UMD EA Results

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm not going to name them, but two of the schools on DC's acceptance list cut their tuition prices a few years back--an increasingly common practice for private schools to stay competitive.

They're good schools but If I named them, no doubt you'd tell me they aren't "good enough," but since you were the one who told Me to check my privilege about UMDCP (an option we didn't actually consider, although we did consider the other two in MD), I'd tell you to go where there's no sun shining.

They cut their tuition below $10k?

With Merit aid, yeah.

Please name them.

And out my family to you nice people? Hell no.

I have no idea why you're so invested in UMD, and the fact that you're not even going through college admissions right now makes your opinion even more sad and suss. The fact that another poster comes in here with a story about their own experience and you attack and insinuate things about their kid is also, btw, beyond horrible. Why on earth would I open up my own family to your nasty crap?

No, Virginia, when everyone doesn't want the same things you do that isn't because they're jealous. Sometimes it's just because you're ignorant and have no taste.

You seem to be confusing several posters. I asked what colleges they were. Someone else expressed skepticism that you got $50k a year merit (not me but I agree with that).

And I absolutely, resolutely, am not attacking the poor kid with very high stats who did not get in to UMD engineering. The fact that several posters are trying to tear that poor kid apart searching for the reason he didn’t get in (to convince themselves that the same won’t happen to them) is not only shameful and offensive but it also makes it less likely that others like you will share useful info on this thread. How about showing some support here?

I never said 50k merit. But merit did come in at two to bring the cost below 30k. Not a lot below, but some.

We can agree the people attacking a high-achieving kid apart are horrible. I probably would have bowed out of this conversation long ago if they were less horrible. Rightly or wrongly, they do reinforce my opinion that UMD is a place I wouldn't send our dog. Apologies. We can agree to disagree.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:To answer several persistent questions...

Honors>>>>Scholars>>other stuff

Money comes later (Mid-late Feb?) but don't expect a lot in-state, if anything. And Honors is *not* a guarantee of money though probably better chance but some non Honors admits get money too. BK, is, (I think) from Honors admits only however.

Honors is worthwhile if just for the housing and you may find it useful generally too. UH and Aces have the best housing and UH housing (PC and JW) is more convenient than ACES (PF Hall). There are other perfectly fine dorms too if you aren't Honors or are in other Honors programs. UH is easily the biggest Honors program, its the default, least specialized) but best housing and most class options.

There are also Honors versions of some key classes available only to Honors kids. Calculus, for example, and at least in that, all class hours are with the instructor in smaller classes. No discussion section with a TA, no huge lecture hall. Note, many TAs are fantastic, not trying to be critical.

Other programs (Scholars, etc) can be good opportunities but consider the cost (in time/effort): benefit analysis. Consider it even with Honors. Its 15 Credits in Honors. Is the payoff worth it? With the housing, yes, imo. Absent that...maybe.

FC is no big deal. In fact, kids I know like it. Don't view it as a failure. Look at some of the kids who didn't get in...its just a way for them to take more of the kids they should have taken in the first place...

Comp Sci..it will be much harder to declare CS for anyone not admitted directly. Not impossible but I would say do not count on it. Up til now, changing to CS has been fairly easy. Not easy anymore. Have a plan B or go somewhere else.

Thanks for the pertinent info. Does Honors guarantee housing for 4 yrs?

No most of the programs are 2 years. Varies by program. Info on website

That is inaccurate. Even if a program is 2 years, honors students are guaranteed 4 years of housing on campus. However, I don’t know any UMD student that stayed on campus 4 years. They all move off campus.

I made the mistake of checking a UMD Facebook group today. It wasn't even about housing. Except it was. Housing was all it was. Grim, tiny rooms in cheap apartment complexes in Greenbelt. Parking lots and highways. 1,000 a month to live with four roommates like you're in an exurban dystopia. What fun.

Huh? Thousands of student live within a half mile of campus. Something like 10 apartment complexes within walking distance.

Grim tiny rooms next to a highway in College Park? Where do I sign?

Maybe it’s time for your snowflake to live their own life?

Y'all are so defensive about a school no one else in the country cares about. I just think it's sad to see so many highly intelligent kids with so much potential pigeonholed into such narrow boxes in such an ugly provincial place.

Geez. You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. No one gives a crap about what you think.

Not at all, lol. College Park was never on our list because it's an ugly, provincial place. It honestly just makes me sad, with so many excellent colleges out there that so many of you have such a small window for "success" for your kids. You only want them to have one of two or three majors, you only want them to stay in this area, you only want them to work for a limited number of government-subsidized local companies or agencies.

Your kids have so much potential, and this is all you can see.

Unless you are a troll (I think you are), you seem to have some grudge against UMD…Or why come to this thread and rant? Bizarre

DP here and yes, I know. The troll definitely has a chip on their shoulder- he even said he is "sad," so hilarious. Either that or they just have very limited social skills since they seem to have no ability to stay on topic.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:To answer several persistent questions...

Honors>>>>Scholars>>other stuff

Money comes later (Mid-late Feb?) but don't expect a lot in-state, if anything. And Honors is *not* a guarantee of money though probably better chance but some non Honors admits get money too. BK, is, (I think) from Honors admits only however.

Honors is worthwhile if just for the housing and you may find it useful generally too. UH and Aces have the best housing and UH housing (PC and JW) is more convenient than ACES (PF Hall). There are other perfectly fine dorms too if you aren't Honors or are in other Honors programs. UH is easily the biggest Honors program, its the default, least specialized) but best housing and most class options.

There are also Honors versions of some key classes available only to Honors kids. Calculus, for example, and at least in that, all class hours are with the instructor in smaller classes. No discussion section with a TA, no huge lecture hall. Note, many TAs are fantastic, not trying to be critical.

Other programs (Scholars, etc) can be good opportunities but consider the cost (in time/effort): benefit analysis. Consider it even with Honors. Its 15 Credits in Honors. Is the payoff worth it? With the housing, yes, imo. Absent that...maybe.

FC is no big deal. In fact, kids I know like it. Don't view it as a failure. Look at some of the kids who didn't get in...its just a way for them to take more of the kids they should have taken in the first place...

Comp Sci..it will be much harder to declare CS for anyone not admitted directly. Not impossible but I would say do not count on it. Up til now, changing to CS has been fairly easy. Not easy anymore. Have a plan B or go somewhere else.

Thanks for the pertinent info. Does Honors guarantee housing for 4 yrs?

No most of the programs are 2 years. Varies by program. Info on website

That is inaccurate. Even if a program is 2 years, honors students are guaranteed 4 years of housing on campus. However, I don’t know any UMD student that stayed on campus 4 years. They all move off campus.

