<p>yes. i am in gemstone and also in several other programs so if you have any questions as to what gemstone's like and how it compares to others, pm me with specifics.</p>
<p>My daughter is choosing between U. Rochester and U Maryland Univ. Honors program. Also interested in U Conn (not honors) and U Delaware (Honors) I can't seem to find much first hand info about the 2007 honors programs at U Maryland or Delaware, but the cost difference between either one of them and Rochester is so substantial that I may have to eliminate U Rochester as an option.
I am concerned that honors means something different at each school (e.g. all smaller classes or same classes as all students but with extra work, or a seminar, or ??)
Major is undecided (probably linguistics, biochemistry or chemistry).
She is anxious to get involved in some type of research while still an undergrad. No invite to Gemstone at UMD though.</p>
<p>Thank you for any firsthand advice you can offer.</p>
<p>The Honors Program at Maryland is a living and learning program. Students live together with honors students Freshmen live in Denton, Ellicott, or Wicomico, depending on if they're in University Honors, Gemstone, or Honors Humanities, respectively. Your dorm is supposed to be your "home-base," gives the small LAC feel within the larger university.</p>
<p>Honors offers two types of classes: H-versions and Honors seminars. H-versions are honors versions of classes with typically large lectures: calc, psyc100, gov100, etc. These are capped at about 30 students. They feature more time with the full professor--there are no TA discussion sections in H-versions. They usually count for CORE and major requirements. </p>
<p>Honors seminars are small, capped at 20 students. They are primarily discussion based courses on a wide variety of topics: anywhere from nanotechnology, comparative religions, and shakespeare, to the simpsons, novels, and social creativity online....they're a lot of fun. Great way to complete CORE requirements.</p>
<p>Basically, Honors shrinks the university for the student as much as they want. It gives students a base of peers of similar academic prowess, and connection to wonderful faculty. Also, they feature a lot of interesting activities--yoga class taught by an honors prof, a whitewater rafting trip, honors film series and photo contest, art fest, free tickets to various artsy things in D.C., ice skating events, panel discussions, lecture series, etc. Dr. Thorne, the director, is really enthusiastic about the program and really loves the students.</p>
<p>If you have any other specific questions about the program--I'll be glad to answer.</p>
<p>Can anyone compare the Honors program at College Park with UMBC? My son prefers the smaller campus of UMBC. He will be a humanities major. Most likely history. Thanks.</p>
<p>pmyen is your son in the humanities scholars program?</p>
<p>He is in the regular Honors Program. He is interested in majoring in history but has interest in science as well. Too early to tell what he wants to do afterwards. He enjoys teaching but also is considering law as a possibility. He is waiting to hear back from some LACs. Probably would not have considered either UMD if not for the honors programs as he likes seminar-based learning rather than lectures. He also is on the quiet, introverted side and probably would have a natural inclination for a small colege rather than university. However, I have encouraged him to look atall possibilities carefully.</p>
<p>pmyen, we typically only take 1 of the smaller honors seminars per semester. he would be in larger classes other than that. as a history major, though, once he completed the university's CORE curriculum, his major classes would probably all be fairly small.</p>
<p>i love maryland =) i am in honors as well, turned down gemstone (too much commitment required)</p>
<p>but there is one bad thing about honors! if i knew earlier, i would take only honors seminars for my citation and not the H-versions of classes!!!</p>
<p>since everyone in Honors is smarter(duh) the classes have no curve. One lecturer taught MATH241 and MATH241H, which is basically Calc3 regular and honors. Both classes were graded the same, the difference in the class was the regular class was huge, and they met 4 times a week (three lectures and a recitation with a TA) and in honors we only had three lectures with the lecturer.</p>
<p>BUT the curve was very different. A raw score of 82% yielded an "A" = 4.0 in the regular class. I had an 77.7% but since I am in honors, I got a "C" = 2.0</p>
<p>So someone in the regular class got 4.3% higher than I in the same class(basically) but got DOUBLE the GPA for this 4 credit class.</p>
<p>I would rather get an "B" in regular than a "C" in honors.</p>
<p>I took 15 credits that semester(spring'06) and got all A's and that one C. That brought my semester GPA down to a 3.466. Bye bye Dean's List.</p>
<p>I am bitter still.</p>
<p>Trying to debate between a school like UMd and ones like GW in DC. I would think that the size of UMd is a factor even with the Honors Pr.</p>
<p>size is good! more people = more chance you find ppl with similar interests!</p>
<p>hinman-- i don't think ALL h-versions necessarily have no curve. it depends on the class. (also, just because everyone is smarter doesn't mean people aren't still at different levels, or the exams are completely fair or well-made, which is often the reason for a curve in the first place.)</p>
<p>of course they can curve in honors. but what i am saying is if you are worried about your gpa, don't take H-versions. you should take the regular classes and set the curve ;)</p>
<p>agreed....i was taking an h-version history class and realized that the only difference was that honors students had to write longer papers!! i dropped into the regular section pretty quickly.</p>
<p>i wish i did the same in my math classes.</p>
<p>my math grades in college, all are honors: B-, C, B (retake of the C)</p>
<p>needless to say, H-versions SUCK.</p>
<p>my GPA is more important than being honors. seriously, i like the fact im in it, but to sacrifice my gpa, thats BS. 77.7% in honors = C when 82% in the SAME class is an A for regular is just MESSED up.</p>
<p>if you enjoy the challenge then dont stop taking the h-versions because of your GPA. we're in college.....your gpa doesn't stand for too much when you graduate (unless you're planning on gradschool immediately out of undergrad anyway)</p>
<p>the way i think of it, if i interview for a job and it comes down to me with my 3.55 and someone with a 3.8, the difference is negligible, especially because resume and personality counts a LOT more in job interviews than GPA.
i had enough grade worrying through high school.... i still get mostly A's here and am proud of it, but i'm doing a good job of letting the occasional B and rare C roll off my back without too much pain. now if only i could get my parents to feel the same way.... ;) haha</p>
<p>.......but i do understand what you're saying. i've held off on taking classes because the only time i could get them was when they were with a notoriously boring, bad-grading prof.</p>
<p>Can someone help me? I am a rising HS Senior who wants to study Government at UMD. Recently though I have been really enjoying the performing arts. So I want to join a program where I can study both government and the arts extensively. Would you reccomend Honors or Scholars? If it helps, I am a bit of a snob who wants to be in a close-knit community of particularly smart UMD students.</p>
<p>@wmac, I am a rising sophomore in the Honors college at Maryland. I am currently on a dual degree track (I say currently because I am considering other options) for a BS in Chemistry and a BA in Piano Performance. The Honors college is wonderful. You have access to classes (seminars) available only to Honors college students, and you can take “H” classes which are small vs. the standard auditorium. The people you live and study with are great. You must be invited to Honors or Scholars based on your application so keep working hard :)</p>
<p>You must also pass an audition at the School of Music in your instrument, to be accepted into the program, I’m not too sure how the other performance arts work. You should call or research your specific requirements. Best of luck.</p>
<p>I was told at orientation that the honors seminars are generally easier than normal classes and more interesting / involving. Do you agree with this statement? And what exactly does one do in a seminar class?</p>