Which Orientation?

<p>follow astros advice. Many students think that college classes will be the same as hs AP. This is not true, they expect you to perform at a higher level…look back when you were a freshman and how you felt that you were sent warp speed when you entered hs, now mulltiply that and you will realize what professors expect.</p>

<p>Many of you will be in classes like Psych or Econ where they have 200+ students and the TA teaches it, add into the equation that you overloaded your schedule one day a week so you can have Fridays off after 10 a.m. all of the sudden you will be slammed every week on that day with papers and tests and now you are spread too thin because you took 18 credits. </p>

<p>Get your feet wet, learn the campus, learn living on your own (that means no folks to help with laundry or scream are you up yet, after hearing your snooze button go off for the third time :eek:) and get a taste of what the avg professor demands. There will always be time later on to either take 19 credits or a summer course at home that you can transfer over to IMD to catch up. You wouldn’t want to take 19 credits or the summer course because you need to clean up your college transcript (got a C or D in one class)</p>

<p>This is a new adventure that you will be embarking on. This is not a sprint, but a marathon, so it is best that you see it that way. Many kids go 4 yrs+ because they initially entered with the thought of placing the bar so high since hs was easy that they incorrectly assumed college would also be a breeze.</p>

<p>Another reason to take less credits in the 1st semester is then you will make Deans list and each school has scholarships available to students that make the list. It is not publicized, but it is true. UMD will see that your higher GPA proves your ability compared to anyone else. They do not look at the credits, only the GPA. DS walked in for fall taking 16 credits and pulling 3.5+, he took 19 for the spring and pulled a 3.196.</p>

<p>Finally, depending on your major you may be required to do a lot of term papers and read books (Scholars Govt and Politics is this way). If you overload your schedule it could become an issue since you will stress out. One class DS had required 9 novels to be read, another required 6, and the third required 8. All of them had term papers due after each book. In other words he had to read 23 novels and write 23 papers for 3 classes on top of his other 3 classes and scholars seminar(seminar also requires papers) within 15 weeks. You can quickly get fried, especially if you want to have a social life on the weekends.</p>

<p>Side note DS came home during winter break all excited that he had arranged his schedule for Friday as an off day and no classes until Monday at 3. I looked at him, smiled and shook my head in a negative response. He was positive that I was wrong (I had explained to him that I did the same thing and it was my lowest gpa semester in my college career). He learned that I was not wrong, and now he has realized that one day off kills the entire week and places stress on you. Fall semester he has them all spread out, only difference is he will start at 10 and end by 2 everyday (except for ROTC and scholar seminars). He decided living under the gun for Friday off was def. not worth it, especially since all of his buds were at class and he was bored, he did not use the day off as a day to get ahead, instead he was a typical college kid and waited until Sunday night to do it.</p>

<p>The other thing that students do which causes issues is having very large breaks (2-3 hrs+)thinking that they will go back to the dorm and hang for a couple of hours. What typically happens is they get back to the dorm, hang out with friends that are done for the day and end up skipping the class…thus, pulling a low grade.</p>

<p>I feel like I had a lot of freedom when I was choosing my classes. The advisors would suggest certain classes and stick them in my schedule and I would just say “i dont think that class is for me…atleast not first semester” and then I would change it to something I preferred without any problem. At the end the advisor approved of my schedule so there was no issue.</p>

<p>So it seems like you have freedom as long as you go in with an idea of what you want?
And does it seem like a good idea to take Intro to Bio, Intro to Chem, and Calc 1 in the first semester? I’ll try to do at least one Honors, and I took Chem 101 and Calc 1 and 2 in high school, just didn’t do to well on the AP tests. Should i put Chem off for a semester or will that mess things up? I’m a bio major by the way.</p>

<p>Gina,</p>

<p>DS went in with an idea of what he wanted. He was discouraged from taking a few of the things he wanted to take, like a language. He, like you is a full Banneker/Key. He was told that they are going to help him achieve his med school goal and this was the way to do it. Period. They will also discuss with you certian expectations they have from their full Banneker/Keys. He took their advice. He made a 5 on his Calc AP’s and is still taking Cal 1. He aced the UMD Math Placement test, but is taking it for the GPA boost. His Honors class is Bio and is also taking Chem. Wait and hear your advisor out. Everyone is different and I don’t think anyone here can say what is best for you or my DS. You know your strengths, struggles, and weaknesses. That’s not to say that the advisors know it all either, but DS understood after talking with him, why he was suggesting what he was suggesting. We’ll see how things go this semester.</p>

<p>so how many credit hours do you think is an ideal amount without overloading your schedule ?? bulletandpima you said 16 credit hours allowed your kid to pull a 3.5+ so is this the amount you would recommend? i want a challenge and i dont want to slack but i dont want to overload and have a bad GPA</p>

