<p>Eyema - good point - struggling was probably the wrong word. However, many posts suggests a sign of times to come for many schools. My daughter would love it there - on the water - her favorite place to be.</p>
<p>I haven’t read every point, but Vandy, I agree. It may be a situation you may want to allow a student a car. Also, I wonder how many kids/parents see the name pop up and think Catholic school (nothing wrong with that, but some people may not be looking for)</p>
<p>Yes… the name is actually unfortunate. Not sure it would make sense to change it… but another reason why some serious marketing to offset it is in order.</p>
<p>I agree on both points- the marketing and the name throwing people off.</p>
<p>We live in Maryland and I hadn’t really heard of the school until we moved to an older, more established neighborhood and my neighbor’s daughter had attended there (and gone on to get a Masters in Psych at Wm and Mary.) I then heard how rural it was etc and decided against it based on that alone. Several years later, a friend asked us to go to a Summer Open House with her and her daughter. We went and were caught completely by surprise. </p>
<p>Just like when you are pregnant and suddenly notice every pregnant woman, I suddenly began to meet all these folks who had gone to St Mary’s- my new neighbor, a woman whose child I babysat, counselors at my daughter’s church etc. Interestingly,one thing they all have in common is that none of them are flashy people. All bright, unassuming, non-braggy types. :)</p>
<p>But yes, as a Maryland resident, I knew almost nothing about the school. When I mention it, people either know a good bit about it or nothing at all. People who don’t know about it immediately assume it is a Catholic school, or that we are talking about Mount Saint Mary’s.</p>
<p>I want the school to be successful and do well, but I also kind of like it being a little secret. Maybe a bit of both would be nice!</p>
<p>I’ve learned so much about St Mary’s through this interesting discussion. With so many positive attributes, I suspect (and hope) that this unique public honors LAC will tweak their approach and prosper in the new economy.</p>
<p>Ah, the Washington Post has found this story.</p>
<p>[St</a>. Mary?s College short about 150 freshmen, plans for budget cuts - The Washington Post](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/st-marys-college-short-about-150-freshmen-plans-for-budget-cuts/2013/05/13/4b0fa1c8-bbff-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html?hpid=z10]St”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/st-marys-college-short-about-150-freshmen-plans-for-budget-cuts/2013/05/13/4b0fa1c8-bbff-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html?hpid=z10) </p>
<p>And I think part of the answer can be found within it. This is their first year on the Common App, and it sounds like they badly misjudged yield (should have accepted a lot more students than they did).</p>
<p>Right–the article says they revamped their admissions process in the last couple of years. Clearly, they don’t have it right yet. Their applications actually went up 14%, which probably fooled them into thinking they could admit the same number of kids as before.</p>
<p>So… this leaves me wondering. Can/should they re-evaluate some of the students they rejected and send them a, “Hey, we have re-evaluated and would like to offer you admission after all” letter? Especially students who did not apply for FA. Maybe sweeten with some merit aid if their policies would allows (depending on whether it is better for them financially to fill the seat at SOME price). At least offer to cover lost deposits at other schools… Plenty of students would say “no thanks” at this point, but they might pick up some additional students.</p>
<p>I’ll bet they’re wishing they had put a bunch of those rejected applicants on the waiting list.</p>
<p>Hmm, I don’t know. I just hope that they maintain high standards for their students.</p>
<p>Not sure we would be able to tell. They may have thought they had a better/higher stats pool coming in this year (and would have been right, if only their yield had been better). They may have turned down students this year they would have admitted in the past, thinking more of those Common App students would actually attend.</p>
<p>I am going to blame Mr Urgo. This is a quote from the Washing Post article. </p>
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<p>We loved the old dean and I think he had a better handle on the how to fill the class. I do think St Mary’s could do with some more public awareness. I visited this college back in the late 80’s and thought it was a private college. So many people in MD don’t even know about this college. It often gets confused with Mount St Mary’s too. </p>