I made the mistake of checking a UMD Facebook group today. It wasn't even about housing. Except it was. Housing was all it was. Grim, tiny rooms in cheap apartment complexes in Greenbelt. Parking lots and highways. 1,000 a month to live with four roommates like you're in an exurban dystopia. What fun.

Huh? Thousands of student live within a half mile of campus. Something like 10 apartment complexes within walking distance.

Grim tiny rooms next to a highway in College Park? Where do I sign?

Maybe it’s time for your snowflake to live their own life?

Y'all are so defensive about a school no one else in the country cares about. I just think it's sad to see so many highly intelligent kids with so much potential pigeonholed into such narrow boxes in such an ugly provincial place.

Geez. You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. No one gives a crap about what you think.

Not at all, lol. College Park was never on our list because it's an ugly, provincial place. It honestly just makes me sad, with so many excellent colleges out there that so many of you have such a small window for "success" for your kids. You only want them to have one of two or three majors, you only want them to stay in this area, you only want them to work for a limited number of government-subsidized local companies or agencies.

Your kids have so much potential, and this is all you can see.

dp.. my kid's potential is a double STEM major +1 year master, graduating in 4 years from UMD because that's what they want.

"Excellent" college is subjective. My DC#2 absolutely does not want a SLAC in the middle of nowhere. They would call that "provincial", and boring AF.

UMD is T50. Why on earth would people pay money for a college that is rated much much lower, and where the job prospects are much lower. Most of us don't have family money such that our kids can just do whatever they want and not think about getting a good paying job? Do you know how many grads can't find decent jobs after college?

I want my kids to go wherever they want. I have encouraged them to go study abroad. My spouse is a dual citizen, and we've encouraged them to go live in that country for a while. I've also told them to not be tied to this area. I'm originally from CA, and DC#2 wants to move back there at some point.

So you are also wrong about UMD parents wanting them to live "provincial" lives. This area is a very diverse area, more so than the Bay Area where I moved from. If my kids want to stay here, I see nothing wrong with that. It's more diverse than the vast majority of cities around the world. Ask anyone who has lived in a different country and who now lives here (like my spouse). Also, my kids are biracial, and there are some places in this country and around the world that I would not want them to live in.

You sound like an utter snob and completely clueless.

It's pretty normal not to find a job right after college--not the kind of job you mean, anyway. It's beyond privileged to think your kids are entitled to a good job right out of school, no matter where they go.

A few years of working your way up isn't the worst thing in life. You keep talking about how privileged you think other people are, then you have the gall to list your own privileges like they're nothing. Our kid has dual citizenship too, actually, being one half of an immigrant household, and it's fantastic they'll have the opportunity to use it someday.

Stop acting like UMD is some cheap community college with one breath, and then acting like it's the most prestigious place in the world with the next: it's neither. It's a state college in, as I said before, a state that most of the rest of the country doesn't care about. It's a fine school. I just don't think it's enough of a fine school to justify this kind of cutthroat admissions, or to justify staggering its freshmen admissions, or to justify paying full price for. Your opinion may differ.

I'm sure you're proud that your kid got in (unless you're the poster whose kids aren't even in college and then you're just sad... Because in all seriousness, odds are they won't get in.)

As for your kids being biracial, if you left your liberal bubble more, you might notice that no one really cares.

Not the poster you are replying to, but I am the poster whose kid isn’t applying this year. Thanks for the negativity. My kid has as much chance as the kid who got rejected from engineering which is why I’m so interested in this thread. That is, most kids with her stats would get in.

[Anonymous]

“ Rightly or wrongly, they do reinforce my opinion that UMD is a place I wouldn't send our dog.”

Why are you here on this forum? Honestly? What if you used the anonymous internet to say something nice to a stranger instead? 😊 👍

[Anonymous]

Right! Get on the forums for those schools that are better for your kid! Make the most of those!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s pretty rude to say I’m a troll. But I actually get it. I feel like it’s a troll post because it’s outrageous that my son didn’t get in. I purposely put his exact stats here because I wanted people to know what is going on. I wish I were a troll. Lol. No big red flags as suggested. I have heard that students are competing against their classmates and because of the STEM magnet program - the majority of whom apply to UMD - they can’t take all of them, especially in the STEM majors. I wish I knew..

Then I'm sorry and truly baffled. To clarify, was he accepted to the University? Just not Engr? Because its not impossible to get into Engr from L/S. If not, go to somewhere else for a year and transfer.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'm not going to name them, but two of the schools on DC's acceptance list cut their tuition prices a few years back--an increasingly common practice for private schools to stay competitive.

They're good schools but If I named them, no doubt you'd tell me they aren't "good enough," but since you were the one who told Me to check my privilege about UMDCP (an option we didn't actually consider, although we did consider the other two in MD), I'd tell you to go where there's no sun shining.

They cut their tuition below $10k?

With Merit aid, yeah.

Please name them.

And out my family to you nice people? Hell no.

I have no idea why you're so invested in UMD, and the fact that you're not even going through college admissions right now makes your opinion even more sad and suss. The fact that another poster comes in here with a story about their own experience and you attack and insinuate things about their kid is also, btw, beyond horrible. Why on earth would I open up my own family to your nasty crap?

No, Virginia, when everyone doesn't want the same things you do that isn't because they're jealous. Sometimes it's just because you're ignorant and have no taste.

You seem to be confusing several posters. I asked what colleges they were. Someone else expressed skepticism that you got $50k a year merit (not me but I agree with that).

And I absolutely, resolutely, am not attacking the poor kid with very high stats who did not get in to UMD engineering. The fact that several posters are trying to tear that poor kid apart searching for the reason he didn’t get in (to convince themselves that the same won’t happen to them) is not only shameful and offensive but it also makes it less likely that others like you will share useful info on this thread. How about showing some support here?

I never said 50k merit. But merit did come in at two to bring the cost below 30k. Not a lot below, but some.

We can agree the people attacking a high-achieving kid apart are horrible. I probably would have bowed out of this conversation long ago if they were less horrible. Rightly or wrongly, they do reinforce my opinion that UMD is a place I wouldn't send our dog. Apologies. We can agree to disagree.

Well in that case, how lucky you are to have that option! Unclear how you managed to find privates with such low tuition that you didn’t need $50k to bring it down to $10k but I’m giving up on this conversation. You seem intent on being insulting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To answer several persistent questions...

Honors>>>>Scholars>>other stuff

Money comes later (Mid-late Feb?) but don't expect a lot in-state, if anything. And Honors is *not* a guarantee of money though probably better chance but some non Honors admits get money too. BK, is, (I think) from Honors admits only however.

