OFFICIAL University of Maryland Class of 2017 DECISIONS Thread

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
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<p>@Tahoemom - did you speak specifically to Clark advisers or just general admissions advisers? They are different… FYI, I found these links that may be helpful
[Information</a> for Current University of Maryland Students Interested in Engineering](<a href=“http://currentumdprospectiveengineers.blogspot.com/]Information”>http://currentumdprospectiveengineers.blogspot.com/)
[Undergradute</a> Advising: Transfer Students FAQ | A. James Clark School of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eng.umd.edu/advising/transfer-faq]Undergradute”>Undergraduate Transfer Students FAQ | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland)
[Undergraduate</a> Advising: Transfer Students Guide | A. James Clark School of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eng.umd.edu/advising/transfer-guide]Undergraduate”>http://www.eng.umd.edu/advising/transfer-guide)</p>

<p>So, several of you are upset by the way University of Maryland “handles” decisions notifications, and are comparing UMD’s methods to several other non-disclosed schools. I have to agree with TerpGuy - would you rather have a complete rejection? </p>

<p>May I inquire as to how those other schools you refer to handled it? Please give specifics.
Did those schools clearly state that their engineering program has limited enrollment?
Did those schools have as unique an application as UMD or did they use the common app with perhaps a supplement?</p>

<p>My point with the last two questions is that Maryland’s application process is different than the majority of other schools. If their application process is different, why can’t their decision process and notification process be different? Were you offended by/did you think they mishandled the application forms? </p>

<p>@vryproudmom - it’s NOT that the engineering school is not in contact with the admissions department. It’s that admissions is a two-stage process. Your application to engineering does NOT go directly to engineering. The University has to decide whether or not to accept you first. IF they accept you, THEN they forward your app to the engineering school so that they can make their own determinations based on their own criteria. That has always been my understanding from day one, and I really don’t get why there is so much negative feedback about UMD being different from other schools. </p>

<p>@GregK222 - What I referred to as separate notification from Clark is actually a welcome letter. It came about 2 weeks later to welcome you to Clark School of Engineering and give you some details about the program as well as special admitted students’ sessions that are previews of the engineering curriculum. This is a separate information session than the admitted students’ days for the general university. </p>

<p>@Muffy333 - I can appreciate that concern and I would pose that to the school directly. I do know that if your son has a friend in engineering, he can actually pull your son into his dorm as a roommate. The request has to be mutual, and the department of resident life is pretty good about fulfilling these requests.</p>

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<p>good to know engineer dorm people can request non-engineer roommates!</p>

<p>I just think UMCP could make the acceptance letter more obvious, like “Congratulations, while you can’t be in engineering we still want you at Maryland, etc (link to Q and A about engineering transfers)”. Because I’ve had kids apply to colleges before I knew he could get into the college but not his major. But he read the acceptance on his phone, so didn’t read more than the first sentence and I had to ask if he got into engineering so he logged back in and scrolled down. For a 17 year old navigating the college admissions process, and applying to multiple schools, it is understandable that they might assume applying to Maryland as an engineering major means they are accepted that way. </p>

<p>He’s heard from three other schools; two noted his interest was engineering (but no one declares a major till soph year) and one he had to specifically apply and be accepted to the engineering school, clearly different from the other schools at the university.</p>

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<p>From big picture stand point (i.e., whether students will get what they need from school), I don’t think direct admission to engineering (or not) makes much difference in the end. I did my undergrad engineering work @ UMD many years ago and S1 just graduated from UMD engineering this past May. For the first two years of college, the stuff kids learn are very basic stuff – physics, thermo, fluid…etc. designed to weed out kids. In my opinion, whether you got direct or via “gateway” (is this what they call?), doesn’t really matter. Some kids who have done well in high school will find out engineering is not for them. Some kids who didn’t get direct admit will excel. The process will sort kids out by the second year. By the time kids reach junior/senior year, kids who are not meant to be, will find something else to do. So, I guess my point is that if you feel UMD is for you (or your kid), go for it. The gateway thing shouldn’t be the decision factor that decides go or no go. For those of you who got direct admit, don’t necessary assume you will be there for 4 years. Many kids find working problems for hours, day after day, semester after semester is just not for them. Another point is the ranking… Regardless of what ranking says, in real world, UMD engineering is considered pretty “ok”… no better or no worse than many state schools. If we had to pay OOS tuition, knowing what I know, I don’t think we would’ve considered UMD seriously unless you have no flagship state school in your state. For IS, even if you have to go thru the gateway process, I would seriously consider sending my kids here. Just a thought. Congrats to kids who got in.</p>

