<p>Excellent comment. I’ll just add that sprucing up campus life has been a major part of Hrabowski’s efforts, and things are definitely prettier around here than before. When I was school shopping, I was turned off by the bleakness of Hopkins’s campus, but I thought UMBC looked pretty nice. And it keeps getting better. There’s a new fine arts building in the works, I hear.</p>
<p>UMBC is not as big or spirited or even as pretty as Towson or CP, I agree. But that’s changing, and in 10 years I don’t think the distinction will be so clear-cut. Academically, UMBC is much stronger than Towson, and equal to or better than CP in the sciences and engineering.</p>