<p>Can anyone tell me the differences between these two colleges? All I have are the promotional materials and would rather know the inside scoop.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>What aspects are most important to you for differentating these schools? Off the top of my head, CP is larger, “better” academically, stronger name recognition, better athletics, and just more highly sought after by high school students in Maryland. The only good things I hear about BC are in terms of life science programs like biology, pharm, and premed (though you can technically do premed most everywhere and have a shot at Harvard med school). That’s not to say that BC doesn’t have great programs, I just haven’t heard about them. For less steallar students, they might be able to pick up some merit aid at BC while getting 0 at CP.</p>
<p>UMBC fancies itself as an “Honors University.” That’s nice. Its student body certainly doesn’t have a slacker rep. Until recently it was mainly a commuter school. But I think the residential campus has really expanded in the last decade. In spite of this, I think many kids head home for the weekend. It has a great rep in the Balt Metro region for tuning out highly capable science/math/tech grads. The grad school is well respected.</p>
<p>UMCP, as the state flagship, is an everything school. You name it, they probably got it. Its surrounding area is less safe than UMBC’s. Its enrollment is 3X UMBC. Its athletics are household names. </p>
<p>UMBC is a stones throw from the Balt Betlway. UMCP is a stone’s throw from the DC Beltway and has a Metro stop.</p>
<p>UMBC is much more of the school for local kids that want a college degree. Tier III school.</p>
<p>College Park is the state flagship and definitely selective, Tier I school, ACC Sports.</p>
<p>Similar Comparisons: </p>
<p>UCLA & Cal State Fullerton
University of Colorado-Boulder - and University of Colorado - Colorado Springs</p>
<p>UMBC - It’s kind of a watered down version of the traditional college experience that most people have in mind, way more commuters and local students. Don’t misconstrue this as one is better than the other - that’s certainly not the case. They just generally serve different populations of students.</p>
<p>GL</p>
<p>Social life at UMBC is usually dull and pretty dead on the weekends, from what I’ve heard from current students.</p>
<p>CP is far more vibrant, lots and lots of partying – and other stuff, of course.</p>
<p>and then, of course, CP is better known nationally.</p>
<p>I dunno CP students just seem happier and I known plenty who got to both.</p>
<p>I’ve worked with a couple of kids who got a good education at UMBC (math, physics). I’ve worked with a couple of really sharp PhDs who “retired” and then taught there. It’s certainly easier to get into then UMCP, and a few of my kids’ friends have ended up going there, not necessarily first choice. UMCP is “too big” for my D, UMBC is “too close.”</p>
<p>I know that they have dorms and all, but it just has that “feel” of a commuter school. I got the same feeling when we visited RIT. I think it’s something to do with creating a ring road and parking lots, then cramming a bunch of buildings into a small space in the middle.</p>
<p>UMBC has a championship chess team, btw.</p>
<p>Public transportation is better at UMCP with a Metro stop on campus, and multiple bus routes. UMBC is more challenging to reach without a car.</p>
<p>I was very impressed with the President of UMBC.</p>
<p>We toured UMBC two years ago and my son liked the school. Thought it was clean, safe and had good access to Washington and Baltimore. Students can have cars as freshmen, a nice perk. The scholarship program is excellent. The science/tech facilities are wonderful. He liked UMBC a lot, but was honest that it was not the school for him. As for College Park, our family friends went there many years ago. They actually discouraged him from attending, although he is a diehard Terp fan. They had some serious questions about the neighborhood. Also, one of the drawbacks to attend CP is the lack of dorm space for upperclassmen.</p>
<p>Agree with Tom1944, also know one of the Dean’s personally - he is wonderful and personable, brilliant. This school is a gem for some kids. I am very impressed with some of my D’s friends who chose honors program there. Most are science/tech, or heading for med school. UMCP is just too big for some, UMBC might be easier for some to find ‘community’. UMBC does not have that ‘campus’ feel - the ‘ring road’ and parking lots describe it to a tee.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I would classify it as tier III - but maybe it is. The kids I know going there got into tier one and two schools, just did not choose them for various reasons. From the looks of their communications with my D, they are enjoying life there - but they were very involved/active kids in HS. They are all in Honors - some are Meyerhoff scholars, I believe.</p>
<p>My d did not choose UMCP intentionally for reasons that momreads states.</p>
