<p>UMD is becoming more attractive to me as an in-state applicant. I was accepted to Gemstone. I was also accepted to Boston College. While the costs of MD is very appealing, I have a few concerns:</p>
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<li><p>Network/connections. I feel the people you meet/connections you make at MD are not as strong as say a UVA or BC or Georgetown. Those schools have larger endowments - more people to get my name out to.</p></li>
<li><p>Name-brand. While UMD is certainly a good school, I still feel it is not regarded as well as the other schools I had mentioned before. Name-brand of a school can go a long way in a career.</p></li>
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<p>Can anyone here address these concerns? I am thinking long-term (grad school elsewhere) and would like some answers to these. thanks</p>
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<li><p>All depends on your major, really. As for myself (engineering major), the connections at UMD are fantastic. The delmarva area is a hot bed for engineering. science, and computer science majors. Lots of internships and job opportunities. Programs like Gemstones and Scholars help make even more connections. Being a big university, many companies will look into UMD for potential candidates. You will meet lots of people and many of those people will already have connections. The sheer amount of people will make networking easier than it seems.</p></li>
<li><p>As far as the brand name, I believe UMD is more well known than Georgetown and many others, but that’s just my opinion. To be honest, most employers will not care if you went to UVA vs UMD. It makes no difference as long as you are getting the education you want. Sure, it may not have a household name like Harvard, UCLA, Princeton, or MIT, but its still a very well known school and highly regarded. As long as you do well and keep your GPA up, you will be able to get into many grad schools. UMD’s grad school for most majors is fantastic as well.</p></li>
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<p>You’re assuming that “name brand of a school can go a long way in a career.” This is not anything you can know. In fact, the evidence suggests that except in very specific fields name brand matters hardly a whit. What you do in school, what YOU do, matters a whole lot more than where you do it. Work your butt off, get high grades, get good internships, study abroad, and you will have your opportunities. </p>
<p>I understand what you’re saying and I’m ready to do all that you said but I said “can go” not “will go.” Not assuming anything, only acknowledging that it plays a factor. </p>
<p>UMD gradutes get into Harvard Law school, as well as other top grad schools in various fields.</p>
<p>Keil911 nailed it. Many kids who work their arse off at a public U get recruited harder than the silver spoon kid who slides by at the “name” school. That’s why some of the “State U’s” in the midwest get recruited hard. Recruiters from both coasts know those kids have a work ethic, and make great employees. I’m told UMd gets recruited very well by corporations for much the same reason…no sense of entitlement from the students.</p>
<p>My nephew went to BC and while it was a great experience, I really don’t think the name brand made much difference when he graduated. He did attend with a few people from famous/wealthy families, but only a few. His job opportunities when he graduated were fairly limited and he ended up in an entry level job … the same kind of job that grads from Towson or any average state school would get. You can differentiate yourself at UMD or any school by getting strong grades and doing an internship. In my view, the brand name recognition does not justify the extra cost at the undergrad level unless you are going to a truly elite school like an ivy league or similar. BC is not on that level.</p>
<p>@marylandhome where would you put UVA or Georgetown in respect to the levels we are discussing?</p>
<p>I do think the UVA and Georgetown brand name overall will open some more doors in comparison to UMD when it comes to campus recruiting. Definitely more so than BC. But this will vary based on your major…there are probably some majors at UMD that will be more heavily recruited. But the difference may be marginal, especially if you do well at UMD, so you need to weigh the cost difference againts this.</p>