<p>You expressed a sentiment of “Gemstone or bust” because of your interest in large projects and research… <em>sigh</em>
You should know that you do NOT have to be in Gemstone to participate in research (or large projects)!!!</p>
<p>Before you turn your nose up, take a look at the stats of students admitted into Honors and those admitted to Scholars (the thread also includes regular admission stats, so look carefully for specific notation of Honors or Scholars for each poster reporting admission)…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1282489-official-umd-priority-class-2016-decisions.html?highlight=2016[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1282489-official-umd-priority-class-2016-decisions.html?highlight=2016</a></p>
<p>“How much of a big deal is the fact that I attend an extremely grade stingy private school (Park School of Baltimore)?”
As a parent, I would tell you that you have every right to be proud of your school record so far! However, the reality is that there are a lot of students who have higher unweighted gpa’s who also attend very competitive (“stingy” with grades, rigorous curriculum) high schools (both public and private) that are competing with you for the same admissions spots. </p>
<p>I am honestly not trying to burst your bubble in any way, but just trying to give you a realistic picture of your competition and the ambiguity of placement into programs. </p>
<p>Understand that regardless of all the detailed stats people listed, the only stats UMD looks at are the UNweighted GPA (they convert all weighted GPA’s to a 4 point scale) and either the CR + M score for the SAT, or the composite of the ACT (which they actually convert to the SAT equivalent). </p>
<p>In addition to these [limited/specific/objective] stats, your EC’s, essay answers and recommendations are also considered for admissions both for the university and for invitation into special programs. However, there is no way to know how these more subjective variables compare among CC posters.</p>
<p>Right now, focus on getting the best grades you can and try to make your “probable” SAT score a reality! :)</p>