<p>methinks OP is a ■■■■■, plain and simple…Or a Duke student.</p>
<p>Maybe a ■■■■■, but more likely a student who went in thinking medical school acceptance should be handed to them.</p>
<p>Good for your DS. Not everyone who goes to UMD is a BK scholar. And even your DS might have a very hard time securing an acceptance to a good school (which matters, even though you say it doesn’t) unless he has a hook of some sort. </p>
<p>As far as my science background, yes, my AP classes are what got me my MCAT score, in addition to some self studying. Most of the science classes at UMD dont teach you anything; they are an exercise in regurgitation and knowing what to study. </p>
<p>I have no more regrets obviously, because I am loving my med school right now, but boy, it really sucks that naive freshman are going to this school hoping to get into a top ranked medical school. Life is going to suck.</p>
<p>Haha you just solidified my point…and that is an excuse for a horribly designed building. The biology department was an afterthought at UMD until three years ago. The same goes for the chemistry department, which has absolutely horrible professors.</p>
<p>Well, my roommate is a biochem major. She goes on long rants about her major, the people in her classes, her profs, etc. I think it is fair to say that some of what you are purporting is true according to her - there are some brilliant students, and some students on the other end, for sure. And those students on the other hand, if they don’t cheat, will be big “moochers” always looking to study with you/get answers from you (according to her). But the thing is, this is not new to MD - there will always be those few cutthroat but less smart kids who turn to cheating or mooching. I think, despite some of the truths in your posts, much of what you said was GREATLY exaggerated and another large portion of it was simply untrue. My friend is annoyed by the moochers but never mooched or cheated herself and does not think they make up the majority of students at MD. She learned to fend them off early and do her own thing. She says the TAs and professors are ALWAYS willing to meet with you and talk with you, and she has spent countless hours with profs going over material outside of class (one of the reasons the moochers annoy her - she is always talking about all of the free help around campus, from TAs to profs to the chem honors fraternity). So what you said about profs not having “real” office hours or not caring is a blatant lie. She also said she felt prepared for her MCATs and she did great on them. She just got back from interviewing at JHU and I wish her all the luck in the world. </p>
<p>Yes, MD is a large state school and there are certain drawbacks to that. Large classes, a range of intelligence in the student body, a feeling of “fending for yourself” sometimes, are all parts of the state school experience. And unfortunately you have to do more to stand out than had you gone to an Ivy League school if you want to get into top grad programs (but on the flipside, it should theoretically be slightly easier to get better grades and raise to the top when it comes to extracurriculars, if you really are Ivy material). But to go on and say that the profs don’t have time for you/don’t care about you, that all the students are cheaters and “mess up” the curve (umm ok, my friends managed to get good grades without cheating, idk who YOU were hanging out with…), that MD left you unprepared for the MCATs and that students “don’t learn anything,” and various other huge exaggerations or LIES is just…well…strange. From someone as intelligent as yourself I would have expected a more…balanced…answer.</p>
<p>I don’t even want to get into the whole honors thing, because as someone who was actually in Honors and Gemstone and dropped them both, I have no idea what you are talking about. Honors is a “special club?” Please, it’s a 2 yr program where you can take weird CORE classes seminar style. It has almost zero relevance for your chances at med school. And Gemstone is a good opportunity - it shows a lot of commitment and an ability to go “above and beyond” which we knew since high school was important to employers and schools - but it’s frankly not for everyone and it’s also not a big deal if you don’t do it. There are SO many “special clubs” at MD, from the language house to global communities to entrpreneurial programs to civic leadership programs to departmental honors to simply getting involved on campus as a leader in student government/political activism/your CHOICE…it goes ON and ON. EVERY student who puts in the effort and is intelligent enough to get into top schools can find a “special club” at MD just for them. </p>
