<p>DS was accepted into the Virtus Engineering LLC. We would like to get information on students' experiences in the program. He did not get accepted into College Park Scholars or Honors. </p>
<p>My son did Scholars and a friend’s son did Virtus. My friend’s son really liked Virtus a lot - all the bells and whistles to make the transition to college and engineering go smoothly, and then some. There are a lot of similarities in that both programs do address job prep (resumes and other career prep), and have some organized study sessions. </p>
<p>Virtus, however, is more centered on additional support specifically for engineers such as taking classes together but instead of having an additional topic (like science, discovery and the universe or business, society and economy for example) the themed learning that augments their education is directly related to engineering. </p>
<p>FYI, there are lots of students that are invited to Scholars or Honors that are NOT directly admitted to Clark and start out in Letters and Sciences, so the direct admit to Clark is actually tougher to get. I think Virtus (and Flexus) are awesome programs (LLC’s) for engineering students.</p>
<p>Here are some discussion threads that might help clarify.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1455365-attn-engineers-special-living-learning-program-for.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1455365-attn-engineers-special-living-learning-program-for.html#latest</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1456628-scholars-vs-virtus-for-engineering-students.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1456628-scholars-vs-virtus-for-engineering-students.html</a> </p>
<p>Thank you maryversity, this really helps. My son is really having a hard time deciding on a school. We are instate and he likes Maryland. His main concern is that he will see people from high school everywhere. I told him that I had that concern when I went to my state flagship university. However, I never saw people from high school; they were not majoring in chemical engineering like me. Virtus and Flexus sound wonderful. From what I can tell, Maryland is really ahead of the pack in providing this supportive environment. </p>
<p>Ah, what I wouldn’t give for IS tuition at Maryland!!!</p>
<p>Let your son know that with over 20,000 undergrads, he will not see or spend significant time with anyone from his high school unless he makes an effort to do so…he’s not the only one to feel that way…almost everyone wants to make new friends and have a different experience in college than they did in high school. </p>
<p>I found another thread that might give you some more insight into the engineering…let me know if there’s any other questions you have and I will try my best to answer or point you in the right direction to get an answer.
<a href=“How is UMD's Engineering Program? - #14 by maryversity - University of Maryland - College Park - College Confidential Forums”>How is UMD's Engineering Program? - #14 by maryversity - University of Maryland - College Park - College Confidential Forums;
<p>Thank you for your help, maryversity. He has chosen the University of Maryland!</p>
<p>YAY!!! Congratulations! Welcome to Terp Nation!</p>