<p>I'm interested in applying to UMD next year, and I'm wondering how good their engineering program is. Currently, I'm considering to major in either computer science, electrical/computer engineering, or mechanical engineering. Anyways, how does UMD compare to schools like Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, and the like.
The things I'm really concerned with are:
-Likelihood I'll find a job immediately after graduating, and the ease with which I'll have finding a job.
-What companies typically recruit from UMD, and how often do recruiters come to the school?
-Internship/coop opportunities
-What is UMD's reputation among popular companies (Google, Microsoft, etc)
-How does UMD's program fare against most of the Ivy's, and schools like Stanford, MIT, Penn State, etc?</p>
<p>Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated, and if you're an engineering student, if you could describe your experience at UMD, and perhaps why you chose UMD over other schools.</p>
<p>-As for finding a job immediately after graduating, I can tell you that the Maryland students I know (personally and also from their parents) have been able to secure a job long before graduation. In fact, my favorite story to share is my friend with 4 equally brilliant sons - 3 went to ivy league schools, 1 went to Maryland. She strongly encouraged us to choose Maryland, stating Maryland was her favorite of all the schools her kids attended - her Terp had far more and better job offers than her sons that went to ivy leagues. He had more unique experiences and opportunities. Of course, as an alum myself (but not of engineering, ha ha), I was particularly pleased and proud to hear her report that.
-There are two career fairs -one in the fall, and one in the spring - that are huge and for the entire university. In addition, there are smaller ones, specific to engineering disciplines that are held once a year, plus an annual engineering picnic in the beginning of the year where lots of companies come out as well. Pretty much all the big companies come out to Maryland, so too long to list…but yes to Google & Microsoft (since you specified those), Lockheed Martin, Boeing, etc you name it…
-Internships are abundant if you are willing to put yourself out there. If you go to career fairs and pursue leads, you shouldn’t have a problem. There is an Engineering Co-op & Career Services center that can guide you through the process, There are constant workshops on resumes, interviews, and how to secure internships. <a href=“http://www.coop.eng.umd.edu/”>http://www.coop.eng.umd.edu/</a>
-As you will see from one of the links I think I provided in the thread above, in the Wall Street Journal, Maryland is the #3 recruiter pick for engineering.
-The program is top notch and what was particularly appealing is the cross-disciplinary education as well as lots of hands-on. The following comments are not to knock other programs but were personal impressions/reasons. They are all good schools, of course. Didn’t even apply to Princeton’s program after seeing it was all theoretical. Carnegie Mellon was not cross-disciplinary. MIT, well who doesn’t want to try to get into that, ha ha. Didn’t even look at Penn State after being steered away from it by family member who is an engineer and Penn State alum…he didn’t like the way a lot of classes were taught online, among other gripes. No clue about Stanford, but had no interest anyway. Cornell was of no interest because out in the boonies. In general though, a lot of ivies tend to require more gen eds in the liberal arts (as in more English classes and some require a language class as well). Maryland only requires two English classes (freshman academic writing and junior technical writing) and no requirement for language. At Maryland, there is enough variety in the gen ed options to fulfill liberal arts rounding of education that also have appeal to someone with strong science/math bent. </p>
<p>I hope this covers most of your questions…let me know if I missed anything or any other questions come to mind. I will do my best to either answer or point you in the right direction to get an answer. </p>
<p>My brother is a mechanical engineering major and he got an awesome paid internship with Boeing for next summer after his junior year. Was recruited from campus event. He also had a very good paid internship last summer</p>
<p>@maryversity Thank you for the information that you provided in the posts above. I appreciate the thoroughness of each reply. However, a couple of things came to mind after reading your posts, and some of the links provided. </p>
<p>First off, I noticed that you mentioned that Maryland is cross-disciplanary, and that some other schools are not as cross-disciplanary as UMD. Could you explain what you mean by that, and how a school like UMD is more cross-disciplanary than other schools? </p>
<p>I also was wondering if anyone could approximate the amount of UMD grads who pursue a Master’s degree, and if so, do they typically stay at UMD or do they go to other schools?</p>
