Son is planning to register for FC. Really struggling with course selection. He was admitted to L&S but would like to try for biology. It seems hard to figure out first and second choice classes that fulfill gateway requirement, right number of credits, and don’t have conflicting schedules - plus, unsure what math placement will be. If bio gateway classes won’t work, I think he’d need to consider different major. Are students restricted to 1st and 2nd choice classes on registration form, or can other classes be chosen at orientation? Thanks
MD resident. My daughter goes to a school with a computer science program. She really likes it and doesn’t want to do anything else. SAT she will do two more attempts but right now score is 1420. Good EC’s and 3.9x GPA 4.3x weighted. She is a junior and based on her stats, i believe she will get into L&S and could even be FC. She is working with a private Counselor who doesnt want her to take a chance in UMD L&S. Is there anyone we can talk to (even email) in UMD who can tell us if it is guaranteed if she meets the gateway requirements. She is very organized and I know she will do everything timely.
MD resident. Public school. My daughter goes to a school with a computer science program. She really likes it and doesn’t want to do anything else. SAT she will do two more attempts but right now score is 1420. Good EC’s and 3.9x GPA 4.3x weighted. She is a junior and based on her stats, i believe she will get into L&S and could even be FC. She is working with a private Counselor who doesnt want her to take a chance in UMD L&S. Is there anyone we can talk to (even email) in UMD who can tell us if it is guaranteed if she meets the gateway requirements. She is very organized and I know she will do everything timely.
It is guaranteed if you meet the (very low) gateway requirements. It says so on their website; and I know many kids who’ve taken this route.
1 Like
Agree, and CS Dept says internal transfer guaranteed when gateway requirements are met:
I’ll try to provide some answers but I think you may be jumping too far ahead of things.
First, you D should continue working hard to get good grades and maybe improve her SAT. There is no point in worrying about L&S or FC at this time.
Second, is this Private Counselor saying that your D should not even apply to UMD. If so, I strongly disagree with that.
Your D should apply and make sure that she applies by the EA Deadline. This is VERY Important.
The following link is a UMD CS Department FAQ.
https://undergrad.cs.umd.edu/faq
Scroll down to where it says " Internal Transfer Students " and click on the first question. This a a UMD website available for public viewing and I doubt that they would post something that is not true.
CS at UMD is a relatively new LEP, but I have never seen anyone post that they completed the CS Gateway Requirements and were denied admission to the CS Major.
The Gateway Courses are CMSC131, CMSC132, and MATH140.
Is your D taking any AP courses? It is possible to get credit for 1 or more of the Gateway courses via AP Test Scores.
If you google “UMD AP Credit” you’ll get a PDF file that shows what credit is available for various AP Test Scores.
You could call the UMD CS Department to ask questions and I am sure they will tell you that admission is guaranteed, but it is probably better to just apply and see what happens. I have no personal contacts at UMD.
I do know that the Internal Transfer Process at UMD does work as advertised. Both my D and her husband did Internal Transfers without any issues, but not for CS.
I’ll be glad to answer questions as I can, but the first goal is for your D to get admitted to UMD.
1 Like
thanks!
Thank you! The counselor is not against MD but she thinks my daughter should go to a school that already offered a CS program instead of taking a chance with UMD. She is saying she just did a tour in her capacity as Counselor and that admission is not “guaranteed”. Just to give my daughter some confidence, is there some one in advising i can talk to? I emailed this email id from UMD website and it bounced back. cmnsque@cmns.umd.edu
She has taken 7 AP’s so far. AP Java, AP comp science basics ( i dont know what it is called), APush, AP NSL, Calc AB, AP Lang & AP Psych. She has even done a website on AP exams
https://www.apactiverecall.com/. She is struggling to improve her SAT score trying to also manage school and her EC’s.
1 Like
She could apply test optional. You shouldn’t rule out her getting admitted directly into CS. She should apply and see how it works out. If she doesn’t get a direct admit and isn’t comfortable trying the gateway route, she can enroll elsewhere.
thank you!
1 Like
The phone number for the UMD CS Department Undergraduate Studies is (301) 405-2672 and their email is ugrad@cs.umd.edu. But since the school year is over, staffing may be light.
The following website may also be helpful
https://undergrad.cs.umd.edu/future
That said, I’m not sure what it means to “do a tour in her capacity as a Counselor” Also, if someone fails to meet the requirements then admissions are not guaranteed. And, if a student fails to maintain the required academic standards, they are dropped from the CS major.
The following are the complete list of requirements for a CS Internal Transfer.
