<p>My D is deciding between UMD, Penn St and Univ of IN. After visiting all 3, I'm concerned about what there is to do in College Park. Do students go to DC frequently? Seems like nothing is going on in College Park? Is safety outside campus an issue?</p>
<p>I’ve never had an issue of not having enough to do on campus… it’s rather an issue of having to choose between different activities. DC is very accessible, only a short metro ride away, and there are often performances, movies, or other activities taking place on campus.</p>
<p>There should certainly be just as much going on “on campus” at UMD as at Penn St., which many describe as “in the middle of nowhere.” Don’t get me wrong, my D just turned down PSU, and I think she would have been very happy there. Having gone to a good sized state flagship in the 80s, I loved it, and I would commonly go 6 weeks at a time w/o leaving campus, as these large campuses have so much to offer. (And my alma mater is only about 12,000 students – much smaller than UMD or PSU. Large selection of club activities, fraternities/sororities, unbelievably fun sporting events, and much more. Prob true of all 3 of these. Just stumbled upon a link of “free stuff” events calendar on the UMD website yesterday with tons of activities every day. My D paid her deposit to UMD last night, so I am biased. Don’t know anything about U. of I.</p>
<p>That said, yes, College Park outside of campus is looking a bit shabby.</p>
<p>Yeah the town itself isn’t much to look at, especially with the two main bars temporarily out of commission–I say temporarily because there has been an unbroken line of the same types of bars in the same two buildings, with a new one opening when the old one gets shut down. I’ve got confirmation of this going back to the late 70’s, but I don’t know anyone who was at UMD earlier than that.</p>
<p>But that being said, what are you expecting in a college town? I hear the phrase thrown around a lot, but what actually is in this ideal college town people are looking for? Restaurants, we’ve got more than we know what to do with. Target, movie theater, two malls, a few parks, but who needs those when campus looks like it does? There are two bars, but they’re stricter with ID’s than Turtle or Fe every were–but a parent is asking the question so I’m still really at a loss for what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>Getting to the metro is easy and safe…a UMD bus goes directly from in front of the Stamp and drops off at the Metro station. Both Ds usually went with a group of friends, never had a problem. In terms of going “off” campus, that’s certainly the option that offers the most to do. </p>
<p>There’s a UMD bus that goes to a local Target and grocery store (stores are fine, the shopping center itself isn’t one you’d want to walk around at night, probably). Mostly the stuff to do in CP is walking to one of the restaurants (but I think they all deliver), and going to the bars/parties. </p>
<p>Although not picturesque, CP is all right, but as fresh points out, there’s a lot to do on campus…many people stay on campus almost all of the time.</p>