Ohio State or UMD College Park?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Ohio State University
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<p>So OSU and UMD are my best offers of admission and it’s time for me decide where I’ll be going next year but I’m really conflicted. I was invited to the Scholars program at UMD and I’m an in-state resident, so the tuition is reasonable, but I also got 2 scholarships for Ohio State which makes their tuition about the same as UMD’s, but I didn’t apply for their Honors/Scholars program because I didn’t think I would like the school. Well, I went to visit last week and I fell in love, the campus was beautiful and all the people are really nice and have lots of school spirit, and they have so many programs and student activities as well. </p>

<p>My main problem now is that I don’t have Scholars/Honors for OSU and the student population there isn’t as diverse as I’d like it to be (I’m half Chinese, half White, so I like having a diverse population that I can relate to). It’s also in Ohio, miles away from my family and anyone I know from school (which can be both a boon and a burden), so I’d be on my own in a different state. However, I am familiar with the school and their traditions because my dad and my uncle both went to Ohio State, so I’m not completely new to the school.</p>

<p>However, Maryland still seems to be a better offer with the Scholars program and having DC close by for internships and activities, as well as it being closer to my family (I live in the DC-Metro area, so I can Metro back and forth) and having about 50 people from my high school also attending. The problem is that I don’t want it to be like high school all over again, and I don’t really like the student community at UMD, but I really value the school’s diversity and I know it’s a much more selective school (I think it’s acceptance rate this year was ~40% compared to OSU’s ~65%), which makes it hard to give up for Ohio State.</p>

<p>Sorry for the super long post! Any opinions or advice would be really helpful to figure out which would be the best fit for me. Also, I will probably major in either Linguistics or Environmental Science (I know, they’re different) so any advice on which school has stronger programs would be appreciated as well.</p>

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<p>Compare the faculty at the two schools for the programs that interest you. Maybe you could contact some professors and speak with them about their programs. I think this might help you decide. </p>

<p>I don’t think UMD is a better school than OSU and I don’t think you’d feel out of place because there are tons of Asians at OSU. However, if I were you I still might pick UMD because it is just easier to go there since you are IS. At a school as big as UMD, it won’t matter if some kids you know go there because I doubt you’ll see them all that much unless they are in your major.</p>