Honors is worthwhile if just for the housing and you may find it useful generally too. UH and Aces have the best housing and UH housing (PC and JW) is more convenient than ACES (PF Hall). There are other perfectly fine dorms too if you aren't Honors or are in other Honors programs. UH is easily the biggest Honors program, its the default, least specialized) but best housing and most class options.

There are also Honors versions of some key classes available only to Honors kids. Calculus, for example, and at least in that, all class hours are with the instructor in smaller classes. No discussion section with a TA, no huge lecture hall. Note, many TAs are fantastic, not trying to be critical.

Other programs (Scholars, etc) can be good opportunities but consider the cost (in time/effort): benefit analysis. Consider it even with Honors. Its 15 Credits in Honors. Is the payoff worth it? With the housing, yes, imo. Absent that...maybe.

FC is no big deal. In fact, kids I know like it. Don't view it as a failure. Look at some of the kids who didn't get in...its just a way for them to take more of the kids they should have taken in the first place...

Comp Sci..it will be much harder to declare CS for anyone not admitted directly. Not impossible but I would say do not count on it. Up til now, changing to CS has been fairly easy. Not easy anymore. Have a plan B or go somewhere else.

Thanks for the pertinent info. Does Honors guarantee housing for 4 yrs?

No most of the programs are 2 years. Varies by program. Info on website

That is inaccurate. Even if a program is 2 years, honors students are guaranteed 4 years of housing on campus. However, I don’t know any UMD student that stayed on campus 4 years. They all move off campus.

I made the mistake of checking a UMD Facebook group today. It wasn't even about housing. Except it was. Housing was all it was. Grim, tiny rooms in cheap apartment complexes in Greenbelt. Parking lots and highways. 1,000 a month to live with four roommates like you're in an exurban dystopia. What fun.

Huh? Thousands of student live within a half mile of campus. Something like 10 apartment complexes within walking distance.

Grim tiny rooms next to a highway in College Park? Where do I sign?

Maybe it’s time for your snowflake to live their own life?

Y'all are so defensive about a school no one else in the country cares about. I just think it's sad to see so many highly intelligent kids with so much potential pigeonholed into such narrow boxes in such an ugly provincial place.

Geez. You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. No one gives a crap about what you think.

Not at all, lol. College Park was never on our list because it's an ugly, provincial place. It honestly just makes me sad, with so many excellent colleges out there that so many of you have such a small window for "success" for your kids. You only want them to have one of two or three majors, you only want them to stay in this area, you only want them to work for a limited number of government-subsidized local companies or agencies.

Your kids have so much potential, and this is all you can see.

dp.. my kid's potential is a double STEM major +1 year master, graduating in 4 years from UMD because that's what they want.

"Excellent" college is subjective. My DC#2 absolutely does not want a SLAC in the middle of nowhere. They would call that "provincial", and boring AF.

UMD is T50. Why on earth would people pay money for a college that is rated much much lower, and where the job prospects are much lower. Most of us don't have family money such that our kids can just do whatever they want and not think about getting a good paying job? Do you know how many grads can't find decent jobs after college?

I want my kids to go wherever they want. I have encouraged them to go study abroad. My spouse is a dual citizen, and we've encouraged them to go live in that country for a while. I've also told them to not be tied to this area. I'm originally from CA, and DC#2 wants to move back there at some point.

So you are also wrong about UMD parents wanting them to live "provincial" lives. This area is a very diverse area, more so than the Bay Area where I moved from. If my kids want to stay here, I see nothing wrong with that. It's more diverse than the vast majority of cities around the world. Ask anyone who has lived in a different country and who now lives here (like my spouse). Also, my kids are biracial, and there are some places in this country and around the world that I would not want them to live in.

You sound like an utter snob and completely clueless.

It's pretty normal not to find a job right after college--not the kind of job you mean, anyway. It's beyond privileged to think your kids are entitled to a good job right out of school, no matter where they go.

A few years of working your way up isn't the worst thing in life. You keep talking about how privileged you think other people are, then you have the gall to list your own privileges like they're nothing. Our kid has dual citizenship too, actually, being one half of an immigrant household, and it's fantastic they'll have the opportunity to use it someday.

Stop acting like UMD is some cheap community college with one breath, and then acting like it's the most prestigious place in the world with the next: it's neither. It's a state college in, as I said before, a state that most of the rest of the country doesn't care about. It's a fine school. I just don't think it's enough of a fine school to justify this kind of cutthroat admissions, or to justify staggering its freshmen admissions, or to justify paying full price for. Your opinion may differ.

I'm sure you're proud that your kid got in (unless you're the poster whose kids aren't even in college and then you're just sad... Because in all seriousness, odds are they won't get in.)

As for your kids being biracial, if you left your liberal bubble more, you might notice that no one really cares.

Not the poster you are replying to, but I am the poster whose kid isn’t applying this year. Thanks for the negativity. My kid has as much chance as the kid who got rejected from engineering which is why I’m so interested in this thread. That is, most kids with her stats would get in.

Well then, perhaps take a moment to consider why so many people are taking such high-acheiving kids with so much potential and trying to fit them through the same narrow doorway to stand in a very crowded room.

I don't hate UMD. I don't care if you believe me or not, but I don't.

But I do think there's something really wrong with our culture when it pushes all of its kids into the same little box. This whole UMD computer science/engineering cluster is truly insane.

I say that as outside observer: it makes absolutely no sense to me why you'd put your kids through this, especially when the odds of them getting into ivies and tech schools outside of Maryland are higher than they are for College Park. To summarize: your kids can get more money to go someplace else that's better or equal in prestige, and you're all still lined up at the same narrow hole.

(And then there's the fact that your favorite spectator sport is apparently watching other peoples' kids--mostly poorer kids--get brain damage for school spirit...)

Yeah, I don't get it.

[Anonymous]

My sense is that students going test optional are more likely to be admitted for spring than fall? Making us reconsider for next year.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:DC was rejected from UMD engineering with 1550 SAT, 4.73 GPA, national merit semifinalist, Blair magnet program, a lot of good ECs although not president of a club or anything like that. In state white male.

I never expected a rejection from UMD.

This has to be bs, I'm sorry. I hereby id this poster as a troll.

(Caveat, troll says rejected from ENGR not Umd) Did troll get into L&S?

I don't know everything but every resident kid with these stats is admitted. Does this kid have a criminal record or some other black eye on the application?

Agree. The white male notation gave it away.

+2

Though, if not a troll, he wrote a hella offensive essay and his letters of recommendation were lukewarm at best and possibly cautionary.

Wtf is wrong with you?

You should ask that question while stating in a mirror? You wrote a troll post that your son was rejected with great stats. What was your end goal? I suspect it’s a MAGA thing.

