<p>I’m a high school senior and I am looking into UMDCP. Why did you choose Maryland? </p>
<p>Not knowing your intended major makes it difficult to be more precise, but here are a few reasons.
Incredibly strong academics. Highly touted programs in engineering, business, journalism, comp sci, econ, government and politics, and more.</p>
<p>Great location for internships. Easily accessible to DC.
Large research university
Diverse student population
Big 10 sports
Beautiful campus
A ton of great clubs
Greek life, if that’s your thing</p>
<p>UMD gets stronger and stronger. President Loh is awesome and very involved with the students. It was once considered a safety, but no more. We were told that for the most part, getting selected for the honors college was as difficult as getting in JHU. UMD is considered a “public ivy.” And, just getting in period, has become challenging. I really think it has so much to offer. Very strong academics and very well respected. Again, depending on your major, there is a lot of recruiting from major companies. The closeness to DC is huge for opportunities. Internships galore if you are willing to put in the work to secure one. Many students end up having 3+ internships by the time they graduate. </p>
<p>These are a few of the reasons why you should choose UMD. I’m sure there are many more. But this is a start.</p>
<p>Go Terps! </p>
<p>Agree with terpmom7 that it’s hard to give specifics that would be helpful for you without knowing what you want to major in (for example, I’m a mom of an engineering student so I have a lot of info about engineering, plus I am an alum…)…</p>
<p>Of course, I second everything terpmom7 mentioned! </p>
<p>To expand on one of the points, one of the things I love about Maryland is the diversity. There simply is no single label you can use to describe Maryland other than diverse and that, my friend, is totally awesome in the best possible way. You will meet people like you have never met before and expand your world like never before. The students are smart, but it’s not a cut-throat environment. People are basically very friendly and work together. There are students that are very serious about studying and those that are very serious about, umm, being social, and every combination in between. You can find just about any “type” of group to hang out with, and frankly, you will probably end up hanging out with several types depending on your mood or your purpose. There will be those who will meet your need for intellectual challenge, those who will expand your horizon culturally, those who will be your social coordinators, those who push you to try new clubs or activities or even new foods, those you go to sporting events with (and trust me, I HATE anything athletic, but my kids still are amazed that I will actually watch a football game when Terps are playing - and I especially loved the win against Penn State, woo hoo!!!) because the school spirit at Maryland is so contagious it’s awesome. </p>
<p>Seriously. That’s a reason in itself. Maryland Pride. You can walk around any school campus and identify freshman by the fact that they are wearing the school gear. Not the case at Maryland. EVERYONE wears something emblazoned with Maryland on it. Ok, yea, it may have a little something to do with the fact that you can get lots of free t-shirts by attending sporting events over the years, ha ha. But seriously, it really is a thing. </p>
<p>And Maryland students are probably the happiest student body as a whole that I’ve come across. When doing the college search with my kids, and I won the most embarrassing mom award by stopping random students to ask them questions (cause I never trusted tour guides - of course they will tell you they are happy!) there was no question that Maryland students were the happiest of all the campuses. And, I did not have control over that…!!! </p>
<p>As terpmom7 alluded to, the proximity to DC makes for some really unique opportunities…Maryland has some really unique programs - ACES is the first cybersecurity living-learning program in the nation (new this year), Hinman CEO’s (entrepreneurship program that Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armor and SquareSpace founder Anthony Casalena - just to name a few - participated in)…I could go on, but again, without knowing what you are interested in…</p>
<p>In a nutshell, Maryland is the “whole package” - the quintessential college experience of “the best four years of your life.” </p>
<p>And, the simple answer to why did I chose Maryland and why did my son chose Maryland…? We’re smart! ;)</p>
<p>Damn, gotta pay closer attention …why did I choose Maryland and why did my son choose Maryland - sorry for the typo - really, we are smart, despite my lack of proofreading skills, ha ha</p>
<p>I’m a Maryland native and love the state. Proximity to DC is an incredible asset, but being based in the Baltimore area, I’d like to mention that our fair city is only 40 miles away and we also have a lot to offer. Maryland alum Kevin Plank founded Under Armour here and they continue to expand at a tremendous rate. There a host of other growing ‘smart’ companies in the Baltimore area in healthcare, ‘edtech’, financial services, and technology that are employing Maryland alumni. In fact, I am in the process of helping a recent Terp Bioengineering grad get a job at one of John’s Hopkins very well known medical research labs in Baltimore. UMCP is perfectly positioned within the Northeast mega region, where opportunities are ample. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Hi Maryversity. I was searching through the forums for some help, and saw your post. My daughter is a freshman at UMD also-yay!!! She is in the Science and Global Change Scholars Program and will apply to the Engineering school next semester. She was not directly admitted to the Engineering school but was told that as long as she takes the core classes and receives the necessary grades, she will be admitted. Bioengineering is the area that has always interested her. At UMD, Bioengineering has very specific classes that are required. To make a long story short, she really needs to take at least one of the engineering classes her freshman year to stay on schedule to graduate in 4 years. She emailed the advisor in the engineering school, and they put her on a waiting list for that class. He stated that she will find out the first day of classes next semester, and also noted that many kids take the class in the summer. My daughter has done some more research and discovered that it may be very difficult to get the classes she needs to complete the engineering curriculum in 4 years. By the way, she does have credits she received for AP classes. My daughter is very upset and so I am. What UMD is really saying to us - we have a lot of kids who want to be engineers, we don’t have enough classes, so take some in the summer, and you just may have to stay here for 5 years. We did not anticipate a 5 year program and do not have the money for a 5 year program. I really think that UMD was not upfront about this to parents and kids. Any thoughts, suggestions or recommendations of anyone on this board to communicate with? Thanks for your help. </p>
<p>@Marlgud, …it really should not be a prob to graduate in 4 years. Waitlisting has seriously NEVER been a problem - my son (MechE) is in his 3rd year, and has been in the high teens if not low 20’s on waitlists MANY times and still gotten into all the engineering classes he has needed. Not sure what research your daughter has done that has led her to believe she can’t do the curriculum in 4 years. Yes, advisers do often recommend taking a single course over the summer or winter break for many reasons (to make the semester easier, to separate a tougher course from a semester so you can focus only on it if you are concerned it may be problematic, etc) but that doesn’t mean you need to or have to do that. So, why don’t you send me a private message with specifics…</p>
<p>BTW, @Marlgud, if it helps to know, my son had several friends in a similar situation freshman year (not direct admits to engineering) that all got into into engineering without issue and are all currently on track to graduate on time…all in various disciplines of engineering</p>