<p>im in the STEM program
top 25% out of 530 students</p>
<p>AP classes: World History
Physics B
Computer Science
Human Geography
Language and Composition </p>
<p>Senior year I am taking: (as in AP classes)
AP US history
Calc AB
AP LIT
Ap Physch</p>
<p>Taken mostly honors classes through Highschool</p>
<p>Lunar Robotics Summer Program AACC
Underwater Robotics Summer Program
National Honor Society Member </p>
<p>Volunteer Experience
Anne Arundel County Food Bank
Fund Raising for Harvest for the Hungry
Homeless Shelter Feeding the Homeless through St. Vincent De Paul, Baltimore
Judge School Science Fair
Participation in Soles for Souls Program </p>
<p>Activities
Trip to Costa Rica for Science Research
Computer Programing competition at Anne Arundel Community College - 1st Place
Interact Club High School Service Organization
Basketball - 5th Grade to 11th grade
Holy Family Youth Group
Mentorship with City of Annapolis</p>
<p>You should know that admissions to the Clark School of Engineering are tougher than the university itself. The engineering school is what is referred to as an LEP, which stands for Limited Enrollment Program. Students who apply for an engineering major are not all accepted to the engineering school, but can still be admitted to the university itself under Letters and Sciences. So, rather than “chance” you, let me give you some data to make your own assessment.</p>
<p>Here is the freshman profile for the direct admit ENGINEERING SCHOOL students that were accepted for Fall 2012:</p>
<p>From around 5,000 applications received, only 1625 were admitted (about half enrolled).</p>
<p>The average SAT for Critical Reading/Math was 1381
(NOTE: UMD only looks at these two sections) </p>
<p>75 percentile SAT CR/M score - 1460
25th percentile SAT CR/M score - 1320</p>
<p>The average HS GPA was 4.2</p>
<p>I don’t know if the info is online anywhere for verification, but it was the info given at an accepted students day.</p>
<p>If you are admitted to the university but not the engineering school, you can still take “the basic” classes, prove yourself with your grades, and reapply to the engineering school as an “internal transfer.” </p>
<p>The most important thing to remember to do is apply for the priority deadline (November 1st) to have the best chance of acceptance.</p>
<p>No, they never put out ACT averages - at least not that I have seen. I suspect they just convert them to the SAT equivalent. They do accept them, but don’t talk about them. Based on conversion tables, the average accepted SAT (1381) is equivalent to a 31 on the ACT, if that helps. </p>
<p>They also state they don’t look at/consider SAT2 scores in their decision process, so I wouldn’t count on that “helping” compensate for a lower SAT/ACT score. </p>
<p>You can always email the engineering admissions department and ask them directly.</p>
<p>Thanks, maryversity. I think DS is in good shape. Will be applying in the Fall. We were really impressed with the engineering presentation. The biggest downside for my DS is the size of UMDCP. Once you’re in the engineering school, does it really make it seem smaller? This is, by far, the largest school he will be applying to.</p>
<p>So as not to completely derail this thread, I really want to emphasize to the OP to get those test scores up. My DD applied to UMD (not engineering) with a 26 ACT (27 if they superscore - not sure if they do) and got deferred (accepted to Freshman Connection). That was two years ago. We are OOS - I think you are in-state. I would think you’d get the edge, but I still think it’s so competitive…</p>
<p>I’m from Maryland to and being in-state does give you a little bit of an edge. On college shirt day at my school, tons of seniors were walking down the hallway with Maryland shirts on because they were accepted there and one of the admissions people came to our school and said “It’s going to be easier for you guys since you live here.”</p>
<p>@DylanK -It is easier for IS, but by no means does that make it a “safety school.” Maryland has been getting increasingly competitive over the years, and with this economy, even more IS students are applying for the same spots. </p>
<p>@Linymom - As for being impressed with engineering, I wholeheartedly agree! If the only downside for you is the size of the university, don’t let that dissuade you. Honestly, it seems a lot bigger from the outside looking in! </p>
<p>Maryland offers many living-learning communities (honors, scholars, civicus, etc) to help “shrink” the overall size. The engineering school also has its own engineering-specific living-learning communities - flexus for female engineers, virtus for male engineers. </p>
<p>Students are housed in the same dorm so they automatically have people (who are taking the same classes) to study with right down the hall - there are tutors, peer mentors, classes on career skills (resumes, interview skills, etc). Here is the link with the info [Virtus:</a> A Living Learning Community, SEEDS Programs, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland](<a href=“http://www.seeds.umd.edu/programs/virtus.html]Virtus:”>http://www.seeds.umd.edu/programs/virtus.html) - be sure to click on all the links on the page, especially the sample syllabi to get a better sense of the program.</p>
<p>DylanK, I think you have a decent chance of getting in to UMD (your in-state status helps overcome the relatively low test scores (What was your SAT CR + M only?) and GPA. I think the likelihood that you’ll get into the Engineering school as a freshman is low. There’s too much competition with people with higher GPA, test grades, and more science AP courses (aka the “hard” AP tests). Good luck, though. Any chance you can use the rest of the summer to really go through SAT test prep books (at least a couple) and try retaking the SAT as early as possible this fall?</p>
<p>I echo the statement that IS is a boost, but UMD is not a safety school. A few of my friends kids did not get in. One friend, a UMD alum, was very upset his son was rejected. He had a good GPA, involved in a varsity sport, and had work experience. I think his SAT was average though.</p>
<p>@Linymom (and everyone else interested specifically in A. James Clark School of Engineering) - I forgot to also mention the emphasis on retention in the engineering department. Engineering in general is a tough major and Maryland revamped their curriculum a while back to address this. Retention is not a problem in the university itself - I think overall university freshman retention is around 94% - but retention in engineering as a major is not as high (students would switch to “easier” majors). </p>
<p>Some engineering schools like using the intensity of courses for freshman/sophomores for weed-out purposes, but Maryland now takes a different approach and has Keystone classes. The idea is to get students hooked on engineering by giving them the “good” classes (read interesting, fun, hands-on) with the “best” professors starting from their freshman year, rather than waiting until they are upperclassmen. So, when you consider this along with the engineering living-learning communities, they really take a holistic approach to giving engineering students a lot of support.</p>