<p>This was in the local paper today regarding UMBC…</p>
<p>[UMBC</a> tops U.S. News ‘up and coming’ list – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.newrankings20aug20,0,1600799.story]UMBC”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.newrankings20aug20,0,1600799.story)</p>
<p>UMBC = no social life</p>
<p>I’m going to start this post by saying that I currently attend UMBC (rising sophomore, chemical engineering major) from OOS and had never visited UMCP before going over with a couple of my friends last semester so I cannot comment on the student experience there at all.</p>
<p>The academics at UMBC are top-notch, and not just in science related fields. I took several classes in the humanities (history, art, and a current events seminar) my first semester and all were well taught and interesting. All but one of my professors have been happy to help when approached during office hours and several of them were more than willing to just sit and talk or to help students find research opportunities if asked.</p>
<p>The scholarship program is also fairly generous. There are the normal merit scholarships as well as scholarship programs with specific goals and majors. These programs also have associated living communities in the dorms and the students in them tend to form close bonds with each other.</p>
<p>There are many commuters and the campus does tend to empty out a bit on weekends. There are students who stay, however, and there are things to do on campus. There are parties, but they are mostly relegated to the weekends. If you don’t want to, you definitely don’t have to, but they are there. There is also a Greek scene, and while it doesn’t really dominate campus culture, many of the student leaders on campus are involved. We also don’t have Greek houses, so members either live in campus housing or in their own apartments off campus.</p>
<p>The campus is enclosed in a loop. Personally, I like the campus, but I understand how some could feel that it is too small or isolated. The public transportation generally isn’t bad as long as you check the schedule first, but it could be better. The only comment I will make on CP is that it felt WAY too big to me, but that is a personal thing and nothing against the school.</p>
<p>Our sports may not be recognized nationally in the same way CP’s are, and we do not have a football team, but they are by no means bad. We compete NCAA DI in America East. Our lacrosse and swim teams are consistently good, and the basketball teams have done well recently as well. Some of the club teams (notably ice hockey) are also very good and well ranked.</p>
<p>I hope this helped a bit, and I would be glad to answer any questions I can about UMBC. I’m sorry this post got a bit disorganized, but I tried to address everything that was brought up before.
(and if it would help I was also accepted to Case Western, RPI, and UMinn for engineering all with significant merit money, and I know many other students who have gotten into top ranked schools who have come to UMBC instead as well)</p>
<p>Can you tell me a little more about the Meyerhoff scholarship program? Thanks.</p>
<p>[UMBC</a> Meyerhoff Scholars Program](<a href=“http://www.umbc.edu/meyerhoff/]UMBC”>http://www.umbc.edu/meyerhoff/)</p>
<p>This should help lakumaddali. You must be nominated by your counselor first though but if you get the chance to go to selection weekend, go. It is an extremely rewarding experience. The Meyerhoff is a wonderful scholarship that has students go off and do amazing things (there is a guy who got accepted to Johns Hopkins MD-PhD program and will be attending this meeting for Nobel Laureates which is a HUGE honor) in science and research. </p>
<p>They start you off with a summer bridge program (also called boot camp) and then every summer after that, they make sure you have an internship. The students are incredibly intelligent and the family feel is one of a kind. They really want students who research/want to do research, can be a part of their family, and are aiming for PhD’s in science or engineering. Read more about it and see if you fit the mold!</p>
<p>As a somewhat recent graduate of UMD-CP (2006) I will warn that some aspects of this post will be at least slightly slanted in favor of College Park. I had a blast at College Park. If you are looking for the traditional college experience (i.e. large beautiful campus, big time sports, large on campus community, etc) then choose College Park over UMBC. Some people on this thread said they felt lost and the school was too large. I have to respectfully disagree. While it can feel that way the first semester of your freshman year. By the second semester of freshman year, sophomore year at the latest the campus begins to feel smaller. By then you’ve narrowed the mass of new people you met down to the 3-4 or so people that make up your circle of friends and once you’ve declared a major most classes are in the same area, if not building.
