<p>Congrats to all accepted to UMD! Because I'm out of state, I was wondering if I'd have any chance at all at the Banneker/Key. My UW gpa is 4.0 and my weighted is about 4.7. I'm ranked 9/466. I have taken 9 AP and have been named an AP Scholar on top of numerous other awards. I believe my greatest weakness is my ACT score of 32. However, I am a Hispanic female majoring in engineering, I speak 4 languages, own my own business, and my essays were very good (I wrote about my father's struggle with cancer). Thanks for reading my post!!</p>
<p>I am in same boat as you. Think an ACT score of 32 will hurt chances.</p>
<p>Any idea when fortifications come out bigbooklover?</p>
<p>This is from another post:</p>
<p>bbl last two years posts stated email notifications week of 2/9. Interviews last week of February. results by March 14. FYI </p>
<p>Were you accepted to the Honors College? </p>
<p>According to the website: “All freshman applicants to the University of Maryland who are admitted to the Honors College are considered for nomination to the Banneker/Key Scholarship.”</p>
<p>@lucia979: You’ve got a decent chance. The business, GPA, ranking, and URMF going into Clark status certainly help. The ACT is probably a little low for Banneker Key, but not an automatic no.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to hijack, but do I have a shot? 34 ACT, 4.5W on the Montgomery scale (which UMD uses), Honors College, built a series of underwater robots, showed them off at Make Magazine Maker Faire in NYC, Foreign Language is Russian, white male going into finance.</p>
<p>@ANNE1389 yes, I was excepted into honors for bioengineering.</p>
<p>@teganutt definitely think you have a shot. Besides your ACT score, being able to speak a foreign language separates you from the pack! Good luck 
</p>
<p>OP, just out of curiosity, did anyone at your school encourage you to take the ACT again?</p>
<p>@jkeil911 No not really. I don’t regret not taking fancy classes for the ACT though. I’m glad I spent that money on growing my business. I know it is my weakness, but oh we’ll, I guess we’ll see.</p>
<p>@tegauntt - “built a series of underwater robots” and you are going into finance rather than engineering?</p>
<p>@lucia979, one thing you did not mention is whether or not you were accepted into the honors college…? B/K invites are only extended to a small percentage of those admitted in honors college.</p>
<p>@maryversity yes I was accepted into the honors college for bioengineering.</p>
<p>@maryversity An engineering degree doesn’t get you into I-banking… The robotics stuff was a hobby, I want to pursue finance as a career</p>
<p>OP, that’s most unfortunate that no one recommended your taking the ACT again. That this happened to a Latina of such academic promise is a concern to me. Nonetheless, as a the father of one terp and maybe two, I will be happy to welcome you to College Park should you decide to come. Where else did you apply?</p>
<p>@jkeil911 I also applied to the University of Virginia, University of Delaware, and UNC Chapel Hill. I’ve been accepted to all of them, with a nice scholarship from UDel. Still waiting to hear back about scholarships from the other schools though. Both of my parents are immigrants and I am the first to go to college in my family, so I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into or what to do to prepare. I wish that my guidance counselor had been more of a help, but I do go to a very large public school so I guess it’s understandable.</p>
<p>@lucia979 By no means do I wish to raise false hope, but I have heard that there are the occasional exceptions to the rule that B/K invites typically go to students that have scores above 1500 (CR +M). Even if that is not the case, you definitely will be eligible for other scholarships that are targeted for women in engineering, first generation to go to college, etc. You should be very proud of your accomplishments… I hope your father is doing well.</p>
<p>OP, allow me to look at this from one other angle. B/K is often about leaders, about UMD trying to find the faces of the student body, the faces UMD wants to represent the university to the world, to other leaders. Do your ECs demonstrate such leadership?</p>
<p>@jkeil911 yes, I was the president of French honor society and was involved in several other clubs. My volunteer work involves teaching a jewelry making class at the local library and I was a nurse aid for hospice patients through a well known organization named VITAS. I’m also involved in Latin dance, which I hope will show my involvement in the Hispanic community. I also created my own business in which I knit and crochet wire into jewelry. I believe I’m the only artisan to do this currently! I put a lot of effort into building and expanding my business, which I also hope will demonstrate my leadership.</p>
<p>@jkeil911 I also forgot to mention that I was selected to attend New Jersey Girls’ State ( a program that models our government) and won the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, in which I had to lead the others girls in forming bills. I was also a finalist for the New Jersey Scholars Program.</p>
<p>none of that will hurt, OP! It does speak of leadership. If you get the interview, present yourself like the leader you are. Good luck.</p>