<p>Hi Cheapseats,</p>
<p>I saw your post on another thread so I know that you chose Maryland after all. How is it going??? What do you think of the Smith School so far? I wanted to ask both of you (and any other Maryland student) whether the school sticks firmly to February notification or whether there's a chance my son might hear earlier. Thanks.</p>
<p>hey, i know this post wasn't addressed to me but i'm in the smith school and i really like it. business stats is def one of my favorite classes, and the school itself is very nice (physically). i also really love umd right now..in the beginning i felt a little homesick and the transition was a little tough but now i'm completey comfortable. there is something to do EVERY day. they have really amazing lectures, i just attended one about our performing arts center--definitely interesting. and as for the notification, i got mine around the middle of february, and so did all of my other friends so yeah, i think your son will get it around there.</p>
<p>Thanks for answering whiskers! Are you by any chance in the College Park Scholars or Honors Program? If so, do you mind sharing your stats? What do you think of that program so far? Has it helped you to make friends?</p>
<p>i'm in the honors program. i had a 101 GPA (our school didn't use 4.0 scale) weighted and unweighted it was a 94. i had a 2100 for my SATs but it's not as great as it sounds because my writing was a 770, which brought it up a LOT. unluckily for me, colleges didn't really pay attention to that..i got a 660 in math and a 670 in the verbal section. i really like the honors program, a lot of friends were made here, but i also have a good amount of friends from scholars, and from those who aren't in a program. it's a pretty good program, the fact that we live all together is a good plus. we also have socials just for honors students and that's always fun. hope that helped! if you want any other information i'd be happy to provide it. goodluck to your son!</p>
<p>Thanks for being so forthcoming. It's much appreciated. So what're you doing at your computer on a Friday night? Is that typical or atypical for you? What else could you be doing at Maryland? Have you been home yet this year? Do kids leave much on weekends? And how does it feel to be from out of state at a state school? That's something I've been wrestling with.</p>
<p>lol it's no problem..well students can prettty much do anything on a friday night. i mean, sometimes i NEED to stay in because i have work to do, and sometimes i'll go out because i needed a break from the week. everyone is really different here..i know people who go to the library on friday nights, and i know those who try to find some social events to go to. the stamp studnet union also offers a lot of things for students, such as bowling and billiards, and movie rentals for $1 a night (and they're pretty good movies, too), and maybe a showing at the hoff threatre. my roommate lives close by so she goes home sometimes, and others go home all the time, but since i live in long island, i obviously can't. i haven't gone back yet, and i wont until thanksgiving..but my mom did come up for family weekend! :D it doesn't feel that awkward being out of state, i have someone who lives across the hall from new jersey. so yeah, when they tell you maryland is very diverse, it REALLY is. there is a lot going on and you have to pick and choose...some choose differently than others, depending on what their priorities/interests are. to be honest and direct here, there are those who choose to party all weekend but there are a whole bunch that would rather play ping pong, too. it all depends on who the person is. hope that helps!</p>
<p>Thanks, whiskers. I can't predict which camp my son will fall into. I'm going to hope that he's one of the studiers!</p>
<p>hey sorrywart, sorry for the lack of a reply!! [unlike whiskers, i was very much NOT at my computer friday night!!] i love the smith school, and the honors program, and will be glad to answer any more questions you have (feel free to email me, contact info listed in my profile).</p>
<p>the feb notification is pretty standard so no luck in hearing before that--it's earlier than most other schools, anyway!!</p>
<p>haha i feel like sucha loser. (being home on the computer on a friday night, that is)</p>
<p>Thanks lindz! And whiskers, remember that I'm a mom so you scored bonus points for staying in to catch up on your work. Is it a coincidence that you're both in the honors program or would you say that those kinds of stats are a prerequisite for getting admitted into Smith as a freshman?</p>
<p>haha yeah, i'm swamped for the next weekend or two b/c of midterms. as for the business school...i think it is less competitive than honors for sure, but you also need a specific SAT score..i believe it's 1300 combined. my friend here transfered right into the business school because she changed majors, and she was put in right away. she told me her counselor allowed her because her SATs exceeded 1300. i do, however, have friends who applied to Smith and didn't get in and have to transfer into junior year and they don't have an SAT score of 1300..so i'm guessing they have some kind of cut off score, but i'm not entirely sure.</p>
