UMD CS

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
1

I’m spending the summer deciding what schools I want to attend, and I have a few questions about UMD CS

  1. How difficult is the major? Are the courses extremely challenging, or is it manageable? The beauty of UMD is that it has a strong sports culture, and I love sports, so I’m afraid that I won’t be able to enjoy the experience because of all the work I have to do.

  2. Do major tech companies recruit at UMD? I know this question may have been answered like a MILLION times, but I was just wondering if the major tech companies recruit from UMD. Also, is there a lot of competition with other CS students for the jobs?

  3. How is UMD CS when it comes to artificial intelligence? I know that they have the special cyber-security program, but I was wondering if artificial intelligence was something that was also emphasized here?

  4. How are the students in the CS major? Is it a close-knit community, or is everyone so bogged down with work/anti-social that no one sticks their heads up to help or just to talk?

  5. Is the CS program direct admission, or do I have to take pre-reqs for my first two years before declaring the major? If so, is there a limit to the number of students accepted or is everyone accepted? I’m afraid that this might be like University of Washington, and I don’t want to end up stuck somewhere doing something I didn’t plan on doing. (Not trying to sound like a prick. I love Maryland tbh)

Pls answer. Pls :expressionless:

2

@JTheGreat58 - I cannot speak directly to the CS program since my D is not in CS. But I do work in the Computer Science field in the DC area and I can tell you that UMD is highly regarded. Not only do major Tech Companies recruit there, but so do major Government agencies – NSA, DHS. CIA, NIST, NRO. FBI and others. UMD’s CS department is, I think, 23rd on the 50 most innovative Computer Science departments list (you can google the list). Good Luck

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  1. Can't answer - how challenging you find the curriculum depends on your areas of strength, study habits, etc. In general, it starts easier and gets increasingly difficult as you progress, so you will be challenged. However, if you manage your time well, you should have no problem whatsoever making the most of the full college experience. Son is an engineering student and has had no problems in this regard.
  2. Yup - one of the founders of Google (Sergey Brin) is a Maryland alum and we just got a donation for CS from Brian Iribe, CEO of Oculus, who also attended Maryland...
  3. http://www.aaai.org/ojs/index.php/aimagazine/article/view/426 http://www.cs.umd.edu/researcharea/db http://www.isr.umd.edu I could go on...but intro to AI for any major and great course in general is CMSC289I (https://ntst.umd.edu/soc/201508/CMSC) but it's only offered in the Fall
  4. The general vibe of Maryland is pretty friendly in all majors - not cut-throat competitive - and pretty social. All types go to Maryland - very diverse in every respect - so you will find whatever type of personality/crowd you are comfortable with to hang out with
  5. As of now, it is still direct admission and not a LEP (limited enrollment program) so as long as you are admitted, you start right away. Here is the 4 year plan https://cmns.umd.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/docs/4yr-plans/CMSC.pdf
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Be sure you know that like many Big Ten schools, Maryland recently implemented a tiered tuition system under which CS, Engineering and Business undergrads have to pay an extra $2800/year for tuition their junior and senior years. This is for a couple reasons – they are the most popular majors on campus, they want to strengthen the infrastructure for the programs while keeping class sizes reasonable, and the average starting salary for these programs is significantly higher than other majors.

That said, based on reputation and location, I’d put Maryland’s CS program against almost anyone. My son will be starting Computer Engineering there this fall.

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@afterp89 - thanks for reminding me about that fun fact…doesn’t affect me horribly as my son is now a senior (don’t know how that happened so fast!).

In the scheme of things, it’s not a huge differential and certainly not a reason to discount the school (which is outstanding and he would still choose it over other schools without hesitation) …but it still ticks me off conceptually.