Campus Life @ UMD: College Park

<p>Everything I've read about UMD has mentioned something about excessive parties and whatnot in the past few years (like 2009). Is this still true today?</p>

<p>I guess no one goes to UMD.</p>

<p>So my son is going there next year and we were very impressed with all of the activities beyond parties that are available. Any big state school is going to have parties so it is really about the other activities that exist. From what we could see the intramural program seems to be really big but there is also the living and learning programs, research, studying and of course UMD sporting events. Maryland is a huge school and it isn’t clear to us what will be available every weekend for our son (unlike other schools that stress movies on Friday night or their big Carnival in spring) but I think part of that is because there are so many things available.</p>

<p>Never been to a party, or even literally heard or seen one. Perhaps they are not as common in the dorms? Having said that, I love Maryland. There is plenty to do for people that are not into the party scene. </p>

<p>What are your interests?</p>

<p>What is the music school like? The classical and opera department?</p>

<p>True School Spirit is lived at Maryland. Parties are everywhere, I have been to many, in dorms and off campus. You are responsible for your actions. I have not had one drop of alcohol and still had a great time. No need for alcohol to have fun. If you party, doesn’t mean you are not a good student, athlete or all of the above. I t is part of being yound and wanting to enjoy every aspect of what UMD has to offer. This is Not High School! enjoy every minute here, join a club, organization, create a club, go to a sporting event, or play a sport, socialize. This is your chance to meet great, interesting people! Welcome to TerpWorld!</p>

<p>DidaT - The music school is top notch. </p>

<p>I’ve heard that the party scene is big at MD, but that is rumor. The people I have spoken to that attend say it is not something they really notice. I believe if you are into parities, you will find them regardless of the school. </p>

<p>College Park is a great location for easy access to DC and lots of great cultural experiences.</p>

<p>There are definitely parties at CP, but you dont have to be involved if you dont want to. Other than that, there is ALWAYS something going on around campus. </p>

<p>Your R.A. will also make sure your floor will have floor-wide activities, including everything from floor dinners, soccer tournaments, roommate trivia, halloween parties, and hall contests.</p>

<p>Thanks for all of your feedback everyone. I’m sort of a wallflower and am worried about the college community as a result.</p>

<p>Also, I’d like to join a jazz ensemble or other band during my studies at UMD. I used to play tenor saxophone, piano, and jazz guitar, but I haven’t been keeping up with it. Should I still pursue these interests in college, or is it too late?</p>

<p>There are lots of parties, but as other posters have mentioned, there is much more to do on the weekends. Being such a large school, UMD athletic events are very popular among undergraduates. Even if partying isn’t your scene, you should at least check out football tailgates and what not. Football games really bring students together and provide an opportunity to meet UMD supporters from the community. It is a really cool feeling to know you’re a part of the organization that 20,000+ fans come to support every Saturday at Byrd. You don’t have to drink, and not everybody that drinks is a bad person/student. My advice is to give the athletic events and celebrations a try; you never know how much fun you will have until you check it out.</p>

<p>Agree, featherterp! Maybe he can even join the school band, so that he can combine going to a sporting event, and play the music too!
sunwardflyier: you have to give college life a try, leave the wallfower stage behind, explore interests, it is part of growing up, expanding the comfort zone beyond the short boundaries of high school.</p>

<p>Those who want to party excessively can do so. Those who don’t want to party at all will find more things to do than one can possibly do. As can everybody in between. There is so much going on that every student will find plenty of interesting, fun things to do, no matter what their interests.</p>

<p>My D will be a junior this year. Lived on campus for the past 2 years, and quite frankly, likes to party. But she’s made it clear to us that partying in the dorms is absolutely not allowed, and the rules are enforced. So as for a kid who is afraid of being surrounded by partying kids in their dorms as a freshman, they shouldn’t need to worry. Most serious partying is strictly off-campus, fraternities, and off-campus housing.</p>

<p>^ That really depends on the dorm you are in though. I was in an honors dorm (Ellicott) freshman year and the others were inherently not the partying type. The RAs were also pretty strict and my roommate was caught with weed in the dorm and was kicked out.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I was in Easton last year and it was night and day. My floor smelled like weed pretty much all the time and if someone was caught, they were told just to throw it away. Drinking was a lot more lax on all the floors I saw and we could openly drink during the weekends without repercussions. I saw the same thing in Centreville and La Plata, but not Oakland, so it seems like it could be hit or miss.</p>

<p>Wow, this certainly is worth noting. Thank you very much, kbiresearch. I’ve been so worried about applying to schools that are recognized as party schools because I don’t want to live with 24/7 binge drinking party animals.</p>

<p>Gemini116, you were in an honors dorm? Now I’m beginning to question UMD’s expectations of honors students.</p>

<p>Thanks Gemini for pointing that out… Is UMD that bad a party school?</p>

<p>Both dorms I have lived in I haven’t noticed anyone drinking or smoking. It really is just the luck of the people on your floor.</p>

<p>I was in an honors dorm my first year in Ellicott with other Gemstone students (the first four floors were Gemstone) and that was the year where everything was pretty tame and quiet. I did go into Easton knowing that it has the reputation as a “party dorm” since I never studied in my room, got pretty unlucky with my housing priority number, and because it was the easiest dorm for me and my friend group to live in the same building. There was also a large study room in the basement which was a recognized quiet area where I could study in the building if I wanted.</p>

<p>It is also worth noting that my RA was a freshman most of the year as the original one left and they filled the position with someone already on the floor. Generally though, the RAs level of enforcement is going to be variable. I had a few friends who were written up just because their RA smelled alcohol, but most RAs will just tell you to dump the alcohol or ignore it if it didn’t get out of hand. </p>

<p>There are also quiet hours where if you tell the RA you don’t want the noise, they’ll get it to stop (midnight on weekends, I think 8 or 9 weekdays, and all day during finals.) I know that when I was in the honors dorm I was told to quiet down a few times when I was playing videogames late with my friends. I don’t think anyone complained about sound in Easton, so that could contribute to the atmosphere easily.</p>

<p>As for Maryland being a bad party school,I can’t really compare to others objectively. I’ve visited a few other schools (VT, Northwestern, UMBC) but I can’t really compare since I was there just to meet with people and got a “party vibe” because of that (even though UMBC is far from a party school.) In general must people only partied during the weekend and the week was for work as people wanted to still be successful. I’m in engineering and so are a lot of the people I know and we pretty much had a routine where we did all our work during the week to have the weekend free, especially during football season.</p>

<p>To be completely honest, there is little to do on campus during the weekends other than party (unless you’re doing homework). Sure, you have your sports events, but those end by the afternoon. </p>

<p>Parties never occur in dorms LOL. They are all off-campus or on frat row. Therefore, you can completely avoid them by staying in your dorm.</p>