<p>Most of us in the Washington Metro Area know that Prince George's County is one of the most crime-stricken counties in the area, and so I was wondering if it's dangerous at all to leave the university on weekends and such.</p>
<p>You will not be traveling downtown PG, you are safe on campus. There are tricks if you are on the outskirts, and feel unsafe, such as pretend to be talking to some one the your cell or always being in a group. It is many many blocks away from the campus you need to worry about. Also, the PG police are constantly driving up and down RT 1 and the police station is right off of RT 1 across from the main entrance. You are as safe as you would be at Upenn, Duke, UNCCH, VCU, etc. Put it into perspective. If you are goingto walk RT 1 at 2 in the a.m. by yourself, well you might find an issue, but then the question is why you walking a major hwy alone at 2 in the morning? Don’t put yourself in a predicament and you are fine!</p>
<p>The latest incident was at 10am in the morning and involved a robbery at knife point “on the fringe of campus” according to the school paper , the Diamondback. About two weeks ago there was an incident involving a student being robbed at gunpoint in her off campus house. It is simply untrue to say that students will be safe as long as there are not alone at 2am on a major highway. Many parents and current students are in denial about the amount of violent crime affecting students of UM. Oneguy21 ,you should read the Diamondback if you want the facts. Two weeks ago it ran an article about how students feel unsafe in the area around campus. Good luck.</p>
<p>[College</a> Park Crime Map - Showing Crime in University of Maryland, MD - Crime Statistics - Crime Alerts - Crime Stops Here](<a href=“http://ucrime.com/md/university+of+maryland]College”>http://ucrime.com/md/university+of+maryland)</p>
<p>Lizzy, I do agree there is crime at UMD, but my point is you will find that at every large university, such as UNCCH, UVA, Rutgers, Johns Hopkins, Drexel. What I am stating is that I think UMDCP gets a bad rap for crime. PG county has bad areas, granted, but I have never walked the campus in fear. There is no way I would say the same thing about walking down rte 1 or 193 at anytime of the day.</p>
<p>You need to keep it in perspective. You want to worry about crime, go check out the main campus (new brunswick) for Rutgers, that is somewhere even during day light you walk in fear. Check out Drexel’s location…not a pretty place either. Johns Hopkins goes in that pile too. This is coming from a Jersey girl, who would ride the subways in NYC and went to college in Philly.</p>
<p>There is certainly crime at MD. Whether it compares to or is worse than crime at UPenn or Drexel or Johns Hopkins or NYU or any other university located in a major metropolitan area is up for grabs (although I heard NYU is located in a fairly ritzy area haha). I have never felt unsafe walking across campus (well, sometimes a bit creeped out in the dark, if I’m by myself). Maybe that is naive. But then I suppose it would be naive to feel that way at any college campus in a comparably urban environment.</p>
<p>As far as outings on the weekend, perfectly safe. But depends on where you’re going. Some areas down route 1 are a bit sketchy (though I would feel safe during the day along route 1). You can get to South East DC from UMD easily by metro and that’s not a good weekend outting either. However hanging out on the weekends in downtown CP by the restaurants/bars, going to PG Plaza to the mall or movies, going into some of the fun hot spots in DC like Adams Morgan and U Street and Georgetown; all great things to do with a group of friends that I’ve done many times myself :). Exercise common sense here and you should be fine.</p>
<p>The one thing I would say is tricky, even when you are trying to exercise common sense, is finding suitable off campus housing. Listen closely to crime reports, talk to university professors, police, etc. if you are looking to move off campus. While walking around off campus is safe, where you sleep at night, where you keep all your valuables, where you commute home in the dark, etc. is a different story. This is a real problem at UMD and my friends and I narrowly missed getting housing a more dangerous area than I would have consciously chosen to live in (despite the assurances of SOME residents and of course the landlord that it was safe).</p>
<p>MD has an excellent system of crime reporting. I think most universities probably don’t bother with such an extensive “alert” system. In addition, MD is deceiving. NYU LOOKS like it’s in a city. MD and College Park look like a suburb. Yet there is a metro stop right across the street. Johns Hopkins is confined to a little bubble. Maryland, as a campus, sprawls - it is miles wide, and there are “outskirty” areas, yes, so sometimes it’s hard to say whether you are still in the “bubble” or if you are escaping it.</p>