I didn't write that post. Also, with our immigrant queer family we are the farthest thing from MAGA. Maybe if you ever left your little eastcounty liberal bubble, you'd learn something about actual diversity. God, I really hope your kids get to go someplace else--anywhere--for college.

Confirmation bias at work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To answer several persistent questions...

Honors>>>>Scholars>>other stuff

Money comes later (Mid-late Feb?) but don't expect a lot in-state, if anything. And Honors is *not* a guarantee of money though probably better chance but some non Honors admits get money too. BK, is, (I think) from Honors admits only however.

Honors is worthwhile if just for the housing and you may find it useful generally too. UH and Aces have the best housing and UH housing (PC and JW) is more convenient than ACES (PF Hall). There are other perfectly fine dorms too if you aren't Honors or are in other Honors programs. UH is easily the biggest Honors program, its the default, least specialized) but best housing and most class options.

There are also Honors versions of some key classes available only to Honors kids. Calculus, for example, and at least in that, all class hours are with the instructor in smaller classes. No discussion section with a TA, no huge lecture hall. Note, many TAs are fantastic, not trying to be critical.

Other programs (Scholars, etc) can be good opportunities but consider the cost (in time/effort): benefit analysis. Consider it even with Honors. Its 15 Credits in Honors. Is the payoff worth it? With the housing, yes, imo. Absent that...maybe.

FC is no big deal. In fact, kids I know like it. Don't view it as a failure. Look at some of the kids who didn't get in...its just a way for them to take more of the kids they should have taken in the first place...

Comp Sci..it will be much harder to declare CS for anyone not admitted directly. Not impossible but I would say do not count on it. Up til now, changing to CS has been fairly easy. Not easy anymore. Have a plan B or go somewhere else.

Thanks for the pertinent info. Does Honors guarantee housing for 4 yrs?

No most of the programs are 2 years. Varies by program. Info on website

That is inaccurate. Even if a program is 2 years, honors students are guaranteed 4 years of housing on campus. However, I don’t know any UMD student that stayed on campus 4 years. They all move off campus.

I made the mistake of checking a UMD Facebook group today. It wasn't even about housing. Except it was. Housing was all it was. Grim, tiny rooms in cheap apartment complexes in Greenbelt. Parking lots and highways. 1,000 a month to live with four roommates like you're in an exurban dystopia. What fun.

Huh? Thousands of student live within a half mile of campus. Something like 10 apartment complexes within walking distance.

Grim tiny rooms next to a highway in College Park? Where do I sign?

Maybe it’s time for your snowflake to live their own life?

Y'all are so defensive about a school no one else in the country cares about. I just think it's sad to see so many highly intelligent kids with so much potential pigeonholed into such narrow boxes in such an ugly provincial place.

Geez. You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. No one gives a crap about what you think.

Not at all, lol. College Park was never on our list because it's an ugly, provincial place. It honestly just makes me sad, with so many excellent colleges out there that so many of you have such a small window for "success" for your kids. You only want them to have one of two or three majors, you only want them to stay in this area, you only want them to work for a limited number of government-subsidized local companies or agencies.

Your kids have so much potential, and this is all you can see.

dp.. my kid's potential is a double STEM major +1 year master, graduating in 4 years from UMD because that's what they want.

"Excellent" college is subjective. My DC#2 absolutely does not want a SLAC in the middle of nowhere. They would call that "provincial", and boring AF.

UMD is T50. Why on earth would people pay money for a college that is rated much much lower, and where the job prospects are much lower. Most of us don't have family money such that our kids can just do whatever they want and not think about getting a good paying job? Do you know how many grads can't find decent jobs after college?

I want my kids to go wherever they want. I have encouraged them to go study abroad. My spouse is a dual citizen, and we've encouraged them to go live in that country for a while. I've also told them to not be tied to this area. I'm originally from CA, and DC#2 wants to move back there at some point.

So you are also wrong about UMD parents wanting them to live "provincial" lives. This area is a very diverse area, more so than the Bay Area where I moved from. If my kids want to stay here, I see nothing wrong with that. It's more diverse than the vast majority of cities around the world. Ask anyone who has lived in a different country and who now lives here (like my spouse). Also, my kids are biracial, and there are some places in this country and around the world that I would not want them to live in.

You sound like an utter snob and completely clueless.

It's pretty normal not to find a job right after college--not the kind of job you mean, anyway. It's beyond privileged to think your kids are entitled to a good job right out of school, no matter where they go.

A few years of working your way up isn't the worst thing in life. You keep talking about how privileged you think other people are, then you have the gall to list your own privileges like they're nothing. Our kid has dual citizenship too, actually, being one half of an immigrant household, and it's fantastic they'll have the opportunity to use it someday.

Stop acting like UMD is some cheap community college with one breath, and then acting like it's the most prestigious place in the world with the next: it's neither. It's a state college in, as I said before, a state that most of the rest of the country doesn't care about. It's a fine school. I just don't think it's enough of a fine school to justify this kind of cutthroat admissions, or to justify staggering its freshmen admissions, or to justify paying full price for. Your opinion may differ.

I'm sure you're proud that your kid got in (unless you're the poster whose kids aren't even in college and then you're just sad... Because in all seriousness, odds are they won't get in.)

As for your kids being biracial, if you left your liberal bubble more, you might notice that no one really cares.

Not the poster you are replying to, but I am the poster whose kid isn’t applying this year. Thanks for the negativity. My kid has as much chance as the kid who got rejected from engineering which is why I’m so interested in this thread. That is, most kids with her stats would get in.

Well then, perhaps take a moment to consider why so many people are taking such high-acheiving kids with so much potential and trying to fit them through the same narrow doorway to stand in a very crowded room.

I don't hate UMD. I don't care if you believe me or not, but I don't.

But I do think there's something really wrong with our culture when it pushes all of its kids into the same little box. This whole UMD computer science/engineering cluster is truly insane.

I say that as outside observer: it makes absolutely no sense to me why you'd put your kids through this, especially when the odds of them getting into ivies and tech schools outside of Maryland are higher than they are for College Park. To summarize: your kids can get more money to go someplace else that's better or equal in prestige, and you're all still lined up at the same narrow hole.

(And then there's the fact that your favorite spectator sport is apparently watching other peoples' kids--mostly poorer kids--get brain damage for school spirit...)

Yeah, I don't get it.

As has already been said, for many of us it’s about the dollar amount and the value for money. $30k a year for UMD or $90k for MIT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To answer several persistent questions...

