<p>My son was accepted into the honors college, and I have a few questions. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Are the requirements for the LLC programs in addition to the general education requirements, or do the courses count towards general ed reqs? (As an oos student, i don't want my son to potentially have to stay longer to complete his degree.)</p></li>
<li><p>Is it easy to transfer to another LLC later?</p></li>
<li><p>Does one have to fill out the FAFSA to be considered for merit scholarships ? (it seemed so from the website, but i am looking to confirm).</p></li>
<li><p>What makes UMCP unique (other than proximity to DC)? This school was not initially a top choice, but is becoming more of a contender because of its strength in my son's chosen major and the draw of a smaller living community within a large university. Any perspective will help (pros and cons).</p></li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>Beautiful campus</li>
<li>Honors program is very respected</li>
<li>There’s a bus that’s 30 minutes to the metro, then 20 minutes or so on the metro that takes you to downtown DC which is pretty awesome. In DC we have GEORGETOWN :)</li>
</ul>
<p>+/- HUGE
+/- Weather</p>
<ul>
<li>UMD has a lot of “bros” from what I hear. </li>
<li>Huge drinking school</li>
</ul>
<p>1) There is considerable overlap. While every LLC is different, most all of the required courses will count toward a core class. There is no need to worry about an LLC messing with your 4 year plan.</p>
<p>2) You can always transfer into University Honors from another LLC. But transferring to any another LLC would be almost impossible. </p>
<p>3) This is something new. The reason they now want you to do this is to make sure that if you are qualified for federal grants, that you get them. This makes it possible for them to save merit $ for others. The FAFSA also makes it possible to have loans offered should you have the need for one. </p>
<p>4) I was accepted at several top private universities, but decided to attend UMCP and I have no regrets. The Honors College will allow your son to be surrounded with other top notch students with similar interest. This fosters learning and the forming of close friendships. I have found it easy to get to know your professors and I currently work at one of the many on campus labs. My guess is that your son will love it here.</p>
<p>Without knowing your son’s major/interests, but only that he was invited to honors…he has the opportunity to participate in the newest LLC that is making its debut in Fall 2013: cyber security. He will be able to get in on the ground floor of something very, very exciting and unique since it is the first of its kind in the nation!</p>
<p>hoyahoya, unfortunately all of the publics my son is considering (so far) seem to be huge drinking schools. He does not (as far as I know). I am hoping that he would not be at a loss for social activities as a result. Presumably,in the honors college community he could find some like-minded students. And, while I have an idea what a bro is, I’m not completely sure. Will have to google that. i thought that was more a CA thing.</p>
<p>plumazul, thank you so much. That helps quite a bit. We weren’t going to fill out Fafsa, and don’t know if we will do so for the purpose of merit eligibility. Do you know if oos students tend to get merit awards? (not the banneker/key, but others?)</p>
<p>maryversity,my son is interested in CS. I thought he would really like the idea of the cybersecurity LLC, but he seems to be thinking more of DCC. We’ll have to discuss it more-especially since it sounds like he would not be able to change his mind later. </p>
<p>I know that MD is a big school, with many different kinds of kids,but how would you describe most of the girls? Are they the female version of a “bro”. And what would that be, anyway???</p>
<p>“Bros” are also known as “Lax Bros”. My school is full of them. And it angers me. Here is how urban dictionary defines the term, very biased, and very explicit, but very true in many cases in my opinion…
“If it were possible to sum them up in one word, which it is, that word would be ******. No one likes them but themselves and there are alot of them on the east coast.”</p>
<p>“A male who plays the sport of lacrosse and for some reason thinks that this automatically makes him the “chillest” guy ever. Lax bros tend to wear $2 lacrosse pennies that they got from a summer camp in public. Lax bros will never fail to overreact to anything they hear that may resemble a threat or challenge. Lax bros commonly don’t attempt any education for they think they will get into a Division 1 university just for playing lacrosse. Lax bros tend to be dochebags to anyone who is not among them, and learn about 70% of their vocabulary from the MTV show Jersey Shore And lastly, they will systematically rip on any other sport simply because they have fixated themselves so much on lacrosse that any other sport is considered “gay” to them.”</p>
<p>Yikes is right! Reality check (how did we get onto Urban Dictionary definitions?!!) …one of the advantages of a huge university is that you will meet your “own” people there and it does not take long to make smaller community of those people you have lots of things in common. There are a lot of <fill in="" the="" blank="" with="" whatever="" positive="" or="" negative="" stereotypes=""> at UMD. If those people aren’t the kind of people you want to be around, then hang out with other people. That’s one of UMD’s size advantages…</fill></p>
<p>If I’m on campus with D2, we cannot walk anywhere without people saying hi <and her="" name="">. It was like that since her 2nd semester on campus! D1 wasn’t quite as involved in everything (even she was impressed with how many people knew her sister by name by the time she was a sophomore), but she fit right in to a group of people from her honors dorm, who “knew” each other from facebook even before they got to campus.</and></p>
