<p>What is the difference between applying priority or regular at maryland? Is one pool harder than the other? I'm going to be applying to maryland next year and my stats are not going to be very high. I am in-state, a urm(nigerian) and my stats are probably going to be 3.1UW 3.5W (ridiculous upward trend) with a 1900+ in the SAT. Firstly which pool should I apply in and secondly do I have a legitimate chance of getting in?</p>
<p>The difference is huge and you should absolutely apply by the priority deadline.</p>
<p>If your stats are high, you are probably a good candidate for merit aid. Merit aid is given only to candidates who apply by the November 1 priority deadline. Same thing applies to the Honors Program and College Park Scholars; if you are probably a good candidate for these programs, the only way to be invited to one of them is to apply by November 1.</p>
<p>Even if your stats aren’t particularly high, it turns out that a lot of places in the freshman class are awarded to students who apply by November 1. In part, this happens because a lot of well qualified applicants–the ones who will be competitive for scholarships, Honors and Scholars–apply by the priority deadline. Even the ones who aren’t selected for scholarships or special programs are clearly good enough to be admitted to the university. This means there aren’t a whole lot of spaces in the class, relatively speaking, for people who apply after November 1. People who apply by the regular deadline are more likely, then, to be offered spring admission.</p>
<p>Although people who are likely to be competitive for scholarships, Honors or College Park Scholars apply by November 1, it’s not particularly more difficult to be admitted if you apply by the priority deadline. The admission standard is pretty much the same–except for the fact that the class has much less room in it by the time they’re considering the regular applicants. If anything, it should be harder to get into Maryland if you apply after November 1.</p>
<p>Nor does applying by November 1 involve you in any kind of early-action or early-decision program. If you apply by November 1, you’ll have your admissions decision by the end of January (the very end of January), but you will have no obligation to attend College Park, and you will still have until May 1 to make up your mind and pay your deposit.</p>
<p>I cannot stress this enough: anybody who wants to apply to College Park should apply by the November 1 priority deadline.</p>
<p>I agree, there’s no downside to applying priority and you get a much better chance for special programs. </p>
<p>I just want to refute one point that was made in the last post (though most of it was right on the mark). I’ve heard a few times that your chances are lower in the regular decision round, but at the information session I went to, the numbers don’t seem to work out. The admissions rep said ‘90% of applicants apply for the priority deadline, and we fill out 90% of our class then. So if you apply regular, you’re applying for only 10% of the seats, so it’s harder.’ Maybe I’m missing something or she misspoke, but that makes it exactly equal - either you’re one of the 90% applying for 90% of the spots or you’re one of the 10% applying for 10% of the spots. The admissions rate should be the same. So if you know you’re not in the running for honors, global scholars, merit, etc (though who knows, they could surprise you!) and for some reason you think applying later gets you some advantage (like if you decide to take a later SAT to improve your scores), then it might make sense to apply regular.</p>
<p>However, in general there is no downside to applying priority and it gets you many more advantages than the regular decision deadline does, so I would definitely recommend applying priority.</p>
<p>Thanks for you generus replies, now can you tell me if you think I have a chance?</p>
<p>@coola, </p>
<p>Make sure you apply to several state schools to improve your chances.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Do not even bother to apply unless you apply priority. There is absolutely no reason not to get your application in early.</p>
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<p>This was a really good point. I wish I had made it.</p>
<p>I think you have a decent chance of getting in, at least for spring semester. What were your verbal and math scores? I think applying by the priority deadline is the way to go, and I agree with plumazul to apply to more than one state school. Best of luck!</p>