<p>Hi. I am a freshman enrolling in fall this year. I have already decided to enter the University of Maryland under the major of accounting. But today morning I just receive the acceptance email of UIUC that I am admitted from waitlist. UIUC also accepts me into its business school. So now I am in quite a dilemma.</p>
<p>I think it's pretty nice to study in MD as it it close to D.C. so business students may have much opportunists there. And I also know that UMD has a good reputation. But after all UIUC has a much higher ranking.</p>
<p>To help me decide I would like to ask a few questions.
1. Is it difficult to major in accounting as I am in business assigned now? It's a top program and is very attractive.
2. The number of Intl students like me in UIUC is very large. Actually I am a bit afraid that I come here to study but meet most people from my own country...
3. After being admitted into UMD I do search on internet and find a lot of positive comments about this school. And I also begin to take to it now... What about UIUC? Do alumni usually love it and consider it a right choice?</p>
<p>I’d stick with UMD Accounting. It’s an excellent major and the university is excellent.
UIUC is also a great school but at times it seems its reputation in some Asia countries is a little exagerated. (It is, however, stellar for CS and engineering.) UIUC alumni love it as much as UMD’s alumni love their school. To the best of my knowledge, alumni rarely disparage their school, unless it was a poor fit.
What are your choices if you go there as business/undecided, how difficult is it to get into the Accounting major and how many/what percentage of business/undecided students manage it? It’s a question you should ask the Business school at UIUC directly.
Were you admitted to the Honors Program at either? Can you look and see if you can still apply for those?
I also recommend you apply to live in a Living Learning Community: it’s easier to make friends that way in a big university.</p>
<p>Thank you @MYOS1634 ! In my country many people know UIUC but few of them know UMD. So my fellows tend to recommend UIUC. I don’t know much about the situation in the US.
I am not admitted to any Honors Program. But I am in the Global Communities Living and Learning Program of UMD.</p>
<p>In the US, it depends on where you live. People in the Midwest would have heard about UIUC more, and people on the East Coast and the DC area would have heard about UMD more.
Excellent thing re: Global Communities LLC.</p>
<p>@maryversity Hi. I suppose you are a current student at UMD. Could you please give me some specific information about the school, especially the teaching quality and reputation of rhsmith</p>
<p>Hi - sorry, I’m not a current student but I am an alum and mom of a current engineering student. The business school is VERY good, from all that I’ve heard about it and seen peripherally - everyone who has a student in the business program is really happy they chose Maryland. The depth and breadth of opportunities and education is very impressive and it is highly competitive to get into! </p>
<p>Why don’t you post your question on the Maryland forum, so you can hear more specifics from either students or parents of students currently enrolled in Smith?</p>
<p>@maryversity sorry for my mistake LOL. Very glad to know how outstanding the business program is. It really enhances my will to enter UMD:) Illinois seems kinda remote</p>
<p>Yes, they’re both in the same “group” (grouping of schools) where all the schools are the same level even if they have different characteristics. In other words, quality of instruction and quality of students are the same, what changes is location, weather, campus culture, athletic strengths, special programs, special opportunities, etc…
For all you know, it’d be enough for
UMD is very well-regarded in the US even if it’s not as well known in the country where you live - but it stands to reason that people who live in the US have a closer look and experience at the school than people in your country. You can also read the description for both schools in the Fiske Guide: you’ll see they’re both very positive.
As an international student, I’d pick UMD simply because it’s also your chance to see the US, and from UMD you can easily get to DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York City, plus Lancaster County isn’t tooooo far if you feel like seeing the countryside, and if you want the beach the Jersey Shore isn’t that far either. So to me it beats UIUC in terms of location. Both have a strong football (American football) culture. The weather in MD is a bit milder but neither is balmy by a long shot.</p>
<p>UI is considered one of the top accting schools in the US. BUT accting is one area that recruits very widely and even the top accting firms recruit at most of the flagship state U’s and even some regional publics. So for accting it really wont matter much with major US accting firms.</p>
<p>Ha ha, no worries. Putting aside academics, I have to agree with MYOS1634’s point about UMD being a better choice as an international student for seeing the heart of the nation. You will come away with a richer cultural experience with far less effort simply due to location/convenience to all the hot spots (like DC, Philly, New York City). </p>
<p>@maryversity what about security problem? Many comments on internet mention that the security in Bartimore (I don’t know if College Park is close to it) is a bit poor. </p>
<p>It’s not in Baltimore AT ALL.
It’s in College Park, a college town. It’s about 30 miles or 50 km from Baltimore so it’s easy to go if you want to be in a big city, but the problems in some areas of Baltimore don’t spill out to College Park (and don’t really affect Towson or other suburbs, either). College Park is closer to DC, probably a dozen miles (20 km).
Baltimore has dangerous areas indeed, but you won’t be going there. Like all American cities, and all cities in the world, there are bad neighborhoods and interesting neighborhoods. Baltimore has the Inner Harbor, which is perfectly safe, for instance. And of course you’re very close to DC, which has lots of places to visit.</p>
<p>Thank you @MYOS1634 !!! BTW, can you receive notification once I reply here? Or do I have to @ somebody for directing him/her to see my comments… </p>
