<p>I am and I'm excited! Does anyone know how many kids get invited? And who here is actually planning on going?</p>
<p>yea im gonna go.
does anyone know how many people go and how many are accepted?
also does anyone know when you find out if you were awarded the scholarship?</p>
<p>I'm going, just have to get a flight from NY to Miami</p>
<p>My son is going. I'm working on the flights now.</p>
<p>yep I'm definitely going...and I know of one person from my school who will going as well</p>
<p>i am going. calling the school tomorrow to see how many are invited/how many are given the scholarship.</p>
<p>I will be attending with a fellow CC member! (We both got invites)</p>
<p>What were you guy's stats? if you don't mind me asking.</p>
<p>35 superscored act
80 750 700 sat IIs
4.0 uw 99.7 w-dont kno gpa conversion
6 aps 3 5s on the tests taken so far
sports
marching band
sci res
etc</p>
<p>2250 SAT, 800/750/720 USH, Lit, Chem
11 college credits, NSMF</p>
<p>D did not RSVP fast enough, so we are now booked for the March weekend. Anyone else going that weekend? </p>
<p>One benefit for me...I think the flights are a bit cheaper :)</p>
<p>we are going too - my s got an invite too</p>
<p>How was the first Singer weekend? Any suggestions on what kind of clothes D should bring? Any other info that anyone would like to share?</p>
<p>It was great. At Friday night’s dinner, a few of the boys wore blazers, but most wore dress shirts and slacks or polos and khakis. The girls wore skirts or slacks. I did see one boy with jeans and a hoodie, but that was it.<br>
On Saturday, most of the boys seemed to have on khakis and polos. Again, the girls wore skirts, slacks or what I used to call “city shorts.” Not sure what they are called now days.
On transportation, we flew into my least favorite airport, MIA. Had to wait 45 minutes for our luggage (really). The hotel shuttle goes to only one terminal and only at certain times. I’d check this out in advance if you are planning to use the shuttle. We took a taxi ($38) because I didn’t want to walk around the airport trying to find the thing. We did use the shuttle on the way back.<br>
The model class (physics for us) was great. The student “mentors” were friendly and helpful. I was really impressed with the administration. They seem to really know what they are doing. Donna Shalala didn’t speak for long, but she seems to be very good at what she does.<br>
btw-- we were informed that 20% of the students would receive the Singer scholarship.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful info!</p>
<p>Can I ask you a few more questions?
How many different model classes are there? D was accepted into the journalism program and would not be too excited to be in a physics class.
How long did the interviews last? How many different people interviewed each student?
Did they say when they make their decision about who gets the scholarships? How did your S feel about how the whole thing went for him?
Do the students get to meet Donna Shalala personally? (D would love to!)</p>
<p>Thanks again for sharing!</p>
<p>Not the original person you posed it to, but…Here’s my take and then I answered your questions…</p>
<p>At the start of the weekend, Miami was my #1 or #2…I went to a summer program and had loved it; still talk to the people there. I was basically looking for any angle to covince my mom to let me go! The weekend was very unimpressive and completely changed my mind (I will NOT go now…even if I do get singers). At dinner, they read us a list of the participants: “6 are captains of a sport. 6 are editor-in-chief of newspaper. 90% in NHS, 70% have held a leadership position, 60% in music”…I was like, really? I know i am cynical because of CC stats, but it really made me question the strength of their class. I am every one of those things, and I don’t want to be an anomaly. It also isn’t because it isn’t an ivy or whatnot: I went to another school’s honors presentation and it seemed more holistic than merely, “you have high SATs”. plus, anyone who got into honors was able to participate in their equivalent of “foote fellow perks”.
The five model students were just disappointing-one could barely speak and kept rambling. He actually mentioned posterboard about three times when describing math and science classes. Hmm. Only one seemed well-spoken. Honestly, I have been to a lot of presentations-honors or elite colleges, and those 5 people were definitely among the worst I’ve ever seen across any college. (the other students and parents from the Northeast agreed; most people from FL liked them?) The dinner was incredibly boring; and just awkward at the tables. No attempt was made to facilitate discussion by placing a student or faculty member at each table. Instead, people just sat and looked meanly at their competition.
