Chance me for University of Maryland, College Park, MD in Computer Science

Hi! I was wondering what my daughter’s chances would be for getting into UMD (UMD Honors) and what programs/merit aid I could possibly expect?

SAT: 1460 (690 English, 770 math)
ACT: 32 (33 English, 31 reading, 35 math, 29 science)

GPA: 4.27 W, 3.93 NW
All A’s and 1 A-s and 1 B+
Mostly GT, Honors, and AP classes (I think 7 AP classes total)
Principal’s Honor Roll
AP Scholar with Distinction
Class rank: Top 10%

School Activities/Clubs/Programs:
National Honor Society (President)
Co Leader CB South
Key Club
Girls who Code
Robotic Club
Reading Olympic

Outside of School Activities:

  • Sr. Black belt champion in Karate. Practicing Karate for 7 years now.
  • Violin player, practice for 10 years now
    -Volunteering activities
    -Leader of Pearl S Bucks leadership program
  • Build Covid tracking app in summer leveraging Java coding and Bluetooth low voltage signal.
    -Choreographer of bollywood dance
    -volunteered at our religious institution and within our community

I like your odds.

Did she apply this year?

I do not know enough about the scholarship criteria but I do think she’ll be accepted.

It has been posted in other threads that UMD accepts very few to start in computer science so there’s a chance she’d have to wait a semester to transfer into that but I do not know how that works with UMD.

Yes, she has applied this year for Computer Science major. Her application was completed on Jan 5th 2021.

I guess your daughter applied to UMD as her safety and already knew submitting application after November 1st may reduce the chances for Honors College and merit scholarship ?

UMD is not a safety for her. She is very much interested to go there and pursue CS major. She applied late

If she had applied EA, I would guess that her chances of admission directly into CS were extremely high. She has better stats than my son who applied EA and was accepted; however, he was put in “letters and science” which is like an undecided major classification where UMD puts students if they didn’t qualify for direct admit to CS . In reading many UMD posts, this seems to be the case for lots of kids. UMD may have essentially filled the CS spots this late, but they still love her stats and invite her to letters and science. From what I understand, it should be guaranteed that a student will get admitted to CS from L&S if the student passes gateway classes (I think there are three) with a certain grade (this should happen after second semester I think). Then again, maybe they do leave CS spots open for regular decision. Her stats and especially her awards and activities are outstandingly impressive.

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I believe honors and scholarships had an EA deadline.

My daughter has very similar stats (but 33 ACT) RD got into scholars, not honors (she wants actuarial science which seems to be a different major everywhere).

If she applied EA, I would think she will be admitted to Honors/scholars with merit but we have no crystal ball and UMD AO may have different methods of evaluating in addition to test score, GPA and ECs.

UMD is very selective, especially with CS and Engineers but I’m sure with your daughter’s stats, she will be successful at UMD or other schools that she attends.

Good luck !!!

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Also, check out RD threads from previous years.

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Your daughter’s GPA is high, but her test scores are low for a Computer Science major. The competition is steep. Also, in past years UMD has accepted 90% of its applicants from the EA pool of applicants. Regular Decision at UMD is late. I am sorry. I really think that your daughter has a slim chance of being selected for the Honors College or for merit scholarships at this point.

Given that she applied late for UMD, she is not looking for Honors College or merit scholarships. She understands that she has missed both due to not applying in EA.

Did she get into? My daughter applied 2020, with similar background, except 1520 SAT. 11 APs. GPA 4.27. Got in with letter of science, 2021 spring, and applied CS this summer, accepted.