<p>Jewels–I’ve got no problem with listening to their advice. I get that they know what they’re talking about for the most part, but from what you’re saying it seems like they’re giving their best students fewer choices. Or at least trying to guide their choices.</p>

<p>That’s how it was for DS. I don’t know how much their investment (Banneker/Key) played into it. DS is happy with the choices, don’t get me wrong, but it didn’t seem to go for him the way it went for others posting. I don’t know if the others were Honors or not either. I do know one guy insisted on taking Organic Chem his first semester against the advice of the advisor and got it, but he was not a B/K. I also remember DS saying that a lot of the classes filled up at his orientation which was the first Honors orientation offered. When is your orientation?</p>

<p>“so how many credit hours do you think is an ideal amount without overloading your schedule ?? bulletandpima you said 16 credit hours allowed your kid to pull a 3.5+ so is this the amount you would recommend? i want a challenge and i dont want to slack but i dont want to overload and have a bad GPA”</p>

<p>sorry i just want to come back to this because my orientation is on monday lol</p>

<p>15 hours allows you the chance to drop a class if you really have to, without going below the required 12 hours to be a full-time student. Right now, my incoming freshman D has 12 hours, but is waitlisted for the Spanish class she needs (and it looks pretty good that she’ll get it). I wouldn’t have wanted her to have more than 15 hours. As I said before, though, it depends entirely on the kinds of classes you’re taking.</p>

<p>Jewels–Last honors orientation, but new sections (for freshman classes at least) open up for each one. My thing is my interests aren’t limited to getting into medical school and being a bio major. I also don’t know if I want to do Chem and Bio both with lab my first semester. ( I think I can if it comes to it though, because I took Chem, but choked on the AP test)</p>

<p>nYc–I’d say 16, because you’re in honors, correct? So you need to take honors 100 for one credit. This allows you to drop a 3 or 4 credit course and still be a full time student.</p>

<p>Orientation question for you, though are you going down the night before or are you getting from the city to College Park Monday morning? What about on the way back are you staying an extra night?</p>

<p>Thanks gina and my cousins live in ellicott city 20 min away from umd so we gona drive down there sunday night and jus stay there, but im also staying 1 extra night jus to hang out Ha ha</p>

<p>You should be okay. You have Friday off but even with that your schedule is still spread out more or less. Your seminar seems to have a bit of work in it but you should be handle it. Good luck in the fall!</p>

<p>Question:
I took two classes through Syracuse University my senior year. I sent out for transcripts (two delivered to me, one to UMD, but I’m not sure if I sent it to the right building there) as soon as I could, but my orientation is this week and they still haven’t gotten here. I don’t think it’s gotten to the school either because Testudo doesn’t mention it.
Any ideas of what to do?
Also, I don’t have a transcript from my school and there’s really no way for me to get one that I know of. Is that really that important or does the school usually have it?</p>

<p>you don’t need a transcript from your HS, they tell you NOT to give it to them. If you have a sealed college transcript, they’ll add the classes into their system for you if you bring it to them.</p>

<p>DS hand carried a sealed transcript for the just in case scenario, he didn’t need it, they had it there. Did you already check to see if they will accept the the credits.</p>

<p>I didn’t specifically check, but most schools do take the credit because they’re identical to introductory classes offered at Syracuse. I kept meaning to, but never got around to it.</p>

<p>If they don’t get it in time it’s possible to get the credit later, right? Neither are courses I would take the first semester.</p>

<p>Yes, D had to get an adjustment for one of the courses she got AP credit for…it was done during her first semester, and the additional credit was added to her transcript. Especially since you’re not planning to take the courses 1st semester, just keep on following up with them. You’ll get the credit, as long as the transfer credit charts show that they do.</p>

<p>I finally got the transcript today, but it appears to be wrong. Will they just take credit or will grades show up? Because if it’s just credit, it’s fine, but if a 98/100 is going to show up later as a B that’s a problem.
I haven’t seen the transfer credit charts for anything but AP/IB classes…</p>

<p>Here’s the link to the database look-up… You find the school and then can tell the equivalency. Haven’t looked at it lately, but D2 looked at it in the spring, considering taking a couple of summer school classes at the local CC.</p>

<p>[Transfer</a> Credit Center | Transfer Database](<a href=“http://www.tce.umd.edu/tclookup.html]Transfer”>http://www.tce.umd.edu/tclookup.html)</p>

<p>sorry…don’t know about grades. My guess is that the grades won’t be transferred over or figure into your UMD GPA, but you’ll have to find that out from the transfer credit center. Good luck (and congrats on 98/100! That would be SOME curve if a 98 was a B,hahaha)!</p>

<p>Thanks for the link I’ll look at it right now.
And I’m pretty sure it’s wrong because the other class was 100 and listed as an A. I don’t think it should be a full letter grade difference for two points.</p>

<p>I just checked and they’re both accepted. Thanks.</p>