Did any of you do the TERP precollege program? I haven’t been able to find any information on quality or experiences, and my daughter is investigating it. she would be applying for the biopharmacological section taught by Ben Woodward in the Engineering Department
I’m actually very familiar with the YSP (Young Scholars Program) for high school students, which seems to be renamed to Terp Young Scholars. Both my kids did a summer course at Maryland and it was absolutely the best money I have ever spent. First off, it is a bargain for a residential summer program, especially when compared to other precollege options, and the 3 college credits are nothing to sneeze at. I have one Terp and one non-Terp, so I can vouch for the credit being accepted not only by Maryland, but other universities. Even if it’s not a required class for another school, you still get the “credits” which help your status (transforming a 12 credit freshman into a 15 credit freshman for opportunities that consider priority based on number of credits you have). Both my kids really enjoyed their experiences immensely.
The rigor of the work varies depending on the actual course and instructor. I am not familiar with Ben Woodward in specific, and there are no reviews of him on ourumd.com (Maryland’s own rate my professor site). I wouldn’t worry about that because the program in general is run extremely well. My son did the engineering design course that was hands on and actually gave him some extra room in his schedule once he matriculated since it was one of the required classes freshman year for all engineers. It actually was a bargain in the summer for that particular class because they provide the materials in the summer course whereas students have to purchase their own parts for the design project in the regular class (within a set budget, of course). He was challenged in a fun way, but not overly taxed. He learned things that he was able to apply, so he got a lot out of it.
If your daughter is considering Maryland specifically, and knows she wants bioengineering, she may want to consider the engineering design class (ENES100) since it is a required class for ALL engineers. BIOE160 is not a required class on the 4 year plan, but would be an excellent choice if she is just curious about the major in general since it is such an interesting class.
Regardless of what class your daughter selects, there are organized activities that incorporate students from all the courses, and she will meet students from all over. She will have an absolute blast. It will help her focus on doing well in high school since she will have gained a concrete understanding of what college is all about (including the fun socialization aspect and dorm life) so she will be motivated by the experience to do well in high school so that she can get back to college!
What year is your daughter in?
FYI, there are also some programs targeted just for future women engineers, some of which are general intro and just one week - scroll down the page to find the high school programs http://www.eng.umd.edu/k12/summer-programs
Just to clarify about the ENES100 in the summer, the reason why students don’t have to purchase parts is because the design project is constant and controlled in the summer due to time constraint of 3 weeks. It is the same every summer (reconfiguring roombas), and there is not the same opportunity for originality. The regular version allows for far more creativity, and the project changes every semester (there is a problem designed and students race each other to complete the course by building original hovercrafts)- since the students have more control over what they design, they purchase their own parts to build what they are inspired to build. The designs are developed over the course of an entire semester rather than just 3 weeks.