Chances + a few other things (scholarships, fitting in, etc.)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
1

Hello! So U of Maryland is a school I have recently started to consider after visiting and falling in love with the campus (and I also love its close proximity to NOAA, as I want to major in atmospheric sciences). However, as a California native, I’m not sure how this will affect my chances of admission in general, of acceptance into an honors program, and for both needs- and merit based-scholarships. I’m also concerned about fitting in with the general lifestyle - I’m not really sure how much things vary from the east coast to the west coast, so if someone could give me some insight here, that would be really helpful.

These are my stats (copy and pasted from a previous chance me board):
*GPA: 4.27 (W), 3.91 (UW)
*Rank: 10 of 560
*SAT: #1: 2000 (650 CR, 690 M, 660 W)

2: 2150 (730 CR, 730 M, 690 W)

*SAT II: 670 (U.S. History). It’s bad, I know. Planning to take bio &/or lit in Oct/Nov.
*APs: Euro (5), Enviro (4), Psych (self-studied; 5), APUSH (5), and Lang (5)
*Senior year courseload: AP Gov, Econ, AP Bio, Advanced Systems Physiology (req to take AP bio), AP Stats, AP Lit, Peer Helping, and AP Comp Sci

ECs:
*President of Make a Wish club - we do a few events per year pertaining to both the Make a Wish foundation and other community events, but not a ton.
*President of CSF [California Scholarship Federation - statewide scholastic/community service club] - for this year and next; I’m extremely involved in this, planned almost all of our events singlehandedly. Will be starting a CJSF program for a local middle school in the fall and coordinating all aspects of that; very time consuming.
*co-coach for a middle school Odyssey of the Mind team - first year, made it to state finals. Will be coaching again this year.
*Other - member of NHS, treasurer of SPCA club. Attended a two-week summer program for weather research. I’m also in the process of organizing a big charity walk from the ground up - I am the event chairperson and this is the first time the walk has happened.

Other things:
White, female, senior, CA. My dad died when I was a freshman, so I come from a single-parent household. (not sure if this can be indicated on my app, but this was also a big reason why I got Bs in AP Calc, which is keeping me from a 4.0 UW, and opted not to take the AP test).

Anyways, thanks for reading! I would appreciate any insight, especially anything specific to atmospheric science or the east-to-west coast adjustment :slight_smile:

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@ beachykeen - I can’t really assess your chances, but you seem to have good stats. NOAA in Silver Spring is close to UMDCP… I guess the biggest difference in west to east adjustment would be the weather… Very Hot in August into September. Very cold in Winter. Lots of stuff to see and do in DC. Great school spirit. I would recommend applying if it’s feasible. Just make sure that you get your APP and related material in by the Nov 1 priority deadline. The BK scholarship (full ride) invites are based on a holistic evaluation. I think the others are stat based… Good Luck.

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First off, I’m sorry for your loss…my heart goes out to you. So, yes, on the application, there should be an opportunity to explain your circumstances, but I can’t recall the details of the app itself. However, even without an explanation, your gpa is very strong on its own, so I wouldn’t sweat it.

For standardized tests, Maryland wants you to submit all that you’ve taken and they will superscore. They only look at CR + M, so for all intents and purposes, they will see you as having 1460/1600 . As long as you apply by Nov. 1st, you have a very strong application from what you’ve posted. Put effort into your essays and short answers, and you should be in a good position to be considered for special programs like honors/scholars also.

The SAT II’s are not taken into consideration for admission to Maryland, so no worries. AP courses don’t count for admission itself, but help for consideration for invites to special programs (like honors and scholars) and the AP exam scores can help you get credits/skip taking classes. Here is the table that shows you what score you need to get credit for certain classes http://www.umd.edu/catalog/attachments/AP.pdf

FYI, here are some links about your major in case you haven’t seen them -
http://www.atmos.umd.edu/education/undergraduate/undergrad_major.php
and for research opportunities for undergrads http://www.atmos.umd.edu/education/undergrad_research.php

As for scholarships, merit scholarships are so dang unpredictable, it’s hard to quantify… and need scholarships are based on FAFSA. Understand that Maryland is a large public university, so the merit scholarships are not huge like they can be at private universities. However, the price tag for Maryland (even as an OOS student) is relatively better than a lot of other public universities (I am also OOS).

Regarding east coast-west coast adjustment…that’s entirely personal. Two different worlds, but Maryland is really fabulous from a diversity standpoint. There is no one “type” of student that goes to Maryland (like some schools are pretentious, some are cut-throat, some are preppy, some are very sports-oriented, some are very artsy, etc). You will find many different types of people and you will probably find that you enjoy hanging out with different “groups” for different things (some for study, some for social, etc). Everyone tends to find people they like with no problem…people are pretty friendly and Maryland students in general are the happiest from among the campuses I’ve visited with my kids.

Hope this helps…best of luck as you begin the college app season!

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@Soofdad: Thank you so much! Is the November 1st deadline required, or is it just recommended? I assume that’s some sort of early action, but is it binding? And do you have to apply specifically to the BK program or any other honors program, or do you simply get recommended for placement into the program based on your application?
@Maryversity: Wow, you really gave me a lot of insight into all the different aspects of UMD. I loved what you said about the diversity and the friendliness - it sounds like this is a campus I would really love. Thank you so much!

And one more general question - for admittance to an honors program (or ideally to BK), would it be necessary to have higher SAT scores? I am considering retaking the SAT again in October, but I don’t want to waste my time/money if it wouldn’t do much for my application.

5

@beachykeen - The November 1 deadline IS required if you want to be considered for Merit Scholarships and special programs such as Honors and Scholars. It is basically an early action application. UMD just calls it the priority deadline. It is NOT binding. You have until May 1 to make a decision.

There are NO separate applications for any scholarships or the Honors College or the Scholars program. Those are ALL decided from your application, but ONLY if you apply by November 1. The Honors college and BK invites generally go to high stat applicants, but every year there are exception to that. ECs, LORs, and the Essay/short answers count

I tried to provide a detailed description of the process in the following thread. Maybe that will explain things better. My D is currently in the Honors college

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1796161-info-for-h-s-class-of-2016-umd-applicants-and-parents-applications-and-admissions.html

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@SoofDad: thank you so much! That was very helpful; I will be sure to apply early.

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For this year’s (fall of 2015 class) B/K invitees, avg SAT was 1510/wGPA of 4.6, and 360 kids got invited for interview. Keep in mind 1510 is an avg score (including the kids with significant hooks). If you have no hooks but want to take a shot at B/k, you may have to up the score a bit. Good luck.

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@FromMD: Thank you! That’s good to know, I’ll probably end up retaking it then.