<p>Hey, so Im a soon to be freshman at the university of maryland at college park and i just got my dorm assignment. Im supposed to be living at ellicott hall, but im worried about a few things:
1. I researched a bit and it seems like ellicott is exclusive to gemstone students, is this true?
2. If its not, Im just an average attendee, no admission into the honors college or anything, but gemstone kids are supposed to be brilliant. Am I going to feel like forrest gump while Im living there? Will I make friends/fit in?
3. Next to room type it says HONORS DBL. What does the honors mean?</p>
<p>I guess mostly Im just worried theres been some kind of mistake and that Ill be living with people that I wont be able to even compare with intellectually. Please share your experiences and/or leave advice. Thanks!</p>
<p>Its usually specific floors of ellicott are for gemstone, but even then there are a couple of non-gemstone people. Seeing as I was in gemstone and ended up rooming with my non-gemstone friend I met on the floor next year, you’ll fit in! Just remember everyone else wants to fit in too and you’ll do fine! Everybody’s going to try and socialize the first couple of weeks.</p>
<p>You’ll be fine! Ellicott is not just for Gemstone and honors students. </p>
<p>My son is in Gemstone & was assigned to Ellicott (incoming freshman like you), and his twin sister–not in the honors or scholars program–asked to be assigned to Ellicott as well. She spoke with her roommate, and even though they’re in an “honors double,” the roommate also isn’t in the honors or scholars program. So clearly Ellicott is a mix of students! I’m guessing the rooms at Ellicott must all be called “honors” because it’s primarily an honors dorm. I’m just glad neither of my kids got a forced triple. :D</p>
<p>JenPam, that’s the same info I got, that the kids are mixed. My daughter was assigned to Ellicot too. Any experiences anybody wants to share about Ellicot?</p>
<p>MDdad2012, I’m also in Gemstone and on the 2nd floor in Ellicott. Hopefully your daughter and I will meet! From what I’ve gathered from posts on the Ellicott 2012-13 Facebook page (though I don’t know how reliable the sources are), it seems that there are a few floors of Gemstone kids and then the rest of the floors are non-honors.</p>
<p>My Gemstone son is on the 2nd floor, so they’re clearly mixing up the kids. </p>
<p>BTW, be careful about reading too much on FB…the majority of the people posting on there seem to be raging partiers with a desperate need for alcohol and fake IDs, not necessarily in that order. In other words, lots of kids posing and preening to seem cool, and IMO not the place where you’ll find awesome people (though I totally recognize that most of the kids are posturing). If you’re not familiar with Maryland and you read FB, you might think all the incoming freshmen are like those who are posting, and that’s not the case.</p>
<p>@JenPam, one side of the building has girls and the other has boys, so each floor is about 50/50. There’s a hallway with the elevators and the lounge separating the two sides.</p>
<p>I’m definitely wary about trusting what I read on Facebook, especially when there are kids being idiots and talking publicly about fake IDs, but I generally trust the kids who are in Honors or seem to be taking themselves seriously.</p>
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