<p>i think that the type of stats (including courseload/ec's), in general, that a student who would be considered for the honors program would have, would be the same type of stats as students admitted directly into the business school. there are plenty of business majors not in honors/scholars/anything but those who get in right off the bat and start succeeding in their classes right away are definitely honors-type students.</p>
<p>the business school requirements weed out people who aren't serious about it pretty quickly.</p>
<p>oh and it IS a coincidence but i like to think that whiskers came to UMD and joined honors because of talking to me here at CC :)</p>
<p>Sorry it took a while for me to answer this. I am in business society and econ scholars. I had a 3.5 UW 4.0W 1380 (610V and a 770M). The business school is great. I am not there very often though. I only go there for my business stats class. I like the class just like wiskers does. The teacher makes it more exciting than it is. I, however, don't go to as many classes as i should. I missed quite a few before the last test but i took the stat in high school so it is the same thing. I got an A on the test and i have an A right now. I have one b right now and the rest are As. </p>
<p>Weekends, oh weekends. I don't think i have ever had more fun in my life. Many people do go home just because they live so close. I live pretty close but i don't go home as often as i should. I live about 30 minutes away and have gone home for 3 nights so far. I don't like to miss any weekend nights. I don't get any studying done on the weekends. Then again, i really don't have that much work to do. If you do choose to go out on the weekends there is always something to do. Safety might be a concern but i haven't felt unsafe when out. There was one time where me and two friends went somewhere where we should not have. I felt like an iddiot that was about to get robbed because i was walking through a really shady area. We get reports of crimes in the city and the reports always sound like 3, 2 males and one female where walking at 2 am and where robbed, suspect fled on foot. It sounded very similar to my situation. But nothing happened on the way there or the way back. </p>
<p>I am extremely happy with my choice of maryland. i get the fun of a party school and a good education at the same time from the business school.</p>
<p>Welcome back, Cheapseats. Glad you're enjoying yourself but stay safe. Be smart. So why do you think you were selected for the Scholars program with a higher combined score than whiskers who is in Honors? I saw on the table that someone posted here that there is an overlap in the criteria for these programs. I've attended a presentation on both programs but wonder, from the students' perspective, does one offer more than the other in terms of academics? Social life? Orientation to campus? What do you three think?</p>
<p>worrywart--
just to expand on what cheapseats said, i feel like people go home on weekends MUCH less after the first semester and especially after the first year. a lot of people went home my freshman year, which was frustrating since i live almost 3 hours away.
i go out pretty much every weekend at least one night, relax for a day or so, and save sunday for my "catch-up" day as far as schoolwork and things for my research fellowship.
business stat (bmgt230) is one of the best lower-level classes any business major at maryland will take. prof studer-ellis is the best professor ever; i wish he taught classes in my major!</p>
<p>my stats, for honors....1410 sat (720 math 690 verbal) taken in jan 04) and a 33 act... 4.3 w, 3.8 uw gpa. there is definitely an overlap in the program criteria, which is good in a sense--you know the admissions committee actually is looking at your essays/ec's/etc!!</p>
<p>i am probably biased since i'm in honors but i think that we have better academically-related options. we definitely have a lot more freedom. in scholars you are placed on a 'track' (which may or may not be related to your major, but hopefully is related to your interests) and you take one colloquium with all the other students in that track each semester for your first two years. you do a final project of some sort, and you're done at the end of your sophomore year.</p>
<p>with honors, you have the option to take as many or as few honors seminars or h-version classes as you want, for all four years. you can participate fully in the honors program and not take any honors classes, if that's what you want. the honors classes you can take be in any subject, any topic, there are no prerequisites for the vast majority. i've been exposed to some really neat subjects through honors seminars that i wouldn't have been otherwise, and had the opportunity to have a small (20-person) discussion-based class each semester since i've been here.
