<p>Ok, so from what I have seen on CC, it is said that Honors is more stats based/ is for the more "intellectual," while the Scholars program is for those who are more involved in extracurricular activities. Obviously, there are exceptions to this, but that was the general vibe I got. </p>
<p>Basically, my question is what the title implies. Can you request to switch? When I applied, I had a WGPA that did not meet the Honors Program's average of 4.39. However, after this semester, my WGPA has gone up to a 4.5. What do you think?</p>
<p>Also, for those of you at UMD, which program (Scholars or Honors) do you think is better, and why?</p>
<p>I’m curious about this too - I got into honors and while I think I’d like to stick with it, there are elements of Global Scholars that I like a lot better (the distinct programs they offer are just better suited for what I want to study), so I’d like to know if switching is an option.</p>
<p>I am also interested. I may call in the next few days if we don’t get any definitive answer from a CC member. I am in a similar situation to you OP. My UW gpa is 4.0 and W is only 4.15. This year however, I currently have a 4.8+</p>
<p>My SAT is within the middle range for honors as well.</p>
<p>I live like 15 minutes away from UMCP and my mom works there, so here’s what I know:</p>
<p>What MDdad2012 sounds about right, you can only switch from Honors to Scholars but not the other way around. You can NOT request a switch from Scholars into Honors. That’s definitive. After two years, however, if you do well in Scholars, you can apply for Honors because your time at Scholars expires. Scholars is only for freshmen and sophomores. Depending on the program, Honors lasts for two years. Otherwise, it lasts for your entire undergraduate experience (this only applies to Gemstone and University Honors). They never tell you this, but Gemstone is essentially the most prestigious program you can possibly get into at UMD, and it’s invite-only, so I think if a switch was made from Scholars to Honors after the two years, you’d pretty much have no choice but to choose University Honors.</p>
<p>“Also, for those of you at UMD, which program (Scholars or Honors) do you think is better, and why?” To be really honest, Honors is the designated top-tier of the school. About 1000 students get in. Scholars isn’t Honors, but it’s still a really good program. Honors isn’t more stat-based or intellectual - you still have a lot of extracurricular activities, interaction with other people in Honors, etc. The MAJOR difference between Scholars and Honors is that Scholars is more focused on interdisciplinary stuff - it wants to integrate unrelated fields together, like engineering and public leadership. Something Scholars really likes to advertise is their sense of community, but you pretty much get that whether you’re in Honors or Scholars anyway.</p>
<p>I do believe once the decisions are made, you can only go down not up. Honors can get other communities(scholars etc.) but you can not get honors. </p>
<p>I really think they do what they want. I really think the range for honors will vary with major and some demographics of students.</p>
<p>You CAN get switch into Honors from Scholars at the end of your sophomore year of college (when the Scholars program concludes). If you apply to a departmental honors (and you get in) then you’re automatically in the University Honors program for the Honors College. There is no other way than that, however.</p>
<p>Agree with the others about switching. I have had 2 D’s at UMD and one was in Honors and one was Scholars. Each was in the program that was the best fit for them. The one in Scholars has many more interdisciplinary interests (which were obvious from her community service and ECs in high school)…she thrived in Scholars. Her older sister would have not been well-matched for many of the activities in Scholars…much more of a learner who appreciates being on her own, but who did well in the Honors seminars and enjoyed living with other Honors freshmen…she found lots of people who shared some of her interests right away when she arrived (which did not revolve around partying) .</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the replies! This makes a whole lot more sense now–I had explicitly said I liked interdisciplinary subjects and integrating myself into the community. Now that I think of it, Scholars is really the better fit for me. Since there’s always a chance to matriculate into Honors, it’s all good :)</p>
<p>I thought I saw somewhere that someone who was not accepted to Honors/Scholars requested to be wait-listed into Scholars in the event that there were openings. Is there a similar process going from Scholars to Honors or is the case that once the decision is made it’s done?</p>