<p>So, do I think students should be mindful of their perceptions about safety and act in an adult manner, realizing they are in a fairly urban area? Do I think some crime alerts, since they sometimes don’t give accurate details of burglaries/etc., may NOT even indicate random acts (for example I can think of a particular act that everyone thought was so “frightening” and “random” but was actually not - students involved were actually drug dealers and the criminals were clients stealing drug money)? But do random acts of violence occur, despite all necessary precautions? Yes. I think that’s the risk you take when you say, I wanna go to school near a big city, I want go to a big university, etc.</p>
<p>P.S. some parts of PG County are unsafe and others are working class and others are quite ritzy! PG County has a lot of variation. It’s not super rich and suburbanite like some of the Western MD counties, or super rich and urban like some of Northern VA, and it gets a lot of flack from the snobby people cuz of course less money = more dangerous and less whites also = more dangerous in so many misguided minds.</p>
<p>Well, CP is overall a working class and college town community. There are many, many recent immigrants from Latin America (a lot from El Salvador, but that is the case in all of DC, I think). Then there is also a sizable portion of yuppie young professionals and young families (some of which overlap with “immigrant” of course!). Lots of professors live in the area. Also old white residents that have lived in CP for forever and now are certifiably rich since they own like, 10 rental houses that they charge students obnoxious rental rates to live in! It is a very interesting mix. Quite eclectic. Lots of lounging on the open mall at UMD, feeling perfectly safe, then a robbery at a campus bus stop. So students often don’t know - do I call this safe? Unsafe? It is very interesting. I think PG county as a whole is like this. Very diverse, both in terms of ethnicity/race and socioeconomic standing. In terms of urban/suburban. In terms of crime/no crime. Makes for a difficult puzzle, full of prejudices and realities. So, is College Park safe because it is in PG county, is on the one hand a racist question, on another ignorant, on another comically generalizing, on another valid. What a question you have posed, indeed. Haha. </p>
<p>Ex. We almost rented a house right under the nose of subsidized apartments in a predominantly black neighborhood. Houses were broken into regularly (students were targeted it seemed). Then we ended up renting one in neighborhood full of white people with little kids. We didn’t even ask if houses had been broken into there, though looking back on it our neighbors did have a huge wrought iron fence. Are our own prejudices constantly at work? Yes. </p>
<p>I think prejudices are at work when people conceive of College Park and PG County as a whole as “unsafe.” But then there are statistics, too. So I think our prejudices serve to overstate the reality and sometimes create threats where there are none. A difficult maze to walk through but one all UMD students grapple with, consciously and unconsciously. All students of a city grapple with. </p>
<p>Are you ready for the real world? Come to MD :).</p>
<p>I’d like to point out that on it’s own, (in the 2005 census I believe) College Park is in the top ten largest cities in Maryland. Add the University population, you have about the population of the second largest city in Maryland.
Considering that, the crime rate is not much higher than expected.</p>
<p>And umcp11: Your last line was my favorite in all the threads about this on the MD board.</p>
<p>Trust me I live near UMD…if you use common sense, you will be fine.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if the Knox Box area or Grahsm Cracker Area is safe? Is this area one and the same or different? And can anyone explain the nicknames?</p>
<p>Oh wow, sounds horrible that you will have to worry about crime from the local area, and feel unsafe to walk around the neighborhood off campus… that’s a major turnoff from the university.</p>
<p>Are these crimes caused mostly by the students?</p>
<p>I have a son there, I dated Bullet when he was there I never felt unsafe. I would have no worries about our DD going there. I think people are really making this into a bigger issue than it really is. You need to realize the school is the size of a small city and the crime is no more or worse than a city.</p>
<p>DON’T LEAVE CAMPUS!
