My son is a junior in high school and planning on majoring in business. What do you think it takes to be directly admitted to the Smith School of Business? He will most likely apply test optional. What classes, clubs, activities,volunteering or work experience are they looking for? Any guesses?
I don’t know what Smith School is looking for. But my daughter got in, and I think she’s going to commit there. But she had straight A’s, 10 APs, rest honors classes, led 3 clubs at school every year, played a varsity sport, volunteered at a donation facility, and worked at sandwich shop. A caveat though, she really enjoyed everything she did, and it was spread out over the course of four years. So the end goal for her wasn’t necessarily to get into the Smith School of Business, but more to enjoy school and friends and get into a school that would prepare her for a career in something.
Were the clubs business related? My son will have 9 AP’s but this includes some of easier ones. We are in state, and UMD is his top choice.
Only one club was business-related, the other was academic, and another was something she was passionate about. She led these clubs. But she participated in clubs that her friends led if they needed her support. This gave them time to socialize and hang out too. I think she may have had 1 or 2 of the easier APs, I can’t remember exactly. My daughter was ranked top 10 in her school of 350 seniors, but after she got accepted into Smith and tried to appeal their honors decision, she quickly learned that some of the in-state MD kids had more APs and higher GPAs. We’re out-of-state. Not sure who gets in or not, but the more lucrative things like scholarships and honors designations seemed very competitive for the business school kids.
One can guess but it means nothing.
You have to get into UMD and then be admitted into Smith.
In general, a test will hurt if you don’t have - it’s my belief although at UMD, only 48% of enrollees submitted last year. How did that look at Smith - no idea. . They’re a Junior - so likely their ECs and etc. are baked.
I think, like all schools, they are looking for depth and tenure. If you’re asking, do they need to be related - no. Is your kid in the band or play sports or walk dogs at the shelter? If they have depth and tenure, great.
I don’t think anyone can truly answer - your student will apply, hope to get in UMD (not an easy task) and then hope to get into Smith.
Good luck.
Our child was a direct Admit to Smith along with the Smith Business Leadership Fellows program and FIRE. Very high achiever, 11APS, 3DEs, Varsity Athlete, Eagle Scout, DECA President (and VP and Leadership in 10th), Entrepeneur who started a local successful business, graduate level research internship, and other summer programs. He did not have specific intentions when starting high school, but started moving towards business. He will likely commit to UMD because he will be able to do one of the Smith majors, such as Business Analytics, but also double major in neuroscience. This is not always possible so he is pretty grateful!
My daughter might be planning to double too, but for now it’s just pre-med/accounting. She was asking me about FIRE today. Do you know if she would be able to do that with Scholars? Someone told me you could only do one or the other, but maybe Honors is allowed to do both?
4/5 Honors/Ap’s per year (or better)
4/5 A’s and 1/5 B per year (or better)
Commitment
Leadership
Passion
Strong essays and applications
That’s how I see it.
You can check as maybe I’m wrong but my recollection is Honors, Scholars, and FIRE are all independent - you get and can do one.
But @PSMjj05 son seems to have gotten both? I thought the SBLF was part of the Business Honors the school started recently.
Yes, but you said Scholars and Fire.
You can email them and they can answer.
I’m just a parent of two kids who got Scholars - but my belief was you can have one - but perhaps my understanding is not correct.
I’m sure Honors can answer for you. Or Scholars.
askcpscholars@umd.edu
honors@umd.edu
Thanks
I told my daughter I didn’t know how Fire worked earlier today, so she’s probably already checking with them. I was just curious because it came up on here and thought I could get her a quick answer.
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Check out hs program for prospective Smith UMD students
And general guidance
Our understanding is that you can do both!
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Our kid was selected for SBLF and FIRE, perhaps because of showing an interest in both science and business? Not really sure.
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Yes, it’s a relatively newer program
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Our understanding is that it’s a way for Freshmen to do real research.
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Does anyone have experience with the Terp Young Scholars classes over the summer? Do you think taking the class would help to be directly admitted?