@Flamboozle
Thats pretty harsh on Maryland. If it isn’t appealing to you without Honors or Scholars then you have a misconception of those programs and the school. They are not something you are going to be doing 24/7. They are something that you will have an opportunity to meet people and be in classes with them, but most days and nights it is going to be up to you to occupy your time and do your studies.
Neither of those programs are going to have someone come in and give you a job, internship, etc. You will have to work for that, and you will be competing with people that are in honors and are not.
I hope I am not making this programs sound bad, they are really great and run by great professors and people. But they are not your ticket to success and they are not the only thing to do at Maryland. It frustrated me when people ruled out UMD because they didn’t get into a program that many successful students were never in.