<p>We are in the fortunate position to have 2 great choices. Our kid received the Singer (full tuition) from UMiami and the Banneker Key (full COA) from Maryland-CP. We are from the midwest so the distance is about the same. Maryland does have a more cohesive honors group but Miami has the Foote Fellows (no university elective requirements and that opens up a possibility to pursuing another major) so those are big pluses. Thoughts??</p>
<p>@Krug My son was accepted to both schools as well, as Gatech, Clemson, uconn, UF, UGA GWU,SU and BU… we went to the Univ of Maryland 2 weeks ago and I was very impressed with program, professors, the students there in Engineering were able to switch to other majors or switch within the engineer programs. Many of them were double majoring, the programs abroad were excellent and the job opportunities after school as well. He also received scholarships from both UM and Univ of Maryland as well as honors. The train ride into DC is so easy as he went to visit a friend at GWU. He is deciding btwn Gatech,Maryland and Clemson… just wish it was over with… Have you been to visit?
Congrats to your son !!!</p>
<p>@bestmomever3 (love the name!), We were at both schools for the scholarship interviews and although they have very different “vibes”, they did a great job showing the schools off. Maryland is a “better” ranking engineering school but what that translates to for undergraduates is unclear. Miami has great weather and a more compact campus but Maryland’s public transportation can’t be beat… Hard choices…</p>
<p>First off, congratulations!!! That is really awesome for both of you!!! </p>
<p>What do you mean by “what that translates to for undergraduates”…anything specific you have in mind? Research? Internships? Career fairs/counseling? Classes? </p>
<p>What discipline of engineering are you looking at?</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what “vibe” did you get at Maryland?</p>
<p>Rankings are often tied with research $$, along with the quality of the graduate programs. Many schools (especially techie ones) have professors that are excellent researchers and are only paying attention to their research/grad students and neglect their undergraduates. </p>
<p>The vibes that we got at Maryland is that it’s a big research university and some kids that are not assertive and independent can get lost. Although the school is very pretty, College Park is uninspiring and not a college town the way Chapel Hill or Ann Arbor is (comparing to other flagship state schools). DC being close by is a plus.</p>
<p>“professors that are excellent researchers and are only paying attention to their research/grad students and neglect their undergraduates.”</p>
<p>That is not the case at UMD. Yes, there is the exception that is like that here and there, but really not the norm. The engineering students at UMD get special attention from the Clark School of Engineering. They are extremely sensitive to student retention and in fact revamped their entire curriculum several years back to address that. They have what they call “keystone” classes that students access to the “best” teachers as freshman/sophomores rather than having to be upperclassmen before getting into the “good” classes. The intro to engineering design is one of the most unique you will find among all engineering schools. People refer to it as the “hovercraft” class because by the end, the students have designed, built and competed with their own hovercraft. It’s a great way to give freshman experience with what engineering as all about in a fun and challenging way. It’s not just about book work, its about hands on learning also. What I also liked about UMD (when comparing to other schools) is that the curriculum is cross-disciplinary. My son crossed a very highly ranked school off his list for undergrad specifically because the education was not cross disciplinary. Look at the curriculum for each school to get a better sense of this when comparing.</p>
<p>Funny about the vibe you got. I honestly didn’t notice that per se at the time (maybe because I’m an alum?) but now that you mention it, I can see how you would get that impression. From my perspective, I was actually excited/impressed by the research being done and that moved the school up on my son’s list. They spend a lot of money on STEM at UMD and consequently have great facilities and opportunities. When I consider vibe, I think more of student body than anything else. Some schools were more preppy, some more snobby, etc. At each school we went to, I always did random interviews of students walking around. While it didn’t surprise me, and I honestly had no control over it, the students at UMD were the happiest and most diverse. We went to one school on a rainy day and the impression we got was not good. I would have attributed it to weather, but for the fact that we visited UMD on a miserable day also. The difference? The one school’s students were very stilted in their answers to my questions - very guarded about how happy they were (and the curriculum/program was impressively presented by the school). At UMD, even though is was rainy, the kids were not miserable. Wet, yes, but they all were very exuberant in their responses - and these were not the kids volunteering to be the “official” reps of the school. I stopped them all randomly walking around various parts of campus after we did the official thing. </p>
