@ChangeTheGame would you also copy me on that PM you sent to the others? Very excited about the upcoming weekend.
@ChangeTheGame would you be willing to PM me with the interview and Selection Weekend information you sent the others, I’m trying to prepare for the interview and I’m a little nervous about what I might need to answer.
@ChangeTheGame Could you also PM me information about the interview and selection information if possible!! I would appreciate it a lot.
@Omega115, @MochaMagic, and @cs5260, congrats on being selected as finalists and PMs sent…
To all Bison STEM Finalists, you have all been preparing your whole lives for this moment. So you all have no reason to be nervous. Regardless of whether you are chosen as a Bison STEM Scholar or not, you are among the brightest minds in America and I expect you all to have many fabulous opportunities now and in the future. I am personally sad that most of you (my daughter told my wife that a couple of kids travelling alone will still be given on campus accommodations) will not get the chance to stay overnight at Howard as that experience meant something special to my daughter, but you will still get to see enough of what I believe are Howard’s greatest strengths (the students of Howard, the school’s magnificent history, and an unique shared psyche among Howard students/grads I know to make the world a better place through service that seems to be part of the school’s DNA). To the parents, be patient with Howard this weekend as I am guessing that the last minute changes to the scheduled weekend will cause some hiccups. Good luck and I am rooting for the 15 finalists on this thread to become a part of the 3rd Cohort of the Howard Bison STEM Scholars Program.
Good morning, does anyone have any parking recommendations near the campus?
I called Howard and they said that parking will be complicated for today. The best bet is parking on the streets. However, you will have to pay the parking meter. On the weekends parking will be more flexible as you can park anywhere essentially. I would also recommend looking at public transport (metro, uber, Lyft, etc)
For todays activities is it business casual or just casual (jeans, leggings and nice sweater, etc)?
@cs5260 Thank you for the info!
@veejay3 Parking tends to be tough at Howard. When I have been on campus on a weekday, I have parked a couple of times at a parking lot ($10 last time I was there) that is situated across from Howard’s bookstore on Georgia Ave and is pretty close to that McDonald on the same side of the street. You won’t have any problems parking at Howard on Saturday on the campus from what I have seen in the past. If you are staying close, I would say just follow @cs5260’s suggestion on Friday as it would be worth it. You may want to see if there is any parking near the College of Medicine where you are supposed to report but I have never parked over near that building. My family (without me) got to campus a couple of hours early, ate on campus and walked around a little bit before reporting and it was probably a little easier to get parking since last year’s check-in time (It was either 5pm or 5:30pm) was much later in the day and most off campus students had left campus…
@cs5260 Friday is Business casual, but my daughter got away with wearing a nice pair of jeans (no holes) along with a nice sweater, but I would have preferred her wearing something other than jeans. There were other jeans wearers last year as well.
Thanks! @ChangeTheGame
So blazers are not necessary today?
You can wear one if you would like but it is not necessary for Friday’s events. Attaching an article that defines business casual and gives examples.
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-business-casual-attire-2061168
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so this year, 140 scholars were selected for selection weekend… 30-40 finalist will be selected for the program. — excited for tomorrow
Congrats to all of the parents and students! Now onto the next phase of anxiety! Waiting! I have a few questions that I hope someone could answer. Do the scholars get an automatic admission to HU Grad School/Medical school? No GRE no MCAT required? I heard there is a contract indicating if the student doesn’t immediately pursue grad school all monies are to be repaid?
Congratulations to all of the finalists who just completed Selection Weekend #3. I know my daughter was impressed with the candidates she talked to and spent time with this weekend.
@kodi736 I have not seen or heard anything about an automatic admission to HU Grad/Medical school from all of the info we have received over the last year. I have been under the impression that the students would still need GRE/MCAT scores and have to apply to Howard Grad schools like any other student, with no guarantees of admission. In my daughter’s cohort #2 contract, it says that scholars who are seniors have to apply to at least 13 doctoral programs in their STEM discipline. My own interpretation (I am not a lawyer) is that as long as my daughter completes those 13 applications to grad school, she would have satisfied that portion of the contract. It makes no mention of gap years, or that deciding not to go to grad school would be penalized.
