@Jwatkins - that’s great info regarding class times. Very helpful. Thank you.
I think he needs to call the FC office this week and ask about how quickly FC fills up. UMD was one of his top choices, but he also got in at Pitt (in-state for us), so we really need to carefully consider if UMD is worth the extra $ and the hassle of FC when he’s been accepted elsewhere. Also got merit scholarships @ UMass, University of Vermont and University of South Carolina. Waiting to hear from UConn and Virginia Tech. I assume with the spring admit, he won’t get any merit from UMD, so it will be considerably more expensive than the other schools. Tough decision. Thanks for the input!
Freshman Connection is a NO BRAINER! My son did FC his first semester - it was the absolute BEST thing that happened to him. He transitioned into college with smaller, later classes. He completed Gen Ed courses and got them out of the way. He could sleep late. The only thing you can’t do is play D1 Sports and if you are in FC, the likelihood is you were not recruited for the D1 sports. The FC guidance counseling is individualized and extremely helpful. You live with a mix of FC and other freshman. You are NOT stigmatized and it is a completely seamless transition to regular matriculation in the Spring. I implore everyone who can take advantage of FC, to do so. If UMD was your first choice, please do not delay. And, my son was admitted to his LEP mid way through his Spring Semester so it did not hurt his chances of getting into his chosen major.
@3boyshouse Have you visited each school? Does your child have a favorite? My S also has gotten into both Pitt and UMD with FC. I have no idea which he will choose. He had visited Pitt and liked the campus and the opportunities in an urban campus plus free bus rides to explore. We have yet to visit UMD. Hoping to visit soon. Freshman Connection will not stop him from attending if he falls in love with UMD but I am concerned with the afternoon/evening class schedule. Not ideal. UMD was a reach for him, also worried that it may be too challenging academically for him since it is more selective. Trying to squeeze in a visit to UMD will be tough with his busy schedule.
@3boyshouse That’s our problem too…my kid is very invested in a club sport that practices in the afternoons and early evenings. That means s/he wouldn’t be able to do the training season with them in the fall due to FC classes.
And if s/he misses the fall season, s/he can’t play spring.
For sports kids it’s kind of a huge bummer- it may knock UMD from #1 to off the list.
I also did a “mock up” schedule using this fall’s FC schedule- it had my kid in classes everyday from 3:00-7:15 or 4:00-7:45 and then 11:00am-2:00pm on Fridays. Again, that will cause kid to miss clubs, dinner with friends, and the all important athletic practice.
We have visited all of the campuses where he got in except University of Vermont (haven’t visited Virginia Tech, but we don’t have acceptances there yet). He liked the Pitt campus but really LOVED the UMD campus. That said - there’s more to college than campus and is UMD really worth $60k more (over the course of four years) than these other schools? That’s a tough sell for me as a parent. Will FC save us any money? Seems like if they can’t take the same classes as fall admits and are filling schedule gaps for UMD, they should pay less. Lots of thinking to do here. He loved UMD but has some really great other options on the table too.
@3boyshouse - of course things may have changed since they now offer housing, but they used to give discounted tuition for FC semester…
Definitely on our list of questions, @maryversity!
My daughter got a 4K discount we are OOS.
Just a general comment on cost comparisons of schools…sometimes these cost of attendance lists are hard to compare. I found that by eliminating all the books/supplies/fees and just comparing tuition and room/board alone, I got what I feel is a more accurate picture of cost differential.
The hidden costs that are not apparent surprised me at other schools. Things such as tickets to sporting events (Maryland does not charge students for game tickets - you have to sign up for them for each game you wish to attend and for more popular events, it’s first come, first serve), gym/rec facility membership/access (also free at Maryland), software programs, etc. Maryland offers a lot of things and does not nickel and dime students for most things. Further, I really think Maryland overestimates the cost of books and supplies. Of course, every student is different with what they are comfortable with, but I can tell you my son rarely bought books after the first semester. He developed such a great network of friends that they constantly traded books with each other, or split the cost of a book within a study group and just shared it…
I got FC as well and I’m curious if that will affect me if I am planning on majoring in computer science?? Will this prevent me from taking the classes I need since I’ll have last pick in classes? I know that CS is a popular major at UMD so idk if all of those classes fill out. Any advice would be helpful.
terp22222 you only have last pick for the spring then you are the same with the fall students going into your sophomore year. About 10 posts up Jwatkins posted a link to the FC fall classes so you can get an idea of what would be available to you.
