Didn’t want UMD

[Anonymous]

Just curious. Tell me about your kid who got into UMD and just didn’t want to go because it is close to home. As much as I wanted my kid to go there, she wanted to get away. So she is going to Indiana. -sigh-

[Anonymous]

If Notre Dame, go

[Anonymous]

Well, DD got in and wanted to go because it was close to home, but ended up choosing Towson.

[Anonymous]

I can understand that, and my DC felt the same. However, DC is majoring in CS, plus merit, and with UMDCP being T20 for CS, it was a no brainer. If DC got into MIT or CMU, that would be a different story. But, the otherwise, the cost differential in cost for a CS major for OOS didn't make sense.

Whether it makes sense to go OOS and not UMD depends on the major and your finances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, DD got in and wanted to go because it was close to home, but ended up choosing Towson.

interesting.. why Towson over UMD if she liked UMD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can understand that, and my DC felt the same. However, DC is majoring in CS, plus merit, and with UMDCP being T20 for CS, it was a no brainer. If DC got into MIT or CMU, that would be a different story. But, the otherwise, the cost differential in cost for a CS major for OOS didn't make sense.

Whether it makes sense to go OOS and not UMD depends on the major and your finances.

This was a wise choice.

[Anonymous]

UMD provides a great education, but we just didn't like the campus and didn't like the Purple Line upheaval, which is annoying and probably won't lead to an actual Purple Line for 2027 grads (completion projected for 2026, but we'll see). 30,000 undergrads makes for a huge, impersonal experience, no matter how they slice it. DD was invited to an Honors College and would have had a dorm just for that community, which might have worked out.

She's going even closer to home to George Washington. She likes the campus, even though it's integrated into the city, and prefers the dining and dorm options and internship possibilities. It would have been an expensive pill to swallow had she not received merit aid, but as it is, it's a good choice for her.

[Anonymous]

We passed because admitted to Spring 2024. And Colege Park is a dud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMD provides a great education, but we just didn't like the campus and didn't like the Purple Line upheaval, which is annoying and probably won't lead to an actual Purple Line for 2027 grads (completion projected for 2026, but we'll see). 30,000 undergrads makes for a huge, impersonal experience, no matter how they slice it. DD was invited to an Honors College and would have had a dorm just for that community, which might have worked out.

She's going even closer to home to George Washington. She likes the campus, even though it's integrated into the city, and prefers the dining and dorm options and internship possibilities. It would have been an expensive pill to swallow had she not received merit aid, but as it is, it's a good choice for her.

Some kids don't like the big campuses, and do prefer the integrated city type campuses. Others dislike campuses that are in the middle of nowhere, while others don't like urban campuses.

And some kids like big colleges, while others like the small ones.

Some kids don't care about the campus as much as long as they can find a social group and the college is great for a particular major, while others care just as much about the campus as well as how good the major is at the college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We passed because admitted to Spring 2024. And Colege Park is a dud.

😆😆

[Anonymous]

We went to MD Day once when the kids were much younger, and my DC had an immediate hate for the campus. By the time she was a senior, she still didn't want a big campus, and we were getting comparable COA at other schools. I went to my state flagship, and liked that campus and surrounding area better than College Park, but do have my regrets about the big school experience, so I wasn't pushing UMD either. DC is now about to graduate, and I think it was the right decision for her. She has plenty of friends graduating from UMD, and that's been fine, too. Only point is, at the time, it would have taken a lot of arm twisting to get DC to go to UMD, don't think she even wanted to do a tour for admitted students. But if she goes to grad school, I think she'd now be fine with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went to MD Day once when the kids were much younger, and my DC had an immediate hate for the campus. By the time she was a senior, she still didn't want a big campus, and we were getting comparable COA at other schools. I went to my state flagship, and liked that campus and surrounding area better than College Park, but do have my regrets about the big school experience, so I wasn't pushing UMD either. DC is now about to graduate, and I think it was the right decision for her. She has plenty of friends graduating from UMD, and that's been fine, too. Only point is, at the time, it would have taken a lot of arm twisting to get DC to go to UMD, don't think she even wanted to do a tour for admitted students. But if she goes to grad school, I think she'd now be fine with it.

+1. Yeah. I understand. My daughter didn’t even consider that UMD ranked well in a couple of things she wants to study AND is good for jobs/ internship opportunities. The immediate response was “I don’t like it and I want to get away from here”. Not a good way to analyze the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went to MD Day once when the kids were much younger, and my DC had an immediate hate for the campus. By the time she was a senior, she still didn't want a big campus, and we were getting comparable COA at other schools. I went to my state flagship, and liked that campus and surrounding area better than College Park, but do have my regrets about the big school experience, so I wasn't pushing UMD either. DC is now about to graduate, and I think it was the right decision for her. She has plenty of friends graduating from UMD, and that's been fine, too. Only point is, at the time, it would have taken a lot of arm twisting to get DC to go to UMD, don't think she even wanted to do a tour for admitted students. But if she goes to grad school, I think she'd now be fine with it.

+1. Yeah. I understand. My daughter didn’t even consider that UMD ranked well in a couple of things she wants to study AND is good for jobs/ internship opportunities. The immediate response was “I don’t like it and I want to get away from here”. Not a good way to analyze the school.

But it's true you can have a gut feeling for a particular location. I wouldn't want my kid to feel dislike for her surroundings for 4 years. If there was no other reasonable choice, sure, but otherwise, it's best to go elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We passed because admitted to Spring 2024. And Colege Park is a dud.

LOL. Jealousy not sexy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, DD got in and wanted to go because it was close to home, but ended up choosing Towson.

interesting.. why Towson over UMD if she liked UMD?

She liked that UMD was close to home, but ultimately she liked Towson better (and the campus construction at UMD was a big factor, but the deciding factor was a major she may want at Towson that isn't at UMD).