<p>As to “some kids that are not assertive and independent can get lost” - yes and no. I think that’s true at any school to some degree, even though it is more likely at a large school like UMD. However, since there are so many students with such a variety of interests and personalities, it almost is easier to find your niche/group of friends with similar interests than it is at a smaller school…Engineering in particular tends to make the school a smaller school within the larger school as kids do study together often. It’s not a cut-throat environment - more supportive both from the school and peers. That’s why they created a living-learning community just for engineers. (Since your son would be in honors, there are plenty of engineers in honors so not as necessary). In college, you do have to make an effort to be more assertive in general, which is part of the growth process. Everyone is thrust into the need to be independent all of a sudden and it is a learning process. Some adapt faster than others, but everyone is in the same boat, so they develop a “family” of friends in their dorms for support.</p>
<p>What discipline of engineering is your son/daughter looking to study?</p>
<p>Oops - said son in previous post and didn’t want to assume…just habit. You never mentioned gender…however, if you have a daughter, there are also unique things to consider about Women In Engineering programs and opportunities…here is link to the calendar of events (but you can access other info about WIE from here if applicable)
[Events</a> Calendar | Women in Engineering](<a href=“http://www.wie.umd.edu/events/index.php]Events”>http://www.wie.umd.edu/events/index.php) </p>
<p>Also, with respect to creating a smaller school feeling within a larger university, your student has a double dip advantage because honors has a living learning community plus engineering has a special community. </p>
<p>Meant to include some links, just in case you want to see what I was referring to with Keystone/curriculum revamp
[About</a> Keystone | KEYSTONE](<a href=“http://www.keystone.umd.edu/about]About”>About the Keystone Program | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland)</p>
<p>and for looking at 4 year curriculum, scroll down toward bottom and click on GenEd Academic plans - it will open up links specific to the different disciplines (ignore CORE which includes the previous version of general education required classes for graduation - it’s all GenEd now but Core still exists only for students who enrolled prior to Fall 2012)
[Undergraduate</a> Advising: Four Year Academic Plans & Curriculum Sheets | A. James Clark School of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eng.umd.edu/advising/four-year-plan]Undergraduate”>Four-Year Plans | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland)</p>
<p>Some other things available they kinda brush on but don’t really tell you about at these intro programs are other unique opportunities like QUEST [QUEST</a> - Robert H. Smith School of Business - University of Maryland, College Park](<a href=“http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/quest/whatisquest/]QUEST”>http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/quest/whatisquest/)
and Hinman CEO’s [Mtech:</a> Hinman CEOs Program](<a href=“http://www.hinmanceos.umd.edu/]Mtech:”>http://www.hinmanceos.umd.edu/) </p>
<p>Gee, can you tell I love UMD? Ha ha. Hope this information helps to some degree. Whatever you decide, I’m sure your student will do well. It honestly is about fit and where your child felt most comfortable and thinks he/she will be happiest. To me, college is not just an academic education - it’s an education about yourself - it’s the whole college experience that counts. You get one 4-year period to make memories of a lifetime. I hate sports, but I attended Maryland football games for the experience. I had a blast even though I had no clue what was going on. The school spirit at Maryland is very contagious…I still have it even though I’ve been out (cough, cough) years…it’s going to be very exciting for Maryland students as they enter the “Big 10” - to be there at the beginning is going to be even more fun - seeing how rivalries develop. I mention this aspect because engineering is a very tough/intense major. It’s nice to have a way to be a “normal” student, even if only for the few hours a week at a sporting event.</p>
<p>@maryversity, Wow! Thanks for the detailed and informative posts. My kid is actually a girl thinking about bioengineering or mechanical. She signed up to be in Honors Humanities because she wants to get to know a swatch of people that will not necessarily be science-types since she will meet plenty in classes and working on projects. The Honors Humanities people told her that their focus is how science, art, music, philosophy, etc… can make a difference in our thoughts and ultimately our lives. It was a good pitch and although I have some reservations, it was ultimately her call. Retention is also a big concern of mine and I do wonder what the retention rate is, another word, do the engineering dept. since it’s LEP try to weed kids out? If you have solid figures that you can share, please do. At a big school where the intro classes are HUGE, some freshman take a little while to get used to it all and I think that a smaller school would be a little more nurturing and give a kid that extra time while a larger school would expect the student to hit the ground running or get out of the way for all those kids waiting for the spot.</p>
