My DD is trying to choose her honors program. Gemstone appeals to her, but she was intending to get involved with research as soon as possible and her research interests are pretty specific (and not likely to be part of a Gemstone project). How crazy would it be to be a BioE student, in Gemstone, and getting involved with research on the side? And if you apply and get into Gemstone, is it pretty easy to change to University Honors during the first year if you realize that you are human and can’t really do that many things? Any insight would be very much appreciated.
I can’t answer the rest, but this is easy. You just need to email the honors advisor and they’ll set up a meeting with the program head, you’ll talk about the program, and you can drop that day.
Thank you @Vctory. That helps. If anyone can speak to the time commitment for Gemstone I’d greatly appreciate the information. It seems like it will be very difficult to choose among many opportunities.
@woodsmom Gemstone is quite manageable. My daughter is in it, but she is a Neurobiology and Physiology major. If your daughter has decent time management skills, it will be quite possible. Gemstone originated from the engineering department, so it was designed to work with their workload. It is very easy to switch to University Honors. There is a pretty sizable number of students who switch to University Honors each cohort. One of my daughter’s favorite UMD experiences has been Gemstone.
@woodsmom I also have a child in Gemstone and I would say that the first year is very manageable. I also think that one of the classes you take the first year in Gemstone counts as one of your gened requirements so that helps. If at the end of the first year there is a research project your child wants to commit to then that is great, if not she can leave the program and go into University Honors. My child wasn’t so sure going in that Gemstone was going to be right but he is very happy. I would agree that working with his Gemstone group is one of his favorite experiences.
Thank you for the responses @MDdad2012 and @terp2B! I think she has the information she needs to make her selection.