<p>Anyone who is thinking about going here...don't. stop now. this school will 100% ruin your college career. Any school is better than this one. The town is absolutely awful, so don't listen to anyone who says its alright because they clearly don't know what they're talking about. anyone who has been to any other college town would realize how horrible college park is. There is nothing there. the only restaurant you can actually sit down in is applebees. two of the four bars have shut down, which is a shame since there is nothing to do there besides go to the bars. its a depressing atmosphere, as no one is ever walking around outside...probably because there is nowhere to walk to. the greatest part is that its surrounded by a ghetto, which is awesome if you're looking to get robbed or stabbed. the sports atmosphere is non existent, as once again anyone who has been to another school would realize how pathetic the maryland sports environment is. school spirit is completely absent. the only place in "town" (by town i mean three strip centers) that even has maryland stuff up is CVS. the campus is nice, but every building looks exactly the same, and there is also nothing to do on campus, so not only do you not have anything to do on campus, you also don't have anything to do off campus. overall this is a pathetic excuse for such a large state school, and your college career would be best spent anywhere but here</p>
<p>But it has excellent reputation. Plus I love their curriculum.</p>
<p>OP, I’m sorry for whatever happened to you to cause you to post this, however, lashing out with ridiculous comments isn’t going to help …</p>
<p>I hope CC removes this thread …</p>
<p>I don’t mind when people express dissatisfaction with Maryland but there are some parts of this that make it seem like a ■■■■■ post/like the student does not actually attend.</p>
<p>For example…</p>
<p>“the only restaurant you can actually sit down in is applebees.”</p>
<p>There’s a number of sit-down restaurants in College Park that any student here would know about. For example, the -original- Ledo’s Restaurant (not the chain, so it’s nicer than your average Ledo’s), Mosaic Cafe (which brings in music, belly dancing, etc.), Berwyn Cafe (a vegetarian restaurant which has open mic nights for student performers), Plato’s Diner (which is right next to Applebees so how did you miss it?). And Jason’s Deli, Noodle’s and Co, and a number of other restaurants lack waiters/waitresses, but do have extensive seating and study areas. Many students also drive or take the bus to Franklin’s Restaurant and the former location of the Perk Coffee House which is now a Caribbean Restaurant (both only about 1 mile from campus). In the Spring, Busboys and Poets will open up near Franklin’s…they are well known for their author signings, poetry readings, etc.</p>
<p>“two of the four bars have shut down, which is a shame since there is nothing to do there besides go to the bars.”</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of it but it’s clear Vito’s Pizzeria has become a bar…they’re moving to get their liquor license very shortly. That means there’s now three bars (that students frequent) in town. That’s not to say there aren’t other places with beer…students just don’t go to them (there was a whole article about that in the DBK recently). Franklin’s is also a BREWERY and really popular with students for their Thursday happy hours with free nachos/wings/etc.</p>
<p>Finally, I think I made clear in my last post that there’s a lot more in town than students realize…from open mic nights to music to belly dancing…you just gotta know where to look. And Busboys and Poets is going to be a GREAT addition to the area. Look 'em up online to see what they’re about.</p>
<p>I don’t think College Park is the BEST town so I ain’t arguing with there…probs the best thing about it is the metro into Washington, D.C…BUT…oh yeah…did you forget about that? ;).</p>
<p>“its a depressing atmosphere, as no one is ever walking around outside…probably because there is nowhere to walk to.”</p>
<p>Huh? That’s part of what I love about Maryland. There’s students EVERYWHERE all the time. Not now…since it’s cold and they’re all holed up in the library studying…but in general there’s SO much more activity here than at the small or medium sized schools my friends go to.</p>
<p>" how pathetic the maryland sports environment is."</p>
<p>Don’t really like sports so I can’t speak to that…</p>
<p>“the only place in “town” (by town i mean three strip centers) that even has maryland stuff up is CVS”</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure every single place in town has Maryland stuff up. </p>
<p>“here is also nothing to do on campus”</p>
<p>Oh come on, there’s like 80 million different events a day. Get a grip :P.</p>