<p>“Retention is also a big concern of mine and I do wonder what the retention rate is, another word, do the engineering dept. since it’s LEP try to weed kids out? If you have solid figures that you can share, please do.”</p>
<p>Actually, the weed out is the admissions process itself - that’s why it’s a Limited Enrollment Program. Some schools will make students apply to engineering after sophomore year, some admit a lot and then weed kids out through classes. Sure, there are a few killer classes that threaten GPAs, but that is part of what makes engineering so much more intense as a whole than other majors. I can think of one class in particular (chem135 which is chemistry for engineers) where there is one teacher who is notoriously difficult because she included a lot of organo chemistry which wasn’t the norm. The average test score in her class was 55%, but she did grade on a curve relative to class performance, so plenty of kids still came out with A’s. However, if you need to know chemistry (premed students and ChemE majors), she is apparently one of the best teachers and you will know your stuff after having her. Note that there usually are several teachers to choose from, so when you pick your classes, it’s good to talk to other students and peer mentors (something else engineering department does to support students - matching freshman to upperclassmen for advice/guidance, etc) to figure out which teacher to take and which one to avoid. There is also ourumd.com which is like rate my professor, but only for UMD professors, and shows you a breakdown of grades as well. You use it as a reference tool with the understanding that only the kids that are extremely happy or extremely upset with a particular teacher are motivated to write the reviews. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I don’t have actual retention figures. This video does show you the hovercraft class and makes reference to increased retention: </p>
<p>[The</a> Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland - YouTube](<a href=“The Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland - YouTube”>The Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland - YouTube)</p>
<p>I know that the current recruitment person for engineering is Bruk Berhane and he is a really nice guy, so I would try to contact him for the specifics. He happens to also be an alum of the engineering at UMD (he’s EE) and is extremely helpful. In the interim, I found this info that has old figures, but I think the info predates the curriculum revamp (the intro of keystone took place in 2006, so the actual impact of the change would not be able to be assessed until 2010 - these figures are 2008-9). </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/930415-freshman-engineering-retention-rate.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/930415-freshman-engineering-retention-rate.html</a></p>
<p>“At a big school where the intro classes are HUGE, some freshman take a little while to get used to it all and I think that a smaller school would be a little more nurturing and give a kid that extra time while a larger school would expect the student to hit the ground running or get out of the way for all those kids waiting for the spot.”</p>
<p>Well, that’s where honors classes give you that extra nurturing since they are smaller. There are both honors classes for general ed requirements and honors versions of some of those basic STEM cores that would otherwise be large. Here is the list of honors classes available for this coming fall - use drop down menu to see number of seats available per section and this should help alleviate some concern
<a href=“https://ntst.umd.edu/soc/courses.html?term=201308&prefix=HONR[/url]”>https://ntst.umd.edu/soc/courses.html?term=201308&prefix=HONR</a></p>
<p>Then take a look at this <a href=“https://ntst.umd.edu/soc/courses.html?term=201308&prefix=MATH[/url]”>https://ntst.umd.edu/soc/courses.html?term=201308&prefix=MATH</a>
and go down, as an example, to Math141, which is CalcII. You will see MATH141 and MATH141H (as in honors version). So this example should help address the “huge” intro class issue. If you take an h-version, not so huge. If you go with the standard class, you will see there are numerous “sections.” What this means is that even though the lecture hall class portion can be huge, there is one day a week that students are divided into smaller discussion groups to allow for more personalized questions/nurturing of individual needs.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that there aren’t huge classes, but that’s not the whole picture nor does it reflect the entirety of a schedule. I think there is a limit to how big an individual post is, so I will continue in a separate post…</p>
<p>From what I understand Honors Humanities is the most flexible option, so it does sound like a good choice. </p>
<p>My son is MechE, so if you have specific questions about that, please feel free to send me a private message. </p>
<p>As for bioengineering, I know that this is also a very popular discipline at UMD even though I’m not as familiar with it personally. I know that they are going to be adding BIOE120 (bioengineering class) to the Keystone curriculum. Here is an article that may be of interest [Construction</a> to begin on $125.6 million bioengineering building in June 2015 - The Diamondback : News](<a href=“http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/article_7250ccbe-1365-11e2-9312-0019bb30f31a.html]Construction”>http://www.diamondbackonline.com/news/article_7250ccbe-1365-11e2-9312-0019bb30f31a.html)</p>