now that i'm a junior, i'm getting to the point where i have room in my schedule for electives and i'm about 95% sure i'll be filling those elective credits with honors seminars.</p>
<p>social life...i don't know for scholars, but honors is always sponsoring events or programs where you can get to know other people. speakers, theatre performances, <strong>ice cream socials!!</strong>, rafting trips, movie nights, etc etc etc. both programs have residence halls set aside, so it really is like "living and learning"--i would think more so in scholars, since you live with the people in your track and also take the colloquium with them.</p>
<p>also, honors students get to take HONR100 their first semester [or have the option to take HONR200 second semester, which is research-oriented] while other university students take UNIV100 (and i believe this includes scholars, but i might be wrong, help me out here cheapseats). there isn't really much difference; just a way to meet people. from my HONR100 class of 12 students, it turned out that one was in my honors seminar that semester, two were in the marching band with me, and two lived on my floor in denton hall.</p>
<p>i just realized how very long and rambling this post was; sorry!!</p>
<p>Oh don't be sorry. I learned so much!</p>
<p>well, i don't know what the school looks at for honors vs scholars but honors is better. I wasn't balanced in my SAT scores. A 770M and a 610V are really far apart. Maybe my 610V was just too low for honors. </p>
<p>Honors is more respected academically but as lindz said the track they put you on in scholars is based on your scholars group. When you are invited to scholars you request a scholars group. I am a business major so i picked business and luckily got it. Had i gotten something else i wouldn't like it as much. Some business scholar wants to be an architect and doesn't benefit nearly as much from scholars as those that want to business do. I have 4 credits i have to take this semester being in business scholars. A 1 credit short class and a 3 credit Intro to business and management class. </p>
<p>Socially i have to think scholars is where it is at but i can't speak for honors. For example, that intro to business and management class is suggested to all freshmen in the smith school. Scholar students and i THINK honor students take it in honor and scholar groups. The cool thing about scholars is that everyone that lives in this building on the lower floors takes the class together and it is taken 20 feet from the building in our community center. We live and go to classes with these people. We interact with all the people on these floors and we get to know them. I don't just live in a building where i never see my neighbors in class. I see them all twice a week in lengthy classes. Our class on thursdays is 3 hours long. </p>
<p>Also we take classes outside of the scholars curriculum together. Many take econ and business stats. I usually study in a group of 7 for my stats tests and they all live in this building. For our intro to business class there was a large study group of about 20 studying at the same time. Also we have similar interests. 6 of us joined a AKPsi which is a professional business fraternity that is trying to get on campus. i think there are only 2 other freshmen in the frat so 6 of the 8 freshmen in that fraternity are in the same building. </p>
<p>Making friends is really easy. I look around in my scholars class and i can tell no one is displaced more than one person from me. I know someone that they know. The other scholar group in this building is the science discovery and the universe scholars. I feel there is less interaction between the people in the different scholar groups in the building but that shows the benefit of being in a scholars group. There is more interaction among those in the same scholars group so it shows that people are making friends through this process.</p>
<p>Today i had to go to smith and watch a presentation on majors and i went in a pretty large group of 12. We know each other very well. Some other business scholars were there also and we recognized them as they walked in. Its really cool that we know one another in this community.</p>
<p>Edit: yeah lindz lots of freshmen take UNIV 100 but it isn't required for me for whatever reason. I do believe however each scholars group has its own UNIV 100 class that requires it. For example life science scholars have to take it and there is a UNIV100 for life science scholars only. That is the cool thing about Honors and Scholars. We take classes with each other and get to know people much easier.</p>
<p>Thanks for all that information Cheapseats and Lindz. Though, I am still not sure if I stand a chance at either the Scholars or honors program. Also, is there anything specific I need to do do to be conisdered for review?</p>
<p>here are my stats</p>
<p>GPA - 3.3/3.4 UW -- It's sub-par due to my horrendous sophomore
year(2.9uw). However, I'm hoping that my significantly better performance in my junior year(3.8uw) will help balance. I am also continuing this upward grade trend in my senior year.
SAT's - 2160(1430 M/V) combined</p>
<ul>
<li>Decent EC's: jobs, leadership position, music, etc
-recommendations will be excellent(my teacher loves me) as will my essay.
-relatively competetive courseload. I'll have about 5 hns and 5 AP courses by the end of my senior year.
-very competetive public school. Highest SAT scores for a non-magnet public school in NJ...if that means anything.
-Asian/Indian-bilingual. Indian citizen</li>
</ul>
<p>I do realize my gpa is very low, but I was wondering whether or not the rest of my application can offset that.</p>
<p>they automatically review you for scholars and honors when they look at your application; there's nothing extra. </p>
<p>i don't really like doing the whole "chances" thing because it varies SO much. but your stats aren't terrible and since your GPA is quite different than what someone would expect looking at your SAT scores, i'd think the rest of your application would be looked at pretty carefully. so definitely take care with your essay/ECs list/etc. :)</p>