Umd vs Penn State

Colleges and Universities A-Z Penn State
1

So I recently gained admission to the University of Maryland College Park and did not get into the Smith School of Business. I was admitted to letters and sciences (which is basically their undecided pool). Is this a big deal? If I were to go to maryland with the intent of transferring into the Smith school of business, would that be a huge risk?

I’ve already been accepted into Penn State’s Smeal college of business into my intended major of marketing. I know it’s my decision, but should I take the risk of maybe or maybe not getting into smith when I’m already into smeal?

2

I am also in state for UMD, but is the risk really worth it?

3

You’re not actually in your major at Penn State; everyone applies for their major during their fourth semester. You have to complete several specific courses with a C or better, and then they rank everyone by GPA and take everyone above a (for marketing) 3.2 total GPA.
http://ugstudents.smeal.psu.edu/academics-advising/get-into-a-smeal-major/entrance-to-major-requirments-for-students-entering-penn-state-summer-2015-or-later

I don’t know anything about UMD so can’t tell you whether that “risk” is worth it, but just be aware that you still have hoops to jump at PSU too.

4

Thank you @bodangles Just to clarify, is this more of an application process? Or do I just have to meet the minimum GPA requirement. At UMD, it is like applying for college again. You have to fill out an application for extra curriculars and other things like that. No certain GPA at UMD will guarantee your acceptance into the program (the average for acceptance was a 3.6). How does this work at PSU?

5

Oh, I didn’t know some schools had such an involved process! Here it’s less work than applying for college again. The main things are to 1) complete the entrance-to-major courses with a C or better, and 2) meet the GPA requirement, for majors under enrollment control. Following your recommended academic plan should cover getting the courses done on time.

Some majors just take the top however-many students by GPA – for example ChemE has a limit of 160 – but if there’s a GPA requirement, they’ll go above their stated limit of students to take everyone who meets the GPA requirement. I am currently going through this process, as entry-to-major applications were due for this semester last Friday, so I should be getting an acceptance email soon-ish, hopefully. They don’t ask for extracurriculars or letters of recommendation or anything, just GPA and the course requirements.

6

Thank you for the information @bodangles ! UMD does actually ask for the recommendation letters and all of that. Now my only decision is to take in state tuition at UMD with a risk of not getting into my major (the only major business related that is not a part of the Smith school of business is economics), or go to Penn State and get into my major with a lower GPA requirement, and a relatively safer process, with out of state tuition.

7

If you’re not direct admit to Smith, it’s very very hard to get into - not just a matter of meeting basic requirements like for Smeal.
How much would each cost though and what’s your parents’ budget?

8

By the way, Smeal is super selective–last year they had 8,000 applicants for 800 freshman slots.