Hello!
1.Re Letters & Sciences: My son is currently a student at UMD…2 years ago he was accepted as L&S (so did not get his original, intended major)… First semester was full of gen ed requirements etc and by second semester freshman year he was ready to declare a major. L&S was not a bad thing for him as he “found himself” that first year and figured out what he really wants to do. He is on track to graduate on time.
2.Re Freshman Connection: My niece is currently thriving as journalism major. She was accepted as L&S and FC! She lived on campus in dorm,took gen ed requirements and other classes knowing what she wanted to major in, and lived as any other student. It has not set her back and she was able to get into her major of choice. She will graduate on time. She had other choices in colleges but really wanted to go to UMD so she made the FC work and she’s very happy.
3.Re current class 2023: daughter accepted into Psychology and FIRE!
He actually got rid of some gen edds through community college and I am not inclined to pay for him to waste space and air. The simple truth is he wants Aerospace Engineering and he will not get into the program at college park even next year. Its not the right school for him. The preference in class registration will go to those already in the program. Be so getting nicer professora or class time will be a challenge . He is a smart kid. He will understand the concept it “its better to be 1st in a village than 2nd in Rome”. Moving on.
@Allecto Good for your son! Sounds like he really knows what he wants and aerospace is his primary consideration.
I just think people are making the case that if UMD were your primary consideration, then FC is not a bad alternative and many students adjust very well after their first semester.
Best of luck to your son!
@STEM2017 This is what I responded to…
My daughter got two emails back from UMD admissions. The first one was an automated response and the second was from an admissions officer who said that her application would be reviewed and she’d have an update within 7-10 business days. We have no reason to believe that any of her submissions were late. They were all marked as received in October.
It sounds like the student never checked the checklist. I’m sorry but that’s on the student. If there was no checklist that would be a different story.
I’m not sure why you’re inserting yourself here. The OP said everything was marked received in October (in the very quote you cited). Unless they kept very detailed logs of the portal checks, I don’t know how anyone can prove whether they checked the portals or not.
In my case, I’m willing to admit that the possibility exists that my D did not check that particular portal at that particular point in time. She applied to 11 schools, and I know she/we checked portals, but we did not record dates and details, and this is the only one with a problem. (But you can bet we’re double-checking everything now.)
It sounds like there were widespread issues with UMD, with a large number of kids not receiving decisions, which I have not observed at other schools. We don’t know that it was 100% user error, as you seem to suggest. Given the widespread issues, it is very possible that there are issues with UMD and/or Coalition. So, those of us still waiting are trying to keep each other informed of UMDs response and any issues uncovered. Thanks for understanding.
If he was going for anything other than engineering I would agree with you. Unfortunately looking at the engineering curriculum across 3 different colleges they are supposed to hit the ground running the 1st semester. No room to spend a semester doing primarily gen ed. Thats why he cleared the 1st year gen ed while in high school, to give himself some breathing room in the first year. I am sure UMB College Park is a great school but there is such thing as missmatch between student and program. Its going to be either UMBC or if they come up with reasonable financial package, Rutgers. Hate for him to go out of state but if its a great school and he got into the program he wants, oh well…
I would also add that lecturing people on portal checking at this point in the game is, at best unhelpful, and, at worst caustic and irritating.
It’s hardly a lecture. If it’s the Coalition app that screwed something up that’s a different story. If the student was checking the checklist then, unfortunately, that is on them. For my son, the checklist was easy to check in on daily. When the app was first submitted the checklist showed everything as not received. As the days went by it updated with recs, scores, transcript, etc. That has to be something that the student (or even the parent if that works) checks regularly. Our kids have to learn that. I also think it’s a lot for our kids so parents helping out is a great idea as well.
@collegemom9 My daughter shared her logins with me so I could check all her submissions. Her Coalition checklist was all complete, including on the drop down menus. We share a Google doc with all the deadlines and dates of submission, the dates that her high school sent in teacher submissions and recommendations, which test scores where sent to which schools and those dates as well, even the subjects of all her essays in case she needed to re-purpose one for another prompt. I am a huge proponent of parents helping kids keep the details organized in this regard. As I have older twins, this was the only way I could help them manage what was sent where and when with 23 applications between them.
@marcymar in that case it sounds like it’s definitely a Coalition issue. That was what I was asking for clarification on. Best of luck!
@marcymar just out of curiosity…does everything in the checklist still show complete? Or did it change from received to not received?
@mdf124 @jill0619 I see both of you have daughters that are accepted in Psychology and FIRE. My son is as well. We are OOS. Are you in state or out? Will your daughters do the FIRE program? Do you know much about it or know anyone who has done it? It sounds very interesting but was wondering if it takes more time from class schedule or if you have to do it a certain amount of semesters.
@leaddog, we are OOS too. We don’t know much about it except what we’ve read. It seems like it will be extra time they have to put in weekly but I think they get credits for their work. Hoping we find out more soon!
Just in case anyone has not seen this
https://admissions.umd.edu/visit/campus-programs/admitted-student-open-house
Thanks for the link @SoofDad S19 will definitely sign up.
One more question about FC for those in the know. Do FC students participate in normal orientation with the general student population, or do they have their own separate orientation, or do they no orientation at all?
@Leaddog FIRE lasts for 3 semesters. The last semester is the group project. My son did FIRE and he said the workload was a “regular” workload-- whatever that means.
@STEM2017 - It looks like they have there own orientation. As Honors and Scholars also have their own orientation.
There are usually several dates available
Here is a link from last year. If you do an online search (google) of “UMD FC orientation” you will will get a lot of links. I would expect them to give you specific info regarding orientation after enrollment .
https://oes.umd.edu/sites/oes.umd.edu/files/OES/FC/fc_orientation_schedule.pdf
Thank you @SoofDad As always, very helpful.
Here is a short article from a former UMD FC student.
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/letter-high-school-seniors-accepted-umd-spring-semester
@SoofDad are there different Admitted Student Days for Scholars? Haven’t received an email to sign up yet and I saw that you mentioned different orientations for Honors & Scholars.