The facts about chances

While I can appreciate that people are anxious and would like opinions about their “chances” of admission, I do want to put out a reminder that “chances” really are only individual opinions. They are not accurate, so please don’t get your hopes up or hopes dashed based on feedback you get on a forum like this. The only opinion/assessment that counts is the one done by the admissions office, as they are the only ones that make the decision of admission. They are the only ones seeing your entire application, including essays, short answers, letters of rec, etc, and not just the stats listed on this forum.

For those that haven’t seen this page, here is the official university page that details the average profile of the most recently admitted freshmen https://www.admissions.umd.edu/counselor/FreshmanProfile.php. Understand that Maryland only considers Math and Critical Reading scores for SATs.

So, it is important to recognize that with all other things being equal, two students could have the same total SAT score of all 3 parts, but one would be admitted and the other wouldn’t simply because the breakdown of those 3 parts is likely different. Further, the average score for OOS (out of state) students needs to be higher than IS (in state) since there is no mandate to admit a certain percentage of OOS students. I would bet the farm that the 25% of students that scored less than 1260 total on M + CR are IS. OOS need to bank on the 50% range of a 1260 minimum.

Understand that for fall admissions, Maryland places a lot of emphasis on stats/numbers. Every year, the applicants get more impressive and admissions get more competitive. HOWEVER, Maryland absolutely does practice holistic admissions and recognize that some really strong students just are not good at standardized tests. For those students, they have developed a spring admission with an option to participate in Freshman Connection (so still starting in the fall, but only taking a limited (but still decent) variety of classes starting in the afternoon on. It absolutely is still an admission.

Remember, there is still a ways to go before admissions come out - the last week in January and NOT sooner despite whatever anyone may post - so, hang in there everyone. Best of luck to you all.

p.s. for convenience sake, here is what the info says on the link I gave
"The admitted freshmen students have a strong A-/B+ or better average in their high school coursework and enrolled in the most challenging courses available to them including honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses.

For students admitted to the University of Maryland for the Fall 2015 semester, the middle 50% of SAT scores ranged from 1260 to 1420, and 29-33 on the ACT. As a result 25% of the admitted students scored below a 1260 on the SAT and 25% scored above a 1420.

The Admission Committee considers all aspects of a student’s qualifications and offers admission to the most competitive applicants in order to build a talented, diverse and interesting freshman class. For best consideration we encourage students to apply by the Priority Application Deadline."

Bump.- Everyone who applied should read this,

Bump again.

Worth bumping again…

Is there any evidence about how they weight standardized test scores, vs. GPA? Also, their freshman profile page (I think) and their common data set entry say that the average incoming GPA is 4.22. How does that mesh with their statement that you need a strong A-/B+ average?

@theshadow - It is my opinion that GPA is weighted slightly more than SAT/ACT scores. But UMD does seem to be very Test/GPA driven for initial University admission UMD is getting more competitive every year, so the 4.22 seems accurate, but students are admitted with lower GPAs, hence the strong A-/B+ statement… The 4.22 is only an average

When I went to my first visitor/admissions info session with my son (approximately 5 years ago), the rep who spoke at the program said that they recalibrate all transcripts to their own 5.0 scale to put everyone on the same page, so to speak. A lot of schools vary in how they use weighted gpa and there is no consistency in scales, so Maryland applies their own methodology (based on transcripts) to consider academic success.

Wait, so is it 4.22 out of 5.0 (unweighted), or is it weighted 4.22 out of 4.0?

It is my opinion that it is 4.22 out of a 4.0. I say that because most Maryland public high schools use a 4.0 grade scale

My understanding is that they use the Montgomery County Public School (Maryland) grading scale. It’s a 4 point unweighted, 5 point weighted. My daughter had a 4.0 unweighted (all As), 4.7 weighted.

Just to update this, understand that this is the first year that Maryland has changed their application process. They used to have an application that was unique to Maryland, with essays and short answer questions. This year, they moved to the Coalition App which is new to them, so there really is no telling how this will affect their evaluations of students.

This information is from Maryland’s own website (https://www.admissions.umd.edu/apply/freshman.php). The only difference I can see between this and the previous year’s description is that they state an average weighted GPA. Here is the info…

Freshman Profile

For the Fall 2016 freshmen class, we received nearly 30,200 applications for a class of 4,075. For students admitted for the Fall 2016 semester, the middle 50% of SAT scores ranged from 1260 to 1420, and 29-33 on the ACT. As a result 25% of the admitted students scored below a 1260 on the SAT and 25% scored above a 1420. Admitted freshmen also earned an average weighted GPA of 4.21.

Application Review Process

The Admissions Committee considers 26 unique factors as part of our holistic review. This process considers all aspects of each applicant’s qualifications and offers admission to the most competitive applicants in order to build a vibrant class of first-year students. When a decision is available, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions will send an email to the applicant notifying them that their admission decision can be viewed online. Information on financial aid and merit scholarships will be released at a later date.

Applications are considered complete when the online application and all required documents have been submitted. All materials must be postmarked by the appropriate deadline for consideration. Please note that it may take up to five days after submission for you to be able to view the status of your application and any submitted documents online. It is the applicant’s responsibility to confirm receipt of all application materials.

To clarify the holistic review, the following info is found at https://www.admissions.umd.edu/apply/factors.php

26 Review Factors

At Maryland, we value all of your strengths and talents. We know there is more to you than grades and SAT scores. While they are important, we also want to know about your interests and background and what makes you unique.

In addition to test scores and transcripts, we’ll review your letters of recommendation, essay and short-answer responses and activities resume. Our thorough review process considers more than 26 factors.

Each category is assessed by a combination of quantitative and qualitative factors. These factors are flexibly applied, so the listing does not reflect order of importance.

High school achievement
Grades in academic subjects
Progression of performance
Breadth of life experiences
Geographic origin
Gender
SAT I or ACT scores
Work experience
Recognition of special achievements
Extenuating circumstances
Socio-economic background
Written express of ideas (as demonstrated in the essay)
Rank in class (actual or percentile)
Extracurricular activities
Special talents or skills
Community involvement
Community service
Demonstrated leadership
Learning differences
Quality of coursework
Residency status
Race
Ethnicity
Family educational background
Academic endeavors outside of the classroom
English as a second language/Language spoken at home

Do we know if UMD practice yield protection?

While I would have no way of knowing for certain, I seriously doubt they do. In fact, my gut reaction was absolutely not.
Straight up admissions are pretty consistent/easy to predict, and there are really no surprises that I’ve seen on the results threads. The only unpredictable things are honors/scholars invites (there are definite surprises there) and merit awards.

@maryversity Thank you very much for your input! I think that makes a lot of sense!!!

Bump

wait can you please chance me at UMD College Park for Comp Sci! Thank youu!
Weighted GPA: 3.99
Unweighted GPA: 3.02
SAT: 1990
ACT: 30
SAT Math 2: 640
SAT Bio: 630
Mostly As and Bs student (with the exception of a C- in Honors Chem because my teacher was absent for 6 months and we had no teacher)
Took 3 APs at school (very few offered in the first place) and have all honors classes since freshman year
Over 300 hours of volunteering, did some intense fundraising, and work a little.
My teacher recs will be great and my essays are pretty good.
Member and hold leadership positions for many clubs and sports.

also what is coalition? I didn’t apply for coalition…I applied in the normal app

^normal app meaning the umd app portal with short answers and essay