<p>Any feedback about Towson University? I am interested in hearing about the academic piece-how are the courses? professors? programs? Thanks so much.</p>
<p>Let me give you my opinion as a parent whose son graduated from Towson.</p>
<p>Towson was good for my son. they had relatively small classes and had some programs not found elsewhere. For example, he majored in accounting and was able to obtain a financial planning concentration that interested him so much that he want on to obtain a graduate degree in financial planning from another school (Bentley University).</p>
<p>Moreover, Towson is a relatively inexpensive school.</p>
<p>However, with all that said, I really wouldn’t recommend Towson for most kids. Why?</p>
<p>First, they pay their faculty less than that of Maryland. Thus, you get lessor names and lower tier professors. </p>
<p>Second, Towson has zero name recognition and respect from anyone, as far as I know. Other than their education program, no program is top rated. </p>
<p>Third, with all the administrative hassles, poor teaching quality, etc, it just left a bad taste in my mouth. For example, starting in Junior year, most kids had to get off campus apartments because of insufficent on-campus housing. They had to admit too many kids in order to relieve congestion and applications from University of Maryland.</p>
<p>They have this brand new art complex yet aren’t NASAD accedited (National Association of School of Art and Design). </p>
<p>Bottom line: go elsewhere. If you want a Maryland school, defintely pick either Maryland or St. Marys or one of the private schools here.</p>
<p>Wow - interesting post. One comment - we were just there over the summer and they are building many new dorms for upperclassmen - there’s a new section called West Village near the football stadium.</p>
<p>And to be fair - doesn’t Maryland have the same issue with housing? Don’t most kids at UMDCP have to live off campus after freshman year?</p>
<p>We also liked the area around the Towson campus very much - nice shopping, restaurants and movie theater - looked to me to be a nicer, safer area than College Park.</p>
<p>On the name recognition issue - how about if the student plans to stay in Maryland? Certainly it is recognized here - not sure about respected.</p>
<p>I have no idea about the quality of the professors though - I see your point about Maryland attracting the better ones.</p>
<p>There was also an interesting post on the Towson forum about a freshman who was assigned certain classes - did not get to pick what he wanted - and that seemed very odd.</p>
<p>The last I heard (my son graduated from UMCP two years ago), UMCP was able to provide housing for everyone who wanted it except seniors.</p>
<p>But even if you don’t get – or don’t want – on-campus housing as an upperclassman, you don’t have to go far away. There are at least two large student-only apartment complexes as close to the campus buildings as the dorms are. Go on the UMCP board and ask about The Commons and The View.</p>
<p>The complaints about the downscale nature of the area surrounding UMCP are justified – but I don’t know of any Maryland students who have gone to Towson instead of UMCP for this reason. Towson is just so much lower on the prestige scale that most kids who are accepted into UMCP would not consider it. I suppose that the neighborhood surrounding UMCP is one of the reasons why there are so many Maryland kids at Penn State – but in this instance, they’re attending a school of equivalent academic reputation (though they’re paying a lot more to do so). </p>
<p>UMCP is quite survivable – the main problem is theft. So if you go there, get a really cheap bike and a really good bicycle lock, and don’t leave anything of value other than your bike unattended, even for a moment. It won’t be there when you get back.</p>
<p>Taxguy: Can you tell us more about the Accounting Dept. at Towson? How did your son find the job opportunities from Towson and Bentley business schools?</p>
<p>My son just does not want to go to UMCP. He says the school is just too big and he needs something smaller. </p>
<p>Given that he is interested in Accounting or Actuary Science, and St. Mary’s and UMBC does not offer the same majors, I don’t see what other options there are for parents who want to pay in state tuition price, other than Salisbury.</p>
<p>Also, thinking way ahead, I wonder if my son is better off having the additional job prospects (hopefully if this economy improves) of the Towson/Baltimore area and ending up there rather than the DC area because it is more affordable in Towson/Baltimore/Owings Mill.</p>
<p>Thanks so much.</p>