<p>This is one of my favorite recent articles about Maryland:
[Which</a> state university grads earn the most? - CBS News](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57573646/which-state-university-grads-earn-the-most/]Which”>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57573646/which-state-university-grads-earn-the-most/)</p>
<p>I forget which thread I saw it on, but one student commented that since UMD is making such strides in so many ways and becoming increasingly competitive, it’s one of the few schools whose diploma’s value will increase over time. </p>
<p>Here’s another article I really liked reading…while the overall university rank is #8, if you look in the left hand box for “how majors match up” you will see that UMD engineering is #3. [Best</a> Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060.html]Best”>Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ)</p>
<p>The whole college decision process is not easy and there is no crystal ball showing you which option is the best one for you, so I hope this helps.</p>
<p>As a young friend of mine is fond of saying, “Bam!” I found some info on retention…not from the University of Maryland but from the ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education). So, in my mind, this is even better because it is unbiased. When you click on the link, open up the pdf document called Going the Distance. Scroll through to page 22-23 where they evaluate University of Maryland’s retention practices as a model for other schools.</p>
<p>[Retention</a> Project: American Society for Engineering Education](<a href=“Page not found”>Page not found)</p>
<p>For the first 15 pages, they discuss retention strategies and compare 35 schools - neither school you are considering is on the list, so I almost didn’t peruse any further. I did look at the columns that they “check” off for each school, and was surprised UMD wasn’t listed since they do all of those things…good thing I kept reading because on page 15 they list selected schools that they detail for retention strategies and that’s when I saw UMD listed as a model. Page 22-23 details UMD but the highlights to answer your questions</p>
<p>“Core math and science courses taught outside of engineering cannot be
used to “weed out” prospective students.”</p>
<p>“The secret to Keystone’s success has been its ability to challenge, support and
enlighten students with the prospects and rewards of a career in engineering.
By properly balancing challenge and support, Keystone has
motivated students to complete their intended degree program.”</p>
<p>"Significant accomplishments have already been made, with one-year
retention rates up 8.3 percent and two-year retention rates up 13.1
percent between fall 2005 (pre-Keystone) and fall 2010, the most
recent data available. Four-year graduation rates rose 8.9 percent
during the same period.</p>
<p>While Keystone is a relatively young program, the supporting data
available indicates that the model is effective. The authors wholeheartedly
believe in this approach and believe the program should
serve as a national model for increasing engineering retention and
graduation rates."</p>
<p>Clearly, I am biased in favor UMD, but there is a reason for that and this source is an objective assessment that supports why UMD is a good choice for engineering. This info was updated August 2012, so as current as I could find.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the plethora of information. We are a data driven family so this is very helpful but we all know that when it comes down to it, many kids follow their heart (instead of their bank accounts, or many of the other factors that seem so obvious to us parents). We will explore and undoubtedly follow up with more questions…</p>
<p>No problem. Hopefully, a parent at the University of Miami can provide you with similar info. Without question, your daughter should choose the school that is the best fit for her --regardless of data. </p>
<p>You are indeed fortunate that finances are off the table for consideration. That’s kind of why I did so much research into Maryland’s engineering myself…it was a choice of the heart that cost us more $$, so my research actually supported his gut (ok, and my school pride, ha ha). He actually almost didn’t choose UMD out of guilt because he got so much money elsewhere. However, when looking at all the facts and figures, it was worth spending the extra money. Also, being so close to DC and government agencies for internships couldn’t be beat… </p>
<p>Look, the fact is that your daughter will do well wherever she decides. There really is no right or wrong choice because they are both good schools. The decision process is difficult enough as it is, so know that things will be good whatever she decides. But, hey, I can still root for her to choose to be a Terp… ;)</p>
<p>Related to retention rate is 4 year graduation rate, which the associate dean of the clark school told me was about 70% for native students and greater than 85% for transfer students (which was the context of my question). He said that at a low point it had been half that for engineering students many years ago before they started making reforms. The administration folks at least are interested in making sure the engineering students graduate successfully.</p>