I have dozens of friends who go there and they said that no one in their right mind would walk around PG county after dark without a large group of friends.</p>
<p>It’s really not bad at all if you stay on campus. =]</p>
<p>Don’t leave campus? Uh, I think that’s a bit harsh.</p>
<p>Reread bulletandpima’s last post … "You need to realize the school is the size of a small city and the crime is no more or worse than a city. " </p>
<p>The crimes against people (assault, rape, etc.) almost always involve alcohol and lack of common sense. Don’t walk around alone at night. Don’t walk home from the bars or a party drunk. Don’t accept rides from someone you don’t know when you’re walking home alone at 2:00 a.m., drunk (a rape/abduction from last year). Take advantage of the night-ride services. </p>
<p>I live in NC; everyone used to think Chapel Hill was an idyllic setting; beautiful, safe college town. The abduction and murder of the student body president changed that image.</p>
<p>I am thinking kill is a ■■■■■ on this site, or has some unresolved anger towards UMD.</p>
<p>PG county is a county! CP is a part of PG county. Should you walk down rte 193 or 1 at 2 in the am by yourself? NO, but neither you should do that in any city of 40K people. PG county for 25 yrs+ has had a bad reputation. Georgetown a very prestigious college is located in DC, the same is true for them. Drexel and UPenn are not in safe areas. Columbia, JH, Duke and the list could go on forever. </p>
<p>According to kill, our DS is totally boffed and will never be able to go to class because he is living in new leonardtown, which means he won’t be on the main campus. OMG he is on the otherside behind the frats, I guess I should not let him return because he will without a doubt be harmed.</p>
<p>Also find it interesting how someone who is not a student or parent at UMD can frighten the crap out of people. Kill is class of 13 going to UCLA. Kill we get it you will be going to college in CA, have a great time, but never being a student at UMD or a parent or a student is disingenuous to those who are seriously considering attending UMD.</p>
<p>
Neither. If I was a ■■■■■ would I have so many useful posts on the other boards? And how can I have anger towards UMD?! Considering they gave me the full Banneker/Key scholarship (full ride and then some), two research positions (one of which was graduate) and various other things, I couldn’t possibly hate UMD. I’m sorry if I’m one of the few to point out certain realities of that place.</p>
<p>
You shouldn’t walk around anywhere alone at night, that’s just common sense, and that’s not what I’m talking about. PG county is a very crime filled area, more so than 90% of counties in MD. In relation to other peer schools in the general area, UMD is very unsafe. My school sends about 50 kids to UMD each year and a few dozen to Virgina Tech. I’ve never heard my friends complain about the crime in Blacksburg but they always seem to have a story up in College Park. There’s being in a bad area (i.e. Georgetown, UPenn and such) and then there’s being in a crime-filled city. You even said, “There is no way I would say the same thing about walking down rte 1 or 193 at anytime of the day.” The campus is safe (sorta… [College</a> Park Crime Map - Showing Crime in University of Maryland, MD - Crime Statistics - Crime Alerts - Crime Stops Here](<a href=“http://www.ucrime.com/md/university+of+maryland]College”>http://www.ucrime.com/md/university+of+maryland)) but the surrounding area isn’t. I didn’t say anything to the contrary.</p>
<p>
As a parent, how much time have you really spent on the campus within the last decade? I’m sure you’ve toured there, helped your D move in and visit once or twice. I respectfully ask that you don’t attack my connection to the school. If you really must know how much time I’ve spent there…
I’ve done programming competitions every year there in high school, gone to dozens of concerts and parties there and stayed in the surrounding city, attended a scholarship interview, met with an adviser on multiple occasions and spent a week in the dorms with my friends (visiting their classes and seeing what student life is like), and worked down the street in PG county, for three months every summer, for the past 4 years.</p>
<p>Because I’ve spent so much time there, and realized many aspects about the school, I can say so much that reliable even though I’m not a student. A lot can change about a school that many alumni don’t know. A friends dad (UMD alum) was angry that his son didn’t get into his alma mater but the dad failed to realize that the acceptance rate has declined to around 50%, compared to 80%+ when he applied not too long ago.</p>