" Transfer Admission Requirements: Students beyond their first semester and those off campus wishing to transfer are required to meet the following gateway criteria:
⦁ • Completion of CMSC131 with a minimum grade of C-
⦁ • Completion of CMSC132 with a minimum grade of C-
⦁ • Completion of MATH 140 with a minimum grade of C-
A minimum grade point average of 2.7 in all courses taken at the University of Maryland and all other institutions is required for internal and external transfer students.
PLEASE NOTE
⦁ • Only one gateway or performance review course may be repeated to earn the required grade and that course may only be repeated once.
⦁ • When more than one course can satisfy a gateway requirement, taking a second course from the list will count as a repeat.
⦁ • Students may apply only once to an LEP. Students who are directly admitted and fail to meet the performance review criteria will be dismissed from the major and may not reapply.
⦁ • Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the major.
⦁ • Any student denied admission or dismissed from the major may appeal in writing directly to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education – 2300 Symons Hall.
Updated 5.10.19 "
You have indicated that your D has taken several AP courses.
If she got a 5 in Computer Science A (AP test #31) she will be given Credit for CMSC131 (a required gateway course).
If she got a 4 or a 5 in Calculus AB (AP test #66) she will be given Credit for MATH140 (a second required gateway course).
If she got a 4 or a 5 in Calculus BC (AP test #6*) she will be given Credit for MATH140 (a second required gateway course) and MATH141.
That would leave one gateway course (CMSC132) to be completed with a Grade of C-
If she has those AP scores and can get them to UMD before Orientation, she ca nprobably take CMSC132 during her first semester.
Did your Counselor give you any of the above information?
Now. let’s discuss numbers. Students normally graduate in 4 years. Some take longer and some get it done sooner, but on average just consider it 4 years.
In 2018, UMD directly enrolled 358 New Freshman CS Majors. In 2022, (4 years later) UMD graduated 943 students with CS degrees. Where did the additional 585 CS graduates come from? Answer: Internal and External Transfers.
Also note that there are students who drop out or fail out of CS. I don’t know how many.
Also, in FALL 2022, UMD had 405 New Freshman CS Majors. So you would expect them to offer CMSC131 classes accommodating 405 students. In fact, they offered classes accommodating 1,088 students (not all at the same time).
They clearly plan for successful Internal Transfers.
Finally, here are a set of links from the UMD forum on Reddit. I like Reddit, because you generally get answers from actual UMD students
https://www.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/12g6qdc/anyone_freshmen_connection_students_transferred/
https://www.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/12bdtn5/question_on_transferring_from_ltsc_to_cs/
https://www.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/10qltjl/question_about_transferring_from_ltsc_to_cs_at_umd/
https://www.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/x8blvl/how_quickly_can_i_transfer_into_cs_what_are_my/
https://www.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/tddbq3/college_of_ls_to_cs/
There certainly is a lot to consider, but it is important to have facts.
Your D is a smart and accomplished person and I’m sure that she will have a lot of Colleges to choose from next year.
Good Luck!
Thank you very much! i am so sorry for the delayed response. I didn’t get any alert message from CC. Her calculus scores are yet to come. She got a 4 in CS A. So she may have to take it again. The counselor is not at all prepared to send my daughter to UMD with an L&S option. As such, she is not discussing these options. I meant “in her capacity” as they go on college visits constantly to learn more about them not as parents but as counselors. They inform the university beforehand they are counselors and get an idea of what it takes to get admission to the university. Thanks Again!
It may just be phraseology, but when you write
" The counselor is not at all prepared to send my daughter to UMD with an L&S option. As such, she is not discussing these options."
I find that troubling. I hope it does not mean that the Counselor will be deciding where your daughter goes to college.
Have you and you daughter visited UMD? Toured the CS facilities?
How does your daughter feel about this? Does she know any UMD students? Has she talked to any of her teachers about this?
Teachers will be writing her LORs, not the Counselor.
How do you feel about your daughter? Can she make a good decision regarding the college she wants to attend? Does she think that she can go from L&S to CS?
Have you visited any Colleges? The time for that is now.
What if your daughter got into UMD L&S, with Honors College admission and a Scholarship?
It is a fact that admissions to UMD is not guaranteed.
It is a fact that admission to CS, having completed the gateway requirements satisfactorily, is guaranteed.
CS at UMD is a terrific bargain for in-state students (and parents) and UMD is required to maintain a student population that is 70% in-state.
I hope that you allow your Daughter to apply to UMD for CS. At this point your daughter can apply to any college that she wants. You do not need someone’s permission and you really have nothing to lose.
Happy Father’s Day