<p>Also, they decided to dole out financial aid over giving merit aid. They said they planned to do it and I think they must have done it with this last cycle. Students work hard to get good grades and do well on the SAT. When they are rewarded by many colleges and St Mary’s gives them nothing or very little, they are going to go to where it is cheaper. St Mary’s is also agressively going out of their way to recruit URM and first generation students. St Mary’s has no choice because the state has made them do it to keep their funding. I think they are losing some of these students because these students will often need a lot of financial aid to make attending St Mary’s affordable. They can not close the gap between aid and cost as easily as they can at the other cheaper colleges. </p>
<p>St Mary’s is the most expensive public school in MD. I remind my dd of that fact all the time. However, the student to teacher ratio is great and you will not find that great of a ratio in any of other MD public colleges. The four year graduation rate is also one of the highest. My dd was admitted into UMCP, UMBC, and Towson but St Mary’s was her choice. DD didn’t apply to any of the other states schools. After several years now, she still loves St Mary’s. It was the right choice for her.</p>
<p>I am still surprised that as she enters her junior year(with senior credit standing) she has still not be able to take a sailing class. They fill very quickly. I still have hope she will get to learn to sail before she leaves college.</p>
<p>I am hopeful also that St Mary’s will keep it academic profile in tact. I saw some of the students admitted had some good stats. I will continue to hope they will fill with other very good students eventually.</p>
<p>My son attended St. Mary’s and the academics, size, sports and location were perfect for him. He worked hard, participated in a varsity sport, liked the remote location, and talked often about the diverse student population…especially a wide variety of income levels, ethnicity and sexual orientations. He has graduated and is off to a prestigious law program. St. Mary’s was a great fit. In terms of transportation, he had a car and very often gave rides to others needing to get to public transportation.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, chipmunk. I am glad he did so well and is off to an exciting next step. My daughter plans to be heading to law school after St Mary’s as well. I hope she has as good an experience as your son did!</p>
<p>It truly is a marketing problem. My D goes here and loves it. Classes are small and profs are approachable. </p>
<p>We are out-of-state and few people up in MA where we live (including my D’s guidance counselor) know of it. It’s my opinion that they need to increase the number of out-of-state students to raise the school’s national reputation. That would also help with funding since out-of-state students pay more. </p>
<p>A school with this nice a campus, good academics and reasonable tuition should not be a secret.</p>
<p>I had looked into St. Mary’s last year for my D when someone on CC suggested it, and had put her (shared) college email address on their list for more info, but she didn’t end up applying.</p>
<p>She recently got an email from them, noting her earlier interest but lack of application, saying that they still have space available and would be pleased to consider her late application. </p>
<p>So, maybe they will still manage to pull in some more students.</p>
<p>[St</a>. Mary?s College of Maryland president questioned on student shortage - The Washington Post](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/st-marys-college-of-maryland-president-questioned-on-student-shortage/2013/05/30/f99d951c-c5fd-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html?hpid=z4]St”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/st-marys-college-of-maryland-president-questioned-on-student-shortage/2013/05/30/f99d951c-c5fd-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html?hpid=z4) </p>
<p>Sounds to me like the president’s job may be in jeopardy. I think they were finely balanced as an institution in an unusual niche before this guy came on board. Hustling, but getting the job done to fill the classes. He shuffled resources, dumped experienced employees, and brought on people who thought they could treat it like other colleges when in fact it has some signfiicant differences. Didn’t work out so well for him…</p>
<p>That’s rather interesting intparent. I’ve been thinking these administrators are overpaid, given the way professors are being relegated off of tenure track and student tuitions are increasing so quickly compared to CPI.</p>
<p>I wonder how much he was paid to ruin their operations?</p>
<p>Apparently, the guy came in and replaced all top administrators with outsiders, his friends. Geez.</p>
<p>I live in Maryland and read the Post article over breakfast. This Urgo character comes in and fires two employees that have been with the school for 25 and 37 years? Because he wants to take the school in a ‘new direction’? If this gentleman’s contract is renewed in June, I’ll cross St. Mary’s off the list for my D.</p>
<p>Interesting to note that the acceptance rate is now higher at St. Mary’s than at UMDCP. I believe the perception among most Maryland residents is the opposite.</p>
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