M SAT). That’s a thousand kids. And it’s not far off from H, Y or P’s median SAT. The Honors College at Maryland, if it stood on its own as a separate institution, would be comparable in size and academic achievement of its student body with the Ivies.</p>

<p>But whereas at HYP and similar schools, that’s pretty much all they’ve got - a population that clusters around an extraordinarily high level of median academic and extracurricular achievement, the population at Maryland has a greater hierarchical range.</p>

<p>My son’s high school is more like UMD. It’s a college prep school, so they pretty much only accept kids who have the intellect to eventually go to college. The school has its share of really, really smart kids, but the whole range of college-bound kids goes there.</p>

<p>He’s had a great time, a great experience, and gotten a great education. The school has great academics, but also has fantastic athletics and music. So, even though he’s not a jock, and isn’t really talented enough for the music program, he’s been able to enjoy all these things, even while enjoying his own place in his high school universe. For him, it’s been fun being at the top of the academic heap. He’s been able to find his place, and it’s been a really good place to be.</p>

<p>So, we’re familiar with that model, and have found that it works well, at least for our two sons. Maryland would be a good place to continue on that model.</p>

<p>But the other model - a school that’s really for the very top students - is also a good model, and one that has a significant amount of appeal to my son. </p>

<p>It’s sort of a fundamental question that he has to answer for himself, which model he prefers. He also will need to decide how important the difference is to him.</p>

485

<p>Thanks everyone! I talked with my parents about aid and other schools would have me graduating with ~20k in debt whereas UMD would be letting me graduate with savings for grad school, so I’m pretty sure I’m officially going to UMD next year! :)</p>

486

<p>smwht, that’s great! You’ll probably run into my twins there! :D</p>

487

<p>It’s tough to turn down FREE. The best of luck to you, smwhtslghtlydzed.</p>

<p>My son is still waiting for the last schools to let him know what’s up, but I think odds are he may be seeing you on campus in the fall.</p>

488

<p>Congrats, notjoe (saw your acceptance post on the Harvard thread)! Guess your S now has a big decision to make. Maybe my D will see him at Visitas…</p>

489

<p>bcisaidso,</p>

<p>Thank you. Yes, he was accepted to Harvard. Hopkins (his original first choice), too. Rejected from Princeton and Yale. Oh well.</p>

<p>He does have some very big decisions to weigh and ultimately make. At this time, it is definitely our intention to have him make the Visitas weekend. It will be a tough call between Maryland, Hopkins and Harvard.</p>

<p>Maryland is an outstanding engineering school - most would say better than Harvard. And engineering is the career path at which he’s looking. But he also plans to double major, the second field in classics, and Harvard is one of the very best in that field.</p>

<p>This is the attraction of Hopkins - top-notch engineering, and an outstanding classics program, only a notch or two below Harvard.</p>

<p>But I have a feeling that Hopkins may price itself out of the running. Harvard is, as far as I can determine, very generous with financial aid, and NO LOANS!! And, of course, with the Banneker/Key, Maryland is free.</p>

<p>A happy trilemma.</p>

490

So … I was nominated as a semi-finalist… does that mean I practically already am a scholar and will receive a partial or full scholarship, or is there still the chance where I botch the interview and receive absolutely nothing? In other words, is nomination as a semi-finalist a guarantee for some scholarship tuition?

491

@eding97‌ Congratulations on being selected as a B/K semi finalist! This is a huge honor and you should be very proud. As explained below, if you are a semi finalist then you are guaranteed at least a partial scholarship. This info is from the B/K website. Also, just so you know this is an old thread that you posted on. You can find current threads on B/K on this forum. Again, congratulations!

There are two award levels for Banneker/Key Scholarships. The first award level covers the cost of tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, and a book allowance each year for four years. The second award level provides $8,000 towards tuition and a book allowance for in-state students or $12,000 towards tuition and a book allowance for out-or-state students.

http://www.financialaid.umd.edu/scholarships/banneker_info.php

492

Hey do you think I have a chance at the Banneker key scholarship? My unweighted GPA is 3.8 and my weighted is a 4.49. My Act score is a 25. And I have done over 500 hours of volunteer service, and lead many activities both in an out of school. I also have done three internships so far. I have taken three ap classes and plan to take four next year.

493

@strawberry9090 - This year UMD will probably get 32,000 applications (based on previous increase over several years). Approximately 14,500 will be accepted (45%). About 1,450 will be admitted into the Honors College (10% - this MY guess. It could be more… or less). Out of the 1,450 about 400 will be invited to compete for the Banneker-Key. Out of the 400, about 150 will get the full BK, the other 250 will get a partial BK Others may have more accurate numbers, but getting the Full BK has some long odds.

494

FYI, here is the admitted student profile:
“For students admitted to the University of Maryland for the Fall 2015 semester, the middle 50% of SAT scores ranged from 1260 to 1420, and 29-33 on the ACT. As a result 25% of the admitted students scored below a 1260 on the SAT and 25% scored above a 1420”

495

So what kind of kids get the full BK? And are you required to dorm with the full BK?

496

How do you have 70 credits? Did you take over ten APs?