UMD decision 2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected, but dc isn’t upset. It was not a top choice and they have much better options elsewhere for their intended major. Only applied because we’re in state.

So UMD figured that out and protected their yield

There’s no way UMCP can figure that out.

The reality is plenty of Marylanders can’t afford to send their high stats kids out of state and desperately want their kids to get into our flagship.

But the reality is certain kids from mcps are simply shut out.

A college counselor I know very well says UMCP is irrationally unpredictable. Pretty much sums it up.

I'm a HS teacher and our counselors say that UMCP is the hardest school to predict. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but they say they are surprised every year, both by the kids who they thought were strong candidates who don't even get Freshmen Connect, and the kids who get honors who they weren't sure would get in.

But the statement that there are kids who "can't afford to send their high stats kids out of state" is confusing. My kid, who is a solid student but not good enough that applying to UMD made sense, has multiple merit offers that bring the cost of attendance below the in state COA of UMD, and that's before need based aid has been awarded.

Okay.

Step out of your bubble and imagine a family who can’t afford off campus housing (or any housing) and travel. Or maybe they need their 18 year old to live at home to help take care of younger siblings or grandma.

I know a handful of students who received generous merit at schools ranked above UMCP yet were rejected at UMCP. They opted for MC then transferred because even with merit and full rides, housing is quite costly.

PS - All the students I know who were rejected despite impressive stats were white kids from mcps (not W schools).

High school counselors can confirm; or you can google it (some of this came out in the media in recent years…but you need to connect the dots because nobody will say it as clearly as it should be).

I don't think that my job teaching high school in a high poverty school puts me in a bubble. You specifically referenced students who couldn't afford any out of state school, not students who need to stay close for other reasons. I responded about those students. Yes, there are students who need to stay close.

You also say that students with "full rides" pay for housing when the definition of a full ride is a scholarship that covers housing.

I don't know what high school counselors can confirm. I don't think they would know who they are, so I'm not sure how they can confirm that all the students you happen to know who were rejected with high stats were white. I think I'll just take your word on that.

Do you have any kids away at college?

Off campus housing and living expenses are shockingly expensive. Tons of Maryland parents would prefer to pay in state tuition and have their kids commute (for myriad reasons). This used to be fairly easy for smart kids, and now tons of proud alums have been shut out when their high stats kids are rejected.

Mcps counselors recognize this. UMCP is a total crapshoot: nobody can predict acceptance.

The fact that a kid rejected from UMCP can get a scholarship to schools that are far better ranked is very telling.

And if people included demographics in their posts along with stats (race, school, HHI, etc.), you would have a clearer picture.

Anyway, go take a drive on campus and check out the vibe. Not today obviously since the campus had to shut down due to aged hvac and plumbing.

It's a campus buzzing with people walking on the 87 miles of sidewalks, many shuttles to get students around 20 miles of roads, dining options along route 1 (Baltimore Ave), new dorms, new CS building Engineering building, public policy building, school spirit, university farm, great gym, research "triangle" near CP metro. Purple line has its pros and cons mainly it's running right through campus but will increase accessiblilty to areas parallel to I-495. And more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$400+ gas bills in winter, $600+ electric bills in summer, $15k a year in property taxes, crazy car registration fees, 3-4 soles trap mail in tickets per year, and my kid with a 4.4w/3.9 uw taking 4 aps senior year gets rejected. This state sucks.

Are you trying to say your house is too big with those bill $, your house is too drafy?

DP

Even THs are getting $400+ heat bills. Big jump in the service fee.

Plus, we pay a premium for everything in MoCo…and the leaders in Annapolis assume everyone in our county is affluent, so we get squeezed to subsidize the rest of the state.

It’s reasonable for longtime residents to be frustrated when their kid gets rejected from UMCP but gets into a handful of objectively better-ranked schools that were a reach. Something isn’t right.

On the school's NPC, can't input HHI above 99k. Is that also telling (no snark)? So it doesn't matter if Larla's family in-state is making 250k and Larlo's in-state is making 100k. Both will have same COA (minus any aid NPC doesn't know/show).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are more than 60k graduating high school seniors in the state and only 5k spots for fall freshman at umd (which is higher - used to be more like 4k).

But not all of the 60k are applying to colleges. Nor are all who are applying to colleges applying to UMD, or to a 4 year one. How many applications did UMD receive this year EA and RD?

[Anonymous]

I keep seeing references to "MCPS W schools." What does that mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected, but dc isn’t upset. It was not a top choice and they have much better options elsewhere for their intended major. Only applied because we’re in state.

So UMD figured that out and protected their yield

There’s no way UMCP can figure that out.

The reality is plenty of Marylanders can’t afford to send their high stats kids out of state and desperately want their kids to get into our flagship.