I do agree that the social scene can be a bit overwhelming and a bit tempting to an 18-19 year old that has all this new found freedom but finding a balance between work and play is a part of being an adult. Some people at College Park master that balance some people, unfortunately don’t. The perspective that College Park seems to take is they provide you with all the resources (excellent academics, strong social scene, etc) now learn how to manage. The difference between College Park and a smaller school like UMBC is that instead of being pushed along in the right direction you are expected to take that initiative. Yes I have had classes that ranged anywhere from 30 students to 500 students but I had professors that knew me on a first name basis is both types of classes. Professors are accessible and willing to help you but you have to make the effort. There’s no attendance taken in class like in high school. You don’t get marked absent. You are expected to know why you and/or your parents chose to invest $100,000 plus in your education.
In summary you cannot go wrong with either choice. From what I hear UMBC is a good school. But what I know from my experience is that all my friends from UMD-CP that were technical majors (Engineering, Comp Sci, Pre Med) are all doing very well. If you want the big school experience then go to UMD-CP. If you don’t want the big school experience OR you are worried about succumbing to the many social temptations of UMD-CP then go to UMBC or another smaller school. Remember, Johns Hopkins is a small school and out ranks both. Good luck. Go Terps!
P.S. Sorry for the long post.</p>
<p>“Remember, Johns Hopkins is a small school and out ranks both.”</p>
<p>And outprices both. There’s no way in heck a lot of families in MD would pay for JHU, though UMBC and UMCP are quite affordable (UMBC more so).</p>
<p>As a student who went to a competitive public HS in MD (many kids off to UMBC, UMCP, or more prestigious privates, including Ivies)…</p>
<p>UMBC was NOT considered a “Tier III school.” It was NOT considered the “worse” school academically in the way Towson, Salisbury, Frostburg, etc. were, though it is slightly less desirable than UMCP (uglier campus, less sports, less traditional college feel overall) and therefore easier to get into. </p>
<p>People in MD generally see UMBC and UMCP as simply two different options - different playing fields in the same league, if you will. UMBC is smaller, “nerdier” (i.e. not an insane house/frat party scene, lots of foreign kids, lots of kids on scholarships, chess champions, smaller sports scene, etc.), and yes, somewhat more “commuter”…and commuter in a sense that there were a lot of money-conscious people saving up for med school (it gives more scholarships, its tuition is slightly lower, etc), not in a sense that it was a “bad” school only for locals or something. In recent years they’ve been trying to shed the commuter image, and are building more dorms…but it still in no way compares to CP, which has a ridiculous amount of “on campus” life. I think the characterization of UMBC has being a hub for life-sciences/premed/etc. is accurate, too.</p>
<p>While I would generally prefer the “nerdy” “small school” vibe, UMBC was unfortunately just too commuter /feeling/ to me, even though I know a lot of kids stay on campus and I am sure you find your friends and niche among your neighbors. UMCP just has so much life and activity to it, and you feel like the world is in front of you standing on the hilltop in front of Memorial Chapel…not so in UMBC’s office park campus haha…but I had many friends who chose UMBC over CP but were NOT poor students in the slightest, especially those who graduated HS early, were offered big scholarships, etc.</p>
<p>And there ya go…</p>
<p>Thanks Neocutey24!</p>
<p>It also depends on which program you’re interested in. Some programs in UMCP rank very high. (EE, Physics…) It is a great school. I don’t deny I may be biased. Some of my students attend UMBC grad. school and enjoy it too. But I do think UMCP offers a lot more.</p>
<p>I know this is an old thread, but . . . </p>
<p>UMBC is frequently referred to as a “commuter” school. I wanted to share some statistics regarding both UMD-CP and UMBC. 41% of undergrads at College Park live on campus vs. 37% at UMBC. That’s only a difference of 4%. However, due to the much greater number of undergrads attending UMD-CP, that equates to about 11,000 undergrads living on campus at College Park vs. 3,700 at UMBC. This could explain why UMBC may feel more like a “commuter” school compared to College Park. A college with 3,700 undergrads living on campus is definitely going to feel more “empty” than one with 11,000.</p>