Understanding the UMD Admissions Process

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
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I posted something about this before, but I’m hoping this is a simpler explanation This all based on my observations over the past 4 years. I have NO inside information.

Ok, now that the applications are in, what actually happens to them?

As you know, UMD uses one application for everything.

This is what they do, as I understand it.

  1. Review by the University of Maryland College Park Admissions Committee

UMD will get a lot of priority application this year. (I don’t know how many Priority ones, but probably 32,000 total)This first admissions committee reviews them and makes one of 3 decisions
a. Denied Admission
b. Admitted for Fall 2016
c, Admitted for Spring 2017

They do NOT make any decisions about Honors College admission, Scholars Program admission or admission to Limited Enrollment Program (LEP) majors.
These decisions seem to be mostly STAT (SAT/GPA) based.
They will end up accepting maybe half or less of students who applied (I have not been able to find good numbers on this). This is Priority applicants only, not RD applicants

2A. Review by the Honors College Admissions Committee

This committee will do a Holistic Evaluation of the applications admitted for Fall 2016 and reach one of 2 decisions.
a. Admitted into the Honors College.
b. Not Admitted into the Honors College.

High STATs alone are NOT sufficient for admission (although Honors College students do tend to have high STATS). Essays, LORs. Short Answers, ECs, and course rigor are all a part of this decision. Desired Major is NOT a factor in the decision.

I don’t know if All “Admitted for Fall 2016” applications are reviewed, or if there is some screening process to reduce the number.
Students will only be informed of accepted decisions, when the decisions are released.

3 (I’ll get to 2B after this) Review by the Scholars Program Admissions Committee

This committee will do a Holistic Evaluation of the applications reviewed by the Honors College AdComms, but NOT admitted into the Honors College and reach one of 2 decisions.
a. Admitted into the Scholars Program.
b. Not Admitted into the Scholars Program.

High STATs alone are NOT sufficient for admission (sometime a given student will actually have higher STATS than someone admitted into Honors). Essays, LORs. Short Answers, ECs, and course rigor are all a part of this decision. Desired Major is NOT a factor in the decision.

2B. Review by the appropriate Limited Enrollment Program Admissions Committee

There is actually a separate admission committee for each LEP. There are currently 8 LEP majors: Business, Biological Sciences, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences and Policy-Biodiversity and Conservation (counts as 1), Communication, Criminology and Criminal Justice (1), Engineering, Government and Politics (1), Journalism, and Psychology. I think these reviews are done in parallel with Honors/Scholars reviews. I could be wrong.

They are LEPs because UMD literally does NOT have the resources (classroom, labs, professors) to teach all of the students that want that particular major. For example, consider the following FAQ from the Clark School of Engineering:

"Why would I be listed as a “Letters and Sciences” student if I applied to be an Engineering major?

The Clark School of Engineering receives approximately 3,000 applications each year from talented students who have been admitted to the University of Maryland. Engineering is a Limited Enrollment Program (LEP), and due to class size restrictions and other resource limitations, is not able to admit every student who applies to be an Engineering major as a freshman. As such, the Clark School will typically only admit between 1,700 and 1,800 students each year as direct freshmen admits."

That is 3,000 who selected Engineering as a major out of those admitted to UMD.

It’s the same with all the other LEPs. The numbers will be different, but the same concept applies. X number apply for the LEP. Y spaces are available. X is ALWAYS greater than Y. There are always some who are not admitted.

What do the LEP AdComs look for? Each one is probably different. I suspect that Engineering looks for engineering potential, motivation, ECs, but I don’t really know. I do know that every year about 1,200 applicants who get into UMD do NOT get into Engineering as their desired major. The other LEP decisions have similar outcomes.

I also know that the LEP AdComs do NOT consider the decisions made by the Honors College and Scholars Program AdComs.

The LEP AdComms reach one of 2 decisions
a. Admitted into the LEP.
b. Not Admitted into the LEP (in this case, the applicant is put in Letters and Sciences)

So the possible combination of all results are

  • Denied Admission
  • Admitted to UMD Spring 2017
  • Admitted to UMD Fall 2016
  • Admitted to UMD Fall 2016 + admitted to Scholars
  • Admitted to UMD Fall 2016 + admitted to Honors
  • Admitted to UMD Fall 2016 + admitted to LEP
  • Admitted to UMD Fall 2016 + admitted to Scholars + admitted to LEP
  • Admitted to UMD Fall 2016 + admitted to Honors + admitted to LEP.

I hope this helps. Good Luck, all!

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Awesome breakdown, @SoofDad!

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Bumping up for December

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Bumping up for January.

1 month to go. I’m guessing at January 30th, but that is just a Guess.

