<p>I’d like to comment on the stats to get into Smith. There is actually no minimum cutoff, so the stats posted on BusinessWeek are incorrect and quite misleading. If you go to Smith’s website, the dean says that there are no minimum scores required to get in to the business school. There were multiple people at my school who were admitted into Smith that got a 25 or 26 on their ACT. I was also a student who was directly admitted into Smith, but my SAT score (CR+M) was a few points shy of the posted cutoff of 1300. I was invited into Honors as well, without any hooks.</p>
<p>My son was admitted to Smith as a freshman. He was not admitted to the honors program, and he knows several kids who got into the honors program but not into Smith. I think that Smith looks primarily at test scores and the honors program looks primarily at GPA, based on my son’s situation and that of his friends’. S has 1450/1600 SATs which included a 760 on the math section. His GPA was around 3.2 or 3.3. He did have a lot of really strong ECs which included leadership positions and was a four-year athlete - but I don’t know if UMD really notices that kind of stuff. Anyway - just another data point for you if it helps. I’m also very interested in the fact that the UMD application contains (or at least, it did when S applied) a short answer section. I always get the impression that large schools don’t read essays carefully or at all, so that section interests me and I wonder how much it can affect admissions decisions.</p>
<p>He has loved his time at Smith and at UMD in general, and the job placement appears to be good. He is a senior this year and had two job offers by the end of January. </p>
It turns out, my son did get into Smith and the Honors College. That being said, can you all tell us a bit more about Freshman Fellows? Also, does anyone know anything about this program: http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/programs/undergraduate-programs/academics/fellows-special-programs/smith-freshmen-in-london? My son found out about while online and is very interested, but he can’t find anything that tells about requirements to be accepted for it. Also, he’s not sure which honors program he wants. Is it better just to do University Honors, or should he look at one of the other programs? Any other input would be greatly appreciated!
@davenmame
Did freshman fellows and dropped out. Had friends that completed it, I just didn’t get much from it. All of the fellows programs are good experiences and will get you things which are interesting (site visits, speakers, dinners, networking).
If you are in the business school it is important to start utilizing those resources as soon as you get there, start working on your resume and go to career fairs. If you are a self starter the fellows programs may be redundant, but if not they are great for meeting people and learning about the business world.
Freshman fellows is more focused on welcome to business than specific careers, you have an etiquette dinner and things like that. But the fellows you participate in later allow you to get more specific events, sometimes even travel for free.
@mdhelp I was admitted to Smith but not Honors or Scholars. I noticed on the site it mentioned that there are two required classes and students must attend certain events. My question is, are all Smith freshman allowed to do Freshman Fellows, or is it only for people chosen or either in Honors or Scholars?
@peppylouie Freshman Fellows is now called Smith Start. All Smith direct admits, such as yourself, are automatically in Smith Start.
@terpmom7
Sounds like you know more about the program, I didn’t even know it was renamed. Everybody was able to do it when I was there, you just choose to do it at orientation.