@MDRI , take a look at http://www.uga.umd.edu/requirements/MarylandTransferAdvantageProgram.php
The NACAC list will be posted early in May after the students accept/decline their admissions offers.
Here is a link to the transfer page at the AACC website: http://www.aacc.edu/transfer/ It has links to all kinds of useful information. Your son can apply for transfer to any college or university in the US that accepts transfer students. He’s not limited to applying to those that have formal agreements with AACC. However, the articulation agreements do make life a lot easier! Since he’s interested in UM-CP, he should check out MTAP https://www.admissions.umd.edu/requirements/MarylandTransferAdvantageProgram.php Whoops! I just noticed that SlackerMomMD has also given you that link.
If he decides to go to AACC, he needs to find out which of his AP scores can be used there for credit. Here is the link: http://www.aacc.edu/recreg/ap.cfm With enough credit for his AP scores, he will be able to complete his AA or AS degree very quickly at AACC and transfer on to UM-CP. UM-CP has its own list of AP exam scores: http://www.umd.edu/catalog/attachments/AP.pdf
The big issue is how much you can afford to pay. If you get us that figure, we might have ideas for you.
Thanks for your reply. My affordability is UMD’s in-state $. His AP stats are:
4-AP Calc BC
3-AP Calc AB
4-AP Engl Lang
4-AP US Hist
?- AP Physics Mechanics and E&M (doing currently expecting 4)
? - AP Eng Lit ( doing currently expecting 4)
? - AP World History ( doing currently expecting 3)
As per above UMD AP url. He scores 31 Credits on all of above APs
As per above AACC AP url. He scores 42 Credits on all of above APs
Transfer students don’t get much aid. If you need grants to pay for school, he’s better off taking a gap year and applying to a new list.
If you need merit aid, don’t go the transfer route. Transfers get lousy financial and and they don’t get merit aid (or very little compared to freshmen).
A college that’s excellent for Physics/astrophysics, has a good honors college, and offers good scholarships even for lower SAT scores, is ASU Barrett. (Check out publichonorscolleges).
Lawrence, WI, is a college that’s a top producer of Physics PHDs. Check out their R1 initiative. Relatively easy to get into for a boy (applicant pool is self selective so acceptance rate is high but stats are high too).
Get your prerequite courses out of the way locally and I expensively. Then apply to schools that will meet your need and enable you to pursue your desired major. Do well year 1 and work hard. All will work out. Nothing wrong and little risk with this strategy.
Option 1 is to do local college and transfer to UMBC or UM-CP. UMBC looks like it has a good program in Astrophysics.
After that, I’d go to Canada. Costs are much less and Canadian dollar is cheap.
Dalhousie University - Halifax, Nova Scotia, - Flagship of Nova Scotia, total cost tuition, fees, room, board $27878 Canadian, which is at 75 us cents per Canadian dollar is currently $20,909 US. Has serious department.
York University - Toronto, Ontario, Deadline is April 20, roughly $23K US dollars
University of Guelph, Ontario, Deadline is May 1, cost comparable to York
Domestically, best US option that seems affordable is.
Truman State - public honors college in Missouri - $22K tuition room+board, Physics major, Astronomy minor
University of North Dakota has astrophysics, will run you about $27K
Here is the recommended programs from Artsys for AACC to UM-CP for Astronomy: http://www.artsys.usmd.edu/p1trans.cgi?Astronomy+cp.846862.al+none+ASTR+Y+A+AA+CP+S+1932671459650673
and for Physics:
http://www.artsys.usmd.edu/p1trans.cgi?Physics+cp.235809.al+cp.869171.al.a+PHYS+Y+A+AA+CP+S+1932671459650673
Depending on how the AP credits work for him, he might be able to finish up at AACC in only a year, and then move on to UM-CP
I can’t get Artsys to pull up the Astrophysics program at UM-BC. You might need to check AACC to UM-BC using the course equivalency tool: http://www.artsys.usmd.edu/precs.cgi
UM-CP used to have transfer scholarships for the local CCs.
MDRI, UM-CP is a very tough admission, even instate.
“My affordability is UMD’s in-state $.”
Then you’re fine for next year whether he takes a gap year or not. He should get into Towson, Salisbury, etc. either on his high school record or with a 3.0+ in community college, and nothing in-state will cost you more than UMD.
While your son may have his heart set on Penn State, it is better for your wallet if he considers a year at the community college. He can finish out his gen ed requirements and transfer to whatever school he desires.
As a parent of two sons as well as a high school teacher, I am sorry to read that your son’s guidance counselor told you that he would get scholarship money. He should have said there is a possibility of scholarships to offset some of the costs.
It’s not at all unusual for Maryland students to get into Penn State or the University of Delaware and not into the University of Maryland. It’s just plain hard to get into UMD these days, and UMD seems to place a lot of weight on SAT scores in its admissions decisions, which is something that didn’t work in your son’s favor.
Could you talk to the guidance counselor and see if UMBC or other instate school would accept a late app? You never know.
What does your son think ?
His choices are
- Maryland directional (I’m guessing St Mary’s honors college of Maryland would also be interested - excellent school) NOW
- Nacac list in May
If he likes neither: - community college before transferring to umd
- gap year, retaking tests + volunteering + longer list of schools
MDRI, please consider having your son apply to the Canadian colleges. From ClassicRockerDad’s info, it looks like you need to get the application in quickly. Canadian universities are considered excellent academically and are a good financial option for him. He wouldn’t lose any time. He would have an international perspective and he would be starting at a challenging four-year school. Have him apply now so he will have options.
“I am sorry to read that your son’s guidance counselor told you that he would get scholarship money.”
Yes, this was either rank incompetence on the part of the GC or wishful thinking on the listener’s part…it’s a common human failing to remember hearing what we wish we had heard. NO ONE out of state should expect academic scholarship money from PSU, and merit money is literally unthinkable for a sub-1800 SAT who was very lucky to be admitted at all (unless he has football skills we haven’t heard about).
On top of what @Hanna said, I’m amazed that the counselor didn’t tell you that with your son’s SAT scores, he was unlikely to get into the University of Maryland. If you had known that, you could have advised your son to apply to UMBC, Towson, Salisbury, etc., and now he would have some affordable choices of four-year schools.
This is why MTAP (the Maryland Transfer Advantage Program) is so tempting. If the student completes a certain number of coursework and maintains a minimum GPA, he can transfer from AACC to UMD-CP without taking or re-taking the SAT. There is a lot of advising and support from UMD-CP to help students from the member community colleges transfer successfully into their desired majors. I think he can use AP credit to shorten the number of CC courses needed before transferring.
I would suggest a year…or two at the community college with a transfer to one of the OTHER MD instate public universities.
Lots of good instate choices…read Hanna’s post above!
My son had a CR 740 and Math 590 and he was rejected from UNC-CP and that was in 2003 when admissions were less competitive.
Agree that UMD is a much tougher admit than it used to be. Average SAT the past few years has been in the low 2000s and GPA 4.0+ weighted.
We also know folks who went to UDel and VaTech (and Penn State) who didn’t get into UMD and had a great experience.
UMBC gets a lot of STEM kids, and it is close enough to NASA, NIST, etc. that kids can get internships there in the summers.