<p>Hi! Yesterday I was accepted into the Emerging Scholars Program, an opportunity for which I am grateful. This requires me to add another course to my schedule, which means I’ll be taking 18 hours my first semester. I really wanted to join multiple clubs-- International Relations Club, Newspaper, Mock Trial, Debate Club, Cinema Club-- and I am worried that with 18 hours of classes and the time commitment required by ES, which from my readings I have ascertained to be anywhere between 3 and 12 hours, I won’t be able to keep a high GPA. (For reference, I am a Political Science major/Telecommunications and Film minor and I want to go to Stanford Law, so I know I will need a 4.0 in order to be accepted from a state flagship school). Should I drop one of my classes? Aside from the ES class, my classes include:</p>
<p>BSC 108 (Non- major Biology, which also has a lab)
EN 219 (Honors American Lit)
TCF 112 (Motion Picture History Criticism)
MATH 125 (Calculus I)
PSC 203 (Comparative Politics)</p>
<p>If I dropped anything, I think it would be Biology, which would put me at 14 hours. I took Calculus my senior year (non- AP) so I would like to take that class while it is fresh on my mind. I really don’t want to be in over my head but if the work load is doable then I would prefer not to drop the class.</p>
<p>This kind of question really depends on you as a student and what you are comfortable with. Son was in ES last year as a freshman. Took 18 hours in the fall including honors bio II, calc III and physics. Also marched in the Million Dollar Band, managed to pull a 4.0.</p>
<p>It can be done but you have to be committed and organized. I know one of the things he did that helped to was always stay as far ahead with homework and assignments as possible, that kept him out of a time crunch during the “bad times” (my quotes not his).</p>
<p>Pm me if you have any specific questions you want me to ask him.</p>
<p>How do you know you were denied? My S hasn’t gotten any notification at all, but then got an email from Dr. Webb that obviously went out to the accepted students about registration issues for UA155. I wonder what the criteria for acceptance was, seeing as you were invited to apply it would be nice to know why you didn’t get in. (I am wondering if the online application required more than just a few summary level points like what my son sent, I think he thought it was similar to the honors app, maybe he was wrong)…</p>
<p>Upstate, not sure about how students are notified if they are denied, but my daughter received an email telling her that she was accepted into the program. She had problems registering for UA155, and she received the email about that also. Since your son received that email, maybe he has been accepted into the program. :)</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat. I was invited to apply. I did and I hadn’t heard anything until the email about registering. I emailed Dr Webb asking if I was accepted and haven’t heard back.</p>
<p>^^DS is in same situation. Invited to apply, but has not heard either way. I believe he may have applied for Spring semester as Dr. Webb and he exchanged e-mails and she nudged him in that direction.</p>
<p>My D started Emerging Scholars this past spring semester. The 1st semester involved minimal work. With that class, she had 17 or 18 semester hours and managed just fine. She still had plenty of free time. I think that you will be fine with that schedule. She had a 300 level spanish, 300 level latin, BSC 109, some kind of math, English 219, and Emerging Scholars. Oh and IHP 155.</p>
<p>Well we got the response from Dr. Webb. Really would have been nice if there was some kind of feedback as to why he was turned down, and an apology for sending the email that was sent to the accepted students to hold tight on the registration issues.</p>
<p>“Thank you very much for your interest in the Emerging Scholars Program. I cannot admit you to the program and regret that very much. There are many interesting things to do at the University and I encourage you to take advantage of these. It is also important to remember that there are many ways to become involved in undergraduate research. Emerging Scholars is one of these, but emphatically not the only one. I will invite you to several events that may be helpful to you as you plan your research activity. Again, thank you and I look forward to having you on campus.”</p>
<p>He emailed her back by the way asking for some feedback. I think this is kind of lousy way to start out, asked to apply, denied, no reason, not a great way to start out feeling ‘wanted’ haha…</p>
<p>If ES is something your student really wants to do, your student should contact Dr. Webb and express an interest if any openings become available. There were students accepted last year who were initially told “no”.</p>
<p>Thanks, honestly perhaps it is fine as I think he will have plenty of things going on to keep him busy and engaged. Hopefully once on campus he will develop good relationships with this profs etc., but it would be really good to know why he wasn’t admitted so that he can learn from it.</p>
<p>It is good to know he wasn’t the only one, all I can say to him is that he probably didn’t do thorough enough job on the application, but to be honest at this point he doesn’t have a solid plan for what he wants to do (or research), perhaps that came through - and if so, then of course that makes sense!</p>
<p>thx y’all, and you are right, I shouldn’t be hard on him :). Now that we know a lot of students get invited but aren’t accepted makes it easier - I think he thought he was unique in that. And really I am glad for him to get the message that it all isn’t going to be as easy as the honors acceptance/scholarship etc. And that is a good thing.</p>
<p>I was an Emerging Scholar last year and will be serving as a TA for the program this fall, so I look forward to seeing you in class.</p>
<p>As far as time commitment goes, the first semester is pretty easy; we want you to come to class, learn about what goes into research, research ethics, discuss your ideas, express concerns about doing research, and focus on networking with potential mentors. Later in the first semester, but usually beginning in the second semester, the time commitment becomes much more intense as you spend time (generally at least 6 hours a week at least) performing research with your faculty mentor.</p>
<p>I think your schedule looks doable. As long as you don’t slack and stay on top of work, you should do well.</p>