<p>Wow Maryversity!!! This is really great information. My son has admission to UMD EE and into the honors college gemstone program. Finally out of 8 college he applied to we are down to the final two - UMD and GA Tech. We visited GA Tech last week and we liked the campus. We are visiting UMD for an admitted student open house this week (my son did a summer course at UMD last year). So hopefully after this visit he will finalize. Though after reading your posts above one question still linger and this applies equally to UMD and GA Tech - what are the real benefits to an undergraduate in a research university? Do they get ‘taught better’? but then I hear the prof’s are more focussed on research and teaching is secondary. So wanted to get your views on that.</p>
<p>Can you transfer in and out of LLC? I know that some programs are 4 year so you can’t come in but let’s say you start out in Honors and want to go to a LLC for engineers because you hear that there are more support for tutoring, etc…, can it be done?</p>
<p>@Jerseyshor
“what are the real benefits to an undergraduate in a research university?” </p>
<p>Facilities are state of the art/cutting edge, government funding for research, opportunities to be part of a research team and potentially get your name included on published research…lots of things if you care to take advantage of them. There are opportunities even for freshman to participate in research at UMD, so not just for upperclassmen.</p>
<p>Even if your son does not want to personally get involved in research, just having the school be constantly recognized for cutting edge research increases the “street value” of a degree from Maryland. Having articles published by Maryland, winning awards, and newsworthy accomplishments all add to the prestige of the University and therefore its graduates. At least, that’s what I believe the impact/benefit is.</p>
<p>BTW, the Gemstone program is extremely prestigious…</p>
<p>“Do they get ‘taught better’? but then I hear the prof’s are more focused on research and teaching is secondary.” </p>
<p>I would say that is more the exception than the rule at Maryland. Clark School is very sensitive to making sure students get a great education as you can see from da6onet’s comment…and what they are doing is working. </p>
<p>So, between GA Tech and UMD…personal perspective? GA Tech is an awesome school whose reputation, I believe, is right up there with MIT for engineering! </p>
<p>Understand my comments that follow are personal perspectives and NOT trying to knock GA Tech in any way…
A friend’s son goes to GA Tech and loves it, but reported they definitely have a weed-out mentality for freshman year and it was rough going for a while. I wouldn’t be concerned about my son having too big a problem with that academically, but I was concerned that it would be unnecessarily stressful in an already stress-ridden major. </p>
<p>The other concern was the gender imbalance. The jokes about being in classes with all guys all the time are rampant among engineering students. What can’t be avoided in engineering classes is also not avoidable in other classes in a techie school like GA Tech. </p>
<p>At least at UMD, even though there is a high male ratio in engineering classes, the general education classes balance that out with a more diverse population - both in gender and in interests.</p>
<p>That also raises another point…a lot of students think that because they are good in math and physics, that means they should go into engineering. Once they start taking classes, there are some students that realize it’s not what they expected and not what they want to do after all. If that happens at a techie school, what are your options - plan B if you will…? At UMD, there are lots of options and a large proportion of them are top notch in their own fields.</p>
<p>Another issue is travel…not that your son will want to do this, but it is nice to have the option of being able to come home on any given weekend if there is something special going on at home. The roundtrip bus fare from DC is very inexpensive and can be done on a spur of the moment basis without breaking your wallet.</p>
<p>So, things to think about. As I said, I really think that GA Tech is phenomenal, but it all comes down to “fit.” Where does your son feel most comfortable? Where does he think he will be the happiest? He should trust his gut…whichever school that points to.</p>
<p>@krug - “you start out in Honors and want to go to a LLC for engineers because you hear that there are more support for tutoring, etc”</p>
<p>First off, I believe that the female program, FLEXUS, does NOT have a residential requirement (if already in honors/scholars) like the male program VIRTUS does…but you do still need to apply. Some females do prefer the opportunity to get to know all the females in engineering through this special housing, but that is a personal preference. I would contact them to find out for sure since I honestly don’t know if you can “transfer” housing later - [Flexus:</a> The Dr. Marilyn Berman Pollans Women in Engineering Living & Learning Community | Women in Engineering](<a href=“http://www.wie.umd.edu/undergrad/flexus]Flexus:”>Flexus | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland) - it looks like Dr. Paige Smith is the person to contact for that.
