What’s wrong with UMD CS?
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Nothing specifically wrong, ig. But it doesn’t have the wow! factor of an Ivy or HYPMS or the respect of a GeorgiaTech or CMU.
It wasn’t even initially on my list. My dad suggested I add it because he said their CS was good. I admit I don’t know a whole lot about the school or the CS program and haven’t felt motivated to find out more. I was on several waitlists so I clung on to hope, however slim.
Good luck. There’s nothing wrong with attending UMD Honors program. It’s a great achievement.
There’s also nothing wrong with having preferences. I dont think you should let people dissuade you from trying to transfer if your heart just isnt into a school.
If you want to reach for the stars, then go for it. No one should try to convince you otherwise.
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This is a fabulous program and school. Go with the intention of loving it and doing well!
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UMD is very good for CS. Congratulations!
“Prestige” is not important for jobs in computer science (this helps to explain the t-shirts and blue jeans). The Ivy League is not particularly well known for CS. What you can do is very important for CS jobs.
You are headed for a very good university. Expect it to be academically challenging. Keep ahead in your classes. Strive for top grades. Look for internship possibilities. If you go in with a goal to strive for excellence as a student at UMD, and if you are a top student and a reasonable person who gets along with students and professors, this is likely to help you to find good internship options. Having good experience with internships or a coop program will be very helpful going forward.
After you get your bachelor’s degree at UMD, look for a good job. If you are still interested after a year of two or three of working, Stanford and UCB and multiple other top universities will still be there, and will still have great master’s programs in CS. Strictly speaking it is also of course possible to get a master’s immediately after getting your bachelor’s degree.
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I understand your disappointment. Unfortunately, the earth has moved under our feet in the last few years of college admissions. What your teachers tole you in sophomore year was based on the experience of their students a few years earlier. They just didn’t see the world of college admissions that we have today coming. You probably would have gotten into a T20 a few years ago.
Several years ago the president of the University of Chicago at the time said that if they removed their incoming freshman class and replaced them with the next group behind them, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. This has become even more true with each passing year since he said that. Applying to a T20 school has become increasingly like buying a lottery ticket. There’s just so much luck involved.
So, thank your Dad for giving you such good advice.
College is not a destination. It is a means to an end, the place where you prepare for the rest of your life. Once you move on from college, it won’t matter where you went to school. So I suggest that you set your sites on what kind of life you’d like to have and what it will take to get there rather than on what college you’d like to be at. What are the next steps you need to take in your immediate future to get where you need to be? That’s what will matter most.
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You’re headed to a great program. Echoing what’s been said, throw yourself into it. If by mid January you want to transfer, send out the tx apps. Know that those schools will want to know what they can give you that your current school cannot – after you have done everything to get that at your current school.
I know one kid who did transfer to a higher tier school from a large school honors program - a LAC quite different from where he originally landed and with both a good reason and some sadness to leave freshman friends.
I know another who went to UMD, also disappointed with results at Ivies, and had a great experience and is off to med school.
This is all to say that you should start with enthusiasm and optimism and expect that it will work well and that you will make the effort. This won’t be the first time life doesn’t give you what you want but that it may be more than fine! You can always apply to transfer if you want to, but if that doesn’t go well, you’ll want to have laid the groundwork for UMD to be a great experience all the same. In that way, you’ve preserved your options.
OP, one more thing… Try now to start caring less about what people think or attaching your own self worth to things like where you go to school. If you want to dissect your application process to see if there are lessons learned that you can use in future, fine. You’re smart. You’re reflecting on how you are processing this. You know what you love to do. Embrace the opportunities you have and you’ll soar. Go to commencement proud of what you’ve achieve and where you’re headed!
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UMD CS is a great program. Sergei Brin (Google founder) is from UMD CS. Sergey Brin - Wikipedia
You can transfer if you want to. I know someone who went from GTech CS to UPenn CS, someone else from UPenn CS to UCB CS etc. Transfers can happen.
OP, please thank your dad. If you still feel the same next year and want to transfer then go for it but do it for the right reasons, not just prestige. You could also consider some of the Canadian universities if that’s an interest.
I’m not much for rankings but the link below shows that UMD CS is well regarded. Possibly even more than some schools that you “thought” were better. Good luck.
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I have some sympathy for the OP’s interest in moving. UMD is very good. But crowded compared to the private schools. It is the quality of the experience that is of concern rather than the quality of the faculty which is reflected in the rankings.
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Some of those concerns may be offset by the fact that the OP is in the honors program at UMD.
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Maybe. You need to carefully investigate what facilities the honors program provides. The classes are still large. You may just have registration preference. I am guessing the honors program is not like the Turing program where they have separate classes in several cases I think.
I have sympathy too. I said to transfer if OP feels the need. Just do it for the right reasons like fit, overcrowded, lack of professor interaction, etc. Not due to “prestige”.
I’m also aware of the differences in Honors programs. Both sons are in their school’s Honors program. One program is useless. The other treats their students very well. No idea about UMD. Honors program could make or break the UMD experience. Do your own due diligence.
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Thank you all for your responses. They are all very helpful!
I do feel better about UMD now after reading everything here. I am going to really try and make the most of my time there. And as suggested I will wait until January to decide if I still want to transfer.
(And yes I will thank my Dad for telling me to add UMD to my application list LOL)
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I didn’t know that! Very cool!
Thank you! I think my Dad did show me these rankings or something similar when he was telling me UMD is a top 20 school for computer science.
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Honors at UMD is a living-learning program so it has a separate (pretty nice actually) dorm. It also allows for smaller classes. And they said additional opportunities. So I guess it’s nice.
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You need to make sure that the CS classes are small, as opposed to other honors classes. They graduated some 800 or so so CS graduates last year I think. It is unlikely they will run a small 50 person honors class and a separate large 400 person non honors class for the same subject. Wouldn’t hurt to confirm.
I will check, but big classes don’t really bother me much. Anyway I don’t really have a choice of colleges at this point 
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Best not to torture yourself a second time. You have a university, go there and thrive. T-20 schools are grossly overrated, and in many cases inferior, especially for CS. UMD honors and a CS degree IS prestigious!
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