<p>[Robert</a> H. Smith School of Business - University of Maryland, College Park](<a href=“http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/releases/2010/022610.aspx]Robert”>http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/news/releases/2010/022610.aspx)
[Robert</a> H. Smith School of Business - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Smith_School_of_Business]Robert”>Robert H. Smith School of Business - Wikipedia)
[Business</a> Research Rankings - UT Dallas News](<a href=“http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2010/2/25-1351_Wharton-Tops-UT-Dallas-Business-School-Rankings_article.html]Business”>Wharton Tops UT Dallas Business School Rankings - News Center | The University of Texas at Dallas)</p>
<p>Additionally for criminology it is ranked number 1 in the nation
[Top</a> 10 Criminal Justice Colleges Ranked - The best schools, departments & programs](<a href=“GoDaddy Corporate Domains - Protected”>GoDaddy Corporate Domains - Protected)</p>
<p>For Clark
[University</a> of Maryland | Electrical and Computer Engineering Department](<a href=“http://www.ece.umd.edu/about/rankings.html]University”>http://www.ece.umd.edu/about/rankings.html)</p>
<p>Philip School of Journalism is also ranked very high, and has 7 Pulitzer Prize winners on faculty.
<a href=“http://www.buzzle.com/articles/top-journalism-schools.html[/url]”>http://www.buzzle.com/articles/top-journalism-schools.html</a></p>
<p>I could keep the list going on and on, with their rankings.</p>
<p>Overall UMD is ranked consistently in the top 20 public universities in the nation. I believe this yr it is tied at 15 with Penn State.
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<p>You may place out due to AP tests, like our DS, but he still had to take placement tests to determine which English class he placed into at UMDCP because English is required. I think you are misunderstanding how the AP system works. Yes, you go in with these credits, but they don’t necessarily count towards your degree, otherwise everyone who took APs could graduate in 3 yrs and not 4. How it works is they say, we give you credit for them, but you still need to take X amt of English classes or math classes HERE. You don’t get to just not take English, you just take a higher level of English…thus, that’s why they make you take their placement tests for certain subjects. Our DS had APs for USH, EURO, GOVT, all of them transferred in, but because of his major, it just meant he had more freedom in class choices. Same with English and Math.</p>
<p>I don’t know about freshman fellows, but I can tell you that for Scholars, you are required to write papers, and do an internship with at least 20 hrs per week for an entire semester, AND then you still must write a 10 page paper on the internship. For Gemstone you must do a team project to present like a mini-thesis. So I don’t know where you believe that freshman fellows is akin to all of the programs as a mandatory socialization 3 credit hour. I am assuming that by getting 5’s on all 10 of your APs, you would be a likely candidate for Honors. However, since you have not given actual gpa stats, I can’t make that assumption. </p>
<p>Additionally, you do understand how credit hours work, correct? 21 credit hours means 21 class hours per week. Sounds like no biggie, but just wait until you now have those 7 classes that all want a 15 page paper due the same week, or when you have 7 classes, that count your mid-term and final as 70% of your grade, and you got a 70 on 3 of them. Just imagine the pressure that ratchets up when now you need basically a 100 on 3 of them to maintain your scholarship. Or if you are in scholars and must commute into DC or to Goddard for 20 hours a week(to commute, that really means 30 hrs a week), plus your 21 credit course load. Life will not be pretty…and all at the same time of carrying that 3.2 gpa! This leaves Johnny or Janie a very dull child who never experienced college, but the inside of a classroom.</p>
<p>I think you need to understand that being top of your hs class doesn’t mean it will be a cake walk at UMD. This fallacy is what causes great disconcernation to many students when they get there. All of the sudden the valedictorian with a perfect hs gpa, that took every AP, lands up in tears because they got a C on their blue book. Many times because profs don’t give tests for several weeks, they could find themselves freaking out because now they are 1/2 way through the semester and are mathematically working out what they now need to pull with the few remaining grades available to them.</p>
<p>As for the course of study you want, it is either in their handbook or it isn’t. It is a no brainer. When you get accepted and matriculate, at orientation they will sit down with you and plot out your course load for the next four yrs. </p>
<p>If you want UMDCP to see you as a student and not a number, than I suggest you don’t go there. UMDCP is a large university, it is not a small private one. CAVEAT: the reason Scholars, Gemstone and Honors have become so successful is due to the fact that being in these programs, students feel they are not a number, but still get the perks of a big university.</p>
<p>Finally, you have yet to post what your intended major is and which school at UMDCP you are applying to, which also places a part in the equation.</p>