@ lifegarding- Still not sure if we will make the admitted student tour. Can you elaborate more on the scholars program? My daughter got into that program as well. We have done the regular tour but I was just wondering what your take was on the scholars dorms and the overall program? TY
I agree with just showing up at admitted students day. There is no need to formally check in. The TerpLife app has everything. I think the only purpose of checking in was for their internal data only.
@Asil65 we were impressed with the scholars presentations. They spent over 2 hours with our group. First they gave an overall presentation to all scholars students, and we learned how the scholars courses fit right into the overall program. The presenters were energized and responsive to questions. Then they had current scholars share their experiences and answer questions.
Next, they had us all follow them over to the scholars dorm community, where we broke into groups by scholars program. In each program, they then broke up the students from parents so each group could ask questions more candidly… For this part, we each got to meet with the advisors first, then switched and met with current students.
I was impressed with the background and enthusiasm of the public leadership advisor… She’s has worked with two presidential administration offices and had lots of interesting trips to see DC policy and political activities. The students seemed to really be happy they were in that program, too. Finally, we got tours of one of the scholars dorms, including a room with two students who answered questions. The dorms look like all the others on campus to me, at least from what I recall when I went there years ago
We were there yesterday and honestly it sounds like the Scholars presentation was more impressive than the Honors College presentation which was simply a one-hour session with someone doing a presentation baout the Honors College for the first half hour followed by Q&A with current Honors students for the next half hour. It certainly would have been nice to tour an Honors dorm or just in general to get a little more attention.
Honesty nothing against the university (because it’s quite likely where my daughter will end up going) but I was a bit underwhelmed overall. We had never done an admitted students day with my older son or my daughter to this point and I guess perhaps I just expected a little more “selling” of the school to the students to really try to get them excited about attending Maryland. A free t-shirt of something would have been a nice token or some way of personalizing the day to the students.
Essentially my daughter had a one hour overview about her college, a one hour session that ended early for her major and then a one hour session for the Honors College. The professor that presented for her major session was not very dynamic and it was a small group so just not a lot of interaction. So the day was almost like an information session a prospective student would attend, just with more specific info from colleges and majors.
For those that are attending the last session next week and are from out of town, I highly recommend The Hotel at the University of Maryland. It’s directly across from campus so we were able to park at the hotel, leave our car there and simply walk to campus for the sessions and then come back when we were done to pick up or car. No hassles with trying to park in the garages/lots on campus (of course we did have to pay to park). We actually ate at the Bagel sandwich place at the restaurant and it was nice to be able to sit out and look across Rt 1 at the campus (the sun had finally come out at that point and trees are starting to bloom so it was a pleasant view).
@adlgel, what time did the Honors College presentation start? I thought from looking at the terplife app that there would be break out sessions for each Honors LLP, held at the specific dorm where the LLP is located, but it sounds like that was not the case?
Thank you lifegarding for that thorough review of the scholars program. It sounds like it was very informative and I like that they separated the students and parents into groups. Which scholars program did your child get into? I was letting my daughter manage things on her own and she missed the sign up date for the specific scholars programs after she got accepted. I think she is on a waitlist for Media , self and society and International Studies.
FYI, for anyone who might be having the same question, my son was hoping to see Prince Frederick Hall on 4/13, which is when we will be attending Open House, but Res Life just responded to our inquiry and said that was not possible. I’m going to check with the Honors College now (he’s admitted to the DCC LLP in Prince Frederick Hall) - I kind of assumed that we would get help from Res Life in setting this up, so we’re a bit late now! The dorm is a big deal to my son. It’s one of the plusses about UMD for him.
@pickledginger The easiest thing to do is download the TerpLife App. It has the schedules for each LLP and they were in different places. University Honors was in Hoff Theater which is in the Union.
@pickledginger in terms of seeing the dorm let me put it this way. I was in Hagerstown and Ellicott and they looked the exact same as they did 30 years ago when I was living there. I was actually standing in a room and the ceiling tiles and doors are the same. The walls the same. Nothing changed except the window air conditioners in the lounges did not used to be there, internet access and the washer and dryers can be monitored with an app. So in terms of actually seeing Prince Frederick Hall I wouldn’t worry about it because its going to be a palace compared to what my son and I saw. It is clearly the best on campus. I’m sure if you walked up to PFR you could get a student to take you inside for a look. I’d say the downside to PFR is you aren’t close to a gym if that is important to your son. Eppley is a nice walk as is the Armory which doesn’t have much of what Eppley has. I will say the students in Hagerstown didn’t seem to mind the no A/C and the oldness of the building which surprised me a bit.
