<p>We are visiting U of Md College Park this Saturday. We'll be attending the general info session and tour ("My Maryland") for prospective first year undergrads.</p>
<p>Engineering tours are on Fridays, but we have a time conflict on Fri. We are going to U of Md Sat because we will be in the area with a borrowed car. We are unlikely to be able to visit at any other time.</p>
<p>From visiting other OOS (out of state) publics, we have found that if we don't attend a campus engineering tour, or meet one-on-one with someone about the engineering program, the visits do not "sell" the school very well. The general tours are too - well, general.</p>
<p>I expect this is also a bad time of the year (July) to find an engineering student who can show us around on a Saturday.</p>
<p>I could cancel our Friday plans, but they are also college related, and so it is a juggling act.</p>
<p>Any advice?</p>
<p>Also, we have read lots of great things about the U of MD CP honors program. Is there any honors related building or program we should see while on the campus? Some campuses have honors dorms or honors "houses." Does U of Md?</p>
<p>Since it will be a Saturday in the summer, it seems unlikely there will be honors program staff around or honors students overeager to fill us in while we are there. Can we just follow up on line or by phone as needed after our trip to campus?</p>
<p>We usually go to see the piano practice rooms. I expect we can get into the building for that. But any advice about music for non-majors (but serious musicians) at U of Md is highly appreciated.</p>
<p>U of Md CP engineering coupled with the honors program sounds very good to us. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.</p>
<p>umm… i am an oos engineering student living on campus for the summer. during the year i volunteer for the admissions office. i couldn’t give you any thing official, but if you pm me your information and tell me a little more about yourself and your son/daughter, i might be able to help.</p>
<p>I can’t help you with the engineering tour question, but I can with the honors questions.</p>
<p>The admissions officer who does the information session is usually very thorough in describing the honors program (and the engineering one, as well). UMCP has Honors dorms specifically for honors students, which your tour guide will show you. One is Denton Hall, which is currently being renovated and will be a very nice dorm when it is completed (which I expect to be soon).</p>
<p>Seeing the inside of the practice rooms is not part of the tour, but you can probably ask your tour guide if it’s okay if you check them out on your own.</p>
<p>Thanks, lb801 and benandjerrys for your help!</p>
<p>As it turns out we are going to leave the other college early and go to the U of Md engineering tour on Fri and then return for the general tour on Sat as well. We contacted the honors program and we are going to stop in to Ann Arundel and look for Denton while we are there Fri. We will also pop in to see the practice rooms, so we are now all set.</p>
<p>Both the engineering and honors programs sound great. We are looking forward to seeing the campus.</p>
<p>DD just finished a week at UMCP for a women in engineering program which ran Sun thru Sat. The girls presented their projects in the lobby area of the Kim Jong engineering building Sat morn around 10ish. If your passing thru check it out as they had a 2nd session this week ending on Sat. We first visited in Feb for jr visiting day with general tours & sessions for different majors. During the week my dtr was there they were kept very busy being given intros to all the engineering majors as well as admissions info ect. The toured all the labs( wind tunnel & fire protection demos some of the highlights) and had question & answer panels with grad students doing research. It was a great opportunity to live in the dorms for the week and walk the campus daily (it’s big and she got a work out). The staff was wonderful & did an amazing job. I highly recommend the program so check out the website. This school is high on my DD’s list, my only qualm is the drive from NY on the dreaded 95 ( took me 6 + hrs Fri) ugh!</p>
<p>vadennis-could you please post after your visit? Would love to hear your comments, insights, about the university, the dorms, the honors program.</p>
<p>We’re in New Orleans and won’t be able to visit before applying.</p>
<p>Hi all,
Thanks for your help. We were very impressed with U of Md CP for engineering for this applicant. I will definitely post thoughts soon. Just have to recover from a lot of driving and logistics.
Benandjerrys, thanks for your offer of help and sorry one of us did not pm you - we got our wires crossed.
U of Md CP makes the final list for us.</p>
<p>Here’s my quick short review of our visit to U of Md CP:</p>
<p>We decided to go to both the general (Sat) and the engineering (Fri) tours after all, even though it meant two visits to the campus and a lot of inconvenience. I have no regrets.</p>
<p>Both info sessions and tours were chock full of useful info and provided useful glimpses at the richness of opportunity on this campus. Our tour guides were smart, confident, very informative, friendly, accomplished and disarmingly unpretentious. The engineering program seems top notch, with up-to-date facilities and ample opportunities for students to pursue high level research, design and study. </p>
<p>The campus is large but well-laid out; it seems user friendly and nicely tended for a public u. The architecture and grounds are easy on the eyes. The dorm room we saw seemed fine (looked like every other dorm room on every other campus.) The surrounding area is not perhaps as much fun as some college towns, but we were told the school is putting a lot of money into developing the immediate area in the next few years. </p>
<p>The size of the school allows for many perks not found in smaller schools a broader range of options and facilities for performing arts, athletics, recreation, clubs, and events. At the same time, the living and learning honors programs shrink the school for honors students. An engineering honors student who wants a well rounded, high quality education and to befriend non-engineers might do so here. Apparently, U of Md values racial and ethnic diversity, and proactively addresses diversity issues. There is plenty of corporate and business support and work opportunities for graduates. The proximity to D.C. is a big plus. We are from NYC, and felt right at home at U of Md CP.</p>
<p>All told, U of Md is quite an impressive public university. Their engineering and honors programs have a lot to offer. This one stays on the short list! </p>
<p>Hope this is useful to others. Thank you, all, for your help.</p>