Why Come from Out-of-State, esp. NY/NJ?

Colleges & Universities University of Maryland - College Park
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<p>There is no question that UCMP is a good school with strengths in many areas. I was surprised though to learn that there are a lot of out of state kids, esp from NJ and NY. Why would people want to pay 2x the tuition to go to UCMP when they could go to e.g. Binghamton, Stony Brook (for New Yorkers) or Rutgers (for New Jerseyans.)</p>

<p>I understand going out of state to a liberal arts college, which are pretty much all private anyway, or to an elite private university like an Ivy. But what is the logic in paying so much money to go to a big state school that is solid, but not really better than what is available in your own state? If you are going to pay a lot at least go to a private school with smaller classes is my thinking.</p>

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<p>Quick correction, I meant to type “UMCP” and not “UCMP”, of course.</p>

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<p>I am curious about this too. The SUNY system is a good college system, and inexpensive at that. Out-of-state tuition for Maryland is relatively good at $22,500. Penn State is 26-28K, depending on undergrad major.</p>

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<p>Well, not everyone is ready to chalk up 56K a year to go to a small private LAC. While UMCP may be similar in some ways to Rutgers or other state universities, it does offer some unique features that may make it more desirable. Furthermore, though it would be more expensive than their state school, it would often still be less than a private school (many times because MD would be more likely to grant a student significant scholarship money, but even without scholarship money it is still significantly less expensive than most private universities).</p>

<p>I would have to do a lot of research on Rutgers and the SUNY schools to figure out what exactly might make Maryland different, but no doubt it has different areas of academic strength, it is located in a unique urban area with ease of access to the nation’s capital and all that affords in terms of internships/research opportunities/connections/entertainment, and it has a different campus vibe associated with its particular set of students, student groups, and the level of activity/renown associated with the groups.</p>

<p>I hesitate to make many generalizations beyond that, such as the fact that UMCP is generally considered more prestigious than Rutgers and has more programs ranked nationally in the Top 10 and Top 25, because I wouldn’t want to focus too heavily on one element at the expense of others. </p>

<p>Again, Maryland is unique for MANY reasons, the most obvious being its particular academic areas of strength, its location, its campus vibe. None of these are any less superficial than reasons one might choose a private uni over a state uni and many of them are in fact the same (different internship/research opportunities, areas of academic strength, etc. etc.)</p>

<p>I empathize with the intent of this post, because for some students there truly would be no reason to choose UMCP over Binghampton or Rutgers. But for many the differences between the schools are vast enough in their areas of interest that it would make a huge difference, and STILL at a fraction of the cost it would take to go to a private university despite the OOS price tag.</p>

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<p>For instance, I saw no reason to attend, say UVa or UNC Chapel Hill over Maryland, but many other students would.</p>

<p>To me, comparing the relative strength of the academic areas I was interested in, and tkaing into account UMD’s location and all that would afford, and discounting negatives I saw to the school (such as UVa = too preppy/conservative), I didn’t see them to be worth the OOS cost. But for someone who, say, prefers the smaller, conservative vibe of UVa AND who dually is interested in a program that is considered much more academically strong/rigorous than their unis AND who doesn’t consider the location of their home state school a plus, you can see the cominbation would be enough to make them feel the extra cost is worth it. </p>

<p>It all depends and it’s all about the combo.</p>

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<p>And, sorry for singling out Rutgers in my first post, it looks like there is even more of a gap between Suny Binghampton and UMaryland if we’re going strictly by “rankings.” But again, it’s more useful to look at specific academic programs, location, vibe, yadda yadda. Third time’s a charm.</p>

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<p>I actually turned down Stony Brook (instate) for Maryland, and didn’t bother applying to Binghamton.
For me, I wanted to get away from the people from my high school. Everyone goes to Binghamton, but only 1 or 2 to Stony Brook each year.</p>

<p>Maryland vs. Stony Brook is a lot in the campus atmosphere itself:
Everyone from Maryland may be shocked to hear this but there are worse dorms than the freshman high rises. They’re at Stony Brook. They feel like jail cells. Everyone is tripled their first year.
There is nothing near Stony Brook. It seems like it’s near the city, but it’s two hours away.
Stony Brook’s campus is not wireless (It seems like a weird thing, but what huge state school hasn’t taken the money to do this? What else are they lacking). And the freshman dorms only have 2 data jacks apiece and everyone is tripled meaning only two roommates can do homework at a time.
Stony Brook is a suitcase school. It is dead on weekends. There is nothing to do.
Stony Brook’s campus is just ugly. Maryland is boring and monotonous, but at least it’s not hideous.</p>

<p>I don’t remember stony brook’s specific programs enough to compare academics off the top of my head.</p>

