<p>I have read a lot of the threads on the forum about scholars. But I still have a basic question. If someone is invited into scholars, but does not participate, is it a big loss?</p>
<p>My son was invited into scholars, but (of course) missed the deadline to fill out the interest inventory for the LLP. He had assumed he would get around to looking at these options once we heard about merit and financial aid. So the deadline passed. If he goes on the waitlist, he has to essentially reapply and complete yet another essay. He is DONE with essays, if you know what I mean. He is going into STEM, and is not really big on collaborative team projects, research, community service events, etc. (although all of this would be good for him). </p>
<p>So would he be missing out a lot if he did not reapply? He’s still not sure if he can even go to UMD until we get more info on fin. aid, since we’re OOS and it costs a lot. Thanks.</p>
<p>How important? Well, it’s definitely a nice thing, but in no way necessary! If he doesn’t want to make the effort, it’s all good. </p>
<p>The nice bonus of being in scholars is the community and the convenience to the science, math and engineering buildings. It gives you that extra 10 minutes to sleep…ha ha.</p>
<p>However, if he is in a STEM major, and he “is not really big on collaborative team projects,” he is in for a rude awakening. You can’t escape team projects in STEM classes… </p>
<p>FYI, if he is going into engineering, he should look into and apply for VIRTUS, which is a living-learning community for engineers. Not sure what the deadline to apply is - either April 1 or May 1. [Virtus:</a> A Living Learning Community, SEEDS Programs, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.seeds.umd.edu/programs/virtus.html]Virtus:”>http://www.seeds.umd.edu/programs/virtus.html)</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>As a current ETE Scholar, I would say that most people in my program don’t think it’s worth the effort because the colloquium is so much more work than is proportionate to the 1 credit it gives us. However, I have heard that our program just has way more work than most of the other programs. </p>
<p>Personally, I liked the first semester colloquium because it focused more on career planning and a general overview of topics in environmental science and the work assigned was useful and relevant. The spring colloquium, however, has thus far been solely focused on group projects, but the workload and stress involved is more than I go through for my 4 credit Econ class because our Scholars instructors grade really strictly so it’s hard to get an A or even A- for a 1 credit class.</p>
<p>All in all, Scholars is a nice bonus to have on your transcript, plus I think you get a medal at graduation, but honestly it’s just extra work for if you’re not passionate about the subject area of your program, especially for STEM majors who are pretty much guaranteed jobs after college anyway and don’t need anything fancy to stand out from the crowd to compete for jobs. So if it’s important for him to have a Scholars citation, go for it, but otherwise it’s not that big of a loss if you work hard in classes and get involved on campus in other ways.</p>