<p>Safety rank near the bottom of a list of 1,370 colleges? I am afraid to encourage my daughter to go. Am I crazy?</p>
<p>Source USNews Rankings</p>
<p>Ah, the first annual safety ■■■■■. </p>
<p>Why don’t you enlighten me, plumazul, rather than insult me?</p>
<p>You question was, “Am I crazy?”. My answer to you is, yes. </p>
<p>I believe College Park is a safe school. We live in the area and rarely hear of there being problems. I would not hesitate to send my child to UMD. I have been there in the evening for musical events and have never had the sense of being unsafe. I do not believe you are crazy for being concerned, I just don’t think there is a problem on the campus. </p>
<p>The campus is safe. The area around campus isn’t to be desired.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I feel better about the issue of safety. I love everything else I have seen, just wanted to clear up the safety thing. I read an article about a multiroom theft in centre ville hall 2 weeks ago , which is my daughters likely dorm in the fall. Maybe even plumazul can understand my concern. </p>
<p>MHD, my daughter is a freshman and I totally get your concerns. She knows not to walk alone in the middle of the night from the library. My biggest concern is for her when she is coming home from a party or a night out across Route 1.The bus runs until very late and the kids use it a lot. I do think the campus is relatively safe, but we do get emails from the campus police every so often to tell us of an issue. Students, especially girls, need to use common sense. I think this is true on any campus, but CP in particular.
Having said that, I wouldn’t hesitate to send my child to this school.</p>
<p>The campus is safe and I would not hesitate to send my daughter there. Your question is very reasonable considering the ranking, though, so do not feel bad for asking.</p>
<p>I spent 4.5 years there about 20 years ago. I continued to live in College Park 2 years after graduation. Since then, I return often for sporting events. The campus itself is safe. The town of College Park is safe near the campus but some of the outskirt areas are a little seedy. The county of Prince George’s has a lot of crime but the vast majority of that is located a good distance from campus. There is a town called University Park located near to the campus which has a lot of expensive homes and many faculty live there. Hyattsville is next door to University Park and has a bad crime problem. But each of these areas are fairly well insulated from one another. If you live on campus, you do not interact with people from Hyattsville. There is a campus police force (real police, not security) that does a very good job. </p>
<p>This is very much like living in the nice part of any urban city. There are bad areas nearby but you almost never see them or interact with people living there unless you choose to go to that area. However, I would not describe it as an urban campus, because it is huge, sprawling, and very pretty.</p>
<p>I agree with Terpmom that girls in particular should exercise caution when getting around at night. Use common sense. Don’t walk home alone from a party. The students all get this and take care of one another.<br>
I suspect this is similar at any large campus.</p>
<p>I live in MD, know several ppl that went to/attend UMD, and have been on campus a lot and you guys sound kind of ridiculous. EVERY campus or area no matter where you go in life has ‘crime’, you can’t avoid it. I understand you guys saying that you’re worried but get used to it, there are always going to be uncontrollable events that will take place in life. UMD has a wonderful and safe campus, every once in a while, like at EVERY other college, there is an incident but it’s relatively safe! The area around the campus is not that bad either and I go there often. It is quite obvious that in ANY environment you should not walk alone at night or not be careful of your surroundings. I’ve lived in PG county at some point and it is not a bad place and yes it has crime but that happens in EVERY city or environment you go to. I’m not saying not to be careful but chill out and don’t just assume b/c you read a list, this life and we just have to adjust to it.</p>
<p>@Terp2018, I don’t believe I sound ridiculous. In fact I said pretty much what you did. People, especially girls should use common sense. My daughter attends there…I obviously don’t think it’s unsafe.
You need to ease up. It’s perfectly normal for a parent to have safety concerns. </p>
<p>Right on Terpmom, well said and thank you for your reply!</p>
<p>I am a multi-award winner of “most neurotic mom” prize, and I sent my daughter for a high school summer program with no qualms. Lectures, perhaps, but no qualms. </p>
<p>I am an alum and attended when the area surrounding campus was even seedier than it is now. The campus itself is very safe. In some respects, it is actually safer than campuses that are in “safe” areas. There is a healthy respect for the need to take precautions (as in not walking alone at night or in certain areas) as opposed to a false sense of security contributing to people dropping their guard because they believe it to be safe. There is a real police force and they are on the ball. There are blue light boxes all over campus - not just selected areas like I’ve seen on some campuses. </p>
<p>And marylandhome is correct that the kids really do look out for each other! </p>
<p>Mostneuroticmom, perhaps you could speak to the bus transportation system and the ways the drivers and users watch out for each other. I’ve heard it’s very good and an important component of the safe campus, is that right?</p>
<p>I wasn’t calling any of you specifically ridiculous per se. I was saying that you guys assuming that the campus and the area around it were automatically like the worst place based off of the list was ridiculous. It has been said on this website before that the campus is not a bad place and I was adding clarification about the campus’ safety and the general surrounding area from an insider’s standpoint. I understand you as a parent wanting your child to be safe, but to prevent your child from attending a wonderful school because of a list is slightly naive of you. I was also slightly frustrated with constant comments I’ve seen others on this website say about the area when many of them have not even been to the campus, the surrounding area, or stayed longer than a day or two. </p>
<p>sorry for offending anyone</p>
<p>@jkeil… “perhaps you could speak to the bus transportation system”…what do you want me to speak to them about?
