Philip Merrill School of Journalism

<p>I got admitted to the fall 2010 semester for UMCP, but not to any honors, scholars or gemstone programs. I'm actually really confused about the programs in general. Can someone please explain this to me? Can I even have gotten into one of them if I got onto Philip Merrill? Because this is honestly a little surprising.</p>

<p>I got accepted to the Journalism School and the Honors College. The two are not connected. Everyone who’s admitted is accepted to a school, and then CP Scholars and the Honors College are separate invitations.</p>

<p>None of those programs are connected.</p>

<p>Merril is one of the better colleges at UMD, but still, not everyone who gets admitted can be an honors student :P.</p>

<p>Still, congrats. The new journalism building is absolutely kickass. You’ll have a great time.</p>

<p>If you think you have the stats for honors and are confused about whether you were admitted/why you weren’t, you can call admissions and ask them to bring up your file. Maybe you were admitted but just missed it :P.</p>

<p>I mean, my stats were like this:</p>

<p>2020 SAT, 29 ACT
3.83 unweighted, 4.43 weighted
Alumni relation - Dad and brother
9 AP classes, 4 4’s, 1 5, 1 3. The other 3 I haven’t taken the test yet.</p>

<p>Also, I’m president of the Recycling Club of the Green Team at my school, an SGA Representative, I’m on the Swim Team, NHS, SNHS, I’m an editor for the Newspaper at our school, I’m President of the Ski Club, I did Key Club, History Honors Society, MSI Classic Club Soccer, RMSC swimming…</p>

<p>I got Maryland Distinguished Scholar Honorable Mention and I was a Varsity Swimmer, an AP Distinguished Scholar, and I worked in a law firm last summer. So… Not good enough? </p>

<p>Also thank you both for answering. I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>bro admission to the schools in general are a bit more holistic… however cp scholars, honors etc are 98% based standardized test scores. 32+ act or 2100+ sat gives you a good chance of getting them.</p>

<p>so you clubs and **** dont really matter for honors and your gpa has much less weight.</p>

<p>Ah. That’s sort of ■■■■■■■■, but alright. Thanks.</p>

<p>“however cp scholars, honors etc are 98% based standardized test scores. 32+ act or 2100+ sat gives you a good chance of getting them.” – Where did you hear that? Yeah, admissions to the university are mainly numbers-driven, but it’s not the same for the other programs. Scholars looks at the ECs and does <em>not</em> have minimum numbers for admission to the program. Maybe you got those two confused?</p>

<p>My reading and English ACT’s were 34 and 32, just the science and math… I hated that test. And my dad went to Maryland and played soccer there so he donates a ****load of money every year. I mean I understand it’s difficult to get into Philip Merrill but I honestly enjoy working my ass off so it sort of sucks that I didn’t get into any of those programs. Taking AP classes in everything is what I traditionally do. So this makes me not want to go to Maryland and hope I get in somewhere else…</p>

<p>I have very similar stats to you and I got into Honors…2010 SAT, 3.94 UW GPA, 4.23 W. So the person who said 2100+, I’m short of that. Plus out of 1600 I only got a 1300.</p>

<p>Yeah… I feel like ****</p>

<p>I applied for the journalism school and got put into Letters & Sciences, but got offered scholars. I’m bummed.</p>

<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted and 5.381 weighted…but my CR on SATs was 550 …pretty sure that’s why I didnt get in. I’m trying to find a way in somehow…</p>

<p>I feel like maybe I should be happy, but my friend who has the same job on the paper but who has the same GPA and a lower SAT score got in to the journalism school but got offered scholars, so I don’t really know what to think of that. Also she said she wanted to go to Maryland, and I kind of want to get out of here.</p>

<p>chelseaxo37, I really hope there’s something you can do to get into journalism. That’s really strange that they put you into Letters and Sciences. I hope it was a misunderstanding. :(</p>

<p>thanks ! me too</p>

<p>Admission to certain programs at MD is kind of random. It is a HUGE school, so if they miss you, don’t be surprised, you know? </p>