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<p>Hm, I’m always skeptical of people when they say they wanna get away from high school people…but Binghamton is fairly small compared to MD at only 11,000. When Maryland kids say they don’t want to go to MD because they want to get away from HS I automatically think less of their intelligence (you think you’re going to have to worry about kids from HS in a university with 30,000 students?!). I’ve yet to have a single person from my HS in any of my classes. Really. Size may actually be a plus for kids from NY. MD is a very bustling campus for sure. It’s one of my favorite things about it. My friends from smaller schools are always amazed at the energy and all of the things going on.</p>

<p>(Yikes, no wireless? Weird o.o.)</p>

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<p>Well, my personal reasons were:</p>

<p>1) The Journalism program: amazing, one of the best at Maryland, practically brand new (and therefore unestablished) at Stony Brook, meh at Bing (they don’t even have their own J-School). </p>

<p>2) School spirit: You just can’t compare UMD to Stony Brook and Bing in terms of athletics and student support. Even though they’re all D1, UMD is in it’s own tier compared to them. Big time sports teams and many students go to the games. </p>

<p>3) Location: UMD - slightly warmer Maryland, just a metro ride to D.C.
Stony Brook - out east on LI, 2-hour trek to NYC (I was closer at home and I didn’t go often, so why would I go more when I’m an hour further away?).
Bing - cold upstate NY. </p>

<p>4) Social Scene: UMD - awesome. Stony Brook - ghost town on weekends. Bing - don’t know.</p>

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<p>I think a lot of NJ students select UMDCP, for multiple reasons besides academics. Honestly academically it ranks as high as PSU, and above Rutgers, so that is a big reason. As others have stated the program is a big draw. Our DS also declined UVA and UNCCH over UMDCP, for two reasons (AFROTC —liked the det) AND his major —GOVT and POLITICS. If you want to major in something that you can an internship in, why go to Raleigh NC, when you can intern in DC. Aero engineering, why not go to a school that has internships with NASA?</p>

<p>Secondly, many students that opt UMDCP over any NJ school has a lot to do with the feel of the campus. There are no schools in NJ that have that traditional college campus feeling.</p>

<p>Thirdly, kids from NJ like hustle and bustle. College park is like New Brunswick in that merit and like New Brunswick they can hop on a train to go to DC anytime they want.</p>

<p>Fourth, great athletic depts, and that is a social pull for kids. You’d be amazed how many girls never went to a fb or bb game in their life, but once there they are at all of the games too.</p>

<p>Fifth, kids like to fly the nest, but still be near home. UMDCP is just far enough away for NJ kids, to know the folks won’t be popping in, but close enough if they want to come home for a short weekend.</p>

<p>Sixth, people are like sheep, they follow. UMDCP has had a NJ/NY pull since Bullet went there in the 80’s. There is the allure of UMDCP, and with each yr more kids throw their name into the hat, less get accepted, thus, they have this image of being more selective. In turn, then the next yr group thinks there is something about UMDCP and they throw their name into the hat. </p>

<p>Seventh, unlike PSU, UNCCH and Rutgers, there is only one campus. There are no satellite campuses. In other words, you get into UMD, you are going to go to at CP. Get into PSU and there is no guarantee that you will get into college station, you may have to transfer in, same with the UNC system, you can get accepted to UNC, but that doesn’t mean it is Chapel Hill.</p>

<p>Rutgers is a unique college, and I think it’s biggest downfall for getting kids to apply from OOS is that it doesn’t feel like a college in a city, it feels like a city with a college in it. Also the camaraderie/school spirit is not there as much because of this aspect. Yes, buses run from Cook to Piscataway, but they are basically two campuses, New Brunswick is the main campus. At UMD, kids who live in New Leonardtown which is across the street from campus, still go to parties at Easton, because it is just a long walk away. You don’t feel like you are visiting another campus.</p>

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<p>Good points, Pima. Just wanted to post a clarification on your 7th point. My oldest goes to UNCCH, so I know for sure that you apply and are accepted to that particular school (Chapel Hill). My second daughter was considering Penn State, and you do apply to a particular campus there. If you aren’t admitted to University Park, you may go to another campus and then transfer to the main campus your junior year. (Can’t remember whether or not you’re guaranteed the ability to transfer.)</p>

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<p>Yeah, when I applied to Penn State I put University Park first and got in directly, so there wasn’t a question about whether I’d be in the main campus or not - I knew I would be if I went there. Same with UNC like HoComom said, I had to apply to the Chapel Hill campus specifically. When I got rejected there it wasn’t like there was still a chance within the UNC system, since I didn’t apply to the others.</p>

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<p>Some interesting posts here. My daughter is most interested in UMDCP. Penn State is her 2nd choice. My wife wants her to consider Stony Brook. After reading some of these posts, I am thinking that Maryland is a better choice for her.</p>

