Chances? (Honors/Scholars?)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
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<p>Hi, I will be senior in the fall, I'm instate, and go to a fairly competitive public high school. Also, both my parents attended UMD. I'm a girl and white.</p>

<p>GPA (/4.0 /5.0): 3.95 (UW) 4.62 (W) (1 B sophomore year)
SAT I: 1380/2080 (600 CR 700/11 Essay W 780 M) Will not be retaking again.
SAT II: I'll be taking Math II and Chem in Oct., but from what I've heard UMD doesn't look at them?
Class Rank: n/a, but most likely top 10% for both weighted and unweighted.
APs: 8 by the time I graduate (Comp Sci A (5), Psych, English Lang, Calc AB, Chem, Calc BC, English Lit, Stat)</p>

<p>I've taken all weighted classes, except for the general requirements.
Senior Year Schedule:
AP Calc BC
AP Stat
AP English Lit
AP Chem
Spanish IV Honors
Advanced Object Oriented Design (most advanced comp sci course offered at my school)
Intern/Mentor Program (I'll have an internship relating to comp sci at a nearby lab)</p>

<p>EC's
-Competitive gymnast (9 years, through 10th grade): competed at the state level, won numerous awards, practice 20+ hours/week
-Information Technology Association (10-12): President for 2 years. I am in the process of designing a cyber safety awareness week program for the county and I'm working with some local organizations. There will be various pamphlets, contests, and a short movie regarding safe social networking, prevention of cyber bullying, and general cyber ethics. Also three other students and I attended the UMD High School Programming competition for 2 years.
-Computer Club (11-12)
-Math Engineering Science Achievement (11-12): I was on a team that built a bridge which was first place in the county.
-Math Team (10-12)
-NHS (11-12)
-Spanish NHS (11-12)
(~100 hours of community service between NHS/SNHS)</p>

<p>Work (11-12): I teach young children gymnastics. I teach 7 classes/week during the schoolyear and teach camp over the summer (40 hours/week). And as I mentioned above, I'll have an internship for the upcoming school year (not paid).</p>

<p>Awards:
-Honor Roll/Exemplary Attendance
-MD Junior Olympic Gymnastics State Championship Qualifier (6 years)
-2009-10 Outstanding Computer Science Student (for my school)
-Student of the Month (school)</p>

<p>Major: Comp Sci</p>

<p>In my essays I plan to talk about my passion for comp sci and how I taught myself a whole computer science course over the summer (after freshmen year) and later taught myself how to program in C++, among other topics. I did all of this independently and it was not required of me.</p>

<p>If I get in, I'll most likely attend.
What are my chances? Also, do I have a chance at getting into Honors/Scholars?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>You shouldnt have any trouble getting into UMD. I would think you would get into Honors as well; I’m in honors and my application was worse than yours except for that I did really well on the SAT.</p>

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<p>^^ Why will you not take the SAT again? How many times have you already tried? You should really try to improve the CR score(700+). It can make a BIG difference (esp. for scholarships). You are correct that UMd won’t look at the SAT2s, but many other colleges do, so you will probably want to take 2 or 3 of them (NOT all in one area such as math/science). </p>

<p>Your essay should stress examples of leadership and your ability to work on a team. Be careful to not make yourself seem like a loner. That can raise some red flags.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies!</p>

<p>@plumazul I’ve already taken SAT’s 3 times and my score went up 90 pts. I’ve done a ton of studying to try and improve CR, but it’s just not my strength at all. I know one of the schools that’s I’m applying to requires that I take Math II and Chem or Physics, so that’s why I wasn’t going to take a history/language.</p>

<p>Hm okay, so I guess it might be better to also mention the cyber safety awareness week that I’m organizing?</p>

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<p>If you want to be considered for serious scholarship money you have to get those SAT scores up. My DD had about the same total scores as yours (CR 700, CW 680, Math 700) and was admitted to honors, but they only offered her $1500 for one semester as far as scholarship money. The scholarship money at all the colleges is tied to the SAT scores regardless of your GPA weighted or weighted. I called several of the colleges and they said even her 4.0/4.8 (final weighted GPA) did not out weigh her “low” SAT scores. </p>

<p>So your SAT scores are probably good enough to get admitted but not good enough to get scholarship money.</p>

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<p>Thanks missymouse. I’m not too concerned about scholarship money since I’m instate and my parents did the maryland prepaid college fund thing, so cost isn’t an issue.</p>

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<p>^ My SAT score was only 20 points higher than the OP’s (710 CR, 690 M, 700 W, so UMD saw a 1400) and I got 4.5k for 2 years (I’m in Scholars).</p>

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<p>I think you will definitely get in to Maryland with a good chance for scholars. Your test scores may be a little low for honors. Have you considered taking the ACT? It will be offered again in September. A lot of kids like the test better than the SAT and score better on it. I recommend buying the “Real ACT Preparation Guide” and taking a practice test to see how you do. Maryland will accept an SAT or ACT score.</p>

<p>By the way, Maryland has a great club gymnastics team that you might want to consider if you attend. My daughter is on a club team at another school and has really enjoyed it. She has some friends on the Maryland team and they like it a lot.</p>

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<p>@momjr Thanks for your reply! I was actually registered to take June ACT’s, but ended up canceling because I was under a lot of stress with SAT’s/Finals.</p>

<p>Yeah a couple of my old teammates are on the club team at UMD. Unfortunately, I have a bad back injury, so I can’t do gymnastics anymore.</p>

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<p>My GPA was much lower than yours (3.7 uw) and my SATs were 2070. I got into Scholars and the 5k/year scholarship… so definitely the essays are important. Good luck.</p>

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<p>^ Just a note about the essays… you can always put that little bit about comp sci on the resume they have you submit. The really important thing about the essays is showing something that can’t come through on any other part of the application. One of my essays (I think it was the pick your own topic one) was about sacrificing a position in a performing group that I wanted to allow a younger student to have it.</p>

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<p>lb801, if I’m not mistaken I don’t believe UMD is really using the W score from the SATs for their decisions (that’s how your SAT differs from theirs). I agree with the others that say that the 600 CR will likely keep the OP out of honors and contention for $$, but depending on the essays/app, and what the community service was, there may be a reasonable chance for Scholars…</p>

<p>Agree with the others that getting in won’t be an issue for an IS student with this awesome GPA and solid SAT scores.</p>

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<p>^ They aren’t, that’s why I noted that UMD saw a 1400, not a 2100. Scholars seems likely for her, I’d think, but I agree that Honors probably won’t happen.</p>

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<p>Absolutely, it seems that 1400 CR/Math is the cutoff for many scholarships and Honors programs.</p>

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<p>Okay. I did read on their website “The students admitted to the University Honors program have an average (weighted) GPA of 4.27 and the middle 50% scored between 1340-1490 on the SAT and between 30-33 on the ACT.” That was of the incoming freshmen class. So I guess it is still possible to get into honors with a score below 1400, but unlikely.</p>

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<p>You will get into UMD. I would be surprised if you did not get into Honors. If for whatever reason you don’t get into Honors, you’ll be a shoe-in for Scholars.</p>

<p>You should consider retaking the SAT for scholarship purposes. UMD merit scholarships are almost exclusively decided by the numbers i.e. SAT and GPA, and a 2080 does not stand out to anyone.</p>

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<p>Thanks applyingtobschl. I’ve already taken SAT’s three times, so I don’t think it’d be a good idea to take them a fourth time. And plus I don’t think my score could go up that much more.</p>