If this would otherwise be a top choice, especially if you are a Maryland resident?, why not look into your son appealing? Maybe you will find it’s a mistake, or they weight other things higher than scores . I would be careful about dissuading anyone else from applying, if the school is otherwise a good fit. Their outcome could be different.
Good luck!
My daughter did FC (2016) and got all A’s her freshman year and was invited to join Civicus for her sophomore year. She chose not to because she is working on a double major and didn’t want the extra required classes or live in Civicus housing(she got a single in a dorm apartment on south campus.) Entering UMD she was sad she only got FC(34 ACT) and not regular fall admission and would have loved Civicus but time changes people and they see they don’t need "special classes"or housing to succeed.
So even if you don’t get what you want entering UMD you can succeed and get into programs later due to your gpa.
@Momofseveral10 - I’m glad that your child and your friends’ children have other good options. My kid will decide in March whether it’s UMD Honors or SLACs/Ivies, but the price of UMD is a huge incentive for a full pay student.
@MrazFan100 - absolutely! Merit awards are not contingent on program invites with the sole exception of the B/K (full ride) invites.
@Momofseveral10 “Somebody tell me again why we shouldn’t feel snubbed?”
I can tell you a million times over, argue your faulty logic, clear up misconceptions/misinformation, yet it would not make a difference…
I am sure your daughter will be successful at whichever school you feel is the best fit and wish you well.
@maryversity: “daughter”? Anyway, I believe I am posing valid questions. I wonder if alumni should be insulting prospective families by suggesting that they are suffering from faulty logic. If I am misunderstanding, please explain. Don’t insult just because you don’t have an answer to explain the seeming rather large discrepancy. I am not alone in my reaction to the UMD results either.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: OK, let’s move on, please. People are just going back and forth now. This is not a debate site.
@CU1986, the facts and figures you referenced (https://eng.umd.edu/facts-and-figures) only refers to the students that accepted the admission offer and matriculated in the fall. It is NOT the full picture of actual, total number applicants.
At the admitted students day for engineering students, they do share how many total students that applied to engineering compared to the number offered direct admission to engineering. I used to have the details from the year my son was admitted and calculated the direct admission rate to engineering to be somewhere around 25%, and that was years ago. I don’t know if I still have that info, but I will look.
The fact that 63% of the current, matriculated class was selected to honors is NOT as direct a correlation of admission as some have inferred since the percentage only refers to the students that selected to attend Maryland - it is not the percentage of students that applied. (I hope I stated that clearly?)
Similarly, the percentage of students in honors cannot be correlated to a percentage of admissions. A high number of students that are invited to honors do choose to attend, but when you look at the total number of actual applicants to the university itself (well over 30,000 - have even heard it was close to 40,000 but don’t quote me because I haven’t looked it up), the number invited to participate in honors is actually not as large of a percentage.
Smith School of Business is considered the most competitive by admission rate because they have the highest number of applicants compared to how many they offer direct admission. (I do not have those figures)
However, The A. James Clark School of Engineering has the highest average “stats” for direct admission to engineering. Like Honors, Engineering has its own selection process and does not admit on stats alone. However, given the median stats for engineering direct admits, it is not surprising that a large number of the engineering direct admits happen to also be invited to honors.
Thank you @maryversity for all of this helpful information! I went to college park myself, but had no idea about what the undergraduate application and acceptance process is like since my older child didn’t apply there a few years ago. The guidance on all of these programs is super helpful, and it has aided me in helping answer questions my daughter has about them. Do you happen to know if admitted students find out which scholars program they will be a part of before the admitted student visits in late March and April? DD signed up right away with her picks, but I want sure if they wait to assign until after May 1, when students commit to their schools. Just figured I’d ask in case someone knows.
It is a fact that UMD is required, by State Charter, to maintain a certain percentage of in-state students within each Freshman Class. I believe that number is 70%. Historically about 25% of each Freshman Class is OOS.
