Could any out of state students comment on their experience at University of Maryland? Are you happy with your choice?
Did you feel it was worth the Out of State Tuition?
I am from NJ. Could have same experiences at Rutgers. Maryland ranked somewhat higher but in state tuition and close to home at Rutgers is great. Marylands solid, but not worth 48k ish/yr.
I am also from NJ, and while Rutgers does indeed offer solid academics, it was not a good “fit” for my kids in many respects.
My son chose Maryland, and I had to endure quite a bit of ribbing about it since I am such an obvious cheerleader/proud alum. However, the decision was entirely his! He has a lot of focus and knows what he wants so he looked carefully at things that I wouldn’t have thought of, such as actual required coursework for his major (he’s an engineer and cross-disciplinary training was important to him). Over the years, I asked him on several occasions if he had any regrets about his decision. He never hesitated when he said he had absolutely NO regrets and was VERY happy he chose Maryland! The opportunities and experiences he had were unique to Maryland and he took full advantage of them.
@greentravel, you mentioned your daughter is CS…are you aware of the Iribe Center that is under construction? It looks like it is going to be amazing…https://iribe.cs.umd.edu
It is slated to open in 2018, so if your daughter chooses to be a Terp, she would get to enjoy the advantages/experiences it offers.
I have to say the only thing bad in the four years that my son attended was the institution of the surcharge for some majors. Since it went into effect his senior year, it didn’t affect us too much.
The school has incredible school spirit, it has so many great departments that if your d were to change majors, it’s not a problem, the student body is extremely diverse and very friendly overall, there are many perks (free tickets to athletic events and are held on campus - my daughter has to pay to attend and has to be bussed to a different location off campus if she wanted to attend), free software, no extra fee for access to gym/recreational facilities, etc, etc.
Was Maryland worth OOS tuition? For us, the answer is yes. However, as I said, what is right for one person, is not always right for another. Frankly, no piece of paper is worth the money they charge at any school these days, other than perhaps community college, but that is another thing altogether. I would say that OOS tuition is not worth it for a student that has not decided on a major. However, if you have a child that knows what they want, that makes it worth considering…if you have more specific questions, feel free to ask, but in the meantime, if you haven’t read this thread, it might be worth your time to peruse it
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1743639-things-to-love-about-maryland-p1.html
Wait! What are The surcharges for different majors?
It doesn’t affect freshmen and sophomore years, but assuming the student sticks with the major and goes for the higher level classes…it will apply.
It’s not a huge difference in the scheme of things, but yeah, I am not happy about it.
In summary, this is what was voted on in 2015:
“This university plans to gradually increase tuition for business, engineering and computer science majors during students’ junior and senior years starting in the fall, university President Wallace Loh said.”
“Future university students enrolled in these majors will receive $2,800 tuition increases junior and senior year after paying the university’s flat tuition rates freshman and sophomore year.”
I’m not sure what they officially call the surcharge, but here’s the article when the news first broke http://www.dbknews.com/archives/article_69efdba8-f28f-11e4-9b3c-53c3d6325cf8.html
Unfortunately/Fortunately, we began paying the surcharge at the beginning of sophomore year. UMD is very generous with accepting AP credits, however this allows for students to begin that tuition differential earlier than anticipated.The cost increase is not something we are happy about. That being said, depending on the student/major, it is possible if a person hits the tuition differential early, they could make up for it by graduating early, if they so choose.
@perch1024 Here’s some information I found on the UMD website about the extra charges for specific majors (this is the surcharge being discussed, if I’m reading this all right): https://www.admissions.umd.edu/finance/differentialtuition.php
@Davenmame, On the bright side, from that link @whenyoubelieve provided, it looks like you only pay it for a total of two years, broken down to $1400 for four semesters. So, if I am reading it correctly, even though you started the differential tuition “early,” if your son still goes all 4 years/8 semesters, the surcharge will be done early and you will pay the regular tuition his senior year…? This is the statement (from that link) which I refer to:
“Regular, full-time students will be charged for no more than four semesters of undergraduate Differential Tuition (at the prevailing per semester rate in effect for each semester).”
@maryversity Big thanks for pointing out that "“Regular, full-time students will be charged for no more than four semesters of undergraduate Differential Tuition.” This feature was not publicized when the surcharge was introduced so we had assumed that we would be paying it for more than 4 semesters because of all the generous AP credits awarded. Thanks again.