Honors>>>>Scholars>>other stuff

Money comes later (Mid-late Feb?) but don't expect a lot in-state, if anything. And Honors is *not* a guarantee of money though probably better chance but some non Honors admits get money too. BK, is, (I think) from Honors admits only however.

Honors is worthwhile if just for the housing and you may find it useful generally too. UH and Aces have the best housing and UH housing (PC and JW) is more convenient than ACES (PF Hall). There are other perfectly fine dorms too if you aren't Honors or are in other Honors programs. UH is easily the biggest Honors program, its the default, least specialized) but best housing and most class options.

There are also Honors versions of some key classes available only to Honors kids. Calculus, for example, and at least in that, all class hours are with the instructor in smaller classes. No discussion section with a TA, no huge lecture hall. Note, many TAs are fantastic, not trying to be critical.

Other programs (Scholars, etc) can be good opportunities but consider the cost (in time/effort): benefit analysis. Consider it even with Honors. Its 15 Credits in Honors. Is the payoff worth it? With the housing, yes, imo. Absent that...maybe.

FC is no big deal. In fact, kids I know like it. Don't view it as a failure. Look at some of the kids who didn't get in...its just a way for them to take more of the kids they should have taken in the first place...

Comp Sci..it will be much harder to declare CS for anyone not admitted directly. Not impossible but I would say do not count on it. Up til now, changing to CS has been fairly easy. Not easy anymore. Have a plan B or go somewhere else.

Thanks for the pertinent info. Does Honors guarantee housing for 4 yrs?

No most of the programs are 2 years. Varies by program. Info on website

That is inaccurate. Even if a program is 2 years, honors students are guaranteed 4 years of housing on campus. However, I don’t know any UMD student that stayed on campus 4 years. They all move off campus.

I made the mistake of checking a UMD Facebook group today. It wasn't even about housing. Except it was. Housing was all it was. Grim, tiny rooms in cheap apartment complexes in Greenbelt. Parking lots and highways. 1,000 a month to live with four roommates like you're in an exurban dystopia. What fun.

Huh? Thousands of student live within a half mile of campus. Something like 10 apartment complexes within walking distance.

Grim tiny rooms next to a highway in College Park? Where do I sign?

Maybe it’s time for your snowflake to live their own life?

Y'all are so defensive about a school no one else in the country cares about. I just think it's sad to see so many highly intelligent kids with so much potential pigeonholed into such narrow boxes in such an ugly provincial place.

Geez. You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. No one gives a crap about what you think.

Not at all, lol. College Park was never on our list because it's an ugly, provincial place. It honestly just makes me sad, with so many excellent colleges out there that so many of you have such a small window for "success" for your kids. You only want them to have one of two or three majors, you only want them to stay in this area, you only want them to work for a limited number of government-subsidized local companies or agencies.

Your kids have so much potential, and this is all you can see.

dp.. my kid's potential is a double STEM major +1 year master, graduating in 4 years from UMD because that's what they want.

"Excellent" college is subjective. My DC#2 absolutely does not want a SLAC in the middle of nowhere. They would call that "provincial", and boring AF.

UMD is T50. Why on earth would people pay money for a college that is rated much much lower, and where the job prospects are much lower. Most of us don't have family money such that our kids can just do whatever they want and not think about getting a good paying job? Do you know how many grads can't find decent jobs after college?

I want my kids to go wherever they want. I have encouraged them to go study abroad. My spouse is a dual citizen, and we've encouraged them to go live in that country for a while. I've also told them to not be tied to this area. I'm originally from CA, and DC#2 wants to move back there at some point.

So you are also wrong about UMD parents wanting them to live "provincial" lives. This area is a very diverse area, more so than the Bay Area where I moved from. If my kids want to stay here, I see nothing wrong with that. It's more diverse than the vast majority of cities around the world. Ask anyone who has lived in a different country and who now lives here (like my spouse). Also, my kids are biracial, and there are some places in this country and around the world that I would not want them to live in.

You sound like an utter snob and completely clueless.

It's pretty normal not to find a job right after college--not the kind of job you mean, anyway. It's beyond privileged to think your kids are entitled to a good job right out of school, no matter where they go.

A few years of working your way up isn't the worst thing in life. You keep talking about how privileged you think other people are, then you have the gall to list your own privileges like they're nothing. Our kid has dual citizenship too, actually, being one half of an immigrant household, and it's fantastic they'll have the opportunity to use it someday.

Stop acting like UMD is some cheap community college with one breath, and then acting like it's the most prestigious place in the world with the next: it's neither. It's a state college in, as I said before, a state that most of the rest of the country doesn't care about. It's a fine school. I just don't think it's enough of a fine school to justify this kind of cutthroat admissions, or to justify staggering its freshmen admissions, or to justify paying full price for. Your opinion may differ.

I'm sure you're proud that your kid got in (unless you're the poster whose kids aren't even in college and then you're just sad... Because in all seriousness, odds are they won't get in.)

As for your kids being biracial, if you left your liberal bubble more, you might notice that no one really cares.

Not the poster you are replying to, but I am the poster whose kid isn’t applying this year. Thanks for the negativity. My kid has as much chance as the kid who got rejected from engineering which is why I’m so interested in this thread. That is, most kids with her stats would get in.

Well then, perhaps take a moment to consider why so many people are taking such high-acheiving kids with so much potential and trying to fit them through the same narrow doorway to stand in a very crowded room.

I don't hate UMD. I don't care if you believe me or not, but I don't.

But I do think there's something really wrong with our culture when it pushes all of its kids into the same little box. This whole UMD computer science/engineering cluster is truly insane.

I say that as outside observer: it makes absolutely no sense to me why you'd put your kids through this, especially when the odds of them getting into ivies and tech schools outside of Maryland are higher than they are for College Park. To summarize: your kids can get more money to go someplace else that's better or equal in prestige, and you're all still lined up at the same narrow hole.

(And then there's the fact that your favorite spectator sport is apparently watching other peoples' kids--mostly poorer kids--get brain damage for school spirit...)

Yeah, I don't get it.

Speak for yourself. My kids didn’t apply for CS/engineering. For one of my kids, UMD was the only option in state for the desired double majors. Somehow that makes us narrow minded?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To answer several persistent questions...

Honors>>>>Scholars>>other stuff

Money comes later (Mid-late Feb?) but don't expect a lot in-state, if anything. And Honors is *not* a guarantee of money though probably better chance but some non Honors admits get money too. BK, is, (I think) from Honors admits only however.

Honors is worthwhile if just for the housing and you may find it useful generally too. UH and Aces have the best housing and UH housing (PC and JW) is more convenient than ACES (PF Hall). There are other perfectly fine dorms too if you aren't Honors or are in other Honors programs. UH is easily the biggest Honors program, its the default, least specialized) but best housing and most class options.