But the reality is certain kids from mcps are simply shut out.

A college counselor I know very well says UMCP is irrationally unpredictable. Pretty much sums it up.

I'm a HS teacher and our counselors say that UMCP is the hardest school to predict. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but they say they are surprised every year, both by the kids who they thought were strong candidates who don't even get Freshmen Connect, and the kids who get honors who they weren't sure would get in.

But the statement that there are kids who "can't afford to send their high stats kids out of state" is confusing. My kid, who is a solid student but not good enough that applying to UMD made sense, has multiple merit offers that bring the cost of attendance below the in state COA of UMD, and that's before need based aid has been awarded.

Okay.

Step out of your bubble and imagine a family who can’t afford off campus housing (or any housing) and travel. Or maybe they need their 18 year old to live at home to help take care of younger siblings or grandma.

I know a handful of students who received generous merit at schools ranked above UMCP yet were rejected at UMCP. They opted for MC then transferred because even with merit and full rides, housing is quite costly.

PS - All the students I know who were rejected despite impressive stats were white kids from mcps (not W schools).

High school counselors can confirm; or you can google it (some of this came out in the media in recent years…but you need to connect the dots because nobody will say it as clearly as it should be).

I don't think that my job teaching high school in a high poverty school puts me in a bubble. You specifically referenced students who couldn't afford any out of state school, not students who need to stay close for other reasons. I responded about those students. Yes, there are students who need to stay close.

You also say that students with "full rides" pay for housing when the definition of a full ride is a scholarship that covers housing.

I don't know what high school counselors can confirm. I don't think they would know who they are, so I'm not sure how they can confirm that all the students you happen to know who were rejected with high stats were white. I think I'll just take your word on that.

Do you have any kids away at college?

Off campus housing and living expenses are shockingly expensive. Tons of Maryland parents would prefer to pay in state tuition and have their kids commute (for myriad reasons). This used to be fairly easy for smart kids, and now tons of proud alums have been shut out when their high stats kids are rejected.

Mcps counselors recognize this. UMCP is a total crapshoot: nobody can predict acceptance.

The fact that a kid rejected from UMCP can get a scholarship to schools that are far better ranked is very telling.

And if people included demographics in their posts along with stats (race, school, HHI, etc.), you would have a clearer picture.

Anyway, go take a drive on campus and check out the vibe. Not today obviously since the campus had to shut down due to aged hvac and plumbing.

It's a campus buzzing with people walking on the 87 miles of sidewalks, many shuttles to get students around 20 miles of roads, dining options along route 1 (Baltimore Ave), new dorms, new CS building Engineering building, public policy building, school spirit, university farm, great gym, research "triangle" near CP metro. Purple line has its pros and cons mainly it's running right through campus but will increase accessiblilty to areas parallel to I-495. And more.

Exactly.

And, to the other poster above, the "aged HVAC and plumbing" is currently being replaced. The reason the steam plant couldn't keep up is they have a essentially a temporary system while the main system is being modernized. You can argue it was a risk but this is a very unusual, long duration cold snap. Nothing like this has been seen since 2014 and the duration of this will be worse because more is coming in a week. Also the uncleared snow would probably have kept campus closed anyway. At least through Thursday last week. And nobody in the area did any kind of good job with this snow in terms of clearing it. Still haven't. I bet some things can't open on Monday even.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected for Biology major. Good MCPS high school. 4.8 weighted GPA, several 5s and 4s on AP exams. Multiple character awards for varsity sports. Accepted into Virginia Tech. Rejection is redirection!

White?

This is a trend: highly qualified/overqualified kids from mcps shut out. It prompted a scandal last year that included a professor to needlessly escalate it.

Yes, white. My daughter's friend that was rejected was Asian. The child that got in with a 3.0 was not white. I say all of this factually and without any feeling.

Guess they don't want all Asians and Whites and certainly not all Asians and Whites from MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMCP has old, gross housing.

ICYMI: they just shut down the campus due to lack of heat and water in the prehistoric dorms.

And be sure to google recent criminal activity on Route 1. I personally know of two students who were assaulted, and I don’t even have student on campus.

Signed,

Terp alum who still attends sporting events but thinks the campus needs an upgrade

Kid rejected, huh?

Or trying to disuade accepted kids from enrolling there

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected for Biology major. Good MCPS high school. 4.8 weighted GPA, several 5s and 4s on AP exams. Multiple character awards for varsity sports. Accepted into Virginia Tech. Rejection is redirection!

White?

This is a trend: highly qualified/overqualified kids from mcps shut out. It prompted a scandal last year that included a professor to needlessly escalate it.

