<p>Just a quick note: the Department of Economics is part of BSOS – the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences, not part of the Smith School of Business.</p>
<p>
Yes, this was my original point.</p>
<p>Max, our DD wants to go to Africa for a semester. We are shuttering at the thought, but I guess as parents you just buckle yourself in for the ride! I will say now at school, she is starting to lean to going to the UK. She was born there, so it has a pull emotionally to her.</p>
<p>Can you believe our kids are upperclassman now?</p>
<p>UMD has an excellent computer science program as well. Top 10 I believe, maybe even top 5.</p>
<p>Although it is officially top 10 (maybe 15, it varies), there are some specific concentrations of study where it is even better. However, this is irrelevant: what matters is that the professors are from well-respected institutions so it is really what the student makes of it.</p>
<p>Sergey Brin is a UMD alumnus. Think about that. :)</p>
<p>“what matters is that the professors are from well-respected institutions so it is really what the student makes of it.”</p>
<p>Good point, Euroazn. This is true, regardless of the area of study…I only wish more college students realized that.</p>
<p>Hey let’s not forget about the Journalism program! Pretty highly regarded, and just got a brand new state-of-the-art building in Knight Hall.</p>
<p>Euro,</p>
<p>You’re already learned that the Econ major is <em>not</em> in Smith. In many schools, majoring in Econ is often looked to as a “fall back” position for those who did not make it into the business school. (Not sure if this is the view at UMD though.) Since you are very interested in Econ specifically, you can call an advisor in that department to see how it would work if you double majored in Econ and a major in Smith, such as Finance, Logistics, etc. A quick glance at the requirements for the Econ major show that some of the required core business coursework (e.g. Calc and Econ 200 and 201) is the same as in Smith. I just don’t know how it works for things like Oral Communication (which has sections specifically for some types of majors versus others) and Junior English (same). People double major all the time, so it should not be a big deal…you would just have to check.</p>
<p>However, if you love Econ and plan on attending Graduate B-school at some point, you could always just stick with Econ! Alternatively, if you apply to Smith as a freshman admit, and get in, you take Econ 200 and 201 right away, and if you really love it then you can always switch <em>out</em> of Smith, which is easier than getting into it! (Sounds like this is what Max’s son did.)</p>
<p>Are econ 200 and 201 the econ courses that are exempted by AP Economics? Because if so, they’re not applicable :S</p>
<p>The one thing to also place into the situation is if you are in Honors, Gemstone or Scholars because when you enroll in these programs it is actually tied to your major. You will need their approval to switch to stay in the program, at least I know this is true for Scholars. I would assume since Gemstone is a 4 member team project over the course of your college career the same would be true for them too. I do not know about Honors and the ability to change majors.</p>
<p>I am only stating that because without a doubt regarding Euro’s stats everyone here expects him to get into one of these programs. I know Max’s DS did it, but I am not sure if he had to get Honors to approve of the switch to maintain the Honors citation for graduation. I know our DS was told when he entered the Scholars program, that his specific program was full with a waiting list, thus, if he left, and decided to come back the next semester it would not be happening.</p>
<p>I may be misreading your post, bullet (pima?) but gemstone nor honors have no authority over you and your ability to change majors. (I’ve done it twice)
Also the teams tend to be about 10 people, but I think you meant 4 year not 4 member.</p>
<p>I think Gemstone <em>might</em> be an exception to ^ since they want to have balanced teams. (I could be totally wrong though.)</p>
<p>Gina might fingers type faster than I think…I meant 4 yr member teams. The yr didn’t make it into the post.</p>
<p>My point was Gemstone is a team philosophy, thus, losing/gaining members can hurt them, and I would ASSUME that Gemstone would be connected in this decision since it is team based. We all know what ASSUME means, so I plead now MEA CULPA if I am wrong in my assumption.</p>
<p>As I said before, I didn’t know about Honors. All I know for a fact is that Scholars citation requires you to be in that particular program, which includes seminars, to leave it, is one thing, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to switch into a different scholars program. As I stated our DS was told on day 1, we are booked solid, with a wait list, if you leave, and then want to come back it won’t happen. Thus, if you take that out a bit, if you are in another Scholars program, and wanted to get into his because you switched majors, there is no guarantee that it will happen.</p>
