MD In-state options beyond College Park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also optimistic about our in state options improving

I predict a bright future for umbc and St Mary's

I agree. Private colleges and universities are getting ridiculously expensive which makes these in-state options much more attractive. UMD is getting more selective every year and these other state schools are only going to see their selectivity rise.

All these schools are getting more popular. UMBC has so much going for it. According to Naviance at my kid’s large MCPS high school, the number of students attending UMBC has more than tripled in the past few years. St. Mary’s is really a hidden gem and has only recently started to get the word out about what it has to offer. They have the largest class freshman class in many years and a big increase in applications.

UMBC enrollment at WJ has also tripled over the past 3 years:
2016 - 9
2017 - 22
2018 - 26

[Anonymous]

I have hired a lot of Towson grads in the past few years and I can't think of a single one who wasn't great. They are hard-working, dedicated, and nothing like the stereotype of the typical millennial who expects to become a VP with a corner office after 6 months on the job.

[Anonymous]

I live in the Towson area and have had many babysitters from the school . They all have been great kids. I have heard from them that for some majors, it is hard to get into required classes and it is pretty common to need an extra sem3ster or two to finish requirements. The education major is very strong, and most students seem to have no trouble being hired directly out of school in Baltimore county, Howard, or AA.

[Anonymous]

Bad things can happen anywhere, but places have different crime rates.

I did not want to send my child to a campuses near a high crime area. This is how this post is relevant to the discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also optimistic about our in state options improving

I predict a bright future for umbc and St Mary's

St. Mary's has been going in the tank each year. Claiming to be an honors college hasn't help. UMBC seems to be a great college, but is basically a glorified commuter school.

Towson has been the status quo for decades. Same with Salisbury (although their status quo is much lower)

OP here. How do you know it is going in the tank?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I much rather my child go out of state then to any of the in state MD schools. This is where most of the country part of MD go to. Unless you are going for a degree that doesn’t pay much (teaching, social work, etc..) you are better at a better ranked out of state. You would be surprised the merit they offer. And really, why pay over $10K a year to live in a dorm in the same state you grew up in? Branch out a bit.

OP here. We’ve told him he needs to apply to two in-state schools out of the 10-12 he will apply to. I agree with your point about going OOS, but one never knows what the future will bring. I would rather he had several options at about the same price point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I much rather my child go out of state then to any of the in state MD schools. This is where most of the country part of MD go to. Unless you are going for a degree that doesn’t pay much (teaching, social work, etc..) you are better at a better ranked out of state. You would be surprised the merit they offer. And really, why pay over $10K a year to live in a dorm in the same state you grew up in? Branch out a bit.

And yet, most students at these schools know the difference between "then" and "than". And your second sentence is manages to be both incoherent and bigoted. I'm not sure that you should be putting down fine schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I much rather my child go out of state then to any of the in state MD schools. This is where most of the country part of MD go to. Unless you are going for a degree that doesn’t pay much (teaching, social work, etc..) you are better at a better ranked out of state. You would be surprised the merit they offer. And really, why pay over $10K a year to live in a dorm in the same state you grew up in? Branch out a bit.

And yet, most students at these schools know the difference between "then" and "than". And your second sentence is manages to be both incoherent and bigoted. I'm not sure that you should be putting down fine schools.

LMAO. What the hell does that even mean?! Let's encourage idiots like this to send their kids out of state - good riddance and makes more room at in-state schools for the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I much rather my child go out of state then to any of the in state MD schools. This is where most of the country part of MD go to. Unless you are going for a degree that doesn’t pay much (teaching, social work, etc..) you are better at a better ranked out of state. You would be surprised the merit they offer. And really, why pay over $10K a year to live in a dorm in the same state you grew up in? Branch out a bit.

And yet, most students at these schools know the difference between "then" and "than". And your second sentence is manages to be both incoherent and bigoted. I'm not sure that you should be putting down fine schools.

Incoherent - got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - don't overlook out of state options.

My son wouldn't have gotten into VT engineering, but he's at a highly regarded engineering school elsewhere with enough merit aid that we're close. Certainly cheaper than UVA or WM

You just have to look around a bit. DMV kids have a good reputation in the midwest.

He's thriving.

One thing to keep in mind is that the in-state schools for Virginia residents are typically more expensive than the in-state schools for Maryland residents. So if you are saying that your out-of-state school came close to your in-state school tuition, that might be the case if you are in VA but maybe not if you are in MD.

Example, for tuition and room and board, UMD and UMBC are about $23,000 for in-state while UVA is closer to $30,000 in-state and William and Mary is about $37,000 in-state.

So what? The point the PP was making is that there are still midwest and southern OOS that are cheaper or similar to even $23,000. Heck, if you have a 30ACT and a 3.5GPA or higher, you can go to University of Alabama - Huntsville for absolutely free. They have a fantastic engineering program and are located right next to the NASA Space Flight Center.

There are so so many options out there.

This is the PP. Thanks.

