I know countless kids who attend UMD and no ne of them feel unsafe whatsoever. This only happens to kids who are not accustomed to an urban feel even though campus is removed from that and quite lovely. I’ve lived here in the DMV for decades. It’s not a concern if you use basic common sense. There are campuses that are genuinely unsafe to be sure, but not UMD which is not even in DC.
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Agree. Haven’t heard this either and UMD is not in DC (about ~8 miles away). OP should do diligence but I wouldn’t hesitate to send my kids there based on my knowledge of area and research. I have a 24 that is considering but likely going elsewhere (not due to safety).
The schools the OP mentions largely meet criteria set so well done there!
I have been to UTD a few times as well. It is in a nice suburban area. It is great for computer science and the COA for OP can’t be beat. However OP mentions cost is not an issue.
The vibes of UMD and UTD are very different IMO. UTD is much more of a commuter school (though improving) and lacks big flagship sports and greek scene relative to other schools which may or may not be important. UMD is a great flagship within the BIG 10 and will offer a more quintessential flagship experience. One or the other may be more appealing.
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Please don’t believe any of this fearmongering of UMD. I’m an alumni, and I’ve visited there many times in the 27 years since I have graduated. I also know many current graduates through my son who went to nearby colleges.
The campus has its own police, blue light system, escorts for late nights. Its not anymore dangerous or unsafe than other schools. There’s no way the state would allow that to happen to their star state school.
Its a great school if you are looking for a suburban feel with access to the capital of U.S. It has one of the largest grassy fields/malls where students hangout to study on nice days. The metro is scheduled to be completed in 2025. This was actually an idea that kept being tossed around for many years even when I attended there. There are other great schools with subway accessibility, such as GW and NYU. The difference, with UMD, you actually get a college campus, whereas NYU and GW are integrated into the city.
Anyway, I cant speak to UTD, but if you need more info on UMD, you can send me a private message too. My daughter got accepted to a couple of in-state schools, but she is leaning towards going out-of-state to UMD because of the more suburban feel and quality academics, so I know its a tough decision.
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Oh, you are very wrong. College Park is not safe area. No well to do family would want to live there. There is a lot of crime there and it is not walkable area outside of campus without car.
When people say it is not DC… Well it is not in official DC limits, but it is very close to it (8 miles away). It is not Bethesda or even Silver Springs. Frankly, I preferred for my DD midtown Atlanta GaTech campus vs UMD CP campus in terms of safety…BTW there are relatively safe areas of DC and it is quite walkable if you avoid some parts of it…But in general there is a lot of crime in DC. Local government even tries to get some Federal help to adress it…
But it does not look that the article looks at size of schools and use only absolute value.
The bigger the school you will get more crime.
A well to do family will send their kids to Harvard or UMich, but those areas make the top most dangerous campus list. A simple google search will show that. I also know a family whose daughter was a PhD student at Harvard. I don’t want to say what happened to her, but lets just say the case was never publicized or solved.
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I have no idea what the city of College Park is like. The dozens of kids I know who have studied/are currently at UMD, have not had any safety concerns on campus or the parts right outside it where they often go to eat.
Anyway, I think this topic has been beaten to death. OP can do their diligence (a visit might help). But maybe time to answer other questions OP may have about the two schools.
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Also, if anyone wants to get an accurate view of College Park, you can message me. I grew up in the area, lived in the county for 19 years until I graduated from UMD, and still visit regularly.
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It’s important to recognize those who are providing information based on personal experience with UMD as former students, or as parents of former and current students, and those who are providing information without any personal experience as students or parents of students.
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You’re in luck…UTD has all of that. You’re in the middle of tech-heavy Dallas and you’d be surrounded by internships and job opportunities. Also, the school is located in a Dallas suburb, which makes apartments more affordable than most other schools. UTD all they way!
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There are countless well to do families who send their children to the University of Maryland. I honestly do not know what that poster is talking about. Unless you actually live in the area, you really have no clue. The suburbs of Washington DC are among the most highly educated and high income in the country. Montgomery County alone could populate most of UMD, but it has gotten so competitive that even the most top performing students are not getting in.
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I think it’s unfortunate that the “safety” debate has dominated this thread. It’s worth mentioning as a point of comparison, but OP can assess this for themself now that it’s been pointed out as a possible concern.
IMHO, even if the two schools were absolutely equal in terms of safety (which for all I know they may be), program strength is comparable between the two schools, and the OP’s access to desired classes and curated opportunities would be better at UTD. So I’m not seeing, on the face of it, strong justification for paying more than double for UMD over UTD, even in the absence of significant financial concerns. But, individual preferences and desires may provide reasons for the decision to go either way.