<p>Now on the flip side, as it has been stated before with Max’s DS, many kids come in swearing that this is their field and it turns out they change. That happens in college. It is important to not be rigid, but flexible to find true happiness. Obviously, this is what you found out to be true too.</p>
<p>IMHO I think it probably happens more on the Science side of the realm…i.e. Engineering/Computers than it does on the LA side.</p>
<p>Econ is not one of the “best” majors at UMCP. It’s often considered the fallback for Smith school rejects, and it’s not even a B.S. - meaning that if you want to pursue further education in economics, the department strongly recommends you supplement the major requirements with more advanced math.</p>
<p>Comp sci is definitely one of the best programs at Maryland, up there with MIT as one of the top programs nationally. </p>
<p>Most engineering fields are well respected here - not just aerospace, but electrical stands out as well. Bioengineering isn’t considered one of the best in the area, with Hopkins so close by and obviously more prestigious, but my sense is the program is not “bad” by any stretch.</p>
<p>All of the technical majors at Maryland will be challenging, a point employers definitely take note of.</p>
<p>Smith is another highly respected program, and it’s not all “fluff”. You can definitely chart a non-fluffy course in, say, finance. </p>
<p>Government and politics is actually fairly well-respected due to proximity to DC and Maryland’s overall reputation compared to other popular gov and poli sci schools in the area, like GW, American and Georgetown. Of the three only Georgetown is seen as more prestigious, and it’s also seen as much more priviledged. I have very much enjoyed my gov and poli sci classes even though I didn’t enjoy the school’s advising.</p>
<p>Anyway, this is not to bash on econ, since you brought it up as a possible supplement to the “techy” fields you are looking into. As a supplement to math or comp sci, I think the econ major is a very good choice, at least if you’re going on to get your MFE. But, if you’re looking for employability, finance and math or finance and comp sci is probably a better choice. </p>
<p>However, I would caution against combining math and comp sci…unless you are really sure of your abilities…both are very difficult here.</p>
<p>@bullet–But Gemstone is not a major. You can be in any major and still be in Gemstone or Honors. Honors Humanities may be the only exception here.</p>
<p>^ Isn’t the same true for Scholars? You join a scholars program for two years, but it isn’t necessarily tied to your major! E.g., a business major could be in an “artsy” scholars program, couldn’t they?</p>
<p>Yes, but I think it would be foolish to do that. If your ultimate goal is to get a job to have a major in govt, minor in international relations and to than take an “artsy” scholars would not be as wise if you kept it all together. JMHO.</p>
<p>Also, in the Gemstone you will do a team project, not being in the major is going to hurt.</p>
<p>I can see doing an “artsy” major if it brings something to the table for your intended career, or if it includes your minor. For example, your ultimate career goal is to work with NEA (not the teachers union), however your major is govt and your minor is Music. In this situation taking an artsy scholar is probably smarter because you will intern in that program, and thus, having an internship with the govt isn’t as important as having that internship in the Arts area.</p>
<p>You have to remember you will take an internship. Do you want to waste it on an artsy job when it will have nothing to do with your career? This is one opportunity to make yourself shine with an internship to recruiters, use it wisely because that recruiter is going to ask I see you were in Scholars, why didn’t you take the Scholars program that coordinated with your major? To say, well, I like Music, is not going to fly well compared to the other kid who did tie it to their major and now has already interned for a semester in their field.</p>
<p>The job market is not pretty out there, you need to use every advantage you can get. Scholars Citation is one. The internship in Scholars is another. Again JMHO.</p>
<p>Another advantage of doing a scholars program related to your major is that students will find that they tend to “know” more people in the classes that they take related to their major, and they will most likely interact with some of their profs, or other related people that they will cross paths with later. Last year it was handy for D2 to be in classes with other people on her floor in terms of studying together, getting class notes, etc. And, the coordinator for the program (last year) also taught one of the classes she was taking. </p>
<p>The Business-related scholars programs, however, tend to be the most popular…so there are people who end up getting the opportunity to branch out in the Scholars program. I would not see this as a huge problem.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Scholars, but there is no “major” for Gemstone. Most teams don’t even center on a major, and if they did, their focus can switch drastically from their original topic and make the “best” major unrelated.