Yes, white. My daughter's friend that was rejected was Asian. The child that got in with a 3.0 was not white. I say all of this factually and without any feeling.

Are you the same poster that was shouting in cap locks earlier? I don’t sense this is without feelings.

And how do you know everything about this not-white child that did get in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected, but dc isn’t upset. It was not a top choice and they have much better options elsewhere for their intended major. Only applied because we’re in state.

So UMD figured that out and protected their yield

There’s no way UMCP can figure that out.

The reality is plenty of Marylanders can’t afford to send their high stats kids out of state and desperately want their kids to get into our flagship.

But the reality is certain kids from mcps are simply shut out.

A college counselor I know very well says UMCP is irrationally unpredictable. Pretty much sums it up.

They have the option for CC to flagship. I know that route isn’t as popular here in Maryland, but it’s not uncommon for people to start at community college or directional universities and later transfer to their state flagship. Or if they are DCUM middle class, look for the OOS schools where they have a chance of merit and it’s not the public ivies. It might be more than UMD but it it won’t be private school triple the cost more expensive. I will also add that my co-workers are amazing and we all went to different schools including UMBC and Towson. Some people could only afford to live at home and go to a college nearby or start at community college first. That didn’t mean they weren’t smart or hard working.

Sure.

But imagine having to tell your 4.0 UW kid they need to go to MC and transfer to UMCP when their peers with lower stats got into UMCP while your kid was rejected. It stinks.

And there’s a reason we have this same conversation on dcum year after year.

Every college has a range of GPAs and unless UMD has said 100% of their class has 4.0 UW, you have to assume kids get in with less than a 4.0 and some kids with a 4.0 don’t get in. I’m not sure what you’ve been telling your kids, but we’ve been clear from the beginning that UMD is tough, and even with high stats there are no guarantees. Have a back up plan whether that’s applying to colleges where you can get into the honors program and/or merit or be willing to go to CC and transfer.

The other thing is your kid should have safety schools on their list that they are willing to attend and the family can afford. So if they truly have safeties they are actually willing to attend, they should have already reconciled that they could be at a school where other kids didn’t have a 4.0 coming in and that also might be lower on prestige than where some of their classmates with lower GPAs end up.

There is a reason that UMBC's Regular Decision application deadline for first-year, fall-semester admission is February 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected, but dc isn’t upset. It was not a top choice and they have much better options elsewhere for their intended major. Only applied because we’re in state.

So UMD figured that out and protected their yield

There’s no way UMCP can figure that out.

The reality is plenty of Marylanders can’t afford to send their high stats kids out of state and desperately want their kids to get into our flagship.

But the reality is certain kids from mcps are simply shut out.

A college counselor I know very well says UMCP is irrationally unpredictable. Pretty much sums it up.

They have the option for CC to flagship. I know that route isn’t as popular here in Maryland, but it’s not uncommon for people to start at community college or directional universities and later transfer to their state flagship. Or if they are DCUM middle class, look for the OOS schools where they have a chance of merit and it’s not the public ivies. It might be more than UMD but it it won’t be private school triple the cost more expensive. I will also add that my co-workers are amazing and we all went to different schools including UMBC and Towson. Some people could only afford to live at home and go to a college nearby or start at community college first. That didn’t mean they weren’t smart or hard working.

Sure.

But imagine having to tell your 4.0 UW kid they need to go to MC and transfer to UMCP when their peers with lower stats got into UMCP while your kid was rejected. It stinks.

And there’s a reason we have this same conversation on dcum year after year.

Every college has a range of GPAs and unless UMD has said 100% of their class has 4.0 UW, you have to assume kids get in with less than a 4.0 and some kids with a 4.0 don’t get in. I’m not sure what you’ve been telling your kids, but we’ve been clear from the beginning that UMD is tough, and even with high stats there are no guarantees. Have a back up plan whether that’s applying to colleges where you can get into the honors program and/or merit or be willing to go to CC and transfer.

The other thing is your kid should have safety schools on their list that they are willing to attend and the family can afford. So if they truly have safeties they are actually willing to attend, they should have already reconciled that they could be at a school where other kids didn’t have a 4.0 coming in and that also might be lower on prestige than where some of their classmates with lower GPAs end up.

Bless your heart.

We know this.

But you don’t understand what some of us are frustrated with when it comes to the ridiculously unpredictable admissions process at UMCP that seems to disproportionately impact a certain group of applicants.

Can you be more specific? Not everyone is dcum-educated regarding UMCP admissions. What certain group of applicants are impacted? Has that been proven?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMCP has old, gross housing.

ICYMI: they just shut down the campus due to lack of heat and water in the prehistoric dorms.

And be sure to google recent criminal activity on Route 1. I personally know of two students who were assaulted, and I don’t even have student on campus.