<p>
Wrong again. UCLA actually offered me a similar package as UMD but I turned it down in favor of UC Berkeley. Try going back more than one page in my previous posts.</p>
<p>UMD is a great choice! I never said it wasn’t. Personally, I have to deal with a lot of my friends who set up false expectations about the school and consequently grow to dislike the place. If someone is well aware of what they’re going into, it’s less likely that they will feel disappointed in the UMD experience.</p>
<p>^I agree that students should make informed choices, and a statement like, “Don’t go off campus!!” is extremely misleading.</p>
<p>I go off campus all the time o.0</p>
<p>I’m a country kid and while there’s more crime at MD than I’m used to, I have never felt unsafe or like a victim or, heaven forbid, that I couldn’t go off campus (I’m living about a mile from school up route 1 next yr - not worried about it! I frequently walk around the metro-area neighborhood behind/to the side of frat row, and up and down route 1, and drive to grocery stores in Hyattsville/Langley Park). Sure, some areas are more working class than I’m used to, but to me, that’s the trade-off if you want to live so close to the metro/DC. </p>
<p>Route 1 is not ritzy, there is only a small area of it that is quaint and college town like (although this area does exist). The surrounding towns have many working-class immigrants, they are very diverse (not what somebody from upper-class white suburbia would be used to). But all of DC is SAFELY at your doorstop…there are some spotty places near College Park, but College Park itself and especially the mile up and down route 1 near campus that students actually frequent is generally not spotty, and certainly it is safe to get to and from the metro (either get to it thru the neighborhood, or take the bus) and into DC. Sure I wouldn’t walk to Langley Park or whatever, but why the heck would you do that? Who would walk 4 miles from campus in Blacksburg, VA, either? Haha. </p>
<p>So if you’re looking for a small college town experience, well, that’s not what College Park is, but if you’re looking for a city school that’s not QUITE a city school, I think College Park is a good “in between”.</p>
<p>It is wrong to say that College Park is “not safe” or that students need to “stay on the campus.” My friends and I haven’t followed this crazy rule for 2 yrs now and we’ve been fine, thanks.</p>
<p>whatever, kill. enjoy Berkeley.</p>
<p>What I’ve said before still stands. It’s no more dangerous than any campus in a city-type environment. The surrounding area is not beautiful and tree-lined and you can’t walk around oblivious at any time of night. If you’re going to be afraid to be on/around campus (whether it’s UMD, Drexel, UPenn, Georgetown, NYU, etc.), then the best choice is to go to a campus that is in a more protected, self-enclosed environment. I’m a pretty protective mom, but I’ve been OK with sending my 2 daughters there. We’ve lived around big cities most of our life (last 5 yrs is exception), and I have confidence that they’ll use their head and make sure they are safe. I’d go by what umcp11 says, before listening to any of us parents or students who don’t actually live there.</p>
<p>Believe it or not since Bullet is an alumni I have spent many weekends every yr at UMD. when we have lived on the east coast (not when we lived in AK or England) We typically have had at least 2 weekends a yr (football and basketball) at UMD. We stay at the fundome on rte 1. Our kids know the campus so we never did the tour thing. II have pics of them on Testudo starting at the age of 2,4, and 6(DS is 19) and going all the way up to this past yr. It is my family pic. The kids have known about the black squirrels forever and know that Cole used to be the basketball stadium before Comcast.</p>
<p>Good luck at Berkeley</p>
<p>BTW when I do visit it DS it is a slow shoulder roll while I throw him out of the car, we’re not those kind of parents that make him walk us around the campus. Heck we don’t even go for parents weekend, since there is no football games and there is nothing that he could show us that we don’t know already.</p>
<p>I live in PG County. </p>
<p>As with any other major county/city, there’s always going to be crime. You just need to use common sense. You’re not going to walk home late at night ALONE, are you? I hope not. If you somehow are, you just have to be alert or use the buddy system. Sure, CP isn’t the safest place in the world, but tell me a place that is 100% safe. Common sense.</p>