<p>Can someone briefly explain the difference and say which is better/more exclusive?</p>
<p>Scholars and Honors are both CP because they are a part of UMD.</p>
<p>Honors is more exclusive, this is where the majority of BK recipients come out of. Scholars is a 2 yr program, Honors is 4. The bridge between them is Gemstone for many students. For example, if you are qualified for Gemstone, but say you don’t want to do a team project, you will either go Honors or Scholars.</p>
<p>It is tiered, but on the whole a lot goes into determining which student gets what. You cannot apply for any of these programs, like applying for Smith. UMD determines who gets in when they determine acceptances. You will not be offered the choice of Scholars or Honors, you are automatically placed. You can only choose which program within them that you want, and that is still a space available issue. In other words that is why they ask you to rank which one you want, you will get one of them, but it may not be your 1st choice. FYI, I don’t know of any scholar recipient on this board or through our DS’s friends that did not get their 1st choice.</p>
<p>I have 2 D’s…one in each program. I believe that Honors gets first “dibs” on selecting recipients; the overall GPA/SAT scores are overall higher, but we’re still talking primarily A students with strong SAT scores in both programs. The short answer is that both programs are different, and neither is a “one size fits all” program for high-achieving kids.</p>
<p>In honors, you live in Denton Hall, and most (but not all) students there are also honors. You don’t have any special programs or any other affiliation with the people with whom you live. In general, one would “think” that the attitudes towards studying vs. partying give higher value to studying than you would find in a “general” freshman dorm (not always the case, but you may find more people who go to the library to study with). In D’s case, there were several people on her floor (mostly guys) that shared her interests (that didn’t include partying), so she made friends immediately (and won her share of poker games that first semester late at night!)</p>
<p>In honors, you are able to take special Honors seminars (usually about 18ish people per class, most meet some kind of CORE requirements, and most are really interesting)… less traditional note-taking/traditional exam courses (you can see the seminars offered if you go into Testudo and look at the schedules…I believe they are HONR classes). You are required to take a certain number of honors courses (either seminars or honors sections of other classes) in order to graduate with the honors certificate on your diploma. Some honors sections of other classes (not seminars) are classes of all honor students, but most of them have some additional work required for the kids who have signed up for honors…a special research project, etc. In one class, D and the other honor kids had to do a project and give a presentation at the end of the year in front of the prof and the other honors courses. This was a great program for my older D…a math/science geek who is very driven (getting 2 majors and a minor). She turned down Gemstone because group projects are not her thing. She’s a junior now, and got her honors requirements for graduation completed midway through her sophomore year. She is taking another honors seminar now to fill the remaining history/type CORE requirement that she had.</p>
<p>Other D is just as intelligent, had nearly as high of SAT and GPA, is in scholars…and it was like that program was made for her. (She reads this forum so I guess I should go on and on about how awesome she is!!! 
) I think that most of the people who are chosen for Scholars have shown significant leadership, community involvement, and are maybe (?) generally more outgoing… The scholars program is a living/learning program, housed in the Cambridge community, and split up by dorm floors. There is a one-hour (maybe 2 for some?) seminar class each semester that everyone in the individual Scholars program (there are several to choose from) attend; there are more group activities, and in general, it is a MUCH more cohesive group than the Honors program. D2 is very social, has always been involved in a number of things, is passionate about several social/community issues and happens to have chosen a program that overlaps with one of her majors…so she knows people from many of her classes that live on her floor. There is also an internship option (or a research paper) that is required to complete the scholars program you’re in by the time you finish sophomore year. D1 would not have enjoyed this program…she is much more focused on the specific things she wants to learn about, and did not thrive as much on the community service activities that she did, not at all similar to her sister in this way. </p>
<p>D2’s scholars program is split between 2 different floors within the Cambridge community…and there are a lot of people who live on her floor who are not in scholars at all (see the other thread on freshman housing…) Maybe because of that, and more likely it was just the luck of the draw…but her floor has a much more “partying” persona than her sister experienced at Denton. It took her a couple of weeks to get to know people who were interested in the kinds of things she was. </p>
<p>Someone said on here that scholars are also able to go back and sign up for honors seminars if there are any openings honors students have registered…the reality is that the “good” ones always fill fast because of their popularity. Not having as easy access to these seminar classes has not been an issue for D2.</p>
<p>In both my kids’ cases, they have gotten to know their professors (both were able to get letters of recommendation for important things after their first semester at UMD)…and they have done all the right things to make UMD seem much smaller. We can’t walk across campus with either one of them that they don’t see people they know.
I think that both programs are great…and in my family’s case, really matched up the the right kids to the right programs…and both have 4.0 GPAs so it must be working!</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>What happens to kids after the 2nd year of scholars? Can they apply to honors? Or, must they matriculate into the general UMD population?</p>
<p>“matriculate into the general UMD population”</p>
<p>Based on a lot of questions that have been asked here over the past few months, people seem to look at Honors, Scholars, or Gemstone as being completely different from being a “regular” student…That’s not the case at all. The CP Scholars program is done after 2 years. I’m also assuming that most kids in the honors curriculum have probably finished taking the needed amount of honors courses to get their certificate by then. D1 is only taking an honors seminar as a Junior because she kept putting off taking a history course and the one she’s taking is a bit of an unusual way to get that CORE requirement finished… Of course, if people have extra space in their schedules, they can keep taking these seminars all 4 years, but most people are working to finish what it takes to graduate in general, and are at higher level courses that should be requiring a lot of work.</p>
<p>Students in classes alongside Honors students in honors sections do not necessarily know that the person sitting next to them is an honors program. The additional requirements to get the honors credit are over and above what the rest of the class has to do. </p>
<p>After 2 years in either program (honors or scholars), students should already be finding themselves in classes that challenge them significantly. In addition, they can start doing research or independent projects both on and off campus (or study abroad) as early as their freshman year. For those people in Gemstone, their Gemstone project mainly becomes that research project. For others they can get it in other ways…it may just require more self-motivation, but the opportunities to succeed are certainly there at UMD.</p>
<p>Maybe somebodynew can add perspective and experience as a senior student who was in honors, has studied abroad, and been active on campus…</p>
<p>In UMD, you first have general honors, or university honor, for the first two years of your college career; and then you have departmental honors, which are way more challenging, in your third and fourth years. </p>
<p>In English department and most other humanities, you can only apply for departmental honors in the fall of your junior year, by which time you would have already taken a considerable amount of 300 level and 400 level classes. You will also be required to write an extensive thesis after acceptance into the departmental honors program. The thesis requires a huge amount of research, dedication, and specialized knowledge about your particular academic discipline.<br>
To quote a professor of mine, university honors is more about college experience, whereas departmental honors is more about intensive research. I know plenty of honors student partying in Turtles and Santa Fe, and I know plenty of normal students slaving over academics late at night. </p>
<p>Oh, and scholars, scholars is a big joke. The program’s only function is to make you feel better, and let you live in Cambridge for your first year instead of Easton. The program is seriously overrated. Nevertheless, the program is an awesome way to hook up with a cute girl or a cute dude. 
</p>
<p>I personally recommend Civics, Language House, and Writer’s House for ANYONE who is coming to our great school. They have air conditioned dorms, awesome accommodations, and a fantastic basement!</p>
<p>Scholars is a big joke <em>rolls eyes</em>. Whatever. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but unless you’ve participated, I’m not sure how you can make that comment.</p>
<p>I agree that Language House and Writer’s House are also outstanding programs (can’t speak to Civicus). And it’s not because they have air conditioned dorms, awesome accommodations, and a fantastic basement (though they do). The programs themselves are great experiences.</p>