UMD College Park Results thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In OOS with 28 ACT 3.5 weighted.

Congrats - which state is he/she from?

Did you submit the test score?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In OOS with 28 ACT 3.5 weighted.

Congrats - which state is he/she from?

I think this post is either fictitious or erroneous. 3.5 weighted? Applied to which major? Do you live in a very expensive zip code, signaling full pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
UMD is getting and swooping up the best brains in MD as in-state students. And why not? UMD (and very rapidly UMBC) are becoming a powerhouse because this area has high SES and very educated community. They also benefit from its proximity to DMV and the various federal and other organizations that offer very impressive internships.

They are not just picking up magnet kids from MCPS. They are picking up the best students from other MD schools too. MCPS does not have a monopoly on the best brains. Here is one non-MCPS student who is going places. What caliber of student is he? An MIT, Harvard caliber student who was well served in UMD. This is who is going to UMD ...

https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/4751

All schools feature their star students...but it does not mean that the school is the reason that kid got the award.

TBH, I am seeing this now with my own child. She has won several national awards/high profile internships. It is all over her school's social media. That is fine, but she won those things because of her initiative and hard work. Faculty were generous with writing recommendations, but other than that, my kid did it all on their own. This is why schools give merit aid to strong applicants. They are hoping that the student will bring honor to the school.

I have a high performing kid. I agree with you that schools recruit kids with high potential because they hope the student will bring honor to the school. But I think that you underestimate the contribution that a nurturing environment makes to supporting a kid towards making these accomplishments. A stimulating peer group and inspiring teachers are also contributors to your kid’s success. That is why some schools such as Blair magnet consistently produce so many award winning kids. Yes, the students who are admitted are bright and motivated. But the school environment helps these kids to realize their potential. And a strong student at UMD has the platform to reach their potential as much as students who excel at higher rated schools. UMD has many well regarded programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
UMD is getting and swooping up the best brains in MD as in-state students. And why not? UMD (and very rapidly UMBC) are becoming a powerhouse because this area has high SES and very educated community. They also benefit from its proximity to DMV and the various federal and other organizations that offer very impressive internships.

They are not just picking up magnet kids from MCPS. They are picking up the best students from other MD schools too. MCPS does not have a monopoly on the best brains. Here is one non-MCPS student who is going places. What caliber of student is he? An MIT, Harvard caliber student who was well served in UMD. This is who is going to UMD ...

https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/4751

All schools feature their star students...but it does not mean that the school is the reason that kid got the award.

TBH, I am seeing this now with my own child. She has won several national awards/high profile internships. It is all over her school's social media. That is fine, but she won those things because of her initiative and hard work. Faculty were generous with writing recommendations, but other than that, my kid did it all on their own. This is why schools give merit aid to strong applicants. They are hoping that the student will bring honor to the school.

You make valid points. My child is a big fish in a small (CTCL) pond. That has helped her to stand out in the eyes of her advisors. It also provided her with leadership opportunities and increased her confidence. All of those things probably gave her the chutzpah to apply for highly competitive awards and do well on her interviews.

I have a high performing kid. I agree with you that schools recruit kids with high potential because they hope the student will bring honor to the school. But I think that you underestimate the contribution that a nurturing environment makes to supporting a kid towards making these accomplishments. A stimulating peer group and inspiring teachers are also contributors to your kid’s success. That is why some schools such as Blair magnet consistently produce so many award winning kids. Yes, the students who are admitted are bright and motivated. But the school environment helps these kids to realize their potential. And a strong student at UMD has the platform to reach their potential as much as students who excel at higher rated schools. UMD has many well regarded programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In state, legacy, 1400 SAT, 3.7 uw, 4.3 w
I am so pissed.

To add: applied Arts & Sciences

I’m a professor at UMD, a liberal arts department. This is bonkers to me. There is no way that some of the students I have in intro courses could have these high school grades and stats. Some of them can barely write a coherent paragraph.

Not even a Spring admit?

I'm sorry, but a 4.3 is not hard to get in MCPS, if that is the school district.

She's not in MCPS. What's wrong with those grades?

I suspected. Is she in a private? Our kid coming from a Catholic HS could not compete with the GPAs coming out of public schools, and was rejected by UMCP.

We don't know yet if the PP's child is coming from a non-MCPS public or a private. Based upon my experience with MCPS, a 4.3W is low for public school. I typically see parents of kids with 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 bragging of admits on these message boards. The kids in MCPS can take honors everything except for PE, beginning foreign language, and algebra, I believe. Beginning art is non-Honors, but a talented kid can skip the lowest-level class. My kid happened to skip Spanish 2.

For the PP with the 1400/4.3W, is your child coming from private or public? How many AP classes has she taken? How many 4's and 5's did she have to report? No, UMD doesn't mandate that students report their AP scores, but great scores certainly don't hurt.

