Just wanted to thank everyone who participated in this group for sharing their insights on UMD, especially their thoughts on the various Honors LLCs and other specialized programs, and for those who sent me DMs to offer additional information. This has been particularly helpful, given our current inability to visit any schools in person during this pandemic. The level of toxicity in this group seems low, relative to other College Confidential groups (I hope I didn’t increase that level too much, though I probably did), and I found a lot of the discussion useful.
Ultimately, my daughter has decided to attend another school - UIUC. I think her decision was not an easy one, especially for financial reasons, but she ultimately chose the school that felt like the best fit for her. She declined her UMD offer in the Coalition portal yesterday, thinking it was unfair to hold that spot (Computer Science, President’s Scholarship, ACES LLC) if someone else might be able to benefit from it sooner. (Not sure it actually works that way, but I’m glad she didn’t hang onto it unnecessarily.)
UIUC was not her top choice at the start of this stressful college admissions process, but she is now “all in” at UIUC and is thrilled to be attending there in the fall (hopefully schools will be open then…). I hope that all applicants fully embrace whichever school they ultimately decide to attend, whether it’s UMD or somewhere else. Engagement is much more meaningful than USNWR rankings. Thanks again for all the insights, and good luck to you all.