<p>But I really encourage you to call and ask about it, once now, and once later in the summer. It’s quite possible that they will reconsider either now, or later in the summer once some people have dropped the program.</p>

<p>I am surprised you didn’t get offered admission to scholars.</p>

<p>To be honest, though, you aren’t missing out on much. </p>

<p>Both regular honors and scholars are cool programs, but I think later programs you can apply for are more awesome, such as global communities, language house, internship programs, etc. UMD has so many special programs - just focus on gettin good grades and you’ll be eligible for one later on. For now, spend the time you would have spent in scholars writing for the newspaper or something (it’ll look better on your resume, anyway).</p>

<p>Thanks umcp11. This is really affecting my decision to go to UMCP. I’m hoping I get in other places. I really appreciate your input… I feel increasingly worse now that I’m finding out all my friends and peers got in.</p>

<p>Ah, that’s just silly.</p>

<p>Like I said, there are so many awesome programs at MD, that will look just as good as or better than scholars on a resume.</p>

<p>I honestly would not consider it to be a loss in any way.</p>

<p>Many of my friends have failed to complete their honors citations after being admitted to the honors college because they found the program didn’t really suit their interests (these are kids with 2200s, and college GPAs of 4.0 or close to it, mind you). Now they are or have been apart of the the Hinman CEOs program, Beyond the Classroom, research, internships, EcoHouse, student government, honors societies and departmental honors, and any number of other lprograms, many of them more advanced and selective than scholars.</p>

<p>Once you are at MD, it won’t make a difference to you if you’re in scholars or not. Would you really turn down a super star journalism faculty, brand new buildings, nationally respected newspaper, great history and government departments, proximity to a major city, affordability, etc…all because you didn’t get into…scholars? Possibly one of the least cool things about MD? Lol. No offense to anyone in scholars. But there’s a lot of other fish in the sea, so to speak!</p>

<p>If you are really that embarassed, just tell your friends you got in, but dropped it so that you would have more time for [fill in activity of your choice]. And actually do do that activity of your choice. And you’ll see how crazy you were being…</p>

<p>But, to be honest, perhaps the reason you weren’t admitted is because admissions sensed a lack of passion for the school in your application. What exactly is it about MD you don’t like? A lot of in-state kids come in with a misconceptions and they never turn around and see the school for what it really is.</p>

<p>Things have changed at UMCP. The standards have been elevated and the assessment of applicants has become more holistic. Essays do matter, especially for consideration to honors/scholars programs. I sense a feeling of entitlement here that doesn’t reflect well on the OP. Many would be happy just to get accepted to such a special LEP.</p>

<p>The process, of course, is not perfect but it is what it is. I’m sure there will be many who are disappointed that they don’t get a major scholarship because their stats are better than kids that got them last year. These are challenging times. Review your options and make a good choice for your future. That’s all you can do.</p>

<p>Well, UMCP isn’t my first choice admittedly. I want to branch out because my dad went there and my brother currently goes there, and I’ve lived in Maryland all my life. Don’t get me wrong, it feels great that I now have somewhere to go and I realize Philip Merrill is a great journalism school - my dad danced a little bit when he found out - I just feel like I would want to put myself through more work than I already have, I guess. </p>

<p>And I mean, I suppose, Maximus001, there may be a feeling of entitlement because I really have worked my ass off for everything in the past few years. I am happy to have been accepted to Philip Merrill. It just is one of those self-efficacy things.</p>

<p>My mom talked to admissions today and they basically said that there was a lot of applicants for the journalism school and that I should not be worried at all that I am in letters&sciences because they take the same exact classes the first two years…and that all I do is tell my advisor I want to pursue journalism and they will put me in the appropriate classes. They also said that the only difference between the two is really having a different advisor. Apparantly they had to put people into letters&sciences because of the lack of advisors in the j-school.</p>

<p>That said, is it okay to be in letters and sciences? I still want to be placed into the journalism school because I feel like their is a difference despite what the people at admissions said.</p>