Paige E. Smith, Ph.D.
Director, Women in Engineering Program
Phone: 301-405-3931
Email: <a href=“mailto:pesmith@umd.edu”>pesmith@umd.edu</a></p>
<p>Bear in mind though that a lot of freshman like to put their hats into the ring for nicer housing for sophomore year - some try for suite style or semi-suite style. So, not sure she’d want to transfer into another LLC anyway since the dorm is not an upgrade, so to speak.</p>
<p>Trust me, your daughter will not be missing out on a lot by choosing housing in honors. Honors has a lot of engineering students to begin with, so the ease of finding other people in your classes is already built in. All engineering students get a peer mentor, regardless of where they are housed [SEEDS</a> Mentoring, Programs, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.seeds.umd.edu/programs/mentoring.html]SEEDS”>http://www.seeds.umd.edu/programs/mentoring.html)</p>
<p>There are two components to the engineering LLC - career counseling and academic support.</p>
<p>As for career counseling, in addition to the general University’s Careers4Terps ([University</a> Career Center & The President’s Promise @ University of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.careers.umd.edu/]University”>http://www.careers.umd.edu/)), there is career counseling center specific to engineering [Engineering</a> Co-op and Career Services, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.coop.engr.umd.edu/]Engineering”>http://www.coop.engr.umd.edu/)</p>
<p>They hold all kinds of workshops that your daughter can sign up for at any time - if the link automatically puts you into April (where there naturally isn’t much going on yet, scroll back and look what was offered previous months)
[Events</a> Calendar, Engineering Co-op and Career Services, University of Maryland](<a href=“Events | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland”>Events | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland)
The only difference is she has to sign up for these events as opposed to these workshops coming to her dorm.</p>
<p>As for tutoring, there is the Learning Assistance Center
[Counseling</a> Center at University of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.counseling.umd.edu/LAS/]Counseling”>http://www.counseling.umd.edu/LAS/)
which offers guided study sessions - “The Guided Study Sessions (GSS) Program offers FREE, regularly scheduled study sessions for several Chemistry, Biology and Physics courses. In GSS, you can develop strategies for studying in the course and prepare for quizzes and tests using a collaborative learning process. See the SPRING 2013 schedule.”</p>
<p>Now, since my son is in scholars, I can’t speak for honors, but I do know that scholars offers study sessions in the Cambridge Community Center. I’m not sure that he’s been to any because he studies with his own group of friends. It was very easy for him to meet other students in his dorm that are currently taking the same class, as well as those who had taken it in the past who can give advice - he also studies with several friends in the honors program.</p>
<p>I remember seeing the VIRTUS curriculum and thinking my son should opt for that because of all the bells and whistles specific to engineering. It turns out he made the right choice for him by sticking with scholars. Sorry I couldn’t give a more specific answer to your question, but hopefully this gives you a broader sense of things.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info (and the personal anecdote). I thought that FLEXUS/VIRTUS had to live in Denton (I think) but I will contact the program director to find out more. </p>
<p>Can you tell me the difference between Honors and Scholars? </p>
<p>The engineering curriculum looks very intimidating and tight with not much “wiggle” room and when we looked, we didn’t know how those Honors LLC’s course requirements can be squeezed in. Clark Engineering sample course work for 4 yrs put many of the elective requirements in the last 2 yrs but kids in Honors LLC are required to begin electives right away. How do they manage it all with extra curricular activities (clubs, sports) along with research, volunteering, etc… and we heard from some engineers that are double majoring? Wow!</p>
<p>I can’t answer all your questions, but my kid is seriously considering U-MD and doing ACES (a new LLP) starting in September. In terms of getting room in his schedule to take the required LLP electives, he looks able to do it because U-MD is good about granting AP credit. In fact, it looks like he will have about a full year’s worth of credits from AP if he goes to UMDCP. In his case, I don’t think he will graduate early, but it will give him room to be an engineer and take electives that he likes. This is in the “pro” column for UMDCP as he weighs his options the next few weeks.</p>