<p>Hey all recently admitted folks. I'll try to answer any questions that you have about campus. Try and be specific and not as opened ended as "what is campus like" or "what is dorm life like" If there is a specific community you want to know about I can try and answer some stuff but there is too much to say if the questions are too broad. For those of you wondering, I'm a current Junior majoring in Elementary Ed. I transferred in last semester and have friends at every level so I am familiar with most stuff. I've also been pretty active on campus so if I don't know an answer to your question I may be able to ask a friend and get back to you. So yeah ...</p>
<p>when did you register for class? during orientation?
when did you get finacial information? </p>
<p>Sent from my MT15i using CC</p>
<p>sorry! i did not see you are transfer student
never mind!!!</p>
<p>I was accepted as a management major in Smith, but I’m considering switching to international business. Is this easy enough to do since its within the same school? </p>
<p>How is the school spirit? Do people get excited for football/basketball games? </p>
<p>Do you know anything about Greek life, particularly sororities? Do the girls live in the houses? </p>
<p>Any information about the Honors College and the University Honors Program LLC? </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>You won’t get financial aid information until at least April from what I remember. And yes, you register for classes during orientation.</p>
<p>From what I know and have heard you just talk to your adviser when switching majors since you’re already in. I’m not aware that you have to reapply for anything serious. A friend of mine did something similar but I’ll ask her if there was more to it and re-post if there was.
I like the school spirit question. If you are at a game, be sure to where tons of MD gear and know the school song and stuff. People get really excited for the MD vs. Duke games and the people in the diners wear shirts promoting MD before pretty much any major game. Wearing MD gear a lot is a normal habit. ie sweats, t-shirts, hoodies. Don’t go like all MD pants, shirt, hat, jacket and all that unless you’re going to a game though. If you do EVERYONE will just know you’re a freshman haha. Games are definitely a ton of fun too. Oh and there is like a ticket and loyalty system with that so go to their website to learn about that if you want to go to a lot of games.
I won’t deny that I’m not the biggest fan of Greek life, but I have like 6 friends who just rushed. I’m telling you now that this year there were 800 girls rushing and 15 sororities. People freak out over bids. Everyone is guaranteed 1 bid, but it might not be from the one you want. Freshman can’t live in the houses because you can’t rush till spring semester. Some do live in houses sophomore or junior year (not sure about senior) but it really depends on the sorority and their rules.
Do you mean LLP? Living-Learning-Program? If so, there are 7. Cyber security being the newest starting this fall. Gemstone is the hardest from what I’ve heard because if I recall correctly its 4 years and not 2, and you do research. Your learning community will also affect where you live because its part of the whole “live and learn” live with the people you’re learning with. Some also require that you live in the designated hall for 2 years to be a part of it. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Specifically for scholars or honors programs I was wondering if the kids there go out a lot and have fun as much as living in a normal freshman dorm? I love the idea of scholars but I do want to have fun too and make the most out of my four years!!</p>
<p>@Steponit17 - no worries. Just because they are in scholars doesn’t mean that they don’t like to have fun! You’ll find like-minded people without question.</p>
<p>I was truly sitting down to write this post when I read about the murder/suicide, so please don’t think I’m asking this just because of that incident. My husband’s family is expressing concern that we will be sending our daughter to UMCP because of “College Park not being a very safe area.” One of his sisters lives in suburban VA. We are OOS, and visited the campus twice. We didn’t feel unsafe or notice anything to be particularly concerned about, but we were not there at night. It seemed like the campus had quite a few safety measures. I don’t know that much about the surrounding area. I would love to hear some feedback.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think ANY school anywhere is completely safe!!! </p>
<p>I attended UMCP years ago and always knew never to walk alone, and I think it was a lot more seedy then than it is now. There are definitely more safety measures now than in my day. However, the majority of problems occur off campus. I never felt unsafe on campus, but still adhered to the rule of having someone walk with me wherever I went somewhere after sunset. </p>
<p>The schools that tout being in “safe” areas are, in my mind, at greater risk because they have their guards down.</p>
<p>Absolutely, it IS disconcerting to hear of these kinds of incidents as a parent (I have a freshman there now), and I have mixed feelings about having signed up for the text “alerts” directly to my phone (I am OOS also). However, the fact that a system exists to instantly alert students so quickly about anything is actually a good thing.</p>
<p>I lived in College Park for some years, lived around College Park for even more years, and went to high school down the street from Maryland. It always seemed safe to me, within reason. I wouldn’t wander across the large expanses of campus alone at night if I could avoid it. But I’ve never felt that College Park was a particularly threatening place or that Maryland’s campus was a dangerous environment. I’ve left my own high school-aged sons unattended at Maryland for different events over the years. Never a problem.</p>
<p>But use common sense, be aware of your surroundings, remember that the bad guys can even come to good places.</p>
<p>jenyjoe,
wondering if I should submit the enrollment deposit, and complete the housing request now, even if I won’t make my decision if I will attend UMCP for a another 4-5 weeks? Actually, the question is can I do this before accepting my admission offer?</p>
<p>Reply to steponit: yes they do. Or the ones I know at least.</p>
<p>Reply to momofapeach: I am not an out of state student, but I live over 2 hours away from campus. I only visited MD once for a scholarship interview before accepting admission. Campus is safe. Yes, there was an incident recently, but it was the first in over 13 months. Also, I would never walk anywhere even in my home neighborhood past 9 at night alone. That said, I feel perfectly comfortable walking around on north campus between residence halls at night until about 11. In all honesty, I don’t leave campus much. The area around campus isn’t exactly rich, but I have visited the local mall and a couple stores alone and felt fine. If you’d like to private message me I can give you my e-mail and give you some more information that would be more specific to your questions. </p>
<p>Reply to hocketstk: you have to accept your admission before submitting the deposit. I don’t know what I can tell you to convince you that MD is your best choice other than that I love it. That said, you want to sign up for housing ASAP because it is given out in order of signup.</p>