@terp22222 CMSC131 is the first CS class, if you haven’t exempted from it with a 5 on the AP CS exam. There’s a section JUST for FC students, so I doubt being in FC will affect your track at UMD for CS, since only FC students can apply to it. Here’s a link to last semester’s CMSC131 sections. You’ll see that the section for FC is at the bottom and has room to spare! https://ntst.umd.edu/soc/search?courseId=CMSC131§ionId=&termId=201708&_openSectionsOnly=on&creditCompare=&credits=&courseLevelFilter=ALL&instructor=&_facetoface=on&_blended=on&_online=on&courseStartCompare=&courseStartHour=&courseStartMin=&courseStartAM=&courseEndHour=&courseEndMin=&courseEndAM=&teachingCenter=ALL&_classDay1=on&_classDay2=on&_classDay3=on&_classDay4=on&_classDay5=on
My S also got in to Spring and we are deciding ion FC, can anyone confirm receiving scholarship for Spring, OOS
Is it better to stay local go to community college and transfer for Spring as the core courses become full quickly
Stigma? That’s funny. These students are just taking later classes during the first semester that’s it
Don’t do it. It has been the worst thing ever. You must stay FC for the remainder of your college. You go the last pick of classes…forever. My kid can barely get an elective, much less a needed class. Next semester she has ONE class that she got into. She’s waitlisted for the others to even make a full time student. We are chock full of electives and no real classes. It’s really been awful. You have no status. She signs up for classes two weeks after everyone else. It’s really not beneficial. I suggest deferring until fall 2019 and starting at a comm7nity college to get the basics done.
Not a stigma, your status is lowered. You get last pick for classes. It’s been awful. Awful. Worst thing we ever did and considered leaving the school to come in as a real studentso she can get classes and graduate eventually.
I don’t think it’s true that you’re in FC forever? I’m pretty sure it’s just for your first year at UMD…? Then, registration dates are based on the amount of credits that you have. For example, I’ve always had a bad registration date (within the last 7 days of course registration for all but my first semester orientation registration), but that’s just because my luck was bad and I ended up getting a bad date. I have the credit count of my TRUE current UMD year and not a year higher, unlike those who come in with enough APs to be considered a grade standing above what they actually are (ex. a freshman comes in with 30+ credits, they would be considered an academic sophomore for registration dates, so they will get a better registration date than freshmen standing students). If your student started in FC and came in with less AP credits than most or the student didn’t take that many credits in the fall, it could explain why the student had a really bad registration date.
Also, the classes @Mimigar1963 's child went for could be VERY exclusive classes to get into (some engineering gateway classes are hard to get into, I’ve heard).
TL;DR FC isn’t bad, I don’t think. There could be a ton of different factors that result in classes being hard to get into. But, to each their own.
(I’m not in FC. I’m just making some guesses here.)
Waitlisting a class can seem daunting, but seriously not as bad as u think. My son waitlisted a lot of classes to get the section he wanted. With very few exceptions (for small electives) he always got in the class. I think the highest number he was in line was in the 20’s. Still got in. The elective classes are harder for waitlist because they are not required, so new sections may indeed not open up. However, they do monitor foundation/required courses waitlists. When they get to a certain point, they will open an additional section. In addition, upperclassmen typically play around with their schedule over the summer, so seats open up.
You typically start to see the waitlists start to “move” in August…
I personally know students who started in FC 4 years ago. They have all graduated this past May in their desired majors. They are close friends of my D. One has even been her apartment-mate for the past 2 years.
Freshman connection lasts for the first semester, and ONLY the first semester. There are classes that are reserved exclusively for FC students. They are clearly listed in Testudo.
My D has successfully used waitlists every semester.
My daughter is starting her junior year. She was in FC only one semester. It is true FC students pick last for classes their spring semester but that is the only time that happens. Luckily, my daughter registered early for FC and got three classes she needed for her major and wasn’t effected by registering later.