College Park Scholars vs. Honors College

<p>No conflict at all; and she is working toward a double degree. She moved to the Language House her sophomore year, but was still very active in the Scholars program.</p>

<p>How selective is the Global Communities program in relation to College Park Scholars or Honors College?</p>

<p>do you guys know if we get scholarship money from scholars?</p>

<p>@readytoleave27</p>

<h2>We get considered/have better chacnes and will be told in March/April.</h2>

<p>[University</a> of Maryland - Freshman Profile Information](<a href=“http://www.uga.umd.edu/counselor/freshmanprofile.cfm]University”>http://www.uga.umd.edu/counselor/freshmanprofile.cfm)</p>

<p>!?!?!??!!
With those stats, I’m in the 25% below (way below) average for the Honors Program. I know as a minority, I have it a bit easier, but certainly not that easier. My stats are much too low to be in the Honors program. Possibly it was my essays and such, because there is no explanation. I’m glad either way though!</p>

<p>How are students supposed to handle scholars? I got in and I was checking most programs require an extra 16-20 credits. First Semester has 2-3 classes for some programs. That is an extra 7-8 credits on top of your major. I am an engineering student, already going to be taking 17 credits a semester; would it be a bad idea to do Scholars? Will my GPA be at risk??</p>

<p>I answered you in another thread where you asked the same question. The “extra” credits will meet required Core classes anyway…they are just more targeted to go along with your Scholars program. As you can see on the Scholars pages, there are still several choices–it shouldn’t impact you as greatly as you think. The only way your GPA will be at risk is if you allocate a lot more time to partying than you do to studying…</p>

<p>@readytoleave27 and astrophysicsmom, thanks for the additional info. This is really helpful.</p>

<p>Correct me if I am mistaken but another difference between scholars and honors seems to be that scholars requires either an internship/research/capstone project at the end of the two years, but honors does not? It looks like honors is focused more on academics and if it leads to research/internship, that is an option but is not required for completion of honors (for citation purposes)? Does honors do field trips as well or do they just have unique speakers/programs/classes?</p>

<p>Mary, you are correct regarding the internship, etc. required of Scholars. I don’t know if the individual honors programs do anything as groups (when my D was in the Honors program, it was honors vs. gemstone, but not all the rest of the programs). She could take the honors seminars, but there weren’t the group activities that my other D experienced in Scholars.</p>

<p>Thank you, astrophysicsmom!</p>

<p>Bumping this up for those with the same question this year - astrophysicsmom does a great job of answering this!</p>

<p>My D was admitted to the CP Scholars program and has to respond with choice by next week. None of the areas seem to match up with her major or career goals (occupational therapy) but they are interesting and she likes the community involvement aspects. If she were to choose the arts Scholar program (but not majoring in or excelling in art) would she be “lost”? Likewise the life sciences seems interesting but, if its filled with pre-meds and science majors, same issue. We plan to visit again and do the tour with Scholars but, they want her to choose which are of interest by 2/14? Is the housing worse than regular freshman housing? She is just a regular kid, very social also, and not keen on any “exclusive” type housing. UMD is in her top 3 schools so we really want to explore this program before she makes her decisions.</p>

<p>No, the housing is not “worse than regular freshman housing” at all - it is the same. The majority of freshman are assigned to the North Hill high-risers (some may be in a program assigned to a specific dorm elsewhere). The only difference is there are some low risers in the Cambridge Community (but not in others) which I personally think makes it easier to get to know people in your dorm. However, the high risers in Cambridge Community are the ones with the a/c in every room (low risers just have a/c in the lounge areas). FYI, not all high risers in every community have a/c in every room, so it really is the same - not worse. You can compare dorms here <a href=“Halls at a Glance | Department of Resident Life | University of Maryland”>http://www.resnet.umd.edu/hallsatglance/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Trust me, the kids are social and the housing is not at all exclusive. In fact, if there are spaces available in the dorms, they put students that are not in the scholars program there also. Mostly scholars, of course, but there are definitely some that are not in scholars.</p>

<p>I don’t think you need to major or excel in art at all to be in the arts program - you just have to be interested in the arts. They actually encourage you to try to pick a program that is different than your major so you can have a different experience than your regular classes - expand your boundaries, so to speak. If your daughter picks a program and then attends the admitted students day for scholars, she can decide at that point if that’s the best fit. If she sees another program she decides she likes better, she can always request to be switched, and if there is availability to do so, they will accommodate her. </p>

<p>I know it’s tough to decide without having all the facts, but she definitely needs to fill out and submit her interest survey by 2/14 so that she doesn’t forfeit her spot in scholars. Everyone is in the same boat, so just take that leap of faith and go with whatever program she is mostly drawn to.</p>