There are also Honors versions of some key classes available only to Honors kids. Calculus, for example, and at least in that, all class hours are with the instructor in smaller classes. No discussion section with a TA, no huge lecture hall. Note, many TAs are fantastic, not trying to be critical.

Other programs (Scholars, etc) can be good opportunities but consider the cost (in time/effort): benefit analysis. Consider it even with Honors. Its 15 Credits in Honors. Is the payoff worth it? With the housing, yes, imo. Absent that...maybe.

FC is no big deal. In fact, kids I know like it. Don't view it as a failure. Look at some of the kids who didn't get in...its just a way for them to take more of the kids they should have taken in the first place...

Comp Sci..it will be much harder to declare CS for anyone not admitted directly. Not impossible but I would say do not count on it. Up til now, changing to CS has been fairly easy. Not easy anymore. Have a plan B or go somewhere else.

Thanks for the pertinent info. Does Honors guarantee housing for 4 yrs?

No most of the programs are 2 years. Varies by program. Info on website

That is inaccurate. Even if a program is 2 years, honors students are guaranteed 4 years of housing on campus. However, I don’t know any UMD student that stayed on campus 4 years. They all move off campus.

I made the mistake of checking a UMD Facebook group today. It wasn't even about housing. Except it was. Housing was all it was. Grim, tiny rooms in cheap apartment complexes in Greenbelt. Parking lots and highways. 1,000 a month to live with four roommates like you're in an exurban dystopia. What fun.

Huh? Thousands of student live within a half mile of campus. Something like 10 apartment complexes within walking distance.

Grim tiny rooms next to a highway in College Park? Where do I sign?

Maybe it’s time for your snowflake to live their own life?

Y'all are so defensive about a school no one else in the country cares about. I just think it's sad to see so many highly intelligent kids with so much potential pigeonholed into such narrow boxes in such an ugly provincial place.

Geez. You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. No one gives a crap about what you think.

Not at all, lol. College Park was never on our list because it's an ugly, provincial place. It honestly just makes me sad, with so many excellent colleges out there that so many of you have such a small window for "success" for your kids. You only want them to have one of two or three majors, you only want them to stay in this area, you only want them to work for a limited number of government-subsidized local companies or agencies.

Your kids have so much potential, and this is all you can see.

dp.. my kid's potential is a double STEM major +1 year master, graduating in 4 years from UMD because that's what they want.

"Excellent" college is subjective. My DC#2 absolutely does not want a SLAC in the middle of nowhere. They would call that "provincial", and boring AF.

UMD is T50. Why on earth would people pay money for a college that is rated much much lower, and where the job prospects are much lower. Most of us don't have family money such that our kids can just do whatever they want and not think about getting a good paying job? Do you know how many grads can't find decent jobs after college?

I want my kids to go wherever they want. I have encouraged them to go study abroad. My spouse is a dual citizen, and we've encouraged them to go live in that country for a while. I've also told them to not be tied to this area. I'm originally from CA, and DC#2 wants to move back there at some point.

So you are also wrong about UMD parents wanting them to live "provincial" lives. This area is a very diverse area, more so than the Bay Area where I moved from. If my kids want to stay here, I see nothing wrong with that. It's more diverse than the vast majority of cities around the world. Ask anyone who has lived in a different country and who now lives here (like my spouse). Also, my kids are biracial, and there are some places in this country and around the world that I would not want them to live in.

You sound like an utter snob and completely clueless.

It's pretty normal not to find a job right after college--not the kind of job you mean, anyway. It's beyond privileged to think your kids are entitled to a good job right out of school, no matter where they go.

A few years of working your way up isn't the worst thing in life. You keep talking about how privileged you think other people are, then you have the gall to list your own privileges like they're nothing. Our kid has dual citizenship too, actually, being one half of an immigrant household, and it's fantastic they'll have the opportunity to use it someday.

Stop acting like UMD is some cheap community college with one breath, and then acting like it's the most prestigious place in the world with the next: it's neither. It's a state college in, as I said before, a state that most of the rest of the country doesn't care about. It's a fine school. I just don't think it's enough of a fine school to justify this kind of cutthroat admissions, or to justify staggering its freshmen admissions, or to justify paying full price for. Your opinion may differ.

I'm sure you're proud that your kid got in (unless you're the poster whose kids aren't even in college and then you're just sad... Because in all seriousness, odds are they won't get in.)

As for your kids being biracial, if you left your liberal bubble more, you might notice that no one really cares.

Not the poster you are replying to, but I am the poster whose kid isn’t applying this year. Thanks for the negativity. My kid has as much chance as the kid who got rejected from engineering which is why I’m so interested in this thread. That is, most kids with her stats would get in.

Well then, perhaps take a moment to consider why so many people are taking such high-acheiving kids with so much potential and trying to fit them through the same narrow doorway to stand in a very crowded room.

I don't hate UMD. I don't care if you believe me or not, but I don't.

But I do think there's something really wrong with our culture when it pushes all of its kids into the same little box. This whole UMD computer science/engineering cluster is truly insane.

I say that as outside observer: it makes absolutely no sense to me why you'd put your kids through this, especially when the odds of them getting into ivies and tech schools outside of Maryland are higher than they are for College Park. To summarize: your kids can get more money to go someplace else that's better or equal in prestige, and you're all still lined up at the same narrow hole.

(And then there's the fact that your favorite spectator sport is apparently watching other peoples' kids--mostly poorer kids--get brain damage for school spirit...)

Yeah, I don't get it.

As has already been said, for many of us it’s about the dollar amount and the value for money. $30k a year for UMD or $90k for MIT?

I think you don't understand that with its massive endowment and your kid's scores, you wouldn't pay 90k for MIT. It's true, (I don't know for sure, but I suspect), you might pay 45-50k, unless you're actually poor, in which case you'd pay nothing.

Is MIT worth beg, borrowing, or cashing in a 401k to make the difference?

Over UMD?

Uh... Yeah. Yeah, it is. In so many ways you can't imagine.

I'm not a snob about schools, (despite the crap I've said about UMD), but I am a realist. The universities and colleges in this country that are truly, intellectually prestigious... if your kid has a shot at them, you don't turn it down. Not only will it offer them career benefits for life, not only will it open alumni and corporate doors, they'll receive exceptional educations. I'm sure UMD has some great programs, but they're not Caltech. They're not MIT. I'm not even sure they're WPI, or Stevens, or RIT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To answer several persistent questions...

Honors>>>>Scholars>>other stuff

Money comes later (Mid-late Feb?) but don't expect a lot in-state, if anything. And Honors is *not* a guarantee of money though probably better chance but some non Honors admits get money too. BK, is, (I think) from Honors admits only however.

