<p>Can anyone direct me to schools similar to UMCP. </p>
<p>I am afraid that the $37K price for an out of state student tag per year is beyond my reach.</p>
<p>Of course, there’s NO place like UMDCP, there’s NO place like UMDCP…</p>
<p>Seriously, what state are you from? There are pros and cons of a large public university vs. private universities for undergraduate…it depends on the student, but our family is obviously on the public universities “side”!!! Take a look in your state and focus on the public universities that have the strongest program in the area you’re interested in.</p>
<p>I am from PA and my choice of schools would be:</p>
<p>University of MD
University of DE
Penn State University</p>
<p>My D applied to all of these schools, plus Pitt, JMU, Northeastern, Drexel and Villanova, and --biiiiiig stretch-- Boston College. A wide range of sizes, feels, location, costs, etc). Accepted to UMD, Pitt, PSU, JMU, Drexel, PSU Main and NE, Drexel and (oddly) waitlisted at Delaware and Nova. However, she found that all of the schools had different feels and it was primarily based on location. She/we decided that the locale of UMd (metropolitan and easy to get back and forth to home), size (a “mid sized large school”), and campus (College Park is what she visualized as a campus) was a much better fit for her than a school on the other side of the state (Pitt) or one that she felt was too large and too isolated (PSU). I would love to pay 10k less annually, but always said that we’d fnd a way to pay. Never want her to say “I wanted to go to xxx, but you made me go to yyy.” Visit, apply, decide. A lot can change by February. Good luck</p>
<p>Did UMD offer any financial aid (scholarships, need based scholarship)to close the $10K gap per year or were you on your own?</p>
<p>This will impact whether my family/my decision on even whether to apply at all.</p>
<p>Depends on each family’s EFC. They try to meet need with university-wide scholarships and departmental ones (depending on the department, engineering is okay about it but I don’t know of the others). I think you should apply if you’re qualified enough, turn in your FAFSA, and see what happens. It can’t hurt, especially if you really like Maryland.</p>
<p>My family’s EFC is approxmiately 20K, and will include 2 college students.</p>
<p>My older brother will be a senior next fall.</p>
<p>From this out-of-state family, even the year that our EFC was extremely low (the FAFSA-computed EFC), with grants, and scholarships, and all available federal student loans combined, there still was significant gap between COA and EFC. UMD by no means will “meet all needs”, as you can find some small private schools that may. I believe there’s a lot of in-state financial-need based aid for MD residents, but obviously you (or my 2) don’t qualify. In our case, we were able to swing it, but I’m sure that it is a big consideration for OOS. If you can get the full Banneker/Key scholarship, you’re set. If not, there’s still a big chunk missing. </p>
<p>Why isn’t Pitt on your list…just wondering?</p>
<p>I don’t think UDel is on the same level as UMDCP regarding their selectivity. You also would be still paying OOS, so the cost is going to be an issue.</p>
<p>I am with astro, UMDCP is notorious for being cheap on the merit side. Our DS was offered as an OOS for UMiami FL, 100K, UMDCP offered 8K. UVA also offered about 1/2 of UMiami as an OOS. UNCCH offered a free ride.</p>
<p>I would suggest you look at some private colleges, many times they have better FA plans that a state university. For example, Notre Dame guarantees that all students with FA needs will be met. This might mean work/study programs, with loans, but at least you are not staring down the barrel of the gun as a student.</p>
<p>Additionally, I would suggest to go to Barnes & Noble or Borders, there is a great book out there about different type of scholarships and grants that exists out there. SOme are by state, some are by programs/degrees, some are even related to your ancestry. The book is about 900 pages long. I can’t remember the exact name, but just ask for reference financial aid books for college and your will find it. It is huge in size and hard to miss. REMEMBER they do have cut off dates, so get on the ball now.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I assume you know that some of the “ivies” offer free rides for kids of families that make less than a certain amount? My niece got a free ride at Yale on this basis. Don’t know your scores, but even if they aren’t enough for Yale, I agree with what others say that there may be other private schools that would be more generous than UMDCP.</p>
<p>Well, let’s get one thing out of the way.</p>
<p>There’s no school that’s going to be exactly like UMDCP. </p>
<p>There are many schools that are similar in some ways, but vastly different in others.</p>
<p>So, first and foremost, what things do you like MOST about UMDCP? When you say you are looking for a “similar” school, what do you mean? Close to a major city? Large campus? Party/sports atmosphere? Similar student body? Similar selectivity? Strong programs in business and engineering? Etc. Define for us what you want and maybe it will be easier to suggest both publics and privates that would be a good fit.</p>
<p>For example, I believe Penn State also has a decent business program, strong school spirit, chill student body, etc. If those are the things you like about UMD, Penn State is a great choice. On the other hand, if the proximity to a major city and aerospace engineering program strength is important, then Penn State may not be the best fit.</p>
<p>I think UMCP brings up a good point about comparing Penn State to UMDCP. Also remember that Penn has satellite colleges, like Rutgers, UNC to name a few. UMDCP doesn’t have that, so you need to also place that into your equation unless you are confident that you will get College Station for Penn.</p>
<p>Another issue is how far do you want to be from home…4 hrs, 5, 6, etc?</p>
<p>Pitt, not far off on selectivity from UMCP, but more selective than PSU and DE (SAT average 1275) and has a much more generous reputation for aid than any of those. Highly regarded honors college as well (3 Rhodes Scholars in the last 5 years). It is more urban than college park though, so the setting may be quite different than what you are looking for.</p>