UMD OR PENN STATE

b3jh24
Sun, 12 Apr 2015 01:15:01 +0000

I was in the exact same situation up until a week ago. I applied to, and was accepted by, both UMD and PSU. Several members of my family have attended PSU, and I spent a lot of time there as a kid (going to football games, and for a project I did for my 4th grade class). I ended up choosing UMD over PSU. While I hadn’t anticipated attending either school (I was shocked not to be accepted to my ED school), but Maryland was always a slight favorite.

For me, it came down to several factors, which may or may not be relevant for your son. The biggest reason that I choose UMD (and why it was my gut-feeling for so long) is the location. I love Washington DC (even though I live ~25min from NYC), so the proximity to DC gave UMD a point.

In my opinion, UMD seems to have better academics, and connections. I attended a invitational session earlier in the fall (a week after visiting a Ivy), and came away beyond impressed. The day-long session gave me a better vibe than the Ivy I had visited just a week earlier. I was beyond impressed with the way that UMD was able to promote it’s image, and ultimately, I came away feeling that UMD was a great institution.

Additionally, the proximity to DC is advantageous for internships. One of the best pieces of advice that I received was to choose a college near somewhere that you want to live. Basically, your internships are likely to be your gateway into employment. Everyone that I’ve ever talked to has said that their first job came as a result of their internship. Therefore, you want to go to a school that has access to great internships. While PSU does have great opportunities for internships (my dad went there, got an internship, and got a job with that company upon graduation), UMD is arguably in a better location for internships. There are more companies in the DMV and Mid-Atlantic than in the middle of Pennsylvania.

Please note that I will be an engineering major, so much of what I said is based on that fact.