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<p>Yes, the advisor I spoke to was in the Engineering department. Thank you for those links Maryversity, I had seen those before.</p>

<p>Here is what I was told:

  1. As a non-major you may take the basic courses (math, physics, etc) that are required of engineering majors. The engineering courses that a student in the major would normally be taking in their first three semesters, however, would have to be done through petition and that the engineering department can not always fill every petition due to lack of space in those classes. Those classes are, of course, filled first with those in the major and then secondly with those outside of the major (as room allows). Therefore, you may or may not get the classes you need and therefore may need additional time to meet graduation requirements.</p>

<p>From past experience with our older son, the ability to do a freshman engineering projects class at the outset of their time at a school is invaluable. How sad it would be to miss taking that course or to have to take it at another institution. On top of that, who really wants to “fight” to get into needed engineering classes for the first three semesters?</p>

<ol>
<li> In the past all students who have met the inter-transfer requirements for those 45 credits have been admitted. But who’s to say that if they got an inordinate number of applications to a particular engineering major that the transfer requirements won’t be increased. The advisor told me that there isn’t any guarantee, but that they have not had to do that to date. </li>
</ol>

<p>In response to the question that other schools have perhaps used the common app and did their applications differently, that is not the case with some of these other schools that our son applied to. We would not want an all out rejection, but as Muffy333 suggests there is a very simple way to offer congratulations and inform the student of the realities and limitations of their acceptance.</p>

<p>I’ve come to grips with what it means to be not directly admitted to Clark and I appreciate your sense of school spirit and pride. I just think that folks need to be honest about the possible disadvantages of not being a direct admit.</p>

<p>I think enough has been said on my end. We’ll see how my son wants to proceed. Meanwhile, I do offer congratulations to all those that were direct admitted to Clark Engineering!</p>

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<p>Decision: Accepted</p>

<p>Planned major: Bioengineering</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 721 M, 710 CR, 600 W
[</em>] ACT: 32
[<em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.4/3.89w
[</em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 48/353
[<em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Statistics (3), Psychology (4), US History (3), World History (2)
[</em>] Senior Year Course Load:
AP Calculus AB,
AP Biology,
Honors English 12,
Honors Anatomy and Physiology,
Honors Civics and Economics,
Health Science II</p>

<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): HOSA, German Club
[</em>] Job/Work Experience: Lifeguard, summer 2012
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service: Humane Society volunteer since 2009,
Christian Mission (local food bank type thing) volunteer,
Back to School Bash (event held by churches to provide school supplies, shoes, haircuts, etc. to the underprivileged in our community) volunteer 2010-2012
[</em>] Essays: One was REALLY strong, and the second was good as well, but I didn’t really have the word count needed to express myself as eloquently as I would’ve liked.
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: The teacher knew me very well and enjoyed me in class. I know he wrote me a glowing recommendation.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: She was over a month late submitting it. I sent her 4 reminder emails. She didn’t submit it until my mother emailed her, CCing the principal and the district superintendent.</p>

<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): North Carolina
[</em>] School Type: Public, but semi-famous, especially in education circles. There are teachers and superintendents from other schools parading around the halls of my high school at least a few times a month to stare at us like animals in a zoo.
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: Female
[<em>] Income Bracket: $100,000-$120,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None. Standard upper middle class white girl, whose parents still have student loans and is trying to get some scholarships. </p>

<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths: Test scores, teacher recommendation, both my essays were decent, and my short answers were good
[</em>] Weaknesses: My GPA is a little weak. I’m struggling a bit in Calculus, and didn’t apply myself the way I should’ve my freshman year. And I had an EVIL English teacher my sophomore year who gave me a C because she didn’t like me, and did fun things like “lose” assignments I had turned in (I found one of them in the top of the trash bin one day…)
[<em>] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Good test scores, decent GPA, strong essays and teacher recommendation.
[</em>] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: University of Kansas, Kansas State University
Deferred: North Carolina State University (EA)
Rejected: Georgia Tech</p>

