My son is so disappointed. He is graduating high school this year and applied to UMD College Park but was not accepted. He has a GPA of 3.84 and his ACT was 26. Not so great but not so bad either. My older son got accepted two years ago and he is now an Engineering student at UMD CP. His GPA was slightly higher but his ACT was very low. He had a 22. He first had to take gateway courses and be in Letters and Sciences. Have they gotten more competitive over the last two years? Since he didn’t get accepted to UMD, he has applied to UMBC. Does anyone know if they have a less stringent acceptance rate? He will be devastated if he does not get accepted there as well. Also, does anyone know the criteria for transferring to UMD after he takes a semester at UMBC? What does UMD look at when deciding to accept a transfer student. By the way, my son wants to eventually go to med school and specialize in Neurology or Psychiatry. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Thanks.
UMCP has been getting more competitive every year. I expect that UMBC has as well.
Your son should investigate the Maryland community colleges that are closest to where you live and learn more about the transfer agreements between those CCs and UMBC and UMCP. Here are links to some information:
https://www.admissions.umd.edu/requirements/MarylandTransferAdvantageProgram.php
http://undergraduate.umbc.edu/apply/tsa.php
If your son fulfills the requirements of one of those agreements, he will be guaranteed admission to the university.
Depending on the major he wants, he might like to consider Salisbury, Frostburg, or Towson as well as UMBC. His GPA, MCAT scores, letters of recommendation, and medical volunteer/shadowing will matter a lot more when he applies to med school than the name of the university on his diploma.
Slightly better chances at UMBC - 60% acceptance rate vs. 49% at UMCP
Thanks so much for your feedback. Because my son went to a religious school out of state, his volunteering, social and academic clubs were limited, practically non-existent. I wish they would really look at the obstacles a student faces when they attend this type of high school as far as outside of school activities, etc. are concerned. I know it was our choice and we were very happy to send our son to his religious school. He benefited in other ways that were more important to us. He just has more of a disadvantage now over students who participated in academic clubs, volunteering and other opportunities.
I am a first year Community College student and have applied to both Umd and Umbc for Fall 2016. I have to say if your son enrolls in a maryland community college, he has a great chance of getting into UMCP at a cheaper coast and still have a good gpa at the community college. Looking at his gpa and sat, he would most likely be able to leave after a semester and still get into umcp, or he can stay a year at community college and enroll in MTAP (Maryland Transfer Advantage Program), which promises admission to UMD, if he has 30 credits by the end of the school year. Good Luck!