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Really really nervous. UMD is my number 1 choice.

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UMD is my S’s number 1 choice too. He attended a national leadership conference in DC this past summer at American University for a week and our first stop on the way down (we are from CT) was to visit UMD - for my D18 - but when my S17 stepped foot on the campus he just loved everything about it and at that very moment became his number 1 and has remained his number 1 despite numerous other college visits over the summer. Unfortunately, his stats are average 3.45 unweighted with very difficult regimen in a small private school which is very competitive so his rank is only top 1/3 and his SATS didn’t come in high - 1160 - we think because he never did common core and the test was redesigned with common core in mind but it doesn’t matter because it is what it is at this point. He is however, a great student and a bright kid who has always been very well-rounded - recreational and competitive sports (HS and Club) all his life, community service, a job, leadership training, National Umpire Training and Certification - all while maintaining National Honors Society. Now, I know there are many students out there that have higher stats and have worked very hard to achieve those stats and that is fabulous. However, it makes me sad that many applicants who are on various other threads have thrown their applications in to UMD as a safety school - with very little interest or no intention at all of attending. I even read one thread reply that (if I read it right) a mom wrote that said basically told her daughter to apply just to have her feel good with the acceptance as she would most definitely get in. I have already discussed with my son the fact that his scores will probably not get him past the initial cut due to the large amount of apps UMD gets but he still holds out hope that UMD will really look at his whole application and realize what a good student he is and what a good fit he would be at UMD. Only one other school has come close to peaking his interest like UMD. Fingers crossed for one little miracle? Good luck to all on this thread who really want to attend and are waiting to hear! :slight_smile:

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@xaviermom2017 = UMD Admissions Officers are well aware that many students apply with no intention of enrolling. Historically, they seem to expect that only about 1/3rd of the Admitted Students will actually enroll. Good Luck tp your son.

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Thanks @SoofDad if there is any luck out there I will take it all on this one!!

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My son applied to one LEP ( Government and Politics) but is now leaning toward another major, Psychology , also a LEP…in his perfect world he would probably double major or a major and a minor but time will tell! My question, do we try to discuss with UMD now, before admission decision or wait to see if he is admitted to try to make the switch. I think he is pretty convinced he would like to go the psych route. Any thoughts, given your experiences at UMD?

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@fallschurchmom - I would recommend waiting until after admission decisions come out, but do it before May 1. The biggest challenge I see with a double major is coordinating/scheduling the required courses for each major, especially if there is little overlap. Not all courses (in any major) are offered each semester and some courses have prerequisites. You may want to look at the four year plans for the 2 LEPs your son is interested in. There are students who do double majors, so it is possible But I think a major/minor might be easier, provided that they are offered as minors…

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@SoofDad - Thanks so much for the quick and thoughtful response.

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@fallschurchmom I’m jumping in just to add that I agree with SoofDad (not as to when to talk to UMD because I know nothing about UMD) but as to the double major idea. I am a prof/advisor at a University and double majors are tough in that they require a lot of planning with due diligence. In order to double major - especially in two different schools - you must make sure that there are some overlapping required courses as part of the majors or it really becomes a tough fit. I agree that you should definitely talk with an advisor (perhaps both - one at each school/major) before defining that route. Best of luck!! Still waiting to hear on a decision here too!

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Thanks @xaviermom2017. Fortunately, these two majors are within the same College of Behavioral & Social Sciences, so hopefully advisors will understand both department needs! Let’s hope he gets in so that we can have that discussion! Good luck to you as well!

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I have a similar question to @fallschurchmom. I applied into the LEP of marketing, but I am also considering the Government and Politics LEP. I’d actually prefer to minor in Government but it doesn’t look like they offer that (http://www.umd.edu/catalog/index.cfm/show/content.chapter/c/127). Is my only option to double major?

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@acs116 - I really don’t know the answer to that. I suggest you contact the 2 LEPs, after admissions come out, to see what your options are…

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@acs116 The minor in government is a specialty (international development and conflict management) within government and I’m not sure if you can do it outside of the major since it’s one you apply to as a freshman for sophomore, junior, senior year…here’s the page, you have to scroll down a bit to see the minor http://www.umd.edu/catalog/index.cfm/show/content.section/c/1/s/119

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I will look into that! Thank you for your help @SoofDad and @maryversity!!

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I was wondering, how does the Global Communities Program fit into this? I have friends who have gotten into that program instead of the Honors or Scholars program, as well as one who I think got into a Health program (without a separate application). Are those separate from Honors/Scholars?

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Can you be accepted to an LEP RD or only priority?

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Separate, yes, but also living-learning programs!
http://reslife.umd.edu/llp/