<p>Even a non-Marylander such as myself has read about UMBC's success in science education and preparing its undergraduates for academic and professional careers in the Life Sciences. Sure, its campus is not Ivy-walled and the buildings look like an office park. So what? Critics should offer substantive complaints.</p>
<p>Rabban, such rankings mask a lot of important information. Try getting an engineering degree at St. Mary's. My main point here is that UMBC performs well above its general reputation in the sciences and engineering. I'll wager that UMCP and UMBC are roughly equal in terms of the quality of their undergraduate engineering programs. And for non-extroverts, the campus life/social scene is much better here.</p>
<p>Money is a major consideration. If you're an above-average student, you stand an excellent chance of getting a full scholarship here. UMCP is not that way at all. My best friend (1510 SAT, 3.8, etc.) applied to CP and was offered $5,000 or so. UMBC gave us full rides as "University Scholars." We were accepted into the Honors program and coddled practically to death as freshman. You won't get that at CP.</p>
<p>LakeWashington is right. Biology/biochemistry/molecular biology are lavishly funded and perform students very well for higher study. I don't know about CP's biology program, but I do know that top students who picked UMBC over the Ivies are routinely cut down to size in the upper-level courses--I've seen it happen first-hand. Watching a 4.0 student's response to a 50% score on a plant biology exam is a sight to behold.</p>
<p>Readers of this forum will probably be interested in the following two web pages:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.umbc.edu/classof2005/ugs.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.umbc.edu/classof2005/ugs.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.umbc.edu/classof2006/%5B/url%5D">http://www.umbc.edu/classof2006/</a></p>
<p>Rankings of colleges and universities suffer from selection bias; the real question is whether or not the school prepares high-achieving students for graduate school. This school gives undergraduates plenty of opportunities to excel.</p>
<p>Hey! I live in MD, and I'm frankly really surprised at the flak UMBC has been getting. Where I live, it is pretty much a no-brainer that academically, UMBC is stronger than Towson, ESPECIALLY in the sciences. Many financially-strapped kids here choose UMBC over UMD because it is much cheaper. I personally know several people who are attending UMBC on great scholarships and are impressed with the faculty and education. I'm not surprised its grad school placement is great - again, most smart kids I know that go there, go there because they are saving money for a good grad school. I do not know ANYBODY who chose Towson U over an Ivy...but I do know people who chose UMBC over one.</p>
<p>All that said, although UMBC is a great school academically, is very well-respected in MD and has good grad school placement, CP is obviously the flagship uni. Places like Towson and UMD have prettier campuses and more school spirit. They're bigger and feel more "busy". Still, more and more students are dorming at UMBC and there are more and more on-campus opportunities. I think if it is a match school for you and has a great program in what you're interested in - and you aren't especially enamored with big universities with good sports programs! -, UMBC is an excellent choice. Yeah, the campus sucks (giant parking lot, anyone?) - but what will make your 4 yrs is the people you meet and the education you get. </p>
<p>Nerd^2 paints a great, well-rounded picture of the school, as well. He really reminds me of a lot of the people I know who chose UMBC. It's not for everyone, but a lot of smart people really love it.</p>
<p>Excellent comment. I'll just add that sprucing up campus life has been a major part of Hrabowski's efforts, and things are definitely prettier around here than before. When I was school shopping, I was turned off by the bleakness of Hopkins's campus, but I thought UMBC looked pretty nice. And it keeps getting better. There's a new fine arts building in the works, I hear.</p>
<p>UMBC is not as big or spirited or even as pretty as Towson or CP, I agree. But that's changing, and in 10 years I don't think the distinction will be so clear-cut. Academically, UMBC is much stronger than Towson, and equal to or better than CP in the sciences and engineering.</p>
<p>I lived in Towson for around 6 years, and it's a little strange to read about it on collegeconfidential, haha. I went to Towson High, which was right across Towson University and it does have that college town feel. The campus is aesthetically pleasing. The town gets boring after a while, it's pretty mundane. Towson U doesn't really have a great academic reputation, but both of my parents graduated from their masters program in computer science (immigrated from China) and they both hold high paying jobs. </p>
<p>I know some really smart, talented people who've chosen UMBC for its majors and, of course, cost.</p>
<p>UMBC = U Made a Bad Choice haha</p>
<p>BC has a rep of being a fallback school, to be honest.</p>
<p>Does UMBC still allow cross-registration with Johns Hopkins (or rather does Johns Hopkins allow UMBC students to cross-register with them. haha)? I searched online and couldn’t find any info. Wondering if anyone has any links to particular data. Thanks.</p>