The next day, the opening speaker (Enrollment provost?) was fine. The student host was nice and generally tried to helpful, and I liked the model classes. The music director and college of arts and sciences dean seemed cool, too.
The interview (described below) really turned me off to UM, even more than the previous night’s dinner. Also, we never got a tour of campus. Luckily, I have already been to UM, but 50%+ had not and left only knowing air conditioned insides of 2 buildings. Clearly a missed opportunity. In addition, the book clubs/perks of Foote Fellows and Singers are only available to a certain percentage of each group (I forget), unlike other colleges. It seems a bit of an insult to invite me down, hear about all the perks I’m missing out on for not being the “best of the best of the best” in their words. </p>
<p>How many different model classes are there? There were four classes, I think: baby talk, voodoo, med school, and physics
How long did the interviews last? How many different people interviewed each student?
My interview lasted about 10 minutes. The physics professors was very rude to me; I was his only interview. However, some interviewers seemed to be doing 5-6, especially pre-med. Most of the other kids (I’m a hs senior) and me thought it was fixed already-people either got a ‘sell job’ (Come to UM! We love you!) or not (my professor told me I wouldn’t have a social life; not to take calculus until 2nd semester freshman year, contrary to all other advice I’ve gotten)</p>
<p>Do the students get to meet Donna Shalala personally? No, unless you walked up to her and talked to her very quickly I guess. It was the closing presentation and the buses left about 5 mins after the end of her speech. </p>
<p>If you have any more questions, post them here or PM me :)</p>
<p>First, I’m amazed that two people can sit in a room and have such different perceptions.</p>
<p>That said, our experience was very positive. Specific to your questions, the four classes were all quite different. I suspect each would feature a dynamic lecturer with plenty of class participation. The topics are well covered so just pick what interests you the most.</p>
<p>Interviews were planned for 30 minutes each with a professor and a present UM student sitting in. Our son said that the conversation focused on the prospective Singer candidates interests and developed into a deeper discussion into one of his more significant activities.</p>
<p>I think a common theme of the program was pursuing ones passion and why these unique young men and women might be passionate about UM. I do agree that a tour would have been a nice addition, if there had been time.</p>
<p>If you have not seen the campus, make sure to allow time before or after the Singer events to look around. Good luck in the adventure.</p>
<p>There were 4 model classes. One was about voodoo and Santeria, one was about medical school and one was about language development. I heard the voodoo one was really interesting.<br>
The interviews were 30 minutes long and were conducted by a professor and a student.<br>
They said the students would hear back in a week or two.<br>
I think some students did walk up after Dr. Shalala’s speech and introduce themselves.<br>
My son thought it went well and enjoyed it. We were surprised at the number of finalists, though.</p>
<p>Anon-- our experience with the other students at the tables during meals was quite different. We had great chats with everyone we ate with (at least my son and I thought so). We met people from the Northeast, Midwest, South and West Coast. My son’s only negative encounter was after his interview, when some other finalist made disparaging comments to him about Texas (our home state).<br>
During the parents’ presentation, I asked about the Foote Fellowships. I was told that all Singer’s scholars would be Foote Fellows. The Foote Fellows can live on a Foote Fellow dorm floor and are exempt from general ed requirements.
We had toured during Nov. Most of the people we met arrived in time on Friday to take tours, if they hadn’t already visited.<br>
My son enjoyed his interview. They talked a lot about one of my son’s ECs.
Too bad we didn’t have our CC names on our name tags --I’m wondering if we met Anon or SRQdad.</p>
<p>Thank you all for sharing such insightful information!</p>
<p>cpq1xtbu, when you said you were surprised at the number of finalists, did that mean so many? Or so few? </p>
<p>Anyone hear back yet?</p>