<p>I just got an email saying I was admitted to the Global communities program? Any one else get into this? What is it anyways?</p>
<p>yeah I got into that too........ Really confused as to what it is tho. :S</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalcommunities.umd.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.globalcommunities.umd.edu/</a>
[quote]
Global Communities, located within Dorchester Hall is an exciting living experience, rich in cultural diversity and academic enhancement. Students from more than 30 countries and the United States, representing a variety of cultural backgrounds, come together to form an international community. </p>
<p>These undergraduate residents share a common desire to build bridges of cooperation and understanding between cultures. Upon completion of the academic portion of the program and development of a portfolio of global skills, students will receive a Global Competencies notation on their transcript. </p>
<p>With this exceptional combination of students and commitment to diversity, Global Communities can help prepare you today for the multi-cultural environment and global workplace of tomorrow.
[/Quote]
</p>
<p>OK, my e-mail doesn't work with UMD. I changed it and i still don't get anything from them. I didn't even get an e-mail when they made my decision. Does the e-mail say anything else like you will get something in the mail??</p>
<p>no, just said congrats your in to Global C.
But I still dnt get it.... what, its just a bunch of international students association?
Whats the difference between that and a club?</p>
<p>are you both international students, done anything special, or expressed somehow that you are somehow more understanding of other cultures or races?</p>
<p>i was invited to apply to global communities but didn't because i saw you had to take a lot of extra classes..but now im kinda regretting because i heard u maybe get nicer dorms</p>
<p>the global communities residence hall (dorchester) isn't really all that great to be honest. it's not much better than the high-rises except a better location on campus.</p>
<p>hellas--it's not a club because there are a few courses you take regarding global issues and things like that. the residence hall %wise has more international students than other halls to promote the "global learning" aspect. but it's not like a international students club at all; it is mostly american students living there, and not everyone in that residence hall is in the program anyway.</p>
<p>how do they ask people to be in that? I have had friends get asked and then equally smart but only MORE active in cultural groups not get asked. peculiar.</p>
<p>i am in global communities. and actually, compared to north campus dorms, it is fantastic. its a better location, people dont party so much so its not nearly as loud and crazy (vs places known for being "wild" such as elkton or easton). some people like the social scene, but then again dorchester is a 5 minute walk from elkton so its easy to party there if you want.</p>
<p>additionally, dorchester has air conditioning. i cant even tell you how much of an advantage this is. from move in through mid-october, and then march through move-out, it is incredibly useful to come back from a sweltering day (numerous this spring semester which reached 80 - 85) to a completely chilled room. way way way better than north campus stuffiness.</p>
<p>back to the location, i cant really stress enough. dorchester is literally 30 seconds from the main library, 30 seconds from the union, and no more than 5-7 minutes from a vast, vast majority of classes. if youre an engineer who walks slow it might be a 10 minute walk to the chem/engineering/compsci buildings. other than that dorchester and the rest of the "lucky 5" (anne arundel, queen anne's somerset, st mary's) without a doubt have the best location of all dorms on campus.</p>
<p>it is a 3 minute walk to the south campus diner, which (in my experience) serves better food than north campus. additionally, because not nearly as many people live on south campus, the lines at the south campus diner arent ever long, which gets to be a big pain at the north diner when its 7 and youre starving but have to wait in line for 5 more minutes. finally, the south campus diner has a bunch of TV's that are always tuned to relevant stuff (ie terps bball, NFL football games, or if nothing else is on, wizards/orioles games). im not sure but i dont think there's tv's in the north campus diner and theyre always playing some crappy radio station.</p>
<p>and, if nothing else, dorchester only has 3 floors (basement is guys, 1st floor is girls, 2nd floor is guys, 3rd floor is girls), so if there is an elevator outage, you have to climb no more than 2 flights of stairs. north campus, an elevator breaks? good chances youll be climing 5+ flights...</p>
<p>so essentially, yes, the dorm kicks ass and the people are awesome. the absolute worst reason people dont do global communities is because they're scared of the extra class. guess what: its a 1 credit class per semester and 90% of the people get A's. you barely have any work, its like two 4 page essays to do. you meet once a week for an hour, its a GPA booster, the people are cool as hell (i REALLY liked the people; my dad was a diplomat and i lived all over the world so im way into diversity and stuff), AND you get to live in dorchester. i would HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend global comm and dorchester to ANYONE who gets the opportunity to experience either one.</p>
<p>Hey Scagneas - any experience with your neighbors in Civicus? Is Somerset as nice as Dorchester? Do you know any of the people? And what's with your other post - with a small dorm and the global communities prgram where people are pretty familiar with each other - thay steal from each other? Thats pretty discouraging to hear. I'm bringing my laptop - has my whole ITunes library - and I don't want to transfer it - so should I just sit it out on the mall the first day with a "FREE" sign on it cause its gonna get stolen anyway - even tho its locked to my bed or something?</p>
<p>somerset is essentially the same as dorch, except its a little farther from the union and most classes, but closer to the business school and the dining hall, so its not that bad. the walls in the dorms are nicer too if that makes any sense- in dorchester its blue-painted cinder blocks but somerset dorms have regular drywall. i dont know any of the people personally, but there are several that drink/smoke up quite a bit andothers that are quiet.</p>
<p>and ggt, its not the dorchester people that steal from each other (as far as i know). we are warned at orientation and move-in not to let people "tailgate" (ie, let them come in the dorm after you even if they dont live there) but everyone does it cause they dont want to seem like an *******. my guess is that its the non-residents that steal stuff, but there were some shady people on my floor (who werent in the global comm program) capable of robbing co-dorch residents.</p>
<p>If they always have some one at a front desk, why don't they go to a system of everyone showing an ID to get in, signing in with a friend, etc.
Is there any talk of changing security procedures?
Seems like it's only a matter of time before a something really bad happens...............</p>
<p>because there is 1 front desk used communally for all the lucky 5 dorms. additionally, it would be far too much of a pain to have to sign in everytime you enter/leave the dorm, they would never do that in on-campus housing because of the costs of having employees present round the clock.</p>
<p>which dorm has the front desk? and where are the snail mail boxes for the "lucky 5"?</p>
<p>At Towson U - every dorm - no matter how large or small - has a desk manned 24x7 - kinda surprised that they would and cp wouldnt</p>
<p>GGT,</p>
<p>The Freshman dorms all have a front desk with a CA there 24/7. After you get away from North Campus, you start having the dorms without desks.</p>
<p>For example, I know Commons 1 and 2 share a desk in the Commons 1 building where all our mailboxes are. Not sure if the other Commons have the same setup or what.</p>
<p>queen anne's is the dorm with the front desk for the lucky 5, but you can still enter and exit through the basement without anyone at the desk seeing you. all on campus dorms have their own mailboxes, but for packages all of the lucky 5 residents have to go to QA. however QA is also exclusively for honors students which means only 10% of students are eligible to live there.</p>
<p>BigJ - which commons do you live in? i'm moving into commons 2 in the fall for hinman CEOs, so do i have to pick up all mail at the desk in commons 1?</p>