<p>Info about the Myerhoff program. What I particularly like is that it mentors students who are interested in math/sciences so that they remain in those fields and do well enough to go to top graduate programs in those fields.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, particularly when it comes to URMs, at other universities, many URMs with talent and interest in math/science switch to easier majors like the social sciences instead of staying with their first loves. The Myerhoff's program that includes mentoring and other thoughtful things (such as not loading the students up freshman year with math and science courses) helps keep the students in math and science majors.</p>
<p>The program is very well respected including by top universities that recruit their students for graduate work. </p>
<p>I am an Ivy grad with a high-scoring son with many similarities to yours. I am encouraging my son to seriously consider this program. I also have visited the program and was very impressed.</p>
<p>"The Meyerhoff Scholars Program is among the most successful undergraduate diversity programs in the nation. This University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) program was launched to support African-American men who had a strong interest in pursuing Ph.D.s in science, engineering, and mathematics and medical degrees. While the first group of scholars included African-American men from Maryland, the program later expanded to include African-American women, other minorities, and white students from across the country.</p>
<p>"We learned to create a program in which African-Americans would not just be getting by in science, but would be the very best that you could find anywherein terms of research, excitement about science, grades, and test score," says Freeman Hrabowski, president of UMBC and co-founder of the program. </p>
<p>The Meyerhoff program sets high expectations for its scholars, but is designed to be nurturing and supportive. The program includes mentoring, training, academic and career advising, group study, and research opportunities. It begins with the Summer Bridge program to help transition students to college. This is the most critical aspect of the program, since it introduces intense learning while simultaneously teaching students how to study and manage their time. Academic counseling and advising is a constant during the students undergraduate years; students are encouraged to take advantage of tutors and study groups. Additionally, the program provides faculty mentors as well as professional and research mentors. Because the university believes that research experiences will keep students fully engaged, Meyerhoff Scholars participate in research projects on campus and summer projects in top research laboratories off campus.</p>
<p>Michael Summers, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and director of the Meyerhoff Graduate Program, credits President Hrabowski, who himself is African-American, with the successful implantation of the Meyerhoff Program and says that the faculty has embraced the president and goals of the Meyerhoff Program. "Ive been pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm that the faculty has shown to expand on what the president has done by developing new grassroots programs in many different departments that do similar things. Dr. Hrabowski is an example of how one person with a vision and a lot of energy can change the way departments view education and treat their students."</p>
<p>Today at UMBC, underrepresented minority students are succeeding. The program was established in 1989, and the first Meyerhoff Scholars completed their undergraduate degrees in 1993. The program currently enrolls 251 undergraduates (fall 2004) and the programs overall retention rare in science, engineering, and mathematics is greater than 95 percent. Of the programs 372 graduates, over 80 percent have gone to graduate and professional school at some of the finest institutionsspecifically, 138 students have gone on to Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D.s, and the program estimates that between 6 and 10 Meyerhoff students will complete Ph.D. studies annually. In addition, approximately 50 Meyerhoff graduates have completed MDs, and dozens have completed masters degrees in engineering and computer science." <a href="http://dels.nas.edu/chemdiversity/meyerhoff.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://dels.nas.edu/chemdiversity/meyerhoff.shtml</a></p>
<p>"The Meyerhoff program believes that the decision by a student to select mathematics as a major and possibly as a research career is directly related to the quality and nature of the student research experience and to their relationships with mentors in mathematics both on the campus and outside the university. Collectively, the program components create an environment that continually challenges and supports students, from their pre-freshman summer through graduation and beyond. </p>
<p>The components include: (1) recruiting top minority students in mathematics and science, culminating in an on-campus selection weekend involving faculty, staff, and student-peers; (2) providing a Summer Bridge program that includes mathematics, science, and humanities course work, training in analytic problem solving, group study, and social and cultural events; (3) offering comprehensive merit scholarship support and making continued support contingent on maintaining a B average in a science, mathematics, or engineering major; (4) actively involving faculty in recruiting, teaching, and mentoring the Meyerhoff students; (5) emphasizing strong programmatic values, including outstanding academic achievement, study groups, collegiality, and preparation for graduate or professional school; (6) involving the Meyerhoff students in sustained, substantive summer research experiences; (7) encouraging all students to take advantage of departmental and university tutoring resources in order to optimize course performance; (8) ensuring that the university administration is actively involved, supportive and solicits for strong public support; (9) providing academic advising and personal counseling; (10) linking the Meyerhoff Scholars with mentors from professional and academic fields in science, mathematics, and engineering; (11) encouraging a strong sense of community among the students (staff regularly conduct group meetings with students, and students live in the same residence halls during their freshman year); (12) involving parents and other relatives who can be supportive, e.g., keeping them informed of student progress, inviting them to special counseling sessions if problems arise, and supporting the Meyerhoff Family Association. </p>
<p>An added benefit of the student research activities is that their mentors are able to get to know them both as students and as people. This is especially important because, as we have often found, the brighter the students, the more complicated their lives are, and they can benefit enormously from mentoring, including seeing the human face of mathematics and science. " <a href="http://ed-web2.educ.msu.edu/JHernandez/infopage.asp?progID=4%5B/url%5D">http://ed-web2.educ.msu.edu/JHernandez/infopage.asp?progID=4</a></p>