My parents were concerned about the safety of college park in general. I talked to some friends I have who go to umd and they said that with common sense there is no real danger. But some other people and some of parent’s friends also mentioned that lack of safety was one of the reasons they did not go to umd.
I want to hear more opinions from people who go there currently (or have kids who go there currently). How safe do you feel on campus? Is there danger walking at night even with a group or a friend of is it only risky alone? Does most crime occur off campus and if so how often would I have to be off campus at night? Are there always police patrolling at night/ call boxes??
Could it be that College Park was once unsafe and is now better? I personally know that New Brunswick (around Rutgers) used to be really unsafe but within the last 5 years it has improved a lot so some people who graduated before say it is unsafe while people who go there now say it’s fine.
I’m starting UMD this fall but I’ve been on campus many times, including at night for basketball games. Honestly, I’ve never felt unsafe. It’s just like any other city: don’t travel alone at night, stay alert, etc. I’ve never felt more unsafe in College Park than any other similar sized city. I think its dangerous reputation is exaggerated.
On campus is very safe. My daughter lived on-campus for 4 years and did not experience any negative issues. She frequently went off-campus and nothing negative occurred. If I had any concerns I would not allow my 2nd daughter to go there in the fall.
I am from Jersey and I live right next to rutgers so I’m really familiar with that campus.
I talked to more people going to umd and I’ve come to the conclusion that the area around campus isn’t that bad but my parents tend to be a lil overprotective and hopefully this will ease their minds a bit
Have you visited Maryland campus with them? You should go so they can see for themselves. It has a very different feel than Rutgers. Where Rutgers requires busing from one part of campus to the other, Maryland does not…it’s more self-contained (other than greek housing and apartment living across Rt 1). While the campus is huge, and you might choose to take a bus or bike for getting somewhere, it is not necessary, as everything is walkable. It’s kind of like a bubble, if you will. The campus itself is really quite safe. I even let my daughter attend a live-in summer program there her freshman year (so 15 years old) with no concerns after a proper lecture on safety (your parents are not the only overprotective ones, haha, just know that it shows how much they care about you!)
I am considering UMD, but my parents are worried about this. There’s a website somewhere that compares all the schools and UMD doesn’t look that great esp. compared with my home state schools. But it’s a state with hardly any crime anyway. But the crime rate is higher than say, Purdue or Cal Poly that much is true.
We visited and I liked the campus, and the aerospace program seems great.
Yes, the aero is fabulous, and I honestly wouldn’t be concerned about a website comparative safety rating. The campus is really not a problem at all, but if you go off campus, then yes, you have to be alert. However, really no need to go off campus since everything is pretty self-contained.
@emptyMT Let me preface these comments by saying that @maryversity knows 10x what I know about UMD. And I agree that the campus itself is fantastic. Buf I have a slight debate with the statement that there is “really no need to go off campus since everything is pretty self-contained.” That is true for freshman and sophomore year. But my son is now a sophomore in engineering at UMD and unless he gets a really good residence hall lottery number, he will have to go off campus for housing for junior and senior years. They just don’t have enough on campus housing. And the apartments really close to the campus are extremely expensive which will only be affordable to us since in-state tuition is so reasonable. If we were OOS, it would be a different story.
To give you an example of why this matters, it was almost midnight when my son’s marching band was done with all the requirements for Saturday night’s football game against Michigan State. It was a very safe, very easy walk back to the dorm. But starting next year, if he lived off-campus, I would not have been thrilled with him riding a bus alone back to an affordable apartment somewhere off campus.
That said, everything else about my son’s experience at UMD has been top notch (engineering, marching band, etc.). And I wouldn’t hesitate to send my younger son there next fall because we are in-state. And I agree that the aero program is ranked very well. Good luck with your choice.
Thanks for your comments Engineering713. I’m also very interested in band. Do they have honors housing? I’m hoping to be eligible for that. Maybe I could stay on campus that way.
maryversity, the website is a government site. For instance, in 2015 my state school had 1 car stolen, 6 burglaries and no robberies per 1000 kids. Maryland had 45 stolen cars, 76 burglaries and 4 robberies per 1000 kids. SO if I’m going to be there for four or five years, really the odds of something happening are not that small. But it’s not like I’m going to get killed, either.
It’s this kind of stuff that freaks my mom out. I’m also looking at GA Tech and it’s a little worse, I think. I like both the schools but they’re near urban areas and that’s how it goes, I guess.
Sorry, those were total numbers. for car theft/burglaries/robberies the numbers per 1000 kids are
.07 .4 0 my home state school
1.06 2.0 .11 Maryland
This is better. UMD has more crime, but if you total it all up it’s not terrible. I guess it depends on what you’re used to, we’re used to leaving our house unlocked, lol
My freshman daughter has not had any problems wandering around at UMD. I also am concerned when she has to go for housing outside of campus. My other daughter is a junior at Purdue and they do offer on campus housing all 4 years.
If it helps to know, back when I attended, I had no problem getting on-campus housing junior year but didn’t try for senior as it was my choice to live off campus in an apartment. My son had housing all 4 years, but he was also part of an upperclassman learning community (Hinman CEO’s) that was tied to South Campus Commons.
I think that Honors College students are guaranteed 4 years of on-campus housing, but I’m not sure if they have a choice of dorms. It seems to me that many (most) Juniors move to apartments, by choice or necessity. My D and her friends were ready to get out of the dorms and into an apartment. As for safety, my D and her friends haven’t had any problems.
Going along with living off campus, I want to try and live on campus all 4 years but if there comes a time I need to live off campus, would you recommend getting a car? Would that be safer than late night busses.
It really depends on where your apartment is. Some are literally adjacent to the campus or just across the street. South Campus Commons is actually on campus. New apartment buildings are going up even now. Also, UMD has shuttle buses that run at night. Use google maps to check out locations. A car is an option, if the apartment building has parking and it may cost extra.