For example, as of team selection my teams project was: Design and test a synthetic brain barrier to see if known molecules that pass through the barrier will still pass with a drug attached to them.
This is mostly bioengineering…the major of one of twelve team members.</p>
<p>As of yesterday our research question is: </p>
<p>How can we use the body’s own immune system to transport modified-“drug delivering” viruses across the blood brain barrier?</p>
<p>The question is now somewhat routed in bioengineering, but mostly in immunology (not a major). The closest major is either cell bio or neuro-phys. A lot of my team is in these two majors, and I am an English major.
Am I worried about being lost? No. Because we’re all starting out at the same point. Very little of what you learn in classes will be applicable to this specific research and what is, I can just as easily look up as someone in the class.
We’re Gemstone students, no one is (academically) an idiot. We can handle specializing in more than one thing. The point is to learn more than you would just in your major. Being an expert in more than one thing–and you will be an expert by the end, you’re not spreading yourself thin–is only going to help you in the long run.
If my team manages to be successful in getting drugs across the blood brain barrier, it’s not going go matter what major everyone was. Our research, like the research of many Gemstone teams is something real, with real world impact. Will any of us look back on possibly taking the first step towards curing many deadly diseases and be like, well now I can’t get a job in History because I decided to do Gemstone as a history major, or will we not care because we’re nineteen years old and managed to make a real difference in the world that most people will never make in their entire lives? Sometimes it is just the experience that was worth it.
The point of Gemstone is for teams to be interdisciplinary. If everyone was the “right” major, there would be no varying points of view. Everyone would think the same way. Any project could easily fail without this.
It’s not the fact that people in the “wrong” major won’t contribute either. I as the lowly English major not only wrote the research question (the old one was just painful) but was the one who originally came up with the idea of using viruses to attach to immune cells so we would have to work less to manually target the disease in the brain (the immune system would do it for us) while everyone else was stuck on polymers (too unstable) and lipids (too large) as our mode of transport.</p>
<p>Astro has an excellent point, the majority of these kids will also be in your same classes. It does create that quick bond.</p>
<p>Gina, </p>
<p>I do see your point, but what if you were a Music major? You have stated that the majority of the members are in these majors and you are the lowly English major. If I am correct this is a 4 yr citation, do you not agree as time moves on it will become more technical, where you are not as knowledgeable in defending the thesis with academic knowledge?</p>
<p>Yes, it is great to have inter-disciplinary aspects, but if you have no academic knowledge it could become as if they are speaking Vulcan to you when discussing the thesis. Do English majors take the same science courses as the others? No. If they don’t, how well do they know the theory of XYZ to ABC when they are trying to defend the thesis? Imagine a Music major, how will do you think they will succeed as a JR at UMDCP who has not had a science class for 3 yrs, trying to remember polymers and lipids. I doubt it would be pretty.</p>
<p>If Gemstone is like Scholars you must earn that citation, internships, term papers and seminars are all included in that decision.</p>
<p>Nobody is saying you can’t do it, but in the end of the day, as I said before IMHO parents see this as an end run game. Scholars, Gemstone and Honors is an asset to the student, and if we are footing the bill, we pretty much think you should take the program that runs concurrent with your major or at least your intended career. Other wise, in 4 yrs you are going to say, “yep, I was in the program, but it had nothing to do with my major or what I can bring to your company” as an employee. Same for grad school applications.</p>
<p>That maybe harsh, but I can tell you when DS got into Scholars, and chose his intended major we discussed the programs available. He never said OH look, they offer XYZ, wouldn’t that be cool even though it has nothing to do with my major. He said, I want this one or that one, and from there I’ll decide my minor. All of his friends in Scholars also have the same thought. It might be Scholars that feels this way.</p>
<p>OBTW, if you haven’t realize for us, our DS’s major vs Scholars meant absolutely nothing, because the day he entered UMDCP he had been contracted by an employer…the USAF. He could have taken Scholars Jump roping if they offered it, because he was still going to be employed in the AF. Other students are not that fortunate.</p>