<p>Will anyone be applying to St. Mary's this upcoming fall?</p>
<p>yes, i am.</p>
<p>Oh cool! Is it your first choice? I'm planning to visit it in a couple of weeks or so.</p>
<p>My SD is applying and its her first choice.</p>
<p>yes--i am applying rd.</p>
<p>Yep, received my ED admission today. The official ED notification is Jan. 1 but, it seems the college is sending decisions a little earlier than expected.</p>
<p>Do you mind sharing your stats/ECs/background? Trying to get a feel for D's chances.</p>
<p>Sure Mombot - </p>
<p>Cumulative GPA - 3.23 (I believe my gpa i lower than the college's average by .5 but the college places a greater emphasis on strength of courses than gpa.)</p>
<p>frosh year - 3.00
soph year - 3.03
junior year - 3.57 first semester, 3.70 second semester</p>
<p>APs taken: 4 junior year (AP Scholar with Honor)</p>
<p>U.S. History - 5
Human Geography - 4
U.S. Government - 4
Comparative Gov - 3 </p>
<p>4 APs senior year</p>
<p>SAT: 2010 (forgot what I got for each section)</p>
<p>EC's (tons of volunteer service, 2 clubs, a little job experience)</p>
<p>Background: Asian living in Maryland (no not an ASIAN AMERICAN or international student).</p>
<p>Mombot: St. Mary's is an amazing school. However, this is not my first choice even though I applied ED. The school reminds me of a park and not a college but the academics are great. Make sure your daughter takes tons of AP/Honors classes and does well in them. Is your daughter a senior mombot and do you live in Maryland (residency will help you a lot)?</p>
<p>hey folks, i was lurking around and i saw this thread. Im a freshmen at st marys now, if you have any questions or anything feel free to ask</p>
<p>Samonite please describe the residential life at St. Mary's College. How are the students at the school, the dorms, the food (I've had the food, its terrible in my opinion), etc? I would appreciate any info you could give me to make my transition to the college easier.</p>
<p>Ok, Ill try and answer each part of your question as best as I can. Overall, life at st. mary's is pretty good. Its a relaxed place, which is usually nice, but can be a bit boring sometimes, especially if you're from an area close to a big city. I really like most of the people; id say the student body is about evenly divided between hippie types, preppy types, and nerds. The vast majority of people are nice though, no matter what kind of person they are. Also, there are no frats, although some sports teams like to pretend they are. </p>
<p>The dorms are kind of a mixed bag. The freshmen dorms are somewhat mediocre, the rooms themselves are pretty big, but the buildings are old and only half of them have AC. Also, the school is always overenrolling so there's a chance that you could get stuck in a double that should be a single, or a triple that should be a double, or something like that. The housing for older students is much, much, better. All of the suites, and townhouses were built relatively recently and the rooms are huge. </p>
<p>I don't know what your experience was with the food, but I actually think its great. I suspect that you just didn't get the right things when you tried it. Basically, there are certain things that are terrible, ie. anything foriegn other than italian. However, there are lots of other things that I think are really well done. Also, there's this little cafe of to the side of the cafeteria that does fast food type stuff that is generally reliable, and is getting quiznos subs soon. Also, the store in the campus center has tv dinner type stuff that you can buy on meal plans which is reliable. </p>
<p>Just stuff in general to remember if you're coming to St. Mary's...do well on AP tests, because getting out of required classes is really nice. Also the credits you get from them let you register earlier than other people, which is important when you're a freshmen since classes can be hard to get into. Try to bring a car if you possibly can, because you can't get into town without one. Overall, it really is a good school and I'm glad I picked it, so have fun.</p>
<p>Thank you Imh09--that helps a lot. D. is from the Pacific NW and is half Asian. Don't know if being from the other coast will help her or not.</p>
<p>being from the west coast should help i would think, since the school is looking to get more out of state ppl.</p>
<p>Well, St. Mary's is a state college funded to help in state students get a quality and affordable education. I doubt the school would want more out of state people. This year 78% of the school is in state. Similarly to UMD, the school gives preference to Maryland residents. However, it doesn't hurt to apply to this school. Go for it mombot!</p>
<p>They do, trust me. That 79% in state hurts them in the rankings against private schools so theyre always trying to get more people from out of state.</p>
<p>Perhaps, but out of state students lose the advantage of in state tuition. I guess that is the main advantage for Maryland residents. Anyway, a stellar record gives a candidate more of an advantage than residency.</p>
<p>Samonite, private schools want an affluent and diverse student population. On the other hand, state schools want in state students.
Take a look at state schools around the nation. Most of their student populations are in state. In fact, I believe the University of Maryland specifically says that preference is given to Maryland residents. I'm not saying its impossible for out of state students to gain admission. Simply, the school will give preference to in state students when compared to an equally qualified out of state students.</p>
<p>Mombot if you don't mind please post your daughter's stats.</p>
<p>Yes, its true that the vast majority of Public Schools give in-state students significant advantages. St. Mary's is in a unique situation though. Since it's classified as a liberal arts college it's competitors are almost all private schools. In the US News Rankings, points are awarded for %'s of students from out of state. This category is one of several that is pulling the school down in the ranckings to a level not consumate with the quality of it's student body. A few months ago, the school's President sent an email out to all the students and faculty that ontained a strategic plan of sorts. As I recall, there were like 3 points listed for "increasing academic prestige." Increasing the number of out of state students was one of them. I'm not saying an admissions counselor actually told me people from out of state have an as-good or better chance of admission, but that is the general vibe I've gotten from lots of people.</p>
<p>Hi everybody. I thought nobody from st. Mary's would ever write here since this forum is always empty. Obviously, not anymore. That's great.
I was accepted to St. Mary's last fall, but I couldn't attend it though. I will be going there in fall 06 ( I am transfering.) By the way, I am international student, and I didn't have a hard time gaining admission. Therefore, out of state applicants do have their shot as long as their have the qualifications.
See you next fall.</p>
<p>I know the school is excellent but I didn't even hear of the school until the upper years of high school. Is St. Mary's College well known outside of Maryland?</p>