<p>Son is current mech eng soph at Bama, but UMCP has a great program for his grad studies, so he may end up there. He also would like to work in the DC area, so schools in the Maryland area are high on his list.</p>
<p>As a follow up to my previous post (since i can not figure out how to edit a post through the phone ap), we think it may be an advantage to have an out of state degree if my son decides to apply for a govt position in this area. It would allow for the diversity the govt is looking for for stats. Not sure if that is reality or not, but we do know of one person that hires at NSA now, and she commented that she is always looking at out of state graduates to diversify the thinking in her department. But that is one out of thousands of hiring managers in the govt. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC App</p>
<p>Montegut- are you from the DC/MD area?</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC App</p>
<p>Wow. I am really glad you all are so willing to contribute opinions and statistics. And honestly, I am happy that UMD supporters are venturing into the Alabama forum, as I did not make a second thread in the UMD section. </p>
<p>I haven’t heard a word from UMD yet, regarding admission or scholarships. I’m supposed to hear back with the other priority applicants in 2 days. I feel like I should be a shoo-in though. </p>
<p>The point regarding job placement really hit home for me. I really don’t want to live in Alabama for the better part of my life. Washington D.C. is much more suited to my tastes. I love the idea of working in a big city urban environment. I guess this is something I should consider in the decision. Both schools just have so many good things about them! These next few months are going to be rough. </p>
<p>Depending on FA from some privates I applied to, I may not attend either of these two. I just don’t see that as a likely outcome.</p>
<p>Good luck Nihility, I am sure that you will do well at whichever school you decide on. Hopefully you can visit the top contenders and find the school that fits you best!</p>
<p>Thank you so much vlines!
I’ve applied to 9 schools total!
I would love to be able to visit just 4 of these.
UMD and UA would be great visits to do in the next few months, and then I could schedule 2 additional visits to 2 privates that accept me (giving me only a 1 month window between acceptance and deposit). I don’t know if this is a great plan, but its what I’m thinking at this point. I’ll probably end up making a final decision in the last few days. :X</p>
<p>^^ What are your other top choices? </p>
<p>Some folks like to wait to visit until they have acceptances in hand. Or scholarships in hand. It’s a good plan except if you have many schools to visit. </p>
<p>Can you easily visit any of your top choices during your spring break?</p>
<p>You live in Maryland… so UMCP should be easy! UA, much more planning and time involved. Hopefully you will get there soon. Are any of the private schools close by?</p>
<p>I applied to-
Stanford
USC
URochester
Davidson
Brandeis
Emory
Baylor</p>
<p>I know. My schools are ALL OVER the map. As well as having different strengths.
At this point, I feel I could lump UA and Emory into one visit perhaps.
I really really want to visit USC. Stanford I probably wouldn’t. </p>
<p>Brandeis and Baylor are the two I am near certain I will not be visiting.
So…
1st Trip- UA, Emory
2nd Trip- USC
3rd Trip- (if at all possible) Davidson or Rochester; I can decide as decision date gets closer.
UMDCP isn’t even a trip. I can carpool with a friend from my high school haha.</p>
<p>@vlines. I had to chuckle over the lazy river part.
D1 had her first campus tour at Colorado State University. During their tour, they made a point of showing us their new Rec. Center that opened a couple months prior with a lazy river (indoors)! We chuckled at that and our inside joke ever since when we visited a college campus was always “but do they have a lazy river?” Well, Bama does!</p>
<p>No, vlines, don’t live in the MD/DC area. Sister lives near Manassas VA and Dad has to go to Bethesda often for work. We did a family vacation to DC early one summer, then returned later in the summer for son to do a summer program. He felt quite comfortable with the area, and loves the Metro. Son hates driving and traffic! He did apply to and was accepted at Catholic, but the UG debt he would have incurred was too high, even though he did get a scholarship and was admitted to their honors. He’s hoping to do a summer program in the DC area before he completes his undergrad to see if there are options for him up there for grad school. Dad and I went to an Orioles game while he was there and loved it, and my favorite player just signed with the Nationals, so I plan a trip up there soon. Maryland is one of the few places that has food as good as New Orleans, and is a place Dad and I would love to relocate to.</p>
<p>Sorry to be late to this discussion but as an undergrad and graduate degree holder from UMD with a son headed to UA Honors, I just wanted to second vlines and say that both schools are outstanding, and any student who applies him/herself at either school will do fine in the future. For us the decision for my son was based on what we learned here on CC and confirmed by an amazing one day visit back in August, culminating with a 2-1/2 hour meeting with Dean Sharpe. Every interaction with UA since then has confirmed our decision, and we dropped our entire list of schools. I just can’t say enough good things about UA. Good luck to all students here.</p>
<p>I just accepted to UMD Honors so this thread is very helpful to me. Any more comments?</p>
<p>Xcitifan, I am happy to hear your opinion. My D also applied to UMD and people are so surprised she’s choosing UA over UMD, Denison, and Case (hasn’t heard from them yet).<br>
I am worried that people’s negative reactions are going to rub off on D and make her change her mind. We visit UA in April and I am hoping that once she visits she’ll have more to say to people who are so negative.</p>
<p>My daughter is tired of trying to explain to people why she is going to UA. Now when asked, She simply replies, “because Forest Gump went there.”</p>
<p>Linnylu, thanks for the feedback. Please tell your D to ignore the “negative reactions” (which actually say a lot more about the people making the comments than about the school itself). My son is a super kid with great numbers (4.0, 2290 SAT) who could have been very competitive in any number of schools but he gets it that life is about pursuing his vision and not living for someone else’s. I know you will have a wonderful visit in April; meanwhile, there are plenty of amazing people on the UA threads who will give you and your daughter all the information and support you need.</p>
<p>Sniner, your daughter sounds awesome. It’s going to be a wonderful four years. The UA community is truly like a family; she will be in great hands.</p>
<p>The deciding factor for us in the end may very well be that UA has been so welcoming and makes you feel special where UMD has not given us thay feeling despite living close by and participating in quite a few programs for high school students. UA “felt like home”.</p>
<p>We just landed in Birmingham for the Honor Band event this weekend and the first thing my son said was, “Ah…It’s good to be home” - which was really strange since we’ve only been here once before for just 2 days (and we live in Michigan.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Awesome answer! </p>
<p>We change our answer every few months to stave off boredom. This month it’s, “I dunno, great education, great honors college, great scholarships, great people, great facilities, great opportunities, great leadership, great weather, great dorms, great food, great recreation, great vision, great price, and pretty good football. Didn’t you get the memo?”</p>
<p>Last month it was, “Because the Alabama of 2012 is the antithesis of what prompted your skepticism.”</p>
<p>Roll Tide.</p>