St. Mary's College of Maryland

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Southern MD and take my son to St. Mary's for events or to just walk around all the time. It's such a pretty campus and the students we have met and talked to have been wonderful. We stumbled into an architectural dig one day and they let him help them with digging and scouring for items from the site.
It is kind of in the middle of nowhere, but I can see how that would appeal to some people. If you like being on the water, boating, and outdoor activities it would appeal to you.

Yeah, but 4 years is a long time

A lot of people prefer that environment to urban “campuses” with endless bars. Different strokes.

+1 My kid is at a rural LAC and loves it. She never even considered a big school like UMD or the like.

+2
Same with my son. He’s at a LAC also - in a tiny town. Everyone lives on campus all four years. Wonderful, close-knit environment. An urban school was something he actively avoided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thanks all. I'm most interested in all of the things that you with experience there mentioned.

I do know where it is.

I have never met an alum who did not give it glowing reviews

I am an alum and this is my experience as well. SMCM is in a beautiful setting with a lovely campus. The rural nature of the school is an asset to many who attend. It helps to create a vibrant campus community with lots of activities and opportunities. The community is so lovely and people really care about maintaining it. The biology program also uses the setting by the river for some of their hands-on research. The history program also coordinates with Historic St. Mary's City next door.

Years later I am still in touch with many of my professors. In fact, one even attended my wedding. I'm very grateful for the relationships I have had with my professors as they've been excellent mentors and even friends beyond my time in their classrooms. I learned a lot at SMCM and went to a well regarded graduate school. I always look back on my time there fondly.

It's really a gem of a school. It's not right for everyone, but for those who are drawn to it - it's amazing.

Thank you for posting this. This is exactly what he is looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thanks all. I'm most interested in all of the things that you with experience there mentioned.

I do know where it is.

I have never met an alum who did not give it glowing reviews

I am an alum and this is my experience as well. SMCM is in a beautiful setting with a lovely campus. The rural nature of the school is an asset to many who attend. It helps to create a vibrant campus community with lots of activities and opportunities. The community is so lovely and people really care about maintaining it. The biology program also uses the setting by the river for some of their hands-on research. The history program also coordinates with Historic St. Mary's City next door.

Years later I am still in touch with many of my professors. In fact, one even attended my wedding. I'm very grateful for the relationships I have had with my professors as they've been excellent mentors and even friends beyond my time in their classrooms. I learned a lot at SMCM and went to a well regarded graduate school. I always look back on my time there fondly.

It's really a gem of a school. It's not right for everyone, but for those who are drawn to it - it's amazing.

Thank you for posting this. This is exactly what he is looking for.

You need to be more objective OP. Your kid needs to research - facts and data driven research - where/what students do after college. Sweet words are nice but it's worthless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a Masters and a professional degree and you guys are making me want to go to St Mary’s.

Me too! I didn't grow up in MD, and I so wish my state had a similar option.

[Anonymous]

What is the school like for high stats students? For example, a student coming from an MCPS magnet with very high scores and GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Masters and a professional degree and you guys are making me want to go to St Mary’s.

Me too! I didn't grow up in MD, and I so wish my state had a similar option.

This is a fairly typical experience at many LACs. I think that many people overlook the benefits of an LAC -- at least on DCUM. People's first reactions are typically "how can you go there? There's nothing there!". This type of rural/isolated environment fosters a close community among the students and faculty. There are usually a ton of activities on campus and the community is focused on the school, less on the off campus social life. I've also seen students build relationships with the local community. I know, for example, my daughter's LAC has a theater group that performs in the local public schools. It's a huge benefit to live in Maryland and have St. Mary's as an in state LAC option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its acceptance rate has gone up - to over 80%

Virginia Tech's is 70%. Your point?

Well if you don't understand the premise of a high acceptance rate, its not my job to spell it out for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the school like for high stats students? For example, a student coming from an MCPS magnet with very high scores and GPA.

Answer: refreshing! I posted yesterday about my DD who is currently a senior at St. Mary's. She didn't attend a magnet school but went to another high performing MCPS school and had a very good GPA and excellent ACT scores. She got into many selective schools and chose St. Mary's. I admit that it was hard to accept that after all her hard work in HS that she would turn down the schools with bragging rights but she was really turned off by the idea of 4 more years of high stress. She was just so burned out from HS. Academically, she has been plenty challenged at St. Mary's and has a similar peer group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Masters and a professional degree and you guys are making me want to go to St Mary’s.

+1
I know my daughter would love it but we’re in VA so the OOS price tag won’t work for us.

You should check it out. The cost, even OOS, is reasonable (not in the 60-70K range of a private LAC) and they do offer a number of merit scholarships.

It does depend on what you are comparing it to-- cost-wise, it will be more than UMW or CNU, pretty comparable to W&M and far less than most private LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Masters and a professional degree and you guys are making me want to go to St Mary’s.

+1
I know my daughter would love it but we’re in VA so the OOS price tag won’t work for us.

You should check it out. The cost, even OOS, is reasonable (not in the 60-70K range of a private LAC) and they do offer a number of merit scholarships.

It does depend on what you are comparing it to-- cost-wise, it will be more than UMW or CNU, pretty comparable to W&M and far less than most private LACs.

We ran the numbers for our DD, which include grades and test scores. The NPC came back with a number less than Virginia in-state publics, including Virginia Tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its acceptance rate has gone up - to over 80%

Virginia Tech's is 70%. Your point?

Well if you don't understand the premise of a high acceptance rate, its not my job to spell it out for you.

Actually acceptance rates can be quite misleading. Tech for example has a freshmen with fairly high stats. The average incoming profile is higher than most schools that have lower acceptance rates. Many schools play games to try and lower their acceptance rates. Other schools, like Tech, don’t play that game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its acceptance rate has gone up - to over 80%

Virginia Tech's is 70%. Your point?

Well if you don't understand the premise of a high acceptance rate, its not my job to spell it out for you.

Actually acceptance rates can be quite misleading. Tech for example has a freshmen with fairly high stats. The average incoming profile is higher than most schools that have lower acceptance rates. Many schools play games to try and lower their acceptance rates. Other schools, like Tech, don’t play that game.

I'd just let it go.

- np