Ha ha, sorry, I couldn’t resist. But yes, you are correct that everybody does watch out for each other…</p>
<p>So, as a convenience factor and also safety (since you won’t be standing at a stop for too long) you can check the bus and even get alerts when the next bus will be schedule <a href=“Shuttle-UM | UMD DOTS”>http://www.transportation.umd.edu/nextbus.html</a>
There is also Nite Ride <a href=“NITE Ride | UMD DOTS”>http://www.transportation.umd.edu/niteride.html</a>
Here is the info on the escort system <a href=“http://www.arch.umd.edu/mapp/safety-escort-service”>http://www.arch.umd.edu/mapp/safety-escort-service</a>
The info about residence hall safety <a href=“http://www.resnet.umd.edu/announcements/besafe/”>http://www.resnet.umd.edu/announcements/besafe/</a>
Here is the link for the blue light system <a href=“http://www.it.umd.edu/units/nts/voicesys/emergency2.html”>http://www.it.umd.edu/units/nts/voicesys/emergency2.html</a>
And a general info list of services as in USNWR <a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-maryland-college-park-2103/campus-info”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-maryland-college-park-2103/campus-info</a>
And I would bet I missed listing something…</p>
<p>FYI, when you go to orientation (June and on - after you commit) there are two parts - one for students and one for parents. At the parent sessions, one of the topics is safety. They go over everything from soup to nuts with parents and you can see that they are well-organized and comprehensive. They know that this is a question that all parents have and I think they do a great job making sure our kids are safe.</p>
<p>I attended UMD years ago and many relatives attend there now. Recently, I was more concerned for my safety at my visits to Yale, Columbia and Johns Hopkins than UMD. The reality is that everyone should be cautious at all colleges. I don’t care if it is Caltech, MIT or Temple. College students are easy targets because they are not experienced with swindlers and crooks. IMHO, the typical perpetrators on campus are fellow students.</p>
<p>@frugaldoctor - you are right about more concerns at other schools. Visited Penn State and was dismayed by lack of blue light boxes and double entry swipes in the residence halls. There were large pockets of campus that had no lights at all and my niece, who attends, didn’t even know they had them at all! I printed out a map and gave it to her, of course. Also, their dorms allow free roaming/access once you get in the first door. By contrast, Maryland requires an additional swipe to get on the elevator and access to other parts as well. I know, Penn State has a highly touted low crime rate, but that’s exactly what I mean when I say false sense of security…I was not happy at all about that…which is probably why I am uncontested as a neurotic mom…</p>
<p>maryversity – UMass Amherst is very much like Penn State in that regard. I toured UMass for a day and tried walking into dorms and had no resistance – I looked like a student but didn’t have any college ID or anything like that. However, I think it is worth mentioning that a school like PSU or UMass are in these classic college towns. UMD, however great it is, is not surrounded by rolling hills and trees, so more security is necessary. Almost like comparing apples to oranges.</p>
<p>Maryland’s very own Mac Momma, ladies and gentlemen! maryversity, is there anything you don’t know about UMD? or do not know where to look? Thank you for that briefing on the bus and safety system. I’m making my D read it.</p>
<p>As for the safety of any campus: Students should be just as prepared for the predators they do know as the predators they don’t. Safety requires vigilance whether you’re treating with people [from] inside or outside the campus. Much of the theft and violence is visited upon students by students and staff members that they know. That’s often hard for students to keep in mind when dealing with other students and staff. </p>
<p>Your daughters and sons need to not just hear this but understand this. If they do encounter violence or threats of violence, they need to take it seriously and report it to the campus or local police, their counselors, the dean. somebody. If they are being visited by violence or made to feel threatened, that will not stop until they act to protect themselves. Talk to them about restraining orders, alcohol abuse, locking doors, spousal abuse, date rape, losing your temper, leaving their food or drinks unattended, parking garages, how to deal with people who say it was their fault, etc. I had a middle linebacker who was jumped, stomped, and mugged, who got no support from anyone and was told he was a “punk” because he “let” it happen; it ruined his next four years because somehow that wasn’t supposed to happen to a big guy like him. Talk to your kids ahead of time. If the talk doesn’t help them it might help a friend of theirs.</p>
<p>Having said that, the incidence of violence on college campuses is no different than it is outside the college campuses. That is to say, it’s very unlikely to strike you unless you do something really stupid. Live your life this way and you almost certainly won’t have trouble on or off campus.</p>