@pickledginger I live in Prince Frederick and it’s honestly comparable to a hotel! It’s really nice. If you want, I can record a video of what the typical floor layout looks like/a little tour of it for you, if you can’t come in person? And don’t worry about the distance to the gym. There’s a bus from Prince Frederick to Eppely that runs relatively often after 5PM. (Also, it’s a really scenic and nice walk or pre-workout run!) There’s also a gym closer to Prince Frederick called Ritchie. It’s much smaller than Eppely, but a pretty decent alternative. PF is in a really convenient location, in my opinion, since it’s close to the South Camus Dining Hall, STAMP, and McKeldin Library. DM me if you’re interested in any more details!
@whenyoubelieve, you are awesome! I will DM you. My son is the opposite of a gym goer (although you never know!), so that’s not an issue for him at this point.
@pickledginger My daughter attended the University Honors presentation at 12:00 but it was in a room in the Stamp. Looking at the schedule in Terp Life it looks like all of then were in the Stamp (although the times vary between 11, 12 and 1) except for Design Cultures and Creativity which was in Prince Frederick Hall which is a dorm.
@asil65 my DD signed up for Public Leadership, which was her first choice. She’s a Govt & Politics major and the professor who serves as the Scholars program lead is from the School of Public Policy. I get the feeling it’s a smaller Scholars program, but there were quite a few students and families who attended the session. They typically bring in about 75 scholars to that program, and then break them out into 3 smaller groups for one of the classes. The Public Leadership program does not have as many long-distance academic excursions (their term for field trips), most are to DC instead. DD seems fine with that, because I think she wants to do a study abroad at some point. Other scholars programs seem to do more long-distance travel for field trips, but they invite students from the other scholars programs to join them if space is available.
@sdevorefl your comment made me laugh - when we toured Cumberland Hall, where DD will live, it felt exactly like when I lived on College Park campus years ago, no upgrade at all except for a window AC unit in the students’ room. I’m not sure if that was a temporary AC window unit or if the AC is more like a hotel heat/AC unit (if that makes sense), but I’ve read that Cumberland is air-conditioned. Guess she’ll find out when she moves in!
@lifegarding Haha, in my day, and likely yours as well, it was known as Scumberland…but yeah, they cleaned it up and added some conference/study/social spaces in addition to the room a/c units. My son lived in Chestertown when he was in Scholars, and all’s I could think of was the William Tell Overture…
@sdevorefl I used to think the high-risers in terms of a concrete cage, but my son didn’t complain (part of the whole “experience”). However, when I moved my younger one into a different school’s version of concrete high-risers, I was shocked. Maryland’s high-rise rooms are actually a decent size - almost twice the size of my daughter’s. You can’t even begin to imagine the issue of two girls trapped in what amounts to a closet-sized space…less than a bed’s width between the two beds that were up against the walls. Dressers had to fit under the bed because the only space between the bed and what they claim was a closet was where the desks were squeezed into. Maryland dorms at least have breathing room and seem luxurious in comparison.
@lifegarding Hagerstown where my son will live has no AC in the rooms. Just in the lounge. Seems like Cumberland may be a palace.
@maryversity I agree. The size is doable and it was doable for me 30 years ago. What shocked me the most was it truly looked the exact same. Even the lounge was pretty bare. I don’t recall what floor of Hagerstown I saw but the lounge didn’t have a microwave so you had to go up or down a floor to use one. Really? With the dining hall open until midnight I don’t really see a need for one anyhow but they can’t put one on every floor?
@sdevorefl Hagerstown may actually not have been renovated. Hagerstown may be designated for an Honors College program, but Honors College is only (relatively) recently offering themes, and the dorms are located independently of each other.
In contrast, the entire Cambridge Quad is a designated “Scholars Community,” so several dorms were done initially with that change for “community” events several years back and the rest have been on a slow but steady schedule of renovation. While the rooms themselves would not have changed other than installation of a/c units, I believe the renovations were involving the entry lobbies, creation of the dedicated conference areas and updated lounges.
@whenyoubelieve - Prince Fredrick sounds nice. Is it reserved for certain students only (honors, scholars)? We visited Dayton on our admit day and saw that the common lounge/kitchen area did not even have a stove, a microwave that had been brought in by one of the students, I think. Is that what we should expect as a freshman and not in Honors program. We got FIRE which is not a living community. Thanks so much!
@sunparent Prince Frederick is only guaranteed for students in the ACES and DCC Honors programs. Any extra spaces are by lottery and I believe that upperclassmen would have priority for the unclaimed spaces over incoming freshmen. The majority of incoming freshman are assigned to one of the high-risers on North campus, such as Denton.