<p>College Park is uglier and not as walkable as a number of college towns, but it actually has a decent amount of amenities. I’ve literally hosted people from other colleges who’ve been like “man, I wish we had that at my school!”. We do have a huuuuge used CD store, cheap clothes/shoes, ice cream, fro yo, chinese, japanese, lebanese, food from mexico/central america, a clothing boutique, 2 big student bars, more pizza places than you can shake a stick at, a comic book store, vegetarian, grocery stores, CVS, game stop, MOMs, REI, home depot, best buy…I mean crap, CP has a ton of stuff. Route 1 is just a pit of a road that kinda destroys the town’s connectedness.</p>
<p>DS’s best friend goes to NCST and as a freshman he wanted to transfer to UMDCP.</p>
<p>His gf goes to a state school in NC and she adores UMDCP.</p>
<p>Our DD would rather have a fingers amputated than go to UMDCP, but she goes to VT so it is easy to understand why it wasn’t a fit for her.</p>
<p>That’s the thing college is not only academic, but also other factors. DS feels the same about VT regarding amputation.</p>
<p>Neither school is better or worse. In this situation IMPO, the poster did not find a good fit for them personally.</p>
<p>If you like city life and want a campus that is “picturesque” than UMD is a good option. If you live too far away to do a tour. than rent St. Elmo’s Fire, National Treasure II and you can a feel of what it looks like.</p>
<p>I have to say the one thing that I love about UMD is coming up to the circle with the M in flowers right before I stop every 2 feet while I approach the Stamp.</p>
<p>I also love the black squirrels while you walk on the campus, or seeing Testudo’s nose is shiny while the rest of his body is dull.</p>
<p>UMCP has a gorgeous campus, and an awesome downtown area with plenty of places to eat. when you say there is nowhere to sit down and eat, thats just ignorant…theres a huge shopping center at adelphi and 410 (which, if im not mistaken, the buses run to) with plenty of places for you to sit down and eat if thats what you really want…but lets get real, how many college students can afford “sit down” meals that often? to cater to that, we have panda, noodles, chipotle, boston market, jason’s deli…PLENTY of cheaper priced and delicious food with tables for you to sit at while you eat(smh…)
and even if you dont like college park, dc is a 10 minute metro ride away.
i have never been at a loss of things to do when i go down to visit my bro</p>
<p>dont let this fool sway yall…umcp is top 3 for me for a reason…</p>
<p>I thought VT was prettier than UMD in my own opinion >_> I still like UMD’s campus though.</p>
<p>Does VT mean Virginia Tech ? If so, would you please give us more details how VT is good ? </p>
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<p>VT’s campus looks nothing like UMD campus.</p>
<p>UMDCP is a federalist style with red brick and white columns. </p>
<p>VT looks like Hogwarts with all stone buildings. </p>
<p>Personally I agree VT is prettier, but if I was a college kid, I would be going crazy at VT because of its location.</p>
<p>UMDCP is much bigger in size and not in a rural area. I am a city girl.</p>
<p>Not a regular poster here but I had to disagree with bulletandpima’s comments about UNC Chapel Hill and Charlottesville. Both of those are considered (by many) to be some of the best college towns - right up there with Ann Arbor. We toured both schools with S1 and immediately wished our state school had such lovely surroundings. </p>
<p>UMCP is a great school (I am an alum) but it’s location is certainly a negative, and I think that is more of an issue for those of us with in-state kids.</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill definitely has a better college town than UMDCP. Franklin Street is awesome. I’m perfectly happy at Maryland though :)</p>