More Commonwealth College questions

Colleges & Universities University of Massachusetts - Amherst
1

<p>My S was admitted last year as a regular admit. His less than stellar high school GPA precluded him from Com college.</p>

<p>He’s finished his freshman year in engineering with a 3.7+ GPA, which I assume means he could apply to Com college. But he’s made no mention of it. His best friends have similar, if not better GPA’s and are also not in Com college.</p>

<p>Are there any advantages to him applying at this point? I am happy that he’s doing well, and don’t want to push for it if there isn’t any strong reason to.</p>

2

<p>He might be able to get into the new Honors dorm that is supposed to open in 2013.</p>

<p>Here’s a reason not to, though: for the 2011/2012 school year, being in ComCol will cost you an extra $500. I would imagine the following year it will be an extra $750-800, the year after that it could be an extra $1000.</p>

<p>I’m not sure the benefits outweigh the cost. My S has not really taken advantage of whatever benefits there are, and I’ve told him if he wants to leave ComCol I am ok with it. You can still graduate with Honors even if you aren’t in ComCol.</p>

3

<p>Then I won’t push for it. I was concerned maybe he was missing out on mentoring or research possibilities. If his friends decide to go for it, he’d probably go along with them, but it doesn’t seem to be something they think is that important.</p>

4

<p>Comm Col students do get research opportunities not available to other students. Check the Comm Col site.</p>

5

<p>I don’t know anyone who’s ever used ComCol for research opportunities. I do know of people who found research on their own and then used ComCol to get funding to get paid for it, though.</p>

<p>I’ve worked with two different professors and I doubt either are aware that I’m in ComCol.</p>

6

<p>I suppose I will mention it to him. Right now he is trying to straighten out a scheduling snafu with SPIRE, and he’s disgruntled about his summer job at the moment, so I’ll wait until he’s in a better mood :)</p>

7

<p>Sorry if this is a stupid question but…</p>

<p>my daughter is a HS senior interested in UMass (from out of state).
What does the extra $750-800 cover?</p>

8

<p>From [Frequently</a> Asked Questions | Commonwealth Honors College](<a href=“http://www.honors.umass.edu/faqs]Frequently”>http://www.honors.umass.edu/faqs) :</p>

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<p>Note that the fee is now $250/semester. It would not shock me if it went up to $350/semester next year (or more), but that’s just speculation on my part.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for posting, notrichenough (and I like your screen name, btw!)</p>