UMD EA Today?

[Anonymous]

Did UMD say how many students applied EA this year?

[Anonymous]

53000 applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

250 characters is very short. Probably about the length of what you wrote.

Since UMD doesn't do interview - the 250 character responses are a way to get to see a kid beyond the EC's, the personal statements, the AP's etc. Not everything is academic - they want to find a balanced class of students. They realize the short response questions in August - but they stay generally the same over the last few years- slight modifications but you certainly can think about how you might answer. 250 is short - but that is also part of the challenge - what you say and how you say it with those boundaries can say a lot about a student.

Yes. And it says even more about a student when they use less than 20 characters to answer the questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

High stats kids should be able to get in UMD with just ok essays, don’t think they are that picky about essays.
DC got in CS honors with an unremarkable essay, DC refused help and not willing to revise the draft she spend only a few hours on.
I think it won’t be good enough for more selective schools but it is her choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In total shock. High stats (4.6 W, 11 APs, 34 ACT), great ECs, MCPS. We're hoping it's a yield thing, and this doesn't bode badly for DCs RD applications

I empathize. My kid had basically that same stats, except your ACT was better, and was denied. Ticks me off being an alum and now I'm going to have to shell out more money.

Think that I'll mention that fact the next time the University asks me for donations.

You are part of why legacy admissions won't die. If you only donated to give your kid legacy advantage, you are basically trying to buy your kid's way into college.

Didn't you know that UMD doesn't give a fig about legacy status? Didn't bother checking that out first before you tried to buy your kid's way in?

NP. Quit trolling PP. She never said anything to suggest she expected entry because of donations. She just shared that in her frustration, she is unlikely to donate and wants to tell the univ off. Perfectly normal reaction.

Stop trying to flame. Find something more constructive to do or say.

To the PP, it's a bummer. So sorry. Hope your kid will find a good in state alternative (St. M, UMBC?) or get some great merit elsewhere.

I'm not trolling PP. Just responding to a statement I found a bit insulting. IMO legacy is worse than affirmative action.

Well, you seem to have read extra into the statement and then unleashed on PP. So, just knock it off and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

High stats kids should be able to get in UMD with just ok essays, don’t think they are that picky about essays.
DC got in CS honors with an unremarkable essay, DC refused help and not willing to revise the draft she spend only a few hours on.
I think it won’t be good enough for more selective schools but it is her choice.

I disagree, considering many high stats kids were rejected on this thread, not just to Honors, but to UMD. I am convinced writing a good essay and submitting high test scores secures what could otherwise have been a risky application. Maybe your child was lucky, or maybe her essay was actually pretty good compared to the others, but it's always risky to blow off the essay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

High stats kids should be able to get in UMD with just ok essays, don’t think they are that picky about essays.
DC got in CS honors with an unremarkable essay, DC refused help and not willing to revise the draft she spend only a few hours on.
I think it won’t be good enough for more selective schools but it is her choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

High stats kids should be able to get in UMD with just ok essays, don’t think they are that picky about essays.
DC got in CS honors with an unremarkable essay, DC refused help and not willing to revise the draft she spend only a few hours on.
I think it won’t be good enough for more selective schools but it is her choice.

Good catch - gender balance is important to colleges. That can play in your favor or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

250 characters is very short. Probably about the length of what you wrote.

Since UMD doesn't do interview - the 250 character responses are a way to get to see a kid beyond the EC's, the personal statements, the AP's etc. Not everything is academic - they want to find a balanced class of students. They realize the short response questions in August - but they stay generally the same over the last few years- slight modifications but you certainly can think about how you might answer. 250 is short - but that is also part of the challenge - what you say and how you say it with those boundaries can say a lot about a student.

Yes. And it says even more about a student when they use less than 20 characters to answer the questions.

When the instruction is to "complete the following sentences" it is confusing to put a 250 word limit on each response. Is it best to craft a short, pithy, revealing completion to the sentence? Or is it to use 200 words (and multiple sentences) to springboard off the prompt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

250 characters is very short. Probably about the length of what you wrote.

Since UMD doesn't do interview - the 250 character responses are a way to get to see a kid beyond the EC's, the personal statements, the AP's etc. Not everything is academic - they want to find a balanced class of students. They realize the short response questions in August - but they stay generally the same over the last few years- slight modifications but you certainly can think about how you might answer. 250 is short - but that is also part of the challenge - what you say and how you say it with those boundaries can say a lot about a student.

Yes. And it says even more about a student when they use less than 20 characters to answer the questions.

When the instruction is to "complete the following sentences" it is confusing to put a 250 word limit on each response. Is it best to craft a short, pithy, revealing completion to the sentence? Or is it to use 200 words (and multiple sentences) to springboard off the prompt?

DP
I think it said 250 characters, not words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

250 characters is very short. Probably about the length of what you wrote.

Since UMD doesn't do interview - the 250 character responses are a way to get to see a kid beyond the EC's, the personal statements, the AP's etc. Not everything is academic - they want to find a balanced class of students. They realize the short response questions in August - but they stay generally the same over the last few years- slight modifications but you certainly can think about how you might answer. 250 is short - but that is also part of the challenge - what you say and how you say it with those boundaries can say a lot about a student.

Yes. And it says even more about a student when they use less than 20 characters to answer the questions.

When the instruction is to "complete the following sentences" it is confusing to put a 250 word limit on each response. Is it best to craft a short, pithy, revealing completion to the sentence? Or is it to use 200 words (and multiple sentences) to springboard off the prompt?