I have been a “watcher” on these forums for two years, but have never posted. I thought it was a good time to offer my two cents on UMD (for what it’s worth). My daughter graduated from HS in 2016, and we suffered through this process at that time. We made a lot of mistakes! My daughter had a 35 act (one sitting), 4.7 GPA, 750-780 on 3 subject SAT’s, 10 AP’s with all 5’s, great recommendations, extracurriculars, etc. One by one she was rejected from UVA, UNC, Georgetown, Duke, Cornell, Yale. It was an extremely disappointing experience, and we learned that our expectations had been set way too high. We also learned that this process sometimes feels extremely random, and we cannot possibly know why one applicant is selected while another is not. It feels like you are playing the lottery with 40,000 other strong applicants, and sometimes your number hits, and sometimes it doesn’t. We are in-state Maryland, and she did NOT want to go to UMD (too many kids from her high school going, too big, etc). She was accepted to Boston College, but the price tag would leave her with no money for medical school. My daughter ended up making the very practical decision of selecting UMD, and we have never looked back! UMD has been a fantastic experience from day 1. My daughter is in the honors program, but this has had very little to do with her positive experience at UMD. Her freshman roommate (an engineering major from out of state who became a best friend) was not in the honors program. Most of her friends are not in the honors program. She is a bio/psych major, and her classes are not limited to honors students. Her initial fears were a non-issue - this is a big school that is made smaller in so many ways. Seeing a friendly face that she knew from high school ended up being a nice thing after all. My son (with similar stats) just went through the application process, and we only applied to state schools we knew we could afford. The one we were waiting most anxiously for was UMD. Whether he got in Freshman Connection or Honors, he was UMD bound, and we are very excited to have 2 terps next fall. Ultimately, if you think a mistake has been made, contact admissions. If, for whatever reason, you do not believe that UMD is the right school for you, that’s ok, too. Fortunately, there are lots of great options out there!
Yes, @SoofDad , Good point. I am in Virginia and UVA , W & M , Virginia Tech, have similar restrictions - 2/3 Virginia students overall. What some OOS families may not understand is that the DC area has many very high stat students in Maryland and Virginia. It is no walk in the park for even high stats kids in Virginia or Maryland to get into their preferred school, let alone Honors programs , engineering, CS, etc. I have 2 family members currently at UMD (instate) which is why I have followed this thread . They seem happy there. But there are lots of schools out there. @Momofseveral10 If UMD has not given your child what you think they deserve, probably best to move on, for your sake, as well as your child’s. Good luck.
@studentny, great post! Thanks for your insight.
@studentny and @sevmom - Thank you for your posts and the additional perspectives you provided
sevmom: We can see the stats of enrolled students in the engineering program and the number invited to the honors program, so there is no confusion or delusion regarding the talent pool at UMD. No problems moving on, especially now with some additional insight into the alumni community.
Best of luck to you and your child, @Momofseveral10 . Disappointments with admissions results are not uncommon so you are not alone!
@lifegarding In answer to your question, yes, you will be notified of the scholars program assignment prior to admitted student programs. I remember they gave a presentation on each of the programs and a few students asked if they could switch programs. They were told that requests to change were possible for most programs, but it was based on space availability. They would not know space availability for any change requests until after the May 1 commitment date.
@lifegarding my 19 year old’s letter of invite to Scholars was dated 2/3/17 and his letter of selection to College Park Scholars Science and Global Change was dated 3/27/17. I saved these things for reference with our second son this year, and I have learned that the dates do not necessarily align. But I think it is safe to say the student will hear by 5/1.
@Momofseveral10 - let it go and move on.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
For some reason, the circular conversation is continuing; compliance with the other moderator’s “suggestion” should not be construed as optional by anyone. Any additional comments from any of the same users on the topic on disappointment in honors college admissions will be deleted without comment. Again, everyone please move on.