University of Maryland College Park (UMD) Early Action for Fall 2023

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
121

Understood. Just curious what this discussion board WOULD have recommended if a kid had a 31 ACT. Submit or not?

122

I don’t have an answer or an opinion. Maybe others do.

123

We are in the same boat and have not decided yet. Interested to hear what you do- D23 4.1 weighted great ECs (2 varsity sports, club leadership etc
)

124

I think it’s really hard to guess right now but a couple of questions for you. How are the individual sub scores? If they are all strong, I’d be tempted to submit. If there was a weaker score, that might sway me to go TO.

GPA matters here too. If the student has a very very high GPA, I wouldn’t submit.

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125

I think you’re good to submit. Even with test optional the average has only shifted up 1 pt Historically pre-TO you are right at the 50% line. It’s not going to raise you up if the academic profile is a little light and it’s not going to drag you down if you’re already strong.

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126

My friend called UMD admissions because her dd was in this same situation with a 1330 SAT. Admissions told her don’t submit. They said the way they evaluate applicants is that all those with a test score are placed in one pile and evaluated together and those that do not submit (TO) will go in another pile and evaluated together. I don’t think any indication was given regarding whether more offers would be given to one pile over another or if it would be even.

127

Thanks. Guess we’re back to “no right answer”. My kid has a 4.0 unweighted with about 5 APs overall, 1 honors. Good EC (not awesome). Strong essay writer. So the ACT score of 31 could be a “drag” it seems more than a lift, but we decided to submit.

128

I think a 31 shold be submitted. I wouldn’t leave the AO’s guessing. It’s good enough not to hurt.

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129

I’d been worried about the email from UMD that said they didn’t have everything, yet Common App said they did. UMD didn’t reply to emails or calls, so I felt nervous.

Today, we saw that UMD downloaded the application. I hope that means they have what they need.

We didn’t bother requesting scores from College Board so don’t have to worry if the scores show up or not. I love TO, because it’s one less thing to track. :white_check_mark:

130

Once the college downloads your application they should be sending you an email to their portal. Your best bet is to check the portal and make sure they have received all required materials.

131

Thank you.

132

Even if it says it is complete, I would call Admissions to confirm. Sometimes there are errors and it would be a really rough thing for your kid to find out they were bumped to RA because of a technical error. Better safe than sorry.

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We called and emailed. No reply.

The portal says it’s complete. It’s just that email that said it wasn’t.

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135

How long does it take for school docs (transcript and LORs) to show up as received? D’s school sent those over the weekend via Naviance but the UMD portal doesn’t reflect those so the application looks incomplete. All of D’s common app material submitted weeks ago is there and complete and Naviance shows everything from the school as sent, but we want to make sure there’s no glitch with the school material. Does this situation need an email to confirm completion or is there typically a lag even with electronically sent school docs? Definitely don’t want to blow the EA deadline with some administrative error.

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136

Both.

There may be a lag in showing up on the portal, but don’t take a chance - confirm with UMD.

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137

Thanks for the quick reply. Now the portal is showing that the transcript and LORs were received yesterday, but somehow the application status is “NOT complete” and nothing is showing as missing. Weird. D will give it another hour or so and then email admissions if it’s still showing incomplete. Seems like there is a lag in the portal.

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138

I had that problem last week, there is a lag and It does update in a few hours. Good luck!

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139

In case anyone else has this problem, I’m replying to report that the portal finally updated to show a complete application this morning – two days after the final documents were sent. I guess the volume of material being submitted, even electronically, close to the deadline slowed the portal updates.

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140

Just some additional color on this


The lag is actually due to the human effort involved in the process. When transcripts and other files come in from high schools, someone in the admissions office takes a quick look to make sure they are what they purport to be.
For example, the pdf that’s supposed to be a student’s transcript might actually be something else (by mistake)

Once verified, the staffer checks off the document as received and then that’s reflected on the portal immediately.

6 Likes