<p>Hello,
I am a student trying to decide between two colleges: University of Maryland and University of South Carolina. I was accepted into both honors colleges and am currently unsure of what I want to major in during college. </p>
<p>I am worried about the academic reputation at South Carolina, as I feel it is not a strong as UMD. Also, is the academic reputation of Maryland really all it is hyped up to be (public-ivy wise?) Does anyone have any knowledge of the better honors college or whether South Carolina's honors college compares to Maryland's.</p>
<p>I am in-state for Maryland but got a generous scholarship from USC that makes tuition there $2000 less than in-state for Maryland.</p>
<p>Can anyone give me suggestions on what you suggest. I want to have a good social life and good opportunities during colleges.</p>
<p>Any advice would be helpful. Thanks</p>
<p>While you’re weighing the costs of one versus the other, consider that your travel costs to and from Columbia, SC, are going to be significantly higher than your travel costs to and from College Park. That difference may eat up a lot of that $2000/year.</p>
<p>Is weather a factor for you? Both are going to cost approximately the same, so that is not really a deciding factor. Maryland is a well respected university. You can’t go wrong there.</p>
<p>That’s true about the cost. I would probably drive or take the train down and come back 3 times a year so that is something to consider.</p>
<p>I do not really care about the weather. I like warm better but have grown up with all four seasons and am used to snow and chilly temps so they don’t bother me to much. Also, nice to hear that UMD is respected, I hear it is making its way up the rankings, something I haven’t heard about USC…</p>
<p>However, I did see that USC’s honors college was ranked number 1 in the nation by a recent poll but UMD’S was not ranked well. That was also a concern for me.</p>
<p>Are we talking about UMD Baltimore or College Park ? </p>
<p>College Park is leaps and bounds ahead of University of South Carolina. You should have applied to Clemson University in SC then they would have been comparable. Right now University of Maryland is the better option and it happens to be your in-state university.</p>
<p>College Park. I looked at Clemson but decided against it due to the fact it was similar to Maryland but more expensive. I really only looked at USC because of their honors program which is supposed to be good. And since I got into both honors colleges… It is a tougher decision. Also why do you say that UMD is better than USC?</p>
<p>Because of the national and international reputation it has. Because of its world renowned engineering programs. Because its near DC. You got into honors program for both schools so College Park should be obvious choice.</p>
<p>True I was a little shocked though that about 1000 of 4000 students are accepted into honors though (albeit different living learning communities). I was thinking that maybe UMDs honors was not as good as it is made out to be. Like most places take the top 200-400 I am told. And ah gotcha. Being near dc does help</p>