<p>Hi everyone,
My DS is seriously leaning towards enrolling at UMD. He will be in the University Honors and the Clark School of Engineering. As an out-of-state student, however, he has a few concerns and hesitations. I was hoping some of you could answer them? </p>
<h1>1: Is the College Park campus a big "commuter school"? Do a lot of the students go home on the weekends? As an OOS, he won't have that option. And he doesn't want to be left on a fairly empty campus. (This occurs at our own state university, so he is wants to know if it also happens at UMD.)</h1>
<h1>2: We were told that UMD only guarantees housing for 2 years. If a student wants to stay on campus after that, it is difficult to get housing? What are the other housing options available to students? Are there plenty of apartments around the campus?</h1>
<h1>3: The size of the campus is a bit overwhelming to him. We assured him that the University Honors program will help make a large campus feel smaller. Would you say this is the case at UMD?</h1>
<p>Thank you very much! </p>
<p>Hi amiable,</p>
<p>I am about to enroll at UMD for this fall and will also be at the Clark School of Engineering. As an OOS myself, I have done a lot of research and hopefully I can answer some of your questions…</p>
<p>1) I am not sure if you realized the sheer size of College Park. Over 30000 students go there everyday, so there is quite the variety. There is a fair number of students, especially upperclassmen that commute because it is a well known state school. A lot less freshman commute because they are either not used to the commuting thing or they want the experience of living on campus. If the students are commuting or live very locally, I would imagine that they go home on the weekends. However, there are so many students that i would have to think that many stay on campus, especially as there are parties and social gatherings every weekend. Simply the amount of students there will assure your son that there will always be people on campus.</p>
<p>2) UMD does only guarantee housing for 2 years, as far as I know. However, this is only referring to the school dorms itself. There are plenty of apartments on campus that the school refers to as “off-campus housing”, but it is physically on the campus. Many upperclassmen live in these apartments or just physically off-campus in the surrounding area. Sometimes if you find roommates, the apartment housing can almost be cheaper than on-campus housing. Most of that is first-come-first-serve so make sure your son knows to find apartments as soon as he is allowed. </p>
<p>3) The campus is very large and it will be just as overwhelming to all incoming freshman, including myself. Youre son can rest assured that programs like honors, scholars, flexus, etc will make it seem much smaller. Simply being in the engineering school will do this. You will take many of the same classes as the rest of the engineering students and you will get to know a lot of people in your classes and dorm building. Find a group of friends and stick with them, but still socialize as much as he is comfortable with. Your son will be in the same boat as hundreds, if not thousands of other freshman just like him. Let him know he will be fine. If he would like to message me on here, I will answer any questions. Maybe i will see him around campus</p>
<p>Congrats on admission to Clark and Honors! I am also OOS and my son is an engineering student, but in scholars program. Re your questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s a huge school so the campus is really never “empty” by a long shot. However, I can say that a lot (NOT all!)of IS students, typically in their freshman year, first semester, do go home on non-football game weekends. Some people notice it more than others based on who they are friends with. However, as I said, it’s really not a major issue…there are still a LOT of people on campus and there are always things going on. Once freshman start getting more involved in campus, they tend to go home less.</p></li>
<li><p>Well, with the opening of an additional dorm next year, Prince Frederick Hall, I think I remember hearing that guarantee being extended to 3 years. When I attended moons ago, I was able to stay on campus through junior year and actually chose to move to an apartment because I wanted to, not because I couldn’t get housing. There are lots of options for housing off-campus; many beautiful apartments are so close they are almost on campus - the Varsity, the View - and there are more going up all the time as the area is being continuously built up. </p></li>
<li><p>Absolutely. Funny thing is that the campus does “shrink” when you have the perspective of living there. So, yes it feels smaller both physically and socially. Coming from a high school of only a few thousand, it does seem overwhelming. However, it’s like going from junior high to high school - before you get there, the size difference seems intimidating. Once you get there, you adjust quickly and think nothing of the size. LLPs (living-learning programs like honors, scholars, civicus, etc) make the adjustment happen that much faster because a foundation of a smaller group of people (to interact with on a regular basis) is already set up for you.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Just wanted to chime in regarding IS kids going home on the weekends. My daughter is an IS freshman and she came home for a single night back in November and that was the only time that I can think of. The vast majority of her friends stay there on the weekends. I think Maryv is right in that once you start to get involved in activities/groups/greek life, you most likely stay in CP for the weekends. </p>
<p>Just thought I’d second what terpmom7 just said. I also have a daughter who is an IS freshman, and with the exception of breaks, I think she has been home for a total of 3 nights this school year. She loves it there! Also, the honors program will definitely help with making the school feel smaller. My daughter is in one of the honors LLPs and I remember there were a lot of fun activities the first few weeks to help them get acquainted to the school and to each other. Good luck with your son’s decision and Go Terps!!</p>
<p>A comment on “UMd is huge”. Not by Big 10 or Pac 12 standards, or other major u’s. Most of the big 10 schools dwarf UMd. Except Nebraska, and Northwestern. UMd has about 25,000 undergrads, Nebraska about the same. As a Nebr grad I can tell you the clubs, fraternity/sorority, other orgs make a home within the U. My D is also in starting in the Honors College at UMd in the fall. The smaller class sizes plus living/learning environment immediately give them the smaller feel. I’d embrace it. You’re about to have a terrific experience at a major research university in a vibrant metro area, yet made small by the honors program, and a “medium sized” student body. (not huge).</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies, everyone! I showed them to my son, and it made him feel better. I realize that all freshmen feel overwhelmed when they go to college (I have another son who is a college sophomore now as well). DS is likely to feel it even more so, as he has spent the past 6 years at a very small college prep school. (There are 51 students in his graduating class. Yes, 51!) So he’s nervous about UMD’s size. But he was really just so awed by the programs and the engineering department and the research opportunities and the proximity to DC that he wants to give it a go. </p>
<p>Congratulations amiable! If it makes your son feel any better, my son is a senior in engineering and spent grades 3-12 in a school that had a class size of 1! 2 if I count his brother! They were homeschooled and my son transitioned from being homeschooled to going to UMD much better than I anticipated. In fact, even though we are in-state, he didn’t come home nearly as often as I had thought he would - or as often as I had hoped he would! lol! The engineering program is fantastic! You are right about the Honors Program helping to make it feel a little bit smaller. Our son also did University Honors and the program was a good experience. I believe he liked the University Honors better than departmental honors program. Many of his friends are friends he made his freshman year in the honors dorm. He and his friends were able to get an on campus apartment which is much nicer than I would have expected. They frequently go into D.C. and there is always something to do - especially engineering homework! 
Best wishes to your son! I hope he likes it as much as our son did!</p>