@ChangeTheGame thank you! I guess it’s the preparedness factor that puts the students in a position for acceptance into a program
@ChangeTheGame. Thanks a lot for all your information. A few questions. Where do the female Bison Stem Scholars stay? CHN? Do they stay in doubles or triples? How has your child liked her dorm experience? How has your daughter maintained her safety while on campus? Did you have to pay the deposit to confirm she will be attending Howard? Any late breaking news going on with Howard we should know about? I am especially curious about the Hospital/Medical School status and the new hospital I hear they are going to build.
@trob71 Your 1st question may or may not change with cohort 3. All 20 female students in cohort 2 stayed in College Hall Norh (CHN) during the school year, and most freshmen females stayed in triples. But your class will be getting back the Harriet Tubman Quadrangle (known as the “Quad” and consists of 5 female freshman dorms). It was taken off-line this school year for a complete renovation and has had 800+ beds in past years. The freshman females before my daughter’s class stayed in both the Quad (community bathrooms) and CHN (bathroom in room) but Howard will have more on campus housing online than at any point in its history next year. I expect triples will no longer be needed and Bison STEM Scholars will get 1st choice along with Honors programs students and athletes for freshmen dorms. But they could rearrange the student population where students stay next year. CHN was a co-ed upper-class man dorm with only a few honors program freshmen before this school year, but it was all female freshmen for the 2018-2019 school year.
The CHN dorm experience has had some good points (no community bathrooms), along with my daughter being in one of the few doubles and rooming with a fellow Bison STEM scholar she knew well from the summer. CHN has had some boiler problems this year that caused hot water to be lacking going into Christmas break which was a struggle along with the water being lukewarm at times this Spring. The fire alarm has gone off a number of times this school year (nothing worse than having to go outside at 3am for a fire alarm in the DC winter according to my daughter). My daughter loves her floor mates and has enjoyed the community atmosphere in the dorms (although it has been loud at late hours at times). They use GroupMe to communicate in the dorms and seem to give, borrow and share the weirdest things (run out of eyelash glue, no problem, just check and see if a floor mate has some on GroupMe).
My daughter has not had any issues with safety, but their have been issues that have popped up. There was a purse snatching recently where a female student was trying to buy a ticket to an event from a person she thought was a student. My daughter never goes anywhere after dark without being with a group and I have asked her to not do certain things (walking to McDonald’s at midnight on Georgia Ave is asking for trouble) but I know that she has done so because she has seen students getting ready to make such a trip alone. The campus is basically open to DC so looking out for folks who are “out of place” is something all students should do. There are alert posts all over campus that campus/DC police can get to quickly if activated.
The only money that I have paid Howard since my daughter accepted her scholarship is the $300 enrollment fee which was required of all students. As far as the new hospital, it is still up in the air whether Howard med school students will have privileges or not, but the political pressure is high in DC to make that happen for the new hospital (opening in 2023 if all goes according to plan).
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@ChangeTheGame Once again thanks for the info. All the more reason for my daughter to attend Howard and later the Med School. If HU Med School and GW don’t team up and make the most of the resources, then they are both missing out on an opportunity. I thought I read somewhere that the hospital is turning a nice profit and I can understand why they might be nervous. I may go ahead and pay the $300. I got to think about it. Whether my daughter becomes a Bison STEM Scholar or not, she has fallen in love with Howard. If I were to say she must attend another school she might beat me up! 
Thank you for this thread. We gave been following the process and really appreciated all the advice leading into selection weekend. Has anyone heard yet or does it seem April 15 will be when notices start going out?
No word yet and really don’t expect anything until Monday, April 15. It is all in God’s and the committee’s hands now.