<p>Hi everyone! I've been really stressed out about choosing my school for Fall. I've been accepted to my top two choices, and I'm looking for some pro's, con's and experiences. I was accepted into the business schools at both psu and umd. I know that UMD is harder to get accepted to, but I feel like Penn State has better name recognition. I like the way UMD is right outside of the city whereas PSU is rural, but PSU's college town is better. Those are both good, I'm just not sure which is better for me personally. I live in New Jersey so the distances are about the same and money is not an issue for either school. UMD is more complicated to get to, but they have a train station nearby that I can take home. </p>
<p>I'm trying to figure out which school will help me in the long run with jobs and such, while still having a great college exprience. At Penn State I was invited to apply to the Sapphire Leadership Program, which is for business students, but I do not yet know if I've been accepted into that. I was not accepted into any special programs at UMD other than the business school. However, I loved UMD's campus much more when I saw it, although when I visited PSU it was raining pretty badly so that could have had an impact on my experience. </p>
<p>SAT Scores: CR: 630, M: 620, W: 720
ACT: 29
GPA: 3.85 W
AP Language & Composition, and AP Literature.</p>
<p>If you have two colleges that you consider about equal, it is better to go to a college located in a geographic area where you eventually want to work. That takes full advantage of the alumni network, career counseling contacts, internships, etc. If you want to work in PA or points east or north, go to Penn State. If you want to work in Maryland or points south, go to Maryland.</p>
<p>It may be worth re-visiting both schools, and doing an overnight if you can, and sitting in on some classes, to see which feel you like better. The biggest difference is probably the locations. UMD has easy access to DC, and would have better internship opportunities. Penn State probably has more school spirit, in part because of its rural location. </p>
<p>The high schools my kids in NJ attend sends lots of kids to both, with the UMD kids being on average slightly better students.</p>
<p>Both Penn State and UMD are well-known in NJ/NYC, and I don’t think either one would have an advantage in career opportunities.</p>
<p>jnndwdx3, I am currently a freshman in the Smeal College of Business and the Sapphire Leadership Program. I went to high school in Hagerstown, MD, so have several friends that decided to go to UMD. With that being said, I still decided to go to Penn State for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>The sapphire program was definitely one of those reasons. It is a great opportunity within Smeal to develop your leadership skills and prepare you for a job after college. I would definitely suggest that you look into it more and consider applying. It is great that you were invited to apply, and that greatly increases your chances of getting in!</p>
<p>If you have any questions let me know, or you can email Cindi Satterfield at <a href=“mailto:cds14@psu.edu”>cds14@psu.edu</a>. She is the director of the recruiting efforts for the program and she should be able to answer most of your questions!</p>
<p>You mentioned about jobs in your Post as well. Penn State was just ranked #1 by the Wall Street Journal by employers for college recruiting. Along with Penn State’s vast alumni network, finding a job out of Penn State will be much easier than UMD. </p>
<p>I hoped this helped and I hope to see you in Happy Valley!</p>
<p>I also had the same dilema I was trying to choose between penn state university park and umd. My major is computer science and when I was looking at the rankings for computer science departments in the u.s, umd had a much higher ranking then penn state. I love umd and I am suppose to be visiting penn state in a couple of weeks for the first time so maybe that visit will help me decide. I am also from maryland so I thought going out of state would be better.</p>
<p>Our son is in a similar predicament & we’ve done tons of research. He got into Smeal which is his 1st choice. Don’t know about the Sapphire program which I’d like to know if you apply to or if you need an invitation to. We’re also researching the Special Living Option at North Hall where the business students live together in a newer/nicer building. He loved the school spirit, is a die hard sports fan & found the setting spectacular with stunning mountains all around Happy Valley. The vibe seems more nurturing in some ways. It is ranked #1 by recruiters who come from all over the country so don’t believe that the location matters, unless you prefer going to school near a city. Smeal ranked #22 in 2012 Business Week, which has been moving up steadily over the last few years. UMD ranked #38. The downside of Smeal is that you cannot double major within the business school which is an option at Smith.</p>
<p>UMD is a solid school, where our son got into Letters and Sciences with an invitation to Markets & Society that better preps students to get into biz school sophomore year. So for him, there’s a risk of not getting into biz school at UMD which is not your issue. We’re going back to check it out again next week as the draw of D.C. is compelling. If being near a city is important to you, then go for UMD. The campus is equally lively, a bit more crowded as it’s smaller, also great sports if that matters to you. However, the area around it known for high crime which you can research on Google. Greek life equally strong at both school. At UMD, frat houses are around the school in not so safe area, so you need to be smart late at night and travel in groups or use school bus system. Heard UMD is having financial challenges, but guessing all state schools are in the same boat as PSU state funding has recently been getting cut. Guessing out of state tuition is in big demand right now…</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK with your choice. Either one is a great option…</p>