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<p>Clarification,</p>

<p>Most kids in NC will apply to UNCCH, but they will also apply to UNC-Wilmington or Greensboro as back up. From there they can do 2 yrs and try to transfer over. I just didn’t want to muddy the waters, because again it is a unique system, that UMDCP does not have.</p>

<p>Too many times kids think that UMDCP is connected to UMDBC and this is incorrect. They think that if you don’t get into UMDCP, than UMBC is the lower tier like UNC Wilmington. It isn’t.</p>

<p>Every state with their state university system has little quirks. For example in VA, go to a 2 yr community college, get good grades and you basically can slide into any state u. The transfer issue is a non-player.</p>

<p>In NC go to a CC and that is true too, but it is not as easy as VA. There are many higher tier colleges like UNCCH that still make it difficult to do this.</p>

<p>Being originally from NJ and graduating from college 24 yrs ago, nothing has really changed. The most popular OOS colleges that these kids apply to are PSU and UMDCP and that was the way 25 yrs ago too. The one college that now seems to be showing a big uptick is James Madison University in VA. I only say this from anecdotal info for I still have family members back there, and whereas 5 yrs ago, JMU would be a safety for NJ residents it is now a match for many, and UMDCP which was a match for many is now a reach. Bullet went to UMDCP and he would be the 1st to tell you, that in today’s society he would have gotten a thin envelope a NJ student.</p>

<p>The problem for NJ, is the state schools don’t have that traditional college feel. Be it Rutgers, Trenton or Rider. It just really isn’t there compared to pulling up to UMDCP driving through the entrance and seeing the M on the circle in flowers or the Mall with Testudo nearby. To kids it looks like colleges they have seen in the movies.</p>

<p>Let’s remember St Elmo’s fire’s opening scene is their frat row. I believe Legall Blond filmed their sorority row at UMD (or maybe it was Sydney White) and Nat. Treasure 2 was filmed on campus.</p>

<p>OBTW little known fact, UMDCP has a bus that goes straight into NY for 25 bucks. Kids are known just to hop in it for the night because they are bored of going into DC.</p>

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<p>“OBTW little known fact, UMDCP has a bus that goes straight into NY for 25 bucks. Kids are known just to hop in it for the night because they are bored of going into DC.”</p>

<p>Seriously? The only one I know about is the one that goes to NJ and NY for breaks, which I’m using to go home for Thanksgiving. Sooo much cheaper than Amtrak - just $50 round trip.</p>

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<p>Yeah, I don’t know any bus that goes straight from campus, but there’s buses accessible via metro such as the Chinatown buses (Apex) and Megabus and Bolt and things like that that are about $25 one way (some slightly cheaper than others).</p>

<p>It’s definitely par course for my friends to hit up NYC and Philly quite frequently via bus or car. CP is accessible to DC but by extension it’s very accessible to many other cities…</p>

<p>While it may not be obvious why a kid from North Carolina or Virginia would go to MD (unless he/she couldn’t get into UVa or UNC!), I think there are some pretty obvious reasons why someone from NJ or NY would want to come here, a lot of which have been touched on in this thread. And, there actually are some kids from NC and VA…maybe they too disliked the lack of a big city nearby and the more southern feel, or something :p</p>

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<p>I’ve only heard of the bus that goes to NY before breaks as well.</p>

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<p>I’m attending a CC in NJ right now and i have been trying to decided Rutgers or College park… The cost of College park is the only set back in my mind…</p>

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<p>For such a population-dense state, NJ has very few options for In-state schools. The big sleeper school, always one of U.S News “most beautiful Campuses” is actually “the College of NJ”. It is more competitive than Rytgers and has less commuters too. For some reason everyone seems to forget about it. SInce when did Penn State get so good? I’ve been watching its Hurculean rise in the US World Report Standings (actually above Maryland and Delaware, as is its business school) It used to be where a huge chunk of “average” kids went to from our large NJ HS, and looking at the Naviance stats (72% acceptance, most way lower then their bubble chart) it makes me go “hmmmmmmm” SOmething more germaine to the post. This year’s Naviance for Maryland is showing only like 14 applicants, (most try to beat the Nov date, and I’m sure there will be maybe ten more-tops, but that’s way down from 35 last year and 45 the year before.</p>

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<p>I agree about Penn State. In the area it’s still considered pretty equivalent to UDel, Maryland, and Rutgers.</p>

<p>If anything it has more of a party rep than any of them…VERY few top performers leave MD for Penn State. If you’re smart, you’d go to UVA or UNC-Chapel Hill if anything. Penn State is kinda not considered an option for many unless you are pretty average. Great option for IS students tho.</p>

<p>But for the strong school spirit/great college town/residential atmosphere, it beats Rutgers out for sure for a lot of students.</p>