<p>Three questions about scholars for past or current students...
1. How common is it for students to get their first choice of programs? (I want Media, Self, and Society, and this weighs heavily on my decision to go to UMD)
2. How are the living conditions in the Scholars dorms? I have heard the Honors dorms are spacey and not cinderblock walls like the regular rooms.. Are scholars the same way? And one thing related to this.. is it a far walk to get to classes? Do you feel really removed from the center of campus?
3. Was it a good choice socially? (i.e. did you make good connections with those inside the program, as well as build friendships with people outside of scholars?)
Thanks for any insight!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It generally depends on the program. Some of them have a much higher demand (ex: Life Sciences); MSS doesn’t let in everyone, but they’re generally not quite as competitive as the other programs (though the demand can change from semester to semester). If your essay explained why you really want MSS, you have a pretty good chance, though it depends on what this year’s demand is.</p></li>
<li><p>They’re standard rooms. That myth is not true for all of the Honors dorms. While some of the Honors programs are housed off of North Campus, the majority (especially University Honors) are in Denton or Ellicott (Gemstone), which are the same style and quality residence halls (and have the same relative distance to the rest of campus) as those in the Cambridge Community (and in all of the buildings where the vast majority of freshmen live). It’s less than a 10 minute walk to the center of campus so it’s not very removed at all (especially since there are lots of people living in the same area).</p></li>
<li><p>I LOVE the Scholars program for the community feeling it has. I met a lot of people in my program and in other programs, and had a lot of fun living on the floor with the same people in my program who had similar classes as well. You’re also not restricted from just getting to know people in Scholars: you’ll still have classes and clubs/extracurriculars and everything else where you’ll get to know many different students across campus.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>when do you hear from the scholars on what program you get?</p>
<p>April 1st, I believe.</p>