Smith Business Advising Summer '14

Hello, Everyone -

It's Summer, the time when students start worrying about getting into the Smith School - wait, no, that's a year-round concern here at MC!

Here are a few UMCP Smith Business School Updates -

1)     Two courses have been removed from the GATEWAY course list for Smith:  Both ENGL 102/103 (aka EN 102/109) and MATH 150 (MA 160) are NO LONGER considered GATEWAY courses.   They are still required, but students who have a repeat of one or both of these courses are no longer violating the "only one repeat of a Gateway course." Find the Updated Smith Advising Page here:   http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Plain.aspx?id=10187   P.S., this also applies to other LEP’s, but that’s another e-mail.

2)     The unofficially observed "lowest GPA" of admitted students to Smith AT THE MAIN CAMPUS for this coming Fall 2014 seems to be a 3.5.  Students need to be prepared with a Plan B if they want Smith @ the Main Campus  but do not have a 3.5 overall GPA. 

3)     Smith/Shady Grove still shows flexibility when considering students - there seems to be some leeway in terms of GPA (but a 3.0 overall is a MUST), repeated Gateways, etc.  When in doubt, refer the student directly to Shady Grove - have them call 301-738-6023 for advising. 

4)     Recent questions from students:

-          Do I have to take MG 201 / BSAD 201 Business Law as shown in the MC Business Degree?  No!  While it DOES transfer as a general elective, it is NOT required by the MC Business AA degree -ANY elective can go in this spot, as shown on the Advising Sheet where it says "MG 201 or Elective" .  Students must take Business Law as a junior at Smith - so taking a duplicate course is not necessary.  Any elective will work. 

-          Can any Arts or Humanities courses be taken for Smith, or must one be a History or Literature?  For students who started at MC in Fall 2012 and after, any Arts or Humanities will work.  For students who started at MC prior to Fall 2012, students need one HistoryOR an EN Literature, but not both.  Recently a student said she was told that UM would not consider KR 101 Elementary Korean as a Humanities – but KR 101 works, as will any course on the MC Gen Ed Arts or Humanities list!

-          Can MA 180/MATH 165 Precalculus be substituted for MATH150/MA160 Elementary Applied Calc?  No - sorry!  Students must take Applied Calc OR regular Calculus, MATH/MA181 - either of these two will work.

-          Is Smith Shady Grove adding Information Systems in the near future?  No additions to USG on the horizon as of now - the Shady Grove Smith Majors are General Management, Marketing, Accounting, and International Business.

For the Did You Know? File 

1)     MC has deleted the International Business curriculum as of Fall 2013 - so be sure to check a student's starting date if they are interested in this curriculum.

2)     UMCP now has a Business Analytics Minor!  What is Business Analytics? Read here to find out – this minor has the potential to add a Business edge to students who might not make it into Smith, but who still want the Smith exposure.   http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/programs/undergraduate-programs/academics/academic-minors/business-analytics