<p>Again, thank you for all the help and information you have provided for me. I am thrilled to hear that Maryland has a good recruiting reputation, and that many grads can easily find work in the industry. After all, getting a job is perhaps the most important thing to get from college.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the information, but just one more thing if you don’t mind. I know that you mentioned some of the companies recruiting at UMD, but what sort of companies are located in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area? Are there lots of job opportunities in the surrounding area of UMD? I’m from up north, so I’m not very familiar with the job market in the DC area. </p>
<p>Again, thank you for all the help, I’m really learning a lot.</p>
<p>I’m a comp sci major who’s graduating this spring. While I can’t really speak for other majors, I think if you do comp sci, you can get into any top software company (google,microsoft, amazon, etc…) I have friends who have gotten internships all of those companies, and I myself got an internship from amazon and will be returning full time in the summer. The only companies that you can’t really get into are the hot startups who only take MIT/ Stanford people. As for companies around UMD, they do exist, but they are usually smaller companies that a typical person outside of comp sci wouldn’t know. UMD will open a lot of doors for you, but you have to work hard too, don’t forget.</p>
<p>In addition to what IVavi said for general comp sci opportunities, there is a LOT of opportunity specifically for cybersecurity at UMD as well if that is of interest to you. Not only is the location central to the need for cybersecurity in our nation’s capitol, but Maryland also offers the first living/learning program in the nation to train for cybersecurity <a href=“http://www.aces.umd.edu/”>http://www.aces.umd.edu/</a> and there is a center on campus for that as well <a href=“http://www.cyber.umd.edu/”>http://www.cyber.umd.edu/</a>. </p>
<p>Other unique opportunities for recruitment of engineers are available at Maryland because of the proximity to the government/nation’s capitol. For instance, Goddard Space Center is located in Greenbelt, MD which is only 10 minutes from campus. There is the Army Research Lab, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), the Department of Homeland Security, you name it…any and every opportunity to work for the federal government, military defense, etc. Baltimore, Bethesda and Annapolis are other major cities with companies located within a half hour of campus that are rich in opportunities for internships, research and work.The proximity/convenience factor is a huge advantage…kinda like the old real estate saying that all comes down to location, location, location.</p>
<p>Also, as an fyi, other cool things about Maryland campus include a wind tunnel, nuclear reactor and a neutral buoyancy lab right on campus…outside companies/organizations come to campus to use the neutral buoyancy lab facility and there are opportunities to work with them on the research they are doing…</p>
<p>The other thing I forgot to mention about recruiting at Maryland is that companies often set up a day booth/seminar for information for students to get info, and hand in resumes or interview on campus. They also host networking sessions. The opportunities are boundless. Take look at the calendar of events for engineering <a href=“Events | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland”>Events | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland; and scroll through - the spring semester is starting today, so this calendar really isn’t even as full as it gets when the semester is in full swing. They keep adding to this calendar often, so it is something worth checking back in on. </p>
<p>@maryversity, no I have not visited yet, I am planning on going at some point this spring. In all honesty, I just began looking at Maryland, after one of my friends visited a few weeks ago. He said it was very nice, and told me to look further into it.</p>
<p>I figured that most of the jobs within the area would be related to government research, and defense contracting- which is an industry that has always been of interest to me- so I’m not surprised to hear of all the opportunities for cybersecurity, and military defense. However, I was just curious to see if Maryland has its own “Silicon Valley” of sorts. In NYC, we have “Silicon Alley,” so I was unsure if Maryland had a similar atmosphere. </p>
<p>Again, thank you for the plethora of information, I will be sure to continue looking into UMD.</p>
<p>You actually apply to the university, and your application is reviewed by the university first. If accepted, and you have listed a LEP (limited enrollment program) as your major, such as engineering, your application is then sent over for a separate review by that program (in this case, A. James Clark School of Engineering). </p>
<p>Typically, it is far more competitive to get into a LEP than it is to gain admission to the university itself. That is why you will see all of these threads about being admitted but not to engineering…fortunately, in cases like that, there is always the option to re-apply as an internal transfer to the college of engineering after satisfactorily completing gateway requirements.</p>