<p>Furthermore, you seem obsessed with prestige. Going to a Top 5 med school is great but it’s not necessary to become a successful doctor. Most people who go to MD realize that rankings and prestige and name aren’t everything and that it’s ok if you “just” got into Johns Hopkins instead of Harvard. I mean, really? Whatever. Doctors should care about helping people, not whether or not they get into Harvard or JHU. You also seem ****ed that you actually had to go above and beyond and do amazing things and get good grades and good scores to get into a top school. Yeah, that’s normally the consensus. Have you LOOKED at the avg. scores and GPA for top schools? Are your fellow classmates not also very accomplished? </p>
<p>I dunno, like, I’m not a huge fan of Maryland myself. I didn’t thrive here and I don’t think the atmosphere is for everyone. I’m not going to say I don’t often wonder how things would have turned out had a gone somewhere else - I also turned down a top school. But I’m not going around and spreading lies about the school…not everyone has the financial means to get a coddled private education and that doesn’t mean they’re going to be surrounded by worse profs who care less and hoards of stupid cheating students. Come on. Seriously. </p>
<p>You, however, seem to have taken it really hard that things did not go perfectly for you and you were not handed a prestigious undergrad education on a golden - or dare I say Ivy - platter. I think only a psychologist can figure that one out…so I would recommend incoming freshmen take your post with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>I agree that I might have come off as very exaggerated in some of my posts, but you have to realize that most of what I stated is true. Of course, students have to learn something while they are at UMD, but from whatever anecdotal experience I had, this is what I found: the quality and depth of teaching varies immensely among professors. Furthermore, the retention of the material is absolutely awful- I think this is why UMD students don’t do too well on the MCATs. How do you explain someone with a 4.0 or even a 3.9 and a sub-30 MCAT? That simply doesn’t make sense. I taught for Kaplan MCAT after taking the test myself at the end of sophomore year (I had all prereqs completed through APs/end of freshman year) and did exceptionally well- but this was not from the education I received at UMD, I assure you. The amount of self-studying involved was immense. </p>
<p>You mentioned your friend interviewed at JHU- that’s great, congrats. Ask her what she thinks helped her get the MCAT score she did- I bet she’ll tell you exactly what I stated here. And unless your friend has some exceptional accomplishments outside of the classroom, she will have a hard time getting accepted, even though interviewing in itself is a major accomplishment. </p>
<p>I guess the experience I had at UMD was completely and utterly different from what I had expected it to be coming in. I didn’t find a supportive, enriching learning environment. Everything from the lectures, to the discussions to the labs felt like a rat race of some sort, with the people with “insider information” having the upper hand. You said your friend mentioned there being “free help” on campus- the chem frat is known to have past examinations- my case in point exactly.</p>
<p>UMD is just not a good fit for some people, and I was one of them. But the things I experienced while at UMD were quite shocking and so across the board, that I thought it would be worthwhile to express my concerns on this board. Take it FWIW. Goodbye.</p>
<p>P.S: Although I am a UMD alum, I am currently at the school where the BLue Devils thrive. But in no way has that altered my perception/given me a bias against UMD.</p>
<p>“but you have to realize that most of what I stated is true.”</p>
<p>Most of what you stated in previous posts = untrue. </p>
<p>Quality of professors’ teaching ability varies = true. This is true at every school.
Professors and TAs who don’t care about their students or who don’t have time to work with them outside of class = untrue.
Majority of students cheat or get inside info, making it difficult for hardworking honest students to achieve good grades = untrue.
Quality of instruction resulting in poor MCAT scores or poor retention of material = untrue.
Honors serving as a special club in which participants get a significantly different MD experience than “other” hardworking and intelligent students = untrue.