Honors is worthwhile if just for the housing and you may find it useful generally too. UH and Aces have the best housing and UH housing (PC and JW) is more convenient than ACES (PF Hall). There are other perfectly fine dorms too if you aren't Honors or are in other Honors programs. UH is easily the biggest Honors program, its the default, least specialized) but best housing and most class options.

There are also Honors versions of some key classes available only to Honors kids. Calculus, for example, and at least in that, all class hours are with the instructor in smaller classes. No discussion section with a TA, no huge lecture hall. Note, many TAs are fantastic, not trying to be critical.

Other programs (Scholars, etc) can be good opportunities but consider the cost (in time/effort): benefit analysis. Consider it even with Honors. Its 15 Credits in Honors. Is the payoff worth it? With the housing, yes, imo. Absent that...maybe.

FC is no big deal. In fact, kids I know like it. Don't view it as a failure. Look at some of the kids who didn't get in...its just a way for them to take more of the kids they should have taken in the first place...

Comp Sci..it will be much harder to declare CS for anyone not admitted directly. Not impossible but I would say do not count on it. Up til now, changing to CS has been fairly easy. Not easy anymore. Have a plan B or go somewhere else.

Thanks for the pertinent info. Does Honors guarantee housing for 4 yrs?

No most of the programs are 2 years. Varies by program. Info on website

That is inaccurate. Even if a program is 2 years, honors students are guaranteed 4 years of housing on campus. However, I don’t know any UMD student that stayed on campus 4 years. They all move off campus.

I made the mistake of checking a UMD Facebook group today. It wasn't even about housing. Except it was. Housing was all it was. Grim, tiny rooms in cheap apartment complexes in Greenbelt. Parking lots and highways. 1,000 a month to live with four roommates like you're in an exurban dystopia. What fun.

Huh? Thousands of student live within a half mile of campus. Something like 10 apartment complexes within walking distance.

Grim tiny rooms next to a highway in College Park? Where do I sign?

Maybe it’s time for your snowflake to live their own life?

Y'all are so defensive about a school no one else in the country cares about. I just think it's sad to see so many highly intelligent kids with so much potential pigeonholed into such narrow boxes in such an ugly provincial place.

Geez. You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. No one gives a crap about what you think.

Not at all, lol. College Park was never on our list because it's an ugly, provincial place. It honestly just makes me sad, with so many excellent colleges out there that so many of you have such a small window for "success" for your kids. You only want them to have one of two or three majors, you only want them to stay in this area, you only want them to work for a limited number of government-subsidized local companies or agencies.

Your kids have so much potential, and this is all you can see.

dp.. my kid's potential is a double STEM major +1 year master, graduating in 4 years from UMD because that's what they want.

"Excellent" college is subjective. My DC#2 absolutely does not want a SLAC in the middle of nowhere. They would call that "provincial", and boring AF.

UMD is T50. Why on earth would people pay money for a college that is rated much much lower, and where the job prospects are much lower. Most of us don't have family money such that our kids can just do whatever they want and not think about getting a good paying job? Do you know how many grads can't find decent jobs after college?

I want my kids to go wherever they want. I have encouraged them to go study abroad. My spouse is a dual citizen, and we've encouraged them to go live in that country for a while. I've also told them to not be tied to this area. I'm originally from CA, and DC#2 wants to move back there at some point.

So you are also wrong about UMD parents wanting them to live "provincial" lives. This area is a very diverse area, more so than the Bay Area where I moved from. If my kids want to stay here, I see nothing wrong with that. It's more diverse than the vast majority of cities around the world. Ask anyone who has lived in a different country and who now lives here (like my spouse). Also, my kids are biracial, and there are some places in this country and around the world that I would not want them to live in.

You sound like an utter snob and completely clueless.

It's pretty normal not to find a job right after college--not the kind of job you mean, anyway. It's beyond privileged to think your kids are entitled to a good job right out of school, no matter where they go.

A few years of working your way up isn't the worst thing in life. You keep talking about how privileged you think other people are, then you have the gall to list your own privileges like they're nothing. Our kid has dual citizenship too, actually, being one half of an immigrant household, and it's fantastic they'll have the opportunity to use it someday.

Stop acting like UMD is some cheap community college with one breath, and then acting like it's the most prestigious place in the world with the next: it's neither. It's a state college in, as I said before, a state that most of the rest of the country doesn't care about. It's a fine school. I just don't think it's enough of a fine school to justify this kind of cutthroat admissions, or to justify staggering its freshmen admissions, or to justify paying full price for. Your opinion may differ.

I'm sure you're proud that your kid got in (unless you're the poster whose kids aren't even in college and then you're just sad... Because in all seriousness, odds are they won't get in.)

As for your kids being biracial, if you left your liberal bubble more, you might notice that no one really cares.

Not the poster you are replying to, but I am the poster whose kid isn’t applying this year. Thanks for the negativity. My kid has as much chance as the kid who got rejected from engineering which is why I’m so interested in this thread. That is, most kids with her stats would get in.

Well then, perhaps take a moment to consider why so many people are taking such high-acheiving kids with so much potential and trying to fit them through the same narrow doorway to stand in a very crowded room.

I don't hate UMD. I don't care if you believe me or not, but I don't.

But I do think there's something really wrong with our culture when it pushes all of its kids into the same little box. This whole UMD computer science/engineering cluster is truly insane.

I say that as outside observer: it makes absolutely no sense to me why you'd put your kids through this, especially when the odds of them getting into ivies and tech schools outside of Maryland are higher than they are for College Park. To summarize: your kids can get more money to go someplace else that's better or equal in prestige, and you're all still lined up at the same narrow hole.

(And then there's the fact that your favorite spectator sport is apparently watching other peoples' kids--mostly poorer kids--get brain damage for school spirit...)

Yeah, I don't get it.

Speak for yourself. My kids didn’t apply for CS/engineering. For one of my kids, UMD was the only option in state for the desired double majors. Somehow that makes us narrow minded?

Well, perhaps I wasn't talking about you, Mary.

But also, yes, there's that "in-state" thing there in your own sentence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To answer several persistent questions...

Honors>>>>Scholars>>other stuff

Money comes later (Mid-late Feb?) but don't expect a lot in-state, if anything. And Honors is *not* a guarantee of money though probably better chance but some non Honors admits get money too. BK, is, (I think) from Honors admits only however.

Honors is worthwhile if just for the housing and you may find it useful generally too. UH and Aces have the best housing and UH housing (PC and JW) is more convenient than ACES (PF Hall). There are other perfectly fine dorms too if you aren't Honors or are in other Honors programs. UH is easily the biggest Honors program, its the default, least specialized) but best housing and most class options.