<p>[/ul]General Comments: This was my absolute top choice school for a long while. I’m definitely looking forward to visiting and seeing if I love in just as much in person! Also, hoping for some scholarships, cause out of state tuition is expensive.</p>

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<p>@ Tahoemom8 - Thank you for sharing the information about a non-engineering student attempting entry into UMCP Clark Engineering. I am very glad that you found an admissions advisor that spoke so candidly about the significant disadvatages of going that path. My gut instinct was already swaying me in the direction of removing UMCP from further consideration. Your comments combined with my own research have helped me to decide that UMCP is just not for us. It was quite a relief to be able to remove it from our list without further regret.</p>

<p>Good luck to all you Terps! On to other things…</p>

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<p>i still did not receive a decision yet… should i be concerned? because i am… i live in NJ… and i didnt not get a letter and online it says “under review”</p>

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<p>I would call the admissions office if you applied priority (by Nov 9). If you just applied regular decision, you’ve got a while to wait!!</p>

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<p>i did priority and i called the admissions and they put me on hold for too long so i left them a message… anyone else not receive their decision yet for early action?</p>

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<p>For those who did not make in the direct program and go through the gateway program how difficult it is to get into you major which is part of LEP?</p>

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<p>@USNChief
This happened to me too except it was for biology, and I could not go until spring 2014! Good thing I already accepted Penn State; I’m going there instead. Its ranked better in bio anyway.</p>

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<p>THis post is for Maryversity you mentioned in your post
" My freshman engineer has several friends that didn’t get direct admits to engineering, but they are not at all concerned since all you have to do is take the “gateway” courses, do well, and reapply as an in-school transfer. It’s not uncommon at all!!!
Does this apply to engineering only as my son did not get one of the Science LEP, so is it feasible to get inschool transfer into the LEP and when is this feasible sophmore year and can he take the prerequistes being in the Letters and Sciences, please suggest me the right advising office</p>

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<p>“my son did not get one of the Science LEP,so is it feasible to get inschool transfer into the LEP” </p>

<p>Yes, below are some links that may be helpful. </p>

<p>The first is about LEPs in general and the others are what I believe you are referring to when you said “science” LEPs. My understanding (and I could be mistaken) is that with the exception of the business school, as long as you complete the required gateway courses successfully (each LEP defines successfully different) then you are pretty much assured of being accepted when you apply. The business school is unique in that it is also competitive for in-school transfer admissions. When finding these links for you, I did note that the definition of “successful” completion for engineering transfers did change for the upcoming year (with respect to grades needed).</p>

<p>[University</a> of Maryland - Limited Enrollment Progams](<a href=“http://www.lep.umd.edu/]University”>http://www.lep.umd.edu/)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.lep.umd.edu/cmns.pdf[/url]”>http://www.lep.umd.edu/cmns.pdf&lt;/a&gt; (If this is not the right LEP he applied to, you can use the link above to find the correct one - just click on it and it will take you to gateway requirements)</p>

<p>[LEP</a> Transfer FAQs | University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](<a href=“http://chembio.umd.edu/undergraduateprograms/admissions/lepfaqs]LEP”>http://chembio.umd.edu/undergraduateprograms/admissions/lepfaqs)</p>

<p>The advising school is Letters and Sciences for now. Going to an accepted students day would be beneficial as it would also give you the opportunity to ask these questions directly to the school and the LEP department reps.</p>

<p>Hope this helps…congrats on being a Terp parent!</p>

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<p>Got a $12,000/year scholarship in the mail today! Super happy right now!</p>

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<p>FastNeutrino: What scholarship was it? Was it Banneker Key or some other scholarship you had to do an interview for, or just a regular scholarship?</p>

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<p>Probably the president’s scholarship</p>

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<p>Fastnutreno, are you in honors, scholars?</p>

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<p>I got a letter as well today for $8000/year. They called it a President’s Scholarship. I’m in the honors college and Business LEP (32 ACT, 4.0, Valedictorian).</p>

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<p>Are you in state or oos?</p>

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<p>OOS so it doesn’t do much but it’s better than nothing!</p>