<p>I’m also kinda of hoping this post gets taken down because it’s almost really obviously a ■■■■■…nothing to do on campus? Maryland??? I have NEVER heard anyone say that…wow. It’s the week before finals and I had an event invitation on FB to a talk, performance, speaker, etc. for EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE WEEK. Maybe you need to sign up for more listservs dude :).</p>
<p>Crap, I’m already here! What should I do OP!?</p>
<p>I personally want to know what area of campus the OP is frequenting with no one around…sounds like a good study spot.</p>
<p>The City of College Park is pretty lackluster compared to Berkeley or Madison or Ann Arbor or Ithaca, I don’t think anyone can argue that. We’re pretty darn close to DC though.</p>
<p>But the rest of your post sounds pretty inaccurate. There are people walking around all the time (just sit on the Mall around 12PM on any given day).</p>
<p>“The City of College Park is pretty lackluster compared to Berkeley or Madison or Ann Arbor or Ithaca”</p>
<p>Well, I’ve been to Ithaca and I’m glad I don’t go to school there ;).</p>
<p>I feel the same way about College Station around Penn, or Charlottesville and UVa.</p>
<p>Small towns are great and all but they only go so far. Ideally I’d go to a school in a great college town but also with proximity to a city (ex. Northwestern in Evanston, IL, near Chicago), but if I had to choose between a great college town or a somewhat crappy one with city access, I’ll take the latter.</p>
<p>“Ledo’s Restaurant (not the chain, so it’s nicer than your average Ledo’s), Mosaic Cafe (which brings in music, belly dancing, etc.), Berwyn Cafe (a vegetarian restaurant which has open mic nights for student performers), Plato’s Diner (which is right next to Applebees so how did you miss it?). And Jason’s Deli, Noodle’s and Co”
–are any of these within walking distance of campus…i dont think so (except for jason’s deli and noodles…which aren’t actual restaurants…); and plato’s is a horrible disgusting diner</p>
<p>“you just gotta know where to look” - at most schools you dont have to, you just see things going on</p>
<p>if any of you have been to real college towns, unlike the strip mall/ghetto that is college park, you would realize that college park is the furthest thing from exciting, and does not in the least bit resemble a college town. there is never anything going on, there is never anything to go to because there are no buildings in college park (including the fact that every building on route 1 is one story high)</p>
<p>also the frats can’t even have parties in their houses…thats cool i guess. yea i like going to little tiny satellite house parties where there are always people standing guard outside in case cops drive and bust the party cause thats what parties are like at most schools…
maryland is a terrible place to be and i feel bad for people who go there. i truly do</p>
<p>“are any of these within walking distance of campus”</p>
<p>It’s called the Shuttle UM system. It’s free.</p>
<p>“at most schools you dont have to, you just see things going on”</p>
<p>Open your eyes. I see dozens of events every day. Look at the sidewalk. There’s events in chalk all over it. If you live in a dorm, there’s stuff all over. Look at the flyers posted all over. Go to STAMP and read the flyers on the wall there. Go on MyUMD and you can see a list of all the events every day. Friend people from UMD on facebook and you’ll get events showing up there too. If I didn’t want to see events going on I’d be out of luck, because they’re in your face every day…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, I’ve been to College Park and I’m glad I don’t go to school there 
.</p>
<p>I don’t think this guy even goes to UMD judging by the language he uses. </p>
<p>“i feel bad for people who go there” using “there” instead of “here”</p>
<p>Trollololololo</p>
<p>Anyway yeah I do wish ppl felt sorry for me. I hate going to a school with top 20 business and engineering programs 
I hate that the MIS program is 6th in the nation too and I REALLY hate that it’s in the Washington Area meaning it’s near tons of government agencies and has good connections with them.</p>
<p>If only I were 
enough to go to dantley’s school :(</p>
<p>I don’t go to Maryland but I have visited and I know a good number of people who go there. That said, OP does make a point with some of the things he is stating. When I went to visit I felt like the college town was a real turn off. I also noticed there was too much brick everywhere; it made the campus look kind of boring. My friend who goes there tells me its a depressing environment during the winter time. However, when I was there during early fall, I saw a lot of people walking around campus.
