<p>Planning a visit and tour with my son (h.s. jr.) soon. </p>
<p>Any suggestions for what to see or do in addition to the tour? Good places to eat? Where we can get the best sense of what life is like at UMCP? We'll be there overnight so we have some time to really explore.</p>
<p>Really looking to get a sense of the school atmosphere in addition to the "official" tour.</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice!</p>
<p>Word of advice " don’t leave the campus"</p>
<p>Why? Is the area around the campus that bad? Nothing at all to do or see off campus?</p>
<p>Hi, I’m currently a first semester freshman here at UMD and I have to admit I don’t really go off campus unless I’m going shopping (mall, Best Buy, Target etc) or to a party on weekends. It’s not because the surrounding is necessary bad or anything, its just that there’s usually so many things to do on campus that many students don’t feel to need venture out(they call it the Maryland bubble).
In regards to getting the best sense of what life at UMD is like, I would recommend visiting the Stamp Student Union which is regarded as the center for activities on campus. It has a nice food court on the first floor, TerpZone which has a pool room and bowling alley, a movie theater, ballrooms for events, more restaurants on the upper floors, coffee shops, study lounges, and this is where many clubs host their meetings/events. The most popular destination off-campus is Route 1 which has several restaurants and stores and is the location of Frat Row.
Sorry I don’t have more info about things to do/see off-campus but hope this was sort of helpful. :)</p>
<p>Flying down from boston with my d tomorrow so she can do the res. Overnight and tour/info on Friday…I am excited and she is nervous!</p>
<p>Tonight is local area admitted students reception. D hasn’t made her mind up , so this should be the week…:]</p>
<p>check out the south campus housing, it is a very nice area of campus. but also check out north campus housing which is where you’ll live the first year (definitely not as nice)</p>
<p>My daughter will probably be in cambridge as she’s in the scholars program…do you know anything about those dorms, Hhs310?</p>
<p>Headed south to UMD in a few hours!</p>
<p>The dorms can be scary. No AC, cement blocks, they remind me of a time that I spent in jail.</p>
<p>The freshman dorms are just like the freshman dorms at just about every other college/university I’ve visited with my kids. They’re all cement block, and many/most don’t have AC. In general, the most desirable housing is given to returning students, not freshmen.</p>
<p>yea, i’m in denton right now as a freshman and it’s not really as bad as it sounds. mark says they’re “scary” but when you put all your stuff in the room and make it your own then it really is fine. you get used to no ac and cinder block walls</p>
<p>The dorms are not “scary.” They’re perfectly fine. I’m also a freshman in Denton. You deal with not having A/C. It’s not the end of the world. 75% of the year it doesn’t even matter. And Denton is getting A/C next year anyway.</p>
<p>Most of the schools - but not all of them- we have looked at with my d have dorms with painted cinder block walls. No big deal. Just did the umd tour on friday and thought ceilings were quite high -great for lofting or bunking beds. Bathroom I saw on the hall looked pretty good also.</p>