UMBC versus UMCP - what's the difference?

silversas
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:32:44 +0000

I am just back from my UMBC visit. It was not the most informative info session I was ever at! I also don’t go on the tours, as I have some mobility issues, but my son liked it a lot. He said he would apply to UMBC but NOT UMCP – UMCP is just too big for him … physically, and because he would be going in without any credits (his school has no AP’s) he is concerned that he will always be last in his year for registration.

When you drive onto the UMBC campus it seems like you are in the middle of nowhere… roads and parking lots and random big buildings. But once you get out of your car and “inside” the campus, it was actually very nice! My son actually preferred the architecture to CP (he just hates that brick federal georgian style, whatever it is, the classic Maryland architecture).

There was an enormous emphasis on undergraduate education, as well as on quality facilities and research. They emphasized that they are a liberal arts school with lots of Stem – and you could see it… giant chemistry, bio, engineering, math/psych buildings, at the same time as there are giant buildings for arts, humanities, library, performance.

I would not put it in a top 10 national list, or top 20, or 50… but since we need to seriously consider Maryland schools as our only college savings is the prepaid tuition plan, UMBC is likely the best match for this particular child. We’ll probably ask him to apply to one more Md school, and if it is a non-state school he winds up at, we get back the average state tuition, a drop in the bucket for a private LAC!