Signed,

Terp alum who still attends sporting events but thinks the campus needs an upgrade

What about all the new construction they are doing

They destroyed the campus by allowing the purple line monstrosity run through the heart of the campus.

Beyond the visual impact, crime is up.

Campus much better now that most the construction related to the purple line is done.
Where do you get these crime statistics?

If you follow local social media, you can see it in real time.

Where, exactly? Be specific. And include data. Not vague references to agenda-driven social media outlets.

[Anonymous]

You know what would be great is a Naviance or similar screenshot showing all the 1500/4.4s rejected.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMCP has old, gross housing.

ICYMI: they just shut down the campus due to lack of heat and water in the prehistoric dorms.

And be sure to google recent criminal activity on Route 1. I personally know of two students who were assaulted, and I don’t even have student on campus.

Signed,

Terp alum who still attends sporting events but thinks the campus needs an upgrade

Kid rejected, huh?

Nope.

Kids had zero interest in staying local. They are out of state broadening their horizons rather than doing mcps 2.0 at UMCP.

But I follow this stuff closely for a variety of reasons (including professional reasons).

I still think UMCP offers a top notch education at a good price point. I’m definitely not a hater. In fact, we have season tix for two sports and are routinely on campus.

DP. Source? And what curriculum are students who were unaccepted at UMCP and end up enrolling at MC doing if UMCP is MCPS2.0?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMCP has old, gross housing.

ICYMI: they just shut down the campus due to lack of heat and water in the prehistoric dorms.

And be sure to google recent criminal activity on Route 1. I personally know of two students who were assaulted, and I don’t even have student on campus.

Signed,

Terp alum who still attends sporting events but thinks the campus needs an upgrade

Kid rejected, huh?

Nope.

Kids had zero interest in staying local. They are out of state broadening their horizons rather than doing mcps 2.0 at UMCP.

But I follow this stuff closely for a variety of reasons (including professional reasons).

I still think UMCP offers a top notch education at a good price point. I’m definitely not a hater. In fact, we have season tix for two sports and are routinely on campus.

Still stuck on the 20th century thinking when the parents on this board attended college? People can't broaden their horizons unless they "go away" or out of state ? UMCP can be almost 60 minutes away from home for some MCPS students. Is that "going away" enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected, but dc isn’t upset. It was not a top choice and they have much better options elsewhere for their intended major. Only applied because we’re in state.

So UMD figured that out and protected their yield

There’s no way UMCP can figure that out.

The reality is plenty of Marylanders can’t afford to send their high stats kids out of state and desperately want their kids to get into our flagship.

But the reality is certain kids from mcps are simply shut out.

A college counselor I know very well says UMCP is irrationally unpredictable. Pretty much sums it up.

They have the option for CC to flagship. I know that route isn’t as popular here in Maryland, but it’s not uncommon for people to start at community college or directional universities and later transfer to their state flagship. Or if they are DCUM middle class, look for the OOS schools where they have a chance of merit and it’s not the public ivies. It might be more than UMD but it it won’t be private school triple the cost more expensive. I will also add that my co-workers are amazing and we all went to different schools including UMBC and Towson. Some people could only afford to live at home and go to a college nearby or start at community college first. That didn’t mean they weren’t smart or hard working.

Sure.

But imagine having to tell your 4.0 UW kid they need to go to MC and transfer to UMCP when their peers with lower stats got into UMCP while your kid was rejected. It stinks.

And there’s a reason we have this same conversation on dcum year after year.

Every college has a range of GPAs and unless UMD has said 100% of their class has 4.0 UW, you have to assume kids get in with less than a 4.0 and some kids with a 4.0 don’t get in. I’m not sure what you’ve been telling your kids, but we’ve been clear from the beginning that UMD is tough, and even with high stats there are no guarantees. Have a back up plan whether that’s applying to colleges where you can get into the honors program and/or merit or be willing to go to CC and transfer.

The other thing is your kid should have safety schools on their list that they are willing to attend and the family can afford. So if they truly have safeties they are actually willing to attend, they should have already reconciled that they could be at a school where other kids didn’t have a 4.0 coming in and that also might be lower on prestige than where some of their classmates with lower GPAs end up.

Bless your heart.

We know this.

But you don’t understand what some of us are frustrated with when it comes to the ridiculously unpredictable admissions process at UMCP that seems to disproportionately impact a certain group of applicants.

Of course it's frustrating for so many MCPS students and families! It's just the way it is, and it will be that way until UMBC/Towson/etc grow in regard.

I imagine people in NJ feel the same about Rutgers. They have a similar sized population and one highly regarded flagship.

Some states don’t even have a decent flagship!