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As someone who regularly hires CS graduates, I don’t think UTD and UMD have comparable CS programs, so I’m going to respectfully disagree.
But I agree this family has to decide if the extra cost is worth it to them.
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Fair enough. UMD is a “name” school in CS, and UTD hasn’t historically been as heavy a hitter; and it’s overshadowed in its own state by UT-Austin and its notable CS honors programs.
But CS is UTD’s greatest strength, and large grants from TI have helped accelerate the growth of the program. When I think about schools that can’t compete with the UMDs and UW-Seattles of the CS world, I think about worries either that a comparable level of depth & rigor isn’t available, or that there would be a shortage of highly-accomplished peers. I don’t think of either of those concerns when I think about UTD. They have many students who could have gotten into UMD and its peers, but who are there for the NMF merit or the in-state value that the OP has been offered. True, the weakest CS students at UTD are probably not at the level of the weakest CS students at UMD. But the critical mass is there, to where I can’t see it holding back the many ambitious, high-achieving students in its CS programs. So I question whether the strength of UMD’s program for the individual, high-achieving student, is offering something they couldn’t get at UTD. I’m interested, though, in whether you think there’s something a student like the OP is getting in UMD CS that they wouldn’t get at UTD… or is it just “name”/reputation that the many additional dollars are buying?
I was wondering that but thought - well maybe it’s like engineering, the where matters less.
And I know it’s a tech focused school.
For what it’s worth…not much probably, the Brown rankings show UMD at 14 and UTD at 81. Not saying they matter but someone might be concerned with the disparity.
It’s always wise to look at a career outcome report from each school. You can ask for one.
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UTD does have a strong CS program, and a student graduating from there would do just fine career-wise. So I want to be clear I’m not knocking the program at all.
But looking at the courses offered as well as their content, the UMD courses go more in-depth and lean more theoretical than practice-oriented (as is the case with UTD). UMD’s CS dept is also a leader in AI, quantum computing and cybersecurity research. Lastly, UMD is a better known name among Wall Street (tech) companies such as the one I work at, so some of these high paying jobs are easier for UMD students to get.
These factors may or may not be important for OP. They need to decide for themselves. There’s no wrong answer here either way.
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UMD is more known than UTD, and there are many more UMD graduates than UTD graduates in the northeast.
When comparing the schools, I would suggest looking at the list of the required classes and not only the available classes
https://catalog.utdallas.edu/2022/undergraduate/programs/ecs/computer-science
2 semesters of discrete math, 2 semesters of algorithms, automata theory those are all pretty theoretical classes, and then some which we could argue if they are theoretical enough.
Additionally, students can enroll in the Fast Track program, and take 5 graduate level classes as part of their BS in different areas, such as cyber security, intelligent systems, data science, etc.
https://engineering.utdallas.edu/academics/undergraduate-majors/undergrad-advising/c-s-admissions-requirements/
Coming with enough AP credits, will allow for finishing masters in 4 years.
Then there is also the UTD Computing Scholar program with their own honor version of most of the required classes plus some.
I would also recommend looking at UTD results at ICPC, a well known CS competition.
OP, I would suggest you also look at this thread and see what’s said about UTD there
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Was OP admitted to Computing Scholars in addition to CollegiumV?
@minty-milieu
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I don’t think he was, though he could inquire about the program and see if he could take the entrance exam. It’s only February and chances are pretty good that the program isn’t full yet. One can also join during the freshman year.
The additional benefit of the Computing Scholar program are small classes (about 30 students), something that’s hard to find in large universities.
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I can’t say anything about UMD but I have two CS students at UTD, both completed their BS and Masters in four years due to UTD’s generous acceptance of AP credits and their fast track program. Both were in the computing scholars program CS2 and the Honors program CV, CS2 offers smaller classes, go more in depth and tend to be more theoretical. The younger one is graduating this May with his masters and has secured his “dream job” (with salary and perks that far exceeded my expectations). The other was awarded the McDermott Graduate Fellowship to peruse his PhD. UTD as provided wonderful opportunities for my boys to excel in their chosen fields of study. If you’re interested in doing research, please look into the the Clark Summer Research program, it’s fully funded and provides wonderful research opportunities the summer between high school graduation and freshman year. My older son did this and loved it! Other research opportunities are also pretty easy to get as under graduate research is encouraged.
UTD is a very young school compared to most universities and it’s still growing both in size and reputation. It’s just north of Dallas in a very safe area but close enough to Dallas to experience the perks of the city. I’m really excited that the light rail has been expanded and will soon have a station on the north side of campus. I know you’re in state for TX and may want to see other parts of the world but you can always do internships in other states or participate in study abroad programs.
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