<p>Hi everyone. I already posted this in the college chances forum but im not getting many responses so i figured i would post it here.</p>
<p>I applied early action to UMD as an intended ChE major and im curious as to what my chances are.</p>
<p>OOS Applicant</p>
<p>UW GPA: 3.58, W GPA~4.15
Class rank: 18 of 203 (top 9%)
SAT: 2130 670 CR, 750 M, 710 W
SAT subject tests: CHEM: 680, BIO M: 710, MATH II: 730
math and science grades since freshman year:
algebra 1 accelerated: B+ Biology Honors: B+ (freshman)
Geometry accelerated: A- Chemistry regular: A (sophomore)
(took an algebra 2 course over the summer and got an A)
Pre-calculus HON: A- Biology AP: A-
AP Calc AB: A-, Honors Physics: B+</p>
<p>List of AP classes between junior and senior year: Biology, US History, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, AP Calc AB, AP European History, AP Statistics</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:</p>
<p>Peer mentoring (Help developmentally challenged students in their classes during my free period)
Math peer tutor
Science Olympiad
I'm on the staff of my school's art and literary magazine
Basketball for the first three years of high school (not varsity)
About 150 hours of community service</p>
<p>ESSAYS:
I had one very good essay, and one mediocre essay</p>
<p>Also, i was recently admitted into the engineering colleges for Purdue and UIUC, but I applied as a Nuclear Engineering major, not ChE. I know it is harder to get into UIUC, but i'm still a little nervous about UMD, so if anyone could tell me my chances it would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Hi. First off, congrats on your admission to Purdue and UIUC!</p>
<p>If I may, I’d like to refer you to my response to another poster since you have similar stats (Maryland only counts CR+M), but your gpa is a little better…so, my personal opinion is going to be the same - solid for admission to the university, but a question mark for direct admission to engineering
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1601554-chance-me.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1601554-chance-me.html</a></p>
<p>FYI, Maryland engineering admission is not based on the discipline you apply for - so there’s not a threshold of numbers admitted per discipline. Admissions are limited in general and therefore very competitive because Maryland engineering is very focused on retention (unlike some schools that admit a lot but plan on doing weed out). They limit the numbers so that they can ensure the resources for as much support as possible. Some examples of the unique support are a living-learning community just for engineers (FLEXUS for females, VIRTUS for males), peer mentoring for all freshman, guided study sessions for core engineering classes, and a program called Keystone classes which put the top professors in some specific freshman classes to ensure you don’t have to wait til your upperclass years to get good profs.</p>
<p>Also, at Maryland, nuclear engineering is a minor for undergraduates, not a major. You will be interested to know that there is actually a working (not virtual) nuclear reactor on campus.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, this is definitely the better forum for info on Maryland than the general forums…feel free to ask anything here!</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Wow this is all amazing information, its great to know that UMD is focused on retention, because one of my biggest fears going into engineering is that i will be “weeded out”. Anyway, one thing I’ve been looking for but can’t find is the actual percent of applicants that are admitted to the engineering college. Do you, or anyone else, know where I can find the admission rate?</p>
<p>Well, if you scroll down the following page quite a way, you can get some of the info you want here
[Facts</a> and Figures | A. James Clark School of Engineering](<a href=“http://www.eng.umd.edu/aboutus/facts-figures]Facts”>Facts & Figures | A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland)</p>
<p>They don’t exactly say percent of applicants admitted there, but I did note that info from the accepted student day for my son back in 2012:
around 5000 applicants, with 1625 admitted (assume you can figure out the % accepted from that - don’t ask me, I am soooo not a math person!)
28% women
15% minority
average SAT (CR=M) 1381
75th percentile SAT 1460
25th percentile SAT 1320
average HS GPA 4.2</p>
<p>I can also give you links to articles on the retention topic (UMD is actually a recommended model in a study for engineering education) and all of the programs I mentioned if you want…let me know…</p>
<p>When I attended UMCP, weeding out was the norm. I believe my year they had over 2000 students in pre-engineering wanting to be EEs. They made the GPA cut off 3.0, then 3.2, and then 3.5 through the first 2 years for the 180-200 EE slots. Granted, my SAT scores and high school grades were near the bottom. I am so thankful for having a chance to try and fortunately succeed. Nevertheless, it is nice that their focus has changed and retention is their goal. You read on CC about prestigious schools and amazing universities. Well, once you enterred your major at Maryland, the courses were very hard and gifted students were found throughout the upper level courses.</p>
<p>Fortunately, there are a plethora of job opportunities in the DC/Baltimore metropolitan area for those graduates. Good luck with your future, you’ve chosen a great school.</p>
<p>Hi frugaldoctor…I am also an alum! Yes, they completely revamped engineering because of retention issues…if I recall correctly I think they instituted the change in 2006.</p>
<p>Maryversity, that is really great to hear. My daughter is in high school (class of 2015) with excellent stats like most of these kids on CC. I make too much to ever qualify for financial aid but no way in #ell am I going to shell out full price for a private education. I seriously want my daughter to complete a bioengineering undergrad at Maryland before going on to medical school (if that is what she really wants). My experience at Maryland was as an OOS and she would definitely be OOS with stats to potentially receive Merit aid.</p>
<p>I don’t know about you, but my blood boils when I read posts about Michigan, Berkeley, and a bunch of other engineering schools while UMCP is overlooked. A lot of my Maryland engineering colleagues are successful through engineering and many diverse fields. That just from a small circle of friends. Why isn’t Maryland getting the respect it has earned??</p>
<p>By the way. where may I learn more about the changes with the engineering department?</p>
<p>I hope you will forgive me for being extremely lazy and just referring you to some previous posts where I responded to similar questions…and was it on purpose or a happy coincidence that you, as a Terp, don’t want to “shell out” full price…ha ha? </p>
<p>I actually did a lot of research on Maryland engineering to make sure I wouldn’t be accused of undue influence as an alum…didn’t work - still get teased! The fact is my husband also like Maryland the best for a lot of reasons also!</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1481313-help-decision-engineering-major.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1481313-help-decision-engineering-major.html</a> in particular, posts #9, #11</p>
<p>[Retention</a> Project: American Society for Engineering Education](<a href=“Page not found”>Page not found) Page 22-23 details UMD </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1455365-attn-engineers-special-living-learning-program.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1455365-attn-engineers-special-living-learning-program.html</a></p>
<p>As for Maryland engineering being overlooked, I think it goes back to the days of my tenure (and likely yours also - since I also have a daughter also '15 I’m assuming we may be close in age) when Maryland had a rep of just being a party school…but even back then, I always knew the engineering was very good there! Maryland has come a long way to really become a top school in general and is continuing to get more and more competitive. They are making huge strides and continue to climb in esteem which is what actually makes Maryland a better investment…However, those actually in the field of engineering DO have a lot of respect for Maryland engineering…and that’s what counts…it’s more the general populace that is a bit slower on knowing how good it is. People get caught up with names for status and assume things that are better at certain “name brand” schools. Can’t change that except with time…</p>
<p>Thanks alot maryversity for all this information, if i have any more pressing questions ill let you know, but for now i guess all i can do is wait and see…</p>
<p>My pleasure…I guess you can tell I am a big fan of Maryland…ha ha. Hope you will be hearing good news in a few weeks! :)</p>
<p>wow great information congrats on purdue and UIUC. I believe you ave a really high chance of getting into UMD with those states. I hope you get in… Best of luck. If u can chance me back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1609452-uga.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1609452-uga.html#latest</a></p>