<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am a computer science student (possible math double major) and I was looking at the possible honors colleges. It appears to be default for most students in some kind of engineering major to attend Gemstone. Can someone who is doing Digital Cultures & Creativity give me there perspective.</p>
<p>Thanks,
EddieD</p>
<p>Hey Eddie - hope I didn’t respond to late to this post to help you make your decision.</p>
<p>The program you’re talking about is brand new and is launching beginning Fall 2010 (next Fall!), which is why many students on this board probably didn’t post! </p>
<p>The one big difference between this program and Gemstone is that DCC is a two year program, and Gemstone is a 4 yr program. Here is a description of DCC: [DCC:</a> Digital Cultures & Creativity](<a href=“http://dcc.umd.edu/]DCC:”>http://dcc.umd.edu/). Gemstone, on the other hand, has been around at MD for a long time and is a big 3-yr interdisciplinary group research project (the first year is spent learning skills/etc. for the project), culminating in a presentation of your huge paper to a board (kinda like a graduate thesis). It is very prestigious and many engineers opt for it because the projects can be very engineering-science based. Really, the project can be about anything that interests you and your group members (they match based on topical interests). </p>
<p>So, if you are looking for a program that is a lot of work but potentially really rewarding and prestigious looking, go for Gemstone.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, Gemstone has an EXTREMELY low retention rate. Students drop out because they don’t want to deal with writing a research paper (as soon as second semester freshman year you will be expected to complete a “mini” paper, I think 20 pages), it can be hard to study abroad when you are dedicated to helping your project team succeed (ex. all of you can’t go off to Africa for a semester or a year during school when you have a group project to work on), they’re afraid they’ll be stuck with a bad group, and in general it does take up a lot of time and involves a lot of dedication. This retention rate doesn’t affect people who enjoy the program, as far as I can see, but it does take a special kinda person to be interested in that. I think the new living learning programs were created in part to help fill the gap created by students admitted to Gemstone but not interested in such a large commitment…it is an attempt to offer something for everyone, is my interpretation.</p>
<p>So, if you’re looking for a lower stress program that is more for “fun”, you have an interest in new media, digital art/music, etc., still want something that will still look good on especially your “inter university” resume (that is, it will help you apply to “upperclass” programs within the university later on, such as Hinman, Beyond the Classroom, maybe Global Communities, etc.), I think DCC would fit the bill.</p>