Maryland has a good reputation though.</p>
<p>“are any of these within walking distance of campus”</p>
<p>They’re ALL within walking distance of campus.</p>
<p>Berwyn Cafe is the furthest on the list…but Ledo’s is adjacent to Cornerstone and Mosaic is right across the street from the engineering buildings 
Silly ■■■■■…</p>
<p>“at most schools you dont have to, you just see things going on”</p>
<p>Well, /I/ see things going on but you seemed a little slower and like you didn’t know your way around at ALL so I was just helping you out ;)</p>
<p>“Well, I’ve been to College Park and I’m glad I don’t go to school there .”</p>
<p>I made a legit point with my post but you seem to simply be making an attempt at being clever. Correct me if I’m wrong?</p>
<p>OP makes a good point that CP isn’t the best college town, but to claim nothing is ever going on (when CP is one of the most active campuses out there) and then exaggerating the town’s downsides to hilarious ends (he doesn’t seem to know about anything in town at all)…well that isn’t very constructive.</p>
<p>Gee, I’m sorry I just spent time reading this thread. whatEVER. It’s generally a good idea not to trash something that you really don’t know well. DD1 is a senior and has never, ever regretted her decision to go there. Her sister also decided to go there (7 hrs away from home). Our family gives it a thumbs up, from actual experience. YMMV, I guess…</p>
<p>I am a parent and I agree with Op for some extent. As I saw many universities and neighborhoods, we thought Maryland state is the worst of all. But what can we do. We made a decision long back to reside in this state. I repented many times for settling down in Maryland. Any state is better than Maryland in any aspect (Except DC). Now my D may go to one of these universities. If I lookback and question of settling down in MD 8 years back, I would definitely go and settle in VA.</p>
<p>(Continuation to my prev. post…Somehow I could not edit the old post.) But University of Maryland at CP has a very good reputation for its academic standards and research. Its reputation is bigger and that is why there are many followers. And my D says she wanted to go there if she gets admission, becasue her teachers and friends say high about the education in UMCP.</p>
<p>“Any state is better than Maryland in any aspect (Except DC).”</p>
<p>lol</p>
<p>LOLx2 hahahahahah</p>
<p>The OP made me laugh. Let’s look at some of UMDCP’s competition</p>
<p>NJ:
Rutgers ~~~ have you ever been in New Brunswick NJ? How about Piscataway?</p>
<p>UMDCP has a true traditional campus, Rutgers doesn’t. </p>
<p>New Brunswick is not the safest place in the world…trust me I was born and raised outside of there. </p>
<p>VA:
UVA ~~~ yep, that is a happening town!<br>
VA Tech ~~~ Our DD attends there, go off campus and you can hear the crickets chirping! Blacksburg exists only because Tech exists
GMU ~~~ Industrial city placed in suburbia (I worked across the highway from GMU, I know the campus)
JMU ~~~ Makes VT look like a Metropolitan area…that isn’t saying much</p>
<p>NC:
NCST: Not in the best area either
UNCCH: College town, but no better than UMDCP.</p>
<p>To start this position, reinforces what everyone else has stated you don’t know UMDCP. </p>
<p>I also found the sports position laughable. That is why come BBALL season the arena is packed and you can’t buy tickets for a game without hocking your kidney!</p>
<p>Why do the stores need to put up UMD stuff, it is pretty hard to miss the fact that you are at UMDCP. If you can’t grasp that than you really must be looking to be hit with a shovel over your head! College Park is a large town. A town that does not need UMD to survive…unlike JMU or UVA.</p>
<p>Nothing to do on campus?</p>
<p>That is not reflective of UMDCP, that is reflective of you choosing not to invest into the college community.</p>
<p>Ten will get you twenty, if the OP is a UMDCP student they are a commuter.</p>
<p>UMDCP is like every other college. Commuters have a hard time finding a niche within the community, and thus, the easiest way to lash out is to blame the college for not finding their niche.</p>