As I said on the other UMD thread, my son provided short, humorous, pithy responses. He got into Honors. But perhaps that was OK because it was a good contrast with his serious personal statement.
So many the game is to show facets of your personality: if you have a light-hearted essay, maybe go more serious on the questions.

But in writing, the rule is always to never be wordy for the sake of being wordy. If the response is long, then you'd better have lots of ideas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

250 characters is very short. Probably about the length of what you wrote.

Since UMD doesn't do interview - the 250 character responses are a way to get to see a kid beyond the EC's, the personal statements, the AP's etc. Not everything is academic - they want to find a balanced class of students. They realize the short response questions in August - but they stay generally the same over the last few years- slight modifications but you certainly can think about how you might answer. 250 is short - but that is also part of the challenge - what you say and how you say it with those boundaries can say a lot about a student.

Yes. And it says even more about a student when they use less than 20 characters to answer the questions.

When the instruction is to "complete the following sentences" it is confusing to put a 250 word limit on each response. Is it best to craft a short, pithy, revealing completion to the sentence? Or is it to use 200 words (and multiple sentences) to springboard off the prompt?

As I said on the other UMD thread, my son provided short, humorous, pithy responses. He got into Honors. But perhaps that was OK because it was a good contrast with his serious personal statement.
So many the game is to show facets of your personality: if you have a light-hearted essay, maybe go more serious on the questions.

But in writing, the rule is always to never be wordy for the sake of being wordy. If the response is long, then you'd better have lots of ideas.

Humorous and pithy aren’t bad. It’s good for them to see personality. And when limited to 250 characters, not words, it has to be short. But some apparently completed the sentences with one or two words! That isn’t going to get you in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

250 characters is very short. Probably about the length of what you wrote.

Since UMD doesn't do interview - the 250 character responses are a way to get to see a kid beyond the EC's, the personal statements, the AP's etc. Not everything is academic - they want to find a balanced class of students. They realize the short response questions in August - but they stay generally the same over the last few years- slight modifications but you certainly can think about how you might answer. 250 is short - but that is also part of the challenge - what you say and how you say it with those boundaries can say a lot about a student.

Yes. And it says even more about a student when they use less than 20 characters to answer the questions.

When the instruction is to "complete the following sentences" it is confusing to put a 250 word limit on each response. Is it best to craft a short, pithy, revealing completion to the sentence? Or is it to use 200 words (and multiple sentences) to springboard off the prompt?

As I said on the other UMD thread, my son provided short, humorous, pithy responses. He got into Honors. But perhaps that was OK because it was a good contrast with his serious personal statement.
So many the game is to show facets of your personality: if you have a light-hearted essay, maybe go more serious on the questions.

But in writing, the rule is always to never be wordy for the sake of being wordy. If the response is long, then you'd better have lots of ideas.

Humorous and pithy aren’t bad. It’s good for them to see personality. And when limited to 250 characters, not words, it has to be short. But some apparently completed the sentences with one or two words! That isn’t going to get you in.

+1 just like a resume or cover letter with typos, students are giving a reason to put them in the reject pile. When you have thousands and some times tens of thousands of applications to consider, any opportunity to reduce the number of applicants to consider is fair game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

250 characters is very short. Probably about the length of what you wrote.

Since UMD doesn't do interview - the 250 character responses are a way to get to see a kid beyond the EC's, the personal statements, the AP's etc. Not everything is academic - they want to find a balanced class of students. They realize the short response questions in August - but they stay generally the same over the last few years- slight modifications but you certainly can think about how you might answer. 250 is short - but that is also part of the challenge - what you say and how you say it with those boundaries can say a lot about a student.

Yes. And it says even more about a student when they use less than 20 characters to answer the questions.

When the instruction is to "complete the following sentences" it is confusing to put a 250 word limit on each response. Is it best to craft a short, pithy, revealing completion to the sentence? Or is it to use 200 words (and multiple sentences) to springboard off the prompt?

DP
I think it said 250 characters, not words.

Yes. It is only a couple of sentences. The questions are kind of dumb too. If they are rejecting high stats kids based on this they have their priorities wrong. I mean if you are accepting students with lower grades/scores/recs over students who didn’t write two great sentences that is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m hearing from my DC that many of the high stats kids they know who were rejected gave one or two word answers for the MD “complete the sentences” when were allowed 250 characters for each. That would explain it in my mind. If you can’t be bothered to put in effort on the application, why should they take you.

250 characters is very short. Probably about the length of what you wrote.

Since UMD doesn't do interview - the 250 character responses are a way to get to see a kid beyond the EC's, the personal statements, the AP's etc. Not everything is academic - they want to find a balanced class of students. They realize the short response questions in August - but they stay generally the same over the last few years- slight modifications but you certainly can think about how you might answer. 250 is short - but that is also part of the challenge - what you say and how you say it with those boundaries can say a lot about a student.

Yes. And it says even more about a student when they use less than 20 characters to answer the questions.

When the instruction is to "complete the following sentences" it is confusing to put a 250 word limit on each response. Is it best to craft a short, pithy, revealing completion to the sentence? Or is it to use 200 words (and multiple sentences) to springboard off the prompt?

DP
I think it said 250 characters, not words.

Yes. It is only a couple of sentences. The questions are kind of dumb too. If they are rejecting high stats kids based on this they have their priorities wrong. I mean if you are accepting students with lower grades/scores/recs over students who didn’t write two great sentences that is ridiculous.

No worries. The kids are NOT judged on that unless they leave them blank. UMD just wants kids to answer, be creative, not over think too much.

Seriously. You guys are going own a rabbit hole! Relax.