This is super helpful! 
Thank you so much @ [sl4122]
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This is not an easy question to answer, but there is some information which may help.
In the Fall 2022 Semester UMD had 405 new freshman enrolled in CS. The Gateway Courses are CMSC131, CMSC132, and MATH140.
Last Fall, UMD offered 1,088 seats for CMSC131, 610 seats for CMSC132, and 1,018 seats for MATH140.
Also, some of the students that were directly enrolled will have gotten AP Credit for 1 or more of these courses,
Some of the students who got L&S, instead of CS, will also have gotten AP Credit for 1 or more of these courses.
CMSC131 is a prerequisite for CMSC132, so both cannot be taken in the same semester
I have no idea how the grading policy is.
I got this data from the following link
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Are there many unfunded OOS in the CS program? What were their reasons for preferring UMD CS over a cheaper in-state flagship and do they still think it was worth it?
Thanks
Iāve not seen any data that provides an answer to your first question. There are probably many answers to your second question and the reasons may be different with each student.
I havenāt seen any data either, but I would speculate that the majority of OOS are self funded for the most part, given that UMD provides them very little financial and merit aid.
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True. UMD does not give a lot of merit aid, OOS or IS. Some may get outside scholarships, but a lot are probably funded by the Bank of Dad!
What types of companies do CS grads land with and/or gravitate towards?
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My DS is interested in a variety of topics but one of them is data science. UMCP is a good fit for him since itās strong in some of the other areas of interest.
Heād apply with a lot of science AP credit, math through BC Calc, and AP Computer Science. Is the Computer Science College Data Science major the best place for him? Heās overall strong in math. But he could also do similar studies with economics and statistics for instance. Iām just trying to understand the advantages of studying through the CS school.
Letters and Sciences is basically undecided. There are always enough seats for gateway courses (they open new sections if there are no more seats); he just might not get the most desired times and professors.
I did get merit aid, but it was still a bit more expensive than Penn State. I think it was worth it since the location and CS program are better than Penn Stateās
I would say that they largely fall into one of these categories: big tech, mid-sized software companies, government/government contractors, banks, consulting, retail, or startup. UMD has a very strong connection with Capital One and various government agencies, so many students end up there. Recruiting from big tech is also fairly strong. Quant is pretty rare, especially since trading requires a near-genius level grasp of mathematics, and quant SWE is incredibly competitive.
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Even during a recession when tech has seen some of its worst years, CS is still an incredibly employable degree. No matter what, the lower-level coding classes are going to boost his resume. I recommend taking the gateway courses and then seeing if your son is still interested in CS. If he finds that he really likes it, I would recommend taking CMSC320 (intro to data science). College is a great time to explore interests, so I would just suggest that he tries a few different intro classes.
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Where can students learn about which teachers and classes are good?
A friend at UVA ended up at Cap One so pretty similar to UMD. Another acquaintance is at Citadel quant but theyāre at MIT.
Rate my professor, Planetterp, and word of mouth. I think rarely is a class actually not good (usually if students complain, itās because itās hard), just some professors are not great at teaching.
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Yes, Iād be very hesitant to have your heart set on quant. If you have the brains for quant, then youāll likely end up in quant as long as you go to a top 50 school, top 20 for CS. Iāve had plenty of interview opportunities for quant, just didnāt have the math sense for it. I think itās hard for me to emphasize just how stellar you have to be at competition-level math to break into quant, especially in QR or trading.
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My sonās neighbor is at CS UMD and had an internship at Capital one. My DD interns at JHU APL and she says there are also a lot of UMD CP students there too but prob other majors like CS, math, etc. APL is one of the happiest places to work- people love working there.
Is it possible to change majors at UMD? Is it possible to earn a double major with business AND arts and sciences (e.g. public health)
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Given that UMD CS intake is probably close to 1000 students/yr now, are the multiple sections for each course differentiated in any way? Are there honors sections etc.?
I can believe that UMD CS might have more to offer for a high-performer like the OP than, say, Penn State. But 1000 students is a lot and Iām wondering how the experience of the average student at UMD CS differs from average student at PSU or OSU CS.
Iād appreciate any insight into how UMD is handling such a rapid expansion.
Thanks
Each section has its own TA. While the professor/lecturer teaches the main content, the TA teaches a discussion section that has at most 30 students. That is a time to review the material and run through practice problems. These discussion sections are then largely for catching any misunderstandings of the material and enforcing learning.
There are honors sections, but I typically donāt recommend signing up for an honors section unless the course content is right up a studentās alley and they would like to spend more time on the class. The class sizes are much smaller, but you are taking a harder class. The intrinsic learning value might be higher, but generally, itās not worth the extra stress.
UMD has hired a lot of new professors/lecturers over the past five years in the CS department. The Iribe center was built, so there is plenty of office/classroom space. I do think itās fair to say that nearly every CS department in the US is overcrowded outside of LACs. However, I was able to take every class I wanted to, just not necessarily in the exact order I originally wanted to.