There are also Honors versions of some key classes available only to Honors kids. Calculus, for example, and at least in that, all class hours are with the instructor in smaller classes. No discussion section with a TA, no huge lecture hall. Note, many TAs are fantastic, not trying to be critical.

Other programs (Scholars, etc) can be good opportunities but consider the cost (in time/effort): benefit analysis. Consider it even with Honors. Its 15 Credits in Honors. Is the payoff worth it? With the housing, yes, imo. Absent that...maybe.

FC is no big deal. In fact, kids I know like it. Don't view it as a failure. Look at some of the kids who didn't get in...its just a way for them to take more of the kids they should have taken in the first place...

Comp Sci..it will be much harder to declare CS for anyone not admitted directly. Not impossible but I would say do not count on it. Up til now, changing to CS has been fairly easy. Not easy anymore. Have a plan B or go somewhere else.

Thanks for the pertinent info. Does Honors guarantee housing for 4 yrs?

No most of the programs are 2 years. Varies by program. Info on website

That is inaccurate. Even if a program is 2 years, honors students are guaranteed 4 years of housing on campus. However, I don’t know any UMD student that stayed on campus 4 years. They all move off campus.

I made the mistake of checking a UMD Facebook group today. It wasn't even about housing. Except it was. Housing was all it was. Grim, tiny rooms in cheap apartment complexes in Greenbelt. Parking lots and highways. 1,000 a month to live with four roommates like you're in an exurban dystopia. What fun.

Huh? Thousands of student live within a half mile of campus. Something like 10 apartment complexes within walking distance.

Grim tiny rooms next to a highway in College Park? Where do I sign?

Maybe it’s time for your snowflake to live their own life?

Y'all are so defensive about a school no one else in the country cares about. I just think it's sad to see so many highly intelligent kids with so much potential pigeonholed into such narrow boxes in such an ugly provincial place.

Geez. You sound like you have a chip on your shoulder. No one gives a crap about what you think.

Not at all, lol. College Park was never on our list because it's an ugly, provincial place. It honestly just makes me sad, with so many excellent colleges out there that so many of you have such a small window for "success" for your kids. You only want them to have one of two or three majors, you only want them to stay in this area, you only want them to work for a limited number of government-subsidized local companies or agencies.

Your kids have so much potential, and this is all you can see.

dp.. my kid's potential is a double STEM major +1 year master, graduating in 4 years from UMD because that's what they want.

"Excellent" college is subjective. My DC#2 absolutely does not want a SLAC in the middle of nowhere. They would call that "provincial", and boring AF.

UMD is T50. Why on earth would people pay money for a college that is rated much much lower, and where the job prospects are much lower. Most of us don't have family money such that our kids can just do whatever they want and not think about getting a good paying job? Do you know how many grads can't find decent jobs after college?

I want my kids to go wherever they want. I have encouraged them to go study abroad. My spouse is a dual citizen, and we've encouraged them to go live in that country for a while. I've also told them to not be tied to this area. I'm originally from CA, and DC#2 wants to move back there at some point.

So you are also wrong about UMD parents wanting them to live "provincial" lives. This area is a very diverse area, more so than the Bay Area where I moved from. If my kids want to stay here, I see nothing wrong with that. It's more diverse than the vast majority of cities around the world. Ask anyone who has lived in a different country and who now lives here (like my spouse). Also, my kids are biracial, and there are some places in this country and around the world that I would not want them to live in.

You sound like an utter snob and completely clueless.

It's pretty normal not to find a job right after college--not the kind of job you mean, anyway. It's beyond privileged to think your kids are entitled to a good job right out of school, no matter where they go.

A few years of working your way up isn't the worst thing in life. You keep talking about how privileged you think other people are, then you have the gall to list your own privileges like they're nothing. Our kid has dual citizenship too, actually, being one half of an immigrant household, and it's fantastic they'll have the opportunity to use it someday.

Stop acting like UMD is some cheap community college with one breath, and then acting like it's the most prestigious place in the world with the next: it's neither. It's a state college in, as I said before, a state that most of the rest of the country doesn't care about. It's a fine school. I just don't think it's enough of a fine school to justify this kind of cutthroat admissions, or to justify staggering its freshmen admissions, or to justify paying full price for. Your opinion may differ.

I'm sure you're proud that your kid got in (unless you're the poster whose kids aren't even in college and then you're just sad... Because in all seriousness, odds are they won't get in.)

As for your kids being biracial, if you left your liberal bubble more, you might notice that no one really cares.

Not the poster you are replying to, but I am the poster whose kid isn’t applying this year. Thanks for the negativity. My kid has as much chance as the kid who got rejected from engineering which is why I’m so interested in this thread. That is, most kids with her stats would get in.

Well then, perhaps take a moment to consider why so many people are taking such high-acheiving kids with so much potential and trying to fit them through the same narrow doorway to stand in a very crowded room.

I don't hate UMD. I don't care if you believe me or not, but I don't.

But I do think there's something really wrong with our culture when it pushes all of its kids into the same little box. This whole UMD computer science/engineering cluster is truly insane.

I say that as outside observer: it makes absolutely no sense to me why you'd put your kids through this, especially when the odds of them getting into ivies and tech schools outside of Maryland are higher than they are for College Park. To summarize: your kids can get more money to go someplace else that's better or equal in prestige, and you're all still lined up at the same narrow hole.

(And then there's the fact that your favorite spectator sport is apparently watching other peoples' kids--mostly poorer kids--get brain damage for school spirit...)

Yeah, I don't get it.

As has already been said, for many of us it’s about the dollar amount and the value for money. $30k a year for UMD or $90k for MIT?

I think you don't understand that with its massive endowment and your kid's scores, you wouldn't pay 90k for MIT. It's true, (I don't know for sure, but I suspect), you might pay 45-50k, unless you're actually poor, in which case you'd pay nothing.

Is MIT worth beg, borrowing, or cashing in a 401k to make the difference?

Over UMD?

Uh... Yeah. Yeah, it is. In so many ways you can't imagine.

I'm not a snob about schools, (despite the crap I've said about UMD), but I am a realist. The universities and colleges in this country that are truly, intellectually prestigious... if your kid has a shot at them, you don't turn it down. Not only will it offer them career benefits for life, not only will it open alumni and corporate doors, they'll receive exceptional educations. I'm sure UMD has some great programs, but they're not Caltech. They're not MIT. I'm not even sure they're WPI, or Stevens, or RIT.

Huh? Do you know something I don’t? Doesn’t MIT offer need based aid only? And even getting in with super high stats is a crap shoot.