And although the difference in the money the poster talks about is non-trivial (the few thousand dollars between what my family is paying and UMD), it isn't a deal breaker for many families reading here.

Besides cost difference between an OOS public with merit and the in-state, factor in the possibility that
1) the student might take more than 4 years to graduate and merit awards typically only cover 4 years. That extra semester or two is going to be a doozy
2) the student could lose that merit aid if their grades slip

OK Debbie Downer. I still think my kid is getting more of what he wants at his OOS flagship than he would have at His available in-state options.

Yes, you are right that life takes unexpected turns. But let it go! OP wants options, and we of the OOS kids are offering one. Send your kid to Frostburg if you want. My VA kid wanted out of the south, and so he left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - don't overlook out of state options.

My son wouldn't have gotten into VT engineering, but he's at a highly regarded engineering school elsewhere with enough merit aid that we're close. Certainly cheaper than UVA or WM

You just have to look around a bit. DMV kids have a good reputation in the midwest.

He's thriving.

One thing to keep in mind is that the in-state schools for Virginia residents are typically more expensive than the in-state schools for Maryland residents. So if you are saying that your out-of-state school came close to your in-state school tuition, that might be the case if you are in VA but maybe not if you are in MD.

Example, for tuition and room and board, UMD and UMBC are about $23,000 for in-state while UVA is closer to $30,000 in-state and William and Mary is about $37,000 in-state.

So what? The point the PP was making is that there are still midwest and southern OOS that are cheaper or similar to even $23,000. Heck, if you have a 30ACT and a 3.5GPA or higher, you can go to University of Alabama - Huntsville for absolutely free. They have a fantastic engineering program and are located right next to the NASA Space Flight Center.

There are so so many options out there.

This is the PP. Thanks.

And although the difference in the money the poster talks about is non-trivial (the few thousand dollars between what my family is paying and UMD), it isn't a deal breaker for many families reading here.

Besides cost difference between an OOS public with merit and the in-state, factor in the possibility that
1) the student might take more than 4 years to graduate and merit awards typically only cover 4 years. That extra semester or two is going to be a doozy
2) the student could lose that merit aid if their grades slip

OK Debbie Downer. I still think my kid is getting more of what he wants at his OOS flagship than he would have at His available in-state options.

Yes, you are right that life takes unexpected turns. But let it go! OP wants options, and we of the OOS kids are offering one. Send your kid to Frostburg if you want. My VA kid wanted out of the south, and so he left.

The PP was giving some very useful advice so don't know why you are so defensive. Spend your money however you want, really nobody cares one way or another if your kid is going to an OOS school. For those that are actually trying to learn something, the bolded is very good information for anyone to keep in mind when factoring in merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also optimistic about our in state options improving

I predict a bright future for umbc and St Mary's

St. Mary's has been going in the tank each year. Claiming to be an honors college hasn't help. UMBC seems to be a great college, but is basically a glorified commuter school.

Towson has been the status quo for decades. Same with Salisbury (although their status quo is much lower)

OP here. How do you know it is going in the tank?

I think pp is referring to $ problem and administrative issues that started 15-20 years ago and, sadly, the school still hasn’t fully recovered. You can find a lot of articles over the years on WashPo. It explains why st Mary’s has 70-80% admit rate. They need money and state is not adequately funding it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm also optimistic about our in state options improving

I predict a bright future for umbc and St Mary's

St. Mary's has been going in the tank each year. Claiming to be an honors college hasn't help. UMBC seems to be a great college, but is basically a glorified commuter school.

Towson has been the status quo for decades. Same with Salisbury (although their status quo is much lower)

OP here. How do you know it is going in the tank?

I think pp is referring to $ problem and administrative issues that started 15-20 years ago and, sadly, the school still hasn’t fully recovered. You can find a lot of articles over the years on WashPo. It explains why st Mary’s has 70-80% admit rate. They need money and state is not adequately funding it.

Like so many small liberal arts colleges, St. Mary’s has had its share of struggles trying to keep up enrollment. About 5 years ago they had a horrible administration that made some bad choices and under enrolled the school. They’ve been working hard to correct things ever since but it seems to really be on the right track now with an increase in enrollment. The state has increased their budget and thanks to some very generous donations, they have been able to recently add new academic buildings, a new stadium, and new a new art space is due to break ground. Where other small private LACs have been cutting programs, St. Mary’s has actually been adding new majors.

[Anonymous]

^ St Mary’s definitely still in trouble. It will take many years before they are fully recovered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I much rather my child go out of state then to any of the in state MD schools. This is where most of the country part of MD go to. Unless you are going for a degree that doesn’t pay much (teaching, social work, etc..) you are better at a better ranked out of state. You would be surprised the merit they offer. And really, why pay over $10K a year to live in a dorm in the same state you grew up in? Branch out a bit.

And yet, most students at these schools know the difference between "then" and "than". And your second sentence is manages to be both incoherent and bigoted. I'm not sure that you should be putting down fine schools.

Oh the irony!