It is abnormal to have to 1. study for the MCAT on your own 2. get good grades 3. do exceptional things outside of class in order to be accepted to a Top 5 med school = untrue.</p>
<p>" she’ll tell you exactly what I stated here." </p>
<p>She didn’t.</p>
<p>“And unless your friend has some exceptional accomplishments outside of the classroom, she will have a hard time getting accepted”</p>
<p>True, JHU is an elite school and expects exceptional accomplishments both inside and outside of the classroom for the majority of its applicants. However, it’s a good thing that 2 “good” - if not Top 5 or “elite” - med schools have already accepted her. Thinking about med school? Then why the Hell not go to MD. </p>
<p>“You said your friend mentioned there being “free help” on campus- the chem frat is known to have past examinations- my case in point exactly.”</p>
<p>The chem frat has offices on campus and all students are welcome to drop by and ask for help. Whether or not they purportedly possess old exams doesn’t negate the fact that there is nothing “insider” about them. Other free help includes TAs and PROFESSORS. </p>
<p>“that I thought it would be worthwhile to express my concerns on this board.”</p>
<p>It’s not worthwhile if you don’t tell the truth and make an effort to assess the school for its faults and merits fairly. You’ve really failed to do that on a lot of counts. I will GLADLY tell anyone what I think MD could work on or why I don’t think MD is right for everyone. So I am not sitting here and giving MD a free pass. But this stuff you’re saying borders on outrageous and passing on inaccurate info to future Terps or potential Terps is more harmful than it is worthwhile.</p>
<p>Arg. Every time I see this thread reemerge, I cringe. To anyone new who is reading this, PLEASE NOTE this is just one person’s opinion. I’m sorry that the OP felt his time was so badly spent at UMD.</p>
<p>However, I’ll be glad to post in the spring which of her grad schools D1 is accepted to, but she’s worked at NASA since she was a sophomore, had an awesome internship at Harvard this past summer, has been a TA for 2 (or 3?) semesters, and has loved being at UMD. Her sister is now a sophomore there, and is involved in SO MANY awesome activities (while also maintaining a 4.0 GPA, an awesome on-campus job and internship, and also has a double major).</p>
<p>I think what you really have here is an OP that was unhappy at UMDCP and this is what they have decided why they were unhappy.</p>
<p>UMDCP is not a good fit for each and every student, even UMD accepts that fact.</p>
<p>What made me laugh was the exaggeration that their AP classes were the last time they learned anything. Let me get this right, even if you were an IS you weren’t intelligent enough to transfer if you were wasting 20K a yr on an education where you hadn’t learned squat over a course of a yr or 2? Or were you just too lazy to apply to UMBC as a transfer? What yr there did the light bulb go off and you said to yourself I learned this as a SR in HS? Freshman, soph, jr, sr or just now? To me, it would be really disheartening as an OOS parent to know that 130K went to your education and you never spoke to me about the ineffectiveness of the school.</p>
<p>I am not saying you don’t have a right to your opinion, but I do wonder why if it was so horrible you stayed. If you were a great student with great grades at UMDCP I am sure you could have transferred easily to UMBC. If you didn’t have great grades, than how can you say UMDCP is ineffective and you know everything back in HS, because obviously all of those profs disagreed with you when they gave you your grades.</p>
<p>The lesson here to me is future and current students should understand college is not a forced prison where you MUST do 4 yrs before you get paroled. You can leave at any time on your own power. If it isn’t a fit, leave, because there is nothing worse than being 40 yrs old and looking back regretting where you went to college.</p>
<p>First of all, I would like to commend you on seeing things from my perspective. As far as the tuition is concerned, I was thankfully covered through a full scholarship, so it was the best deal available to me, financially. This, along with some family issues, is the major reason I didn’t transfer. My original intent was to transfer to an ivy after Sophomore year, but that plan didn’t work out, again for the aforementioned reasons. </p>
<p>As far as the AP classes are concerned, I went to an incredibly rigorous high school, and the relative difficulty of my course load and schedule there didn’t compare to that of UMD. As I said before, I was able to take the MCAT at the end of Sophomore year, depending on what I learned in high school, and I scored exceptionally well. The same couldn’t be said for fellow students who took the MCAT at the end of junior year, having taken classes at UMD.</p>