As far as I know, legacy status doesn't count at all at UMD. It stings, but that's the truth. Also, what major did your daughter indicate she wanted? The competition for slots in CS and engineering can be brutal. Perhaps in business as well.

For those who mentioned that UMD takes gender into account, I would assume that this is within majors. A young woman might still have a slight edge applying to CS or engineering. A young man might have a big edge applying to study Russian literature or English. Overall, UMD is around 50/50 male/female, which I see as a plus.

UMD really likes to report the average weighted GPA for its incoming freshmen, whereas a lot of other schools report the average unweighted GPA, which is more uniform across school systems around the country.

Do AP scores get reported on college applications?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In state, legacy, 1400 SAT, 3.7 uw, 4.3 w
I am so pissed.

To add: applied Arts & Sciences

I’m a professor at UMD, a liberal arts department. This is bonkers to me. There is no way that some of the students I have in intro courses could have these high school grades and stats. Some of them can barely write a coherent paragraph.

Not even a Spring admit?

I'm sorry, but a 4.3 is not hard to get in MCPS, if that is the school district.

She's not in MCPS. What's wrong with those grades?

Candidate chooses to submit or not. Like other testing, it’s optional, but if you score well you submit of course. If you don’t submit it’s assumed they didn’t score well. You won’t hear that from admissions however when they describe “test optional,”

I suspected. Is she in a private? Our kid coming from a Catholic HS could not compete with the GPAs coming out of public schools, and was rejected by UMCP.

We don't know yet if the PP's child is coming from a non-MCPS public or a private. Based upon my experience with MCPS, a 4.3W is low for public school. I typically see parents of kids with 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 bragging of admits on these message boards. The kids in MCPS can take honors everything except for PE, beginning foreign language, and algebra, I believe. Beginning art is non-Honors, but a talented kid can skip the lowest-level class. My kid happened to skip Spanish 2.

For the PP with the 1400/4.3W, is your child coming from private or public? How many AP classes has she taken? How many 4's and 5's did she have to report? No, UMD doesn't mandate that students report their AP scores, but great scores certainly don't hurt.

As far as I know, legacy status doesn't count at all at UMD. It stings, but that's the truth. Also, what major did your daughter indicate she wanted? The competition for slots in CS and engineering can be brutal. Perhaps in business as well.

For those who mentioned that UMD takes gender into account, I would assume that this is within majors. A young woman might still have a slight edge applying to CS or engineering. A young man might have a big edge applying to study Russian literature or English. Overall, UMD is around 50/50 male/female, which I see as a plus.

UMD really likes to report the average weighted GPA for its incoming freshmen, whereas a lot of other schools report the average unweighted GPA, which is more uniform across school systems around the country.

Do AP scores get reported on college applications?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In state, legacy, 1400 SAT, 3.7 uw, 4.3 w
I am so pissed.

To add: applied Arts & Sciences

I’m a professor at UMD, a liberal arts department. This is bonkers to me. There is no way that some of the students I have in intro courses could have these high school grades and stats. Some of them can barely write a coherent paragraph.

Not even a Spring admit?

I'm sorry, but a 4.3 is not hard to get in MCPS, if that is the school district.

She's not in MCPS. What's wrong with those grades?

I suspected. Is she in a private? Our kid coming from a Catholic HS could not compete with the GPAs coming out of public schools, and was rejected by UMCP.

We don't know yet if the PP's child is coming from a non-MCPS public or a private. Based upon my experience with MCPS, a 4.3W is low for public school. I typically see parents of kids with 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 bragging of admits on these message boards. The kids in MCPS can take honors everything except for PE, beginning foreign language, and algebra, I believe. Beginning art is non-Honors, but a talented kid can skip the lowest-level class. My kid happened to skip Spanish 2.

For the PP with the 1400/4.3W, is your child coming from private or public? How many AP classes has she taken? How many 4's and 5's did she have to report? No, UMD doesn't mandate that students report their AP scores, but great scores certainly don't hurt.

As far as I know, legacy status doesn't count at all at UMD. It stings, but that's the truth. Also, what major did your daughter indicate she wanted? The competition for slots in CS and engineering can be brutal. Perhaps in business as well.

For those who mentioned that UMD takes gender into account, I would assume that this is within majors. A young woman might still have a slight edge applying to CS or engineering. A young man might have a big edge applying to study Russian literature or English. Overall, UMD is around 50/50 male/female, which I see as a plus.

UMD really likes to report the average weighted GPA for its incoming freshmen, whereas a lot of other schools report the average unweighted GPA, which is more uniform across school systems around the country.

Do AP scores get reported on college applications?

Candidate chooses to submit or not. Like other testing, it’s optional, but if you score well you submit of course. If you don’t submit it’s assumed they didn’t score well. You won’t hear that from admissions however when they describe “test optional,” common sense tho

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In state, legacy, 1400 SAT, 3.7 uw, 4.3 w
I am so pissed.

