It seems like a lot of the people on CC who know of College Park or go there act like it’s Harvard, when it’s just another public state school. They make it seem like it’s extremely difficult to get into even though there are other relatively selective and challenging universities in Maryland such as John Hopkins University, Loyola, and UMBC. Majority of the students at the aforementioned univeristy were also accepted to College Park, but chose to go to those schools instead.
College Park isn’t even necessairly the highest ranked University in Maryland. Johns Hopkins has a higher overall ranking, and UMBC is ranked among the top 5 up and coming universities, as well as the 5th most innovative university in the country, which are rankings that College Park has never achieved, and are rankings that are mostly taken by other Ivy League schools and state schools more well known than college park. UMBC is only 50 years old and has achieved so much, and I honestly see it blowing College Park out of the water in terms of overall rankings in the future. It’s already ranked among the nation’s best 150 schools and best 80 public univ.
The buildings on College Park’s campus are all old looking and the surrounding area is actually one of the least favorable towns in the entire state and is known for being dangerous.
I’m not trying to say Coliege Park is a bad school. It’s a very good school and does indeed have high rankings. However, if you are applying to college and looking for good universities in Maryland, College Park is definitely the only bright one and you don’t have to feel like you MUST go to College Park in order to have a good reputation. UMBC, Johns Hopkins, and Loyola also have prestige to their name.
College rankings can be deceiving, remember that US News and World Report isn’t the only place that ranks colleges. One I found interesting was College Factual (collegefactual.com). The use a completely different method of ranking colleges than US News - their FAQ page has details on the process (http://inside.collegefactual.com/methodologies/), but in a nutshell they are focused on student results after graduation. The US News methodology is very different, and is heavily weighted (22.5%) on perception of colleges by high school guidance counselors.
You also need to consider your major in making this selection. Look at computer science as an example - US News had UMCP at #15 in the country in 2014 (most recent ranking), while UMBC was #70. Look at College Factual, UMCP is at #34, UMBC is at #13. It’s worth comparing the results of the different ranking services for your major.
Regarding prestige, that may not have the impact you think depending on what your next step is after your undergrad. Both colleges routinely place students in top 10 grad and medical schools. If you’re going straight to work post school, I can speak for where I work (engineering) where graduates from both UMCP and UMBC are highly regarded.
I’m with you TheGreenSteam! I consider UMBC more quiet and stealthy in its promotional approach than UMD–the folks who like UMBC absolutely love it and choose it quite intentionally instead of UMD. I see lots of smart, accomplished, driven kids happily choosing UMBC even when, as you say, they have been admitted to UMD and other highly competitive colleges. UMD is a great school for some people, but for others the sheer size of the place, older unairconditioned dorms, and the huge student population can be daunting.
I do, however, also believe that most students who work hard in whatever college they choose to attend will find academic success.
Maybe it is school pride? I don’t know anyone, including UMD students, who consider UMD to be an elite school. It is definitely a good school and they have good programs such as engineering, but it isn’t in the same level as top 30-40 schools.