<p>I don’t regret going here as much as I would have if I hadn’t been accepted to a great school. But its simply unfair to paint UMD in a completely positive light and not highlight some of its critical weaknesses, all of which are acknowledged regularly by the students in the science program. </p>
<p>I probably won’t have time to come back to this forum, as school is taking up quite a bit of time. Again, take my opinion FWIW. Good luck.</p>
<p>Here’s the deal, not every kid is going to do great on an MCAT or in a major. Do you know without a doubt that those who did poorly actually put an effort into their education.</p>
<p>I love Bullet, but I will tell you when he attended UMDCP as an engineering student umpteen yrs ago, it wasn’t the fault of the school, it was his fault for doing poorly. It was his choice not to use the resources available to him, such as the silly things like the library or going to the prof during office hours.</p>
<p>He made his bed, and usually stayed in it while he was suppose to be at class. You just can’t take the leap that everyone had either brains or the drive to do well.</p>
<p>Pre Med and Pre Law to many are majors that kids take because they think OH WELL, I will go this route. It doesn’t mean that they should have ever gone that route. </p>
<p>Our DS is at UMDCP now as a govt major. There are some kids that have had amazing internships on the Hill (ours included) and some that are just happy to pull a C avg. You get out of your education what you put into it. </p>
<p>I don;t care if you went to TJJHS, which is deemed to be the most academically prestigious hs in the nation on both the public and private school lists. If you had so many APS than you should have placed out in a lot of your classes. That means as a soph you really were the avg jr. This goes back to that jr student? DO you know what their gpas were? DO you know how many hours they studied for it? You should not ever make a blanket statement because you don’t know all of the facts.</p>
<p>The only fact for you is that you matriculated to a school because of personal reasons that was probably a lower tier school over other options, and you are assuming that the failure of others is because of the school itself and not the ability of the student.</p>
<p>We all can agree that UMD has weaknesses, but I don’t think kids are attending here over Johns Hopkin because it is academically reknown. Like you they have weighed all of the pros and cons and made a decision. You made a choice to stay, in other words, you decided that UMDCP was your best educational option, but now in hindsight you are saying it was the worst option ever. Some of your posts really sound bitter.</p>
<p>Good luck in your endeavors.</p>
<p>FWIW, UMDCP depending on your major is a great foundation for Grad School. Criminal Justice, Business, Engineering are very competitive programs that are highly respected. Again, a lot will have to do with you as a student. Doors open for students on the Deans list, they close if your gpa is 2.5. You can’t blame UMDCP if you are having too much fun!</p>
<p>UMDCP is definately coming off my applications list.</p>
<p>Yes, because getting into med school should be easy, and your college should hold your hand while you get in.</p>
<p>Yes, Gina, I think that’s what the OP was trying to say all along!!! Mark, good luck wherever you end up. Hopefully anyone else reading this thread balances what the OP says to what everyone else has says in response. UMD is a great school…YMMV.</p>
<p>@mark, … the deadline was Nov. 1 … </p>
<p>BTW, it’s “definitely”</p>
<p>^like^
I wish this were more like facebook xD</p>
<p>You know what data I’d be interested in though? The percent of people that each college who go to med/law/grad school who don’t finish their advanced degrees. I’m willing to bet good money schools that hold your hand through the process have much higher rates than a school like Maryland where you have to prove your ability before you get in to med school.</p>
<p>Totally important very relevant update: My friend got into Johns Hopkins 
WOOOOOOO!!!</p>
<p>She’s running around the house screaming “It’s the #1 school in the world!” </p>
<p>Go Terps. Lol.</p>
<p>Both of us are still super confused by this thread. Whatever. Lol.</p>
<p>Congrats!
Is it really no. 1 though? I thought Harvard was, for some reason…
Either way it’s a really really good school, obviously xD</p>
<p>I think they switch back in forth every year.</p>