<li>How is the dorm denton?</li>
<li>How is being in honors different from being just a regular student on campus?</li>
<li>How easy is it to double major?</li>
<li>How is the social life on campus?</li>
<li>What advice do you have on starting at UMD?</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>How is the dorm denton?</li>
</ol>
<p>It’s eh. The rooms are small and there is no air conditioning (which can be pretty unbearable haha). However, it doesn’t get much better for freshmen - freshmen usually dislike the more luxurious dorms because it is harder to get to know people in them (you are surrounded by more anti-social upperclassmen). The social atmosphere at Denton, on the other hand, is great. I met my core group of friends (I am going into my junior yr) freshman yr in Denton :). There is nothing like the energy of North Campus, surrounded by hundreds of your peers who are new to college and MD (and as far as North Campus dorms go, Denton is much better than the non-honors freshmen housing in terms of how clean and quiet kids keep it). </p>
<ol>
<li>How is being in honors different from being just a regular student on campus?</li>
</ol>
<p>Besides what I mentioned above…</p>
<p>It’s not /too/ much different, esp. if you came in with a lot of AP credits. Honors is useful for completing CORE classes in a more intimate environment. Especially if you like writing and discussions, honors classes help bring a more “liberal arts” feel to the big university that is UMD. It’s also semi-nice to live with people who are in one or two of your classes, but to be honest, I have met friends through classes that were non-honors…but no friends from my honors seminars. I don’t know why it worked out like that, but it did :). It is nice to put on your resume, both for applying to programs within the university and I’m sure when you graduate. </p>
<ol>
<li>How easy is it to double major?</li>
</ol>
<p>Depends on your majors and how many credits you came in with from HS/how many you can handle per semester/if you can afford summer classes. Some majors are almost made to be doubled up - ex. history and English both have a special upper level requirements that state you must take X number of upper level courses outside of your major. Some majors are more difficult to combine with another…for example, architecture is very demanding and time consuming (pair that with another, unrelated demanding and time consuming major, such as comp sci, and you are in for a hard time!). </p>
<ol>
<li>How is the social life on campus?</li>
</ol>
<p>Excellent. In my opinion, it’s too focused on sports and drinking, and it’s easy to fall into that as a freshmen 'cause that is what will be easy/right in front of your face/what a lot of other people are doing. BUT as MD is a huge campus there is every kind of student. Some searching around will put you in with the right crowd :). There is every kind of group for every hobby/sport imaginable, campus brings in great lectures/acts, and DC is amazing to explore.</p>
<ol>
<li>What advice do you have on starting at UMD?</li>
</ol>
<p>Get good grades and get involved from the get go. You can stall in HS, but not in college. College has a way of being like a set of dominoes - if you get good grades and get involved first semester, you can apply and be accepted to programs second semester; then you have those freshmen activities on your resume, so you are in a good position for applying for programs as a sophomore…then you are in a good position for applying to internships, etc. etc. But if you get a slow start, then you will always be one step behind the kind of grades and activities you need to move up, and you will get halfway through college and realize that you have no resume and that you’ve dug yourself into a hole.</p>
<p>So have fun, but do NOT neglect your grades. Have fun, but make some of that fun productive fun (ex. volunteer, join a board, join a club that is meaningful, etc.). Especially as a freshmen, pick some things to do and stick with 'em. Never stagnate. No time for that, you are only there for four yrs :). In addition, always make a good impression in whatever classes you have (come on time, do your work, participate, etc.), as well as in whatever job you hold down (and try to make this job related to something you want to do in your life, or something that can help you get to what you want to do). 'Cuz you will need those people to be your recommenders/references/etc.</p>
<p>I am a smart, smart kid and made the mistake in college of forgetting that college is not just a good time, it’s building yourself up to a career. Don’t treat it like MTV, where all college is about is making friends, partying, etc. Play hard…but work harder. College will go by a lot faster than HS; there is less time for mistakes like that…</p>
<p>ok, so basically the post above me is very thought out, i agree with everything except to say that I’m a freshman on North Hill, and I know at first I was disappointed to not have Denton, and the whole having less of a social environment thing , but I’m friendly enough, there ended up being a good amount of freshman in the dorm anyway, and it all works out. You can still go over to North Campus and meet all the friends of friends in the high rises if you want, BUT you get to come back to a quiet, renovated, air conditioned dorm. Think about it. Also, in terms of housing, its awesome, I got preference for staying in my dorm over other honors kids, so I got my choice of rooms instead of having to wait for preference-based. So I just want to say that North Campus is NOT the end of your social life, I promise, because I know I was worried about that when I found out I wasn’t in Denton.</p>
<p>great post, umcp11!!!</p>