<p>Regarding drinking, unless your kid goes to Bob Jones University or a similar institutions, drinking (and drugs) will be around. There is a life for kids who enter UMD and choose not to drink/do drugs. (Which wasn’t any different than when I went to a school half the size of UMD back in the dark ages).</p>
<p>Your son’s decisions about UMD should be based on the programs he’s interested in, physical proximity (or not) to you and a large city with lots of opportunities, etc. and the like. He can choose not to hang out with the “bros” or whatever.</p>
<p>Regarding LLC’s, by junior (and frequently by sophomore year), students tend to group together with the people they feel most comfortable with in terms of dorms/apts. His classes will get more demanding as the time goes on, so changing LLC’s probably is a non-issue, unless he is considering something like Language House or Writers House. The Honors LLCs are excellent opportunities for entering students to help determine their interests and have a group of people that they can identify with from the time they enter school, but probably won’t be a significant group for them for their 4 yrs at UMD. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Yay for the video games as a sport reference! E-Sports ftw! </p>
<p>Smash bros Melee and 64 have a good community here. Some of the pros were on campus last semester for a HUGE tournament in Oakland. People flew in from as far away as Vermont. </p>
<p>I myself plan to start playing Starcraft 2. Hopefully it is not too late for me to make some noise on the competitive scene :)</p>
<p>There are so many people at this school that your son will be able to find like-minded people, especially in the Honors College. Not all the guys are bros (far from it, I think they just stick out more and are easier to spot) and not all the girls are the female equivalent. All types of people are represented here. You can have a great social life without drinking or partying. The school also hosts a lot of events like Movie Nights in Hoff, Terp Zone events (including Video Game things), etc.</p>
<p>Thank you, astrophysicsmom, for your comments. Always good to hear various perspectives. I did get the feeling from what I have read that it is a friendly campus, and it sounds like your daughter is finding that to be the case. Especially instructive was your comment that the LLC group will not dominate social life for all 4 years.</p>
<p>Terpguy, it is a sad commentary that I actually know what smashbros is. Good luck with your entree into the competitive gaming scene. It’s never too late to tackle new challenges. Or so I tell myself…</p>
<p>I can’t speak for the Honors College, I suppose, but I have a friend in College Park Scholars, so I can tell you a bit about how the people are in that dorm (although he’s still a freshman).
Well, there are a good amount of people who don’t really party. I was in a group with about 7 or 8 other people (most of them on his floor) who were really cool. There’s a big League of Legends following in there, actually. Big Super Smash Bros. tournaments too, so, yes, gaming is fine over there. =P
That being said, one of my friend’s roommates (he had two) was apparently known for staggering in drunk, late at night. I was told not to sleep on this kid’s bed, although he wasn’t there, because it has probably been covered in vomit at some point. Same deal with a good portion of the floor. Some other kids on the floor seemed like the loud, jockish types. However, this was probably, at most, half of the kids there. Probably less.
Overall, I wouldn’t be too worried about the party scene going into an Honors College setting. It’s there, definitely, but it can be easily avoided. The worst thing I did on my weekend there was climb onto a roof or two and sneak into the football stadium. Nothing particularly hoodlum-ish.
For the record, I got into the Honors College as well. Hoping to get into ACES, because it seems really cool, but I’ll settle for University Honors.</p>
<p>I live in scholars community as well and some people party and some don’t. Just like at pretty much any college. On the weekdays though people don’t go out and instead focus on their studies. </p>
<p>If your son is into Speed Chess, Magic The Gathering, Yugio, etc. (pretty much anything slightly nerdy like that) you can find a big following of that here. I believe it is every Thursday or Friday night the stamp has a whole section for these games. </p>
<p>One of the many reasons I love it here so much. At UMD everyone can find a group that they relate with. There are a lot of very smart kids here that play all these types of games one would normally expect to be uncommon. </p>
<p>One last note on smash bros… UMD really does have one of the biggest followings of smash bros of any school in the Mid Atlantic. People from different states come to compete here. </p>
<p>how tough is it to get into honors program at U Md? (specifically social sciences).</p>
<p>My D is 4.0 plus IB diploma. Good activities. But she isn’t menza by any means…just took ACT (first time) and got 29. Hope to increase to 31. Any chance? Or is honors all 4.5’s and 34 ACT’s?</p>
<p>My D was accepted to Honors. She is a govt. & politics major. She has a 4.0 and 4.6 weighted GPA. Ranked 1/400. 33 ACT. 12 AP classes. I know there are kids that were accepted with higher stats than her, and some with lower.</p>
<p>I was accepted to Honors. I am an animal science major, and my GPA is 4.52 (3.88 UW). ACT 31 superscored (30 not superscored). SAT 1340 M/CR. 7 AP classes. You don’t have to have a 34 ACT to get in, but I think a 29 may be a little on the low side. That being said, my first ACT score was a 27, so with a little studying your D could easily bring that up. 4.0 is good. What’s her weighted?</p>
<p>This Post is for plumazul, Does one have to be in Honors or Scholars to get in the LLC , which is part of Scholars program?
Can a studdnet get transfered to LLC and when is it possible</p>
<p>You can be admitted to a LLC without being in Honors or Scholars. My freshman daughter is in a LLC program (Criminology & Criminal Justice) and is in neither the Honors nor Scholars program.</p>