Pro's and Con's of University of Maryland

<p>What are some pro's and con's of University of Maryland? What programs does UMD have?</p>

<p>Pros:</p>

<p>Excellent academics, exceptional value for in state students, proximity to DC (8 miles away and subway accessible), Baltimore and to other east coast cities, wide variety of majors, beautiful campus, Big 10 athletics, strong alumni base.</p>

<p>Cons:</p>

<p>College Park has come a long way but it is not a ‘college town’ in the true sense, safety can be a concern since you don’t have to go too far to end up in a bad area, large size of campus and student body can be an issue for some people</p>

<p>This is just a start, there are surely many others on both sides.</p>

<p>First off, what are your interests? Your question about what programs UMD has is far too broad. There are MANY top-rated undergraduate and graduate programs. </p>

<p>In general, some pros (in addition to those posted above) include
-living-learning communities that have set the standard for many universities across the nation as a model for how to make a large university feel smaller by connecting students by interests, classes, activities, and residence units
-large selection of course options available within every department to fulfill general education requirements for graduation
-honors classes, honors programs available
-neutral buoyancy lab on campus - ya know, like what NASA uses to simulate weightless environment of space (I actually think it may be only university to have one…)
-opportunities that are unique to its proximity to nation’s capitol that allow participation in government/historical events/activities (so if you are a journalist, political science student or aspiring lawyer, this would be of particular interest to you)
-an extremely involved, caring university president (Loh) - he really is active in the student activities - it makes a difference!
-lots of research of opportunities for undergrads
-constant upgrades being done to campus, donations being made, - opportunities are endless
-student body is genuinely very happy as a whole
-lots of opportunities for entrepreneurship
-number one school (last year) for hackathons - Terps are smart, have great team spirit and are fierce competitors
-first school in nation to have a cybersecurity living-learning program
-classic large university, best four years of your life experience
-yes, exceptional value for in-state, but also a great value for out-of-state when all is said and done
-graduates are highly recruited
-close to Annapolis if you are into sailing
-great entertainment
-big Greek life if you want it, but plenty of social life without it if you are not into Greek life
-LOTS of diversity which is a HUGE benefit - you will meet sooooo many different types of people and expand your horizons, plus you will have no trouble finding groups of people that you are comfortable with
-huge diploma when you graduate</p>

<p>some cons
-the hill going up to the student union (but I’m saying this now as an old alum…)
-USNWR ranking doesn’t accurately reflect the academic excellence that Maryland offers - it really should be ranked much higher!

  • not a whole lot of merit money to go around compared to what the private schools have to offer since they have huge endowments…</p>

<p>Woo hoo! Finally, a ranking that more fairly represents the type of student that attends Maryland…at #9 for “smartest public colleges,” I’ll take it!</p>

<p><a href=“Smartest Public Colleges in America”>Smartest Public Colleges in America;

<p>P.S. my daughter is two months into her freshman year and loves it. She is in the Scholars program and has made new friends. She never feels overwhelmed by the size of the school and really likes her classes and professors.</p>

<p>@davidhopkins Thank you for the reply! What is the Scholars program? Also, is it true that people who are in state have more of an advantage when applying to UMD? </p>

<p>Here is more information on the scholars program:</p>

<p><a href=“Information About Us | College Park Scholars”>http://www.scholars.umd.edu/about/what-is-scholars&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I do not know the exact answer to your second question. As a state institution, UMD will naturally have in-state acceptance and enrollment goals, however, I do know first-hand that many worthy in-state students do not get in, or if they do, it is via freshman connection. Like all state schools, UMD is probably more than happy to accept talented OOS students and the higher tuition that they bring. I am sure that someone else here has more information on admission for in-state vs OOS.</p>

<p>I’ve heard it’s significantly harder for OOS applicants to get in, but I have no idea as to the accuracy of that</p>

<p>Pros.</p>

<p><a href=“12 Years of Excellence: Go Terps! - YouTube”>12 Years of Excellence: Go Terps! - YouTube;

<p><a href=“President Wallace D. Loh's Fall 2014 Video Message - YouTube”>President Wallace D. Loh's Fall 2014 Video Message - YouTube;

<p><a href=“Cole Field House: Where Tradition Meets Innovation - YouTube”>Cole Field House: Where Tradition Meets Innovation - YouTube;

<p>Cons… None!</p>

Wow ^ all of these videos make me want to get out of California and apply to be a Terp.

Can someone who attend University of Maryland comment on this post please http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18822169

Do you know anything about the engineering program at Maryland? (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18822169)

@c0llegegirl - Unfortunately, I can’t answer your questions. Both Pitt and UMD are state schools and may not be the best at giving merit aid. UMD does have full ride scholarships (tuition. R&B.etc). It’s called the Banneker Key scholarship. I don’t know what Pitt has. About 400 applicants are invited to compete for the UMD BK. They tend to have high stats, but stats alone will not insure an invite. The final selection is based on an interview. That’s it. Nothing else. About 150 get the full ride. All the others get a lessor amount.

If you can, apply to both schools. Pitt is rolling admission and you’ll get an admission decision in a couple weeks. UMD will release EA (Priority) decisions at the end of January. You MUST apply by the Priority deadline (Nov 1) at UMD to be considered for ANY merit aid.

I believe that both schools release scholarship decisions in mid to late February. Good Luck

Here’s an ode to UMD written by a second semester freshman - sorta interesting; https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/ritzgraham/dear-college

He has some good and some not so good things to say - but sounds like overall positive.

Two questions…
We are in state. Assuming S gets in, may have to decide between UMD and small LAC. He has no idea what he wants to do, other than not STEM. I am looking for feedback on UMD for humanities.
Also concerned about how big UMD is, as he is not likely to seek out opportunities, professors, etc, but is likely to be “distracted.” Anyone have experience there for someone who might need adults to be checking in if, for example, he doesn’t show up for classes? (And please no comments on a kid going off to college being an adult, etc, etc – fully aware and with the program.)

Well, if he doesn’t show up for classes, he will learn the hard way that he has to be responsible for himself. No one will check in on him if he doesn’t show up for classes. His grades will be the consequence of that choice…which could mean academic probation, or even dismissal.

Talk to him about it. If he’s gonna be distracted, not go to class, nor take responsibility for himself, that could happen at a small school just as easily as a large school. Express that concern and ask him if he really wants to go to college right out of high school, or if he thinks he’d like to take a year hiatus from school and go to work for a year somewhere. Sometimes that really helps kids find their focus on school.

What I love about a large school is that there are so many wonderful options at Maryland - there are a LOT of really solid majors, so it’s a good place to find yourself and what you are really interested in.