To add: applied Arts & Sciences

I’m a professor at UMD, a liberal arts department. This is bonkers to me. There is no way that some of the students I have in intro courses could have these high school grades and stats. Some of them can barely write a coherent paragraph.

Not even a Spring admit?

I'm sorry, but a 4.3 is not hard to get in MCPS, if that is the school district.

She's not in MCPS. What's wrong with those grades?

I suspected. Is she in a private? Our kid coming from a Catholic HS could not compete with the GPAs coming out of public schools, and was rejected by UMCP.

We don't know yet if the PP's child is coming from a non-MCPS public or a private. Based upon my experience with MCPS, a 4.3W is low for public school. I typically see parents of kids with 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 bragging of admits on these message boards. The kids in MCPS can take honors everything except for PE, beginning foreign language, and algebra, I believe. Beginning art is non-Honors, but a talented kid can skip the lowest-level class. My kid happened to skip Spanish 2.

For the PP with the 1400/4.3W, is your child coming from private or public? How many AP classes has she taken? How many 4's and 5's did she have to report? No, UMD doesn't mandate that students report their AP scores, but great scores certainly don't hurt.

As far as I know, legacy status doesn't count at all at UMD. It stings, but that's the truth. Also, what major did your daughter indicate she wanted? The competition for slots in CS and engineering can be brutal. Perhaps in business as well.

For those who mentioned that UMD takes gender into account, I would assume that this is within majors. A young woman might still have a slight edge applying to CS or engineering. A young man might have a big edge applying to study Russian literature or English. Overall, UMD is around 50/50 male/female, which I see as a plus.

UMD really likes to report the average weighted GPA for its incoming freshmen, whereas a lot of other schools report the average unweighted GPA, which is more uniform across school systems around the country.

Do AP scores get reported on college applications?

Candidate chooses to submit or not. Like other testing, it’s optional, but if you score well you submit of course. If you don’t submit it’s assumed they didn’t score well. You won’t hear that from admissions however when they describe “test optional,” common sense tho

I have a kid in college and have no recollection of a place where AP scores are reported on the application. Perhaps I am not remembering correctly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In state, legacy, 1400 SAT, 3.7 uw, 4.3 w
I am so pissed.

To add: applied Arts & Sciences

I’m a professor at UMD, a liberal arts department. This is bonkers to me. There is no way that some of the students I have in intro courses could have these high school grades and stats. Some of them can barely write a coherent paragraph.

Not even a Spring admit?

I'm sorry, but a 4.3 is not hard to get in MCPS, if that is the school district.

She's not in MCPS. What's wrong with those grades?

I suspected. Is she in a private? Our kid coming from a Catholic HS could not compete with the GPAs coming out of public schools, and was rejected by UMCP.

We don't know yet if the PP's child is coming from a non-MCPS public or a private. Based upon my experience with MCPS, a 4.3W is low for public school. I typically see parents of kids with 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 bragging of admits on these message boards. The kids in MCPS can take honors everything except for PE, beginning foreign language, and algebra, I believe. Beginning art is non-Honors, but a talented kid can skip the lowest-level class. My kid happened to skip Spanish 2.

For the PP with the 1400/4.3W, is your child coming from private or public? How many AP classes has she taken? How many 4's and 5's did she have to report? No, UMD doesn't mandate that students report their AP scores, but great scores certainly don't hurt.

As far as I know, legacy status doesn't count at all at UMD. It stings, but that's the truth. Also, what major did your daughter indicate she wanted? The competition for slots in CS and engineering can be brutal. Perhaps in business as well.

For those who mentioned that UMD takes gender into account, I would assume that this is within majors. A young woman might still have a slight edge applying to CS or engineering. A young man might have a big edge applying to study Russian literature or English. Overall, UMD is around 50/50 male/female, which I see as a plus.

UMD really likes to report the average weighted GPA for its incoming freshmen, whereas a lot of other schools report the average unweighted GPA, which is more uniform across school systems around the country.

Do AP scores get reported on college applications?

Candidate chooses to submit or not. Like other testing, it’s optional, but if you score well you submit of course. If you don’t submit it’s assumed they didn’t score well. You won’t hear that from admissions however when they describe “test optional,” common sense tho

I have a kid in college and have no recollection of a place where AP scores are reported on the application. Perhaps I am not remembering correctly?

My student reported her strongest scores two years ago, but I do not remember where on the application they went. We might have just sent a College Board report. Unfortunately, public school guidance counselors just emphasize that you don't HAVE to submit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In state, legacy, 1400 SAT, 3.7 uw, 4.3 w
I am so pissed.

To add: applied Arts & Sciences

I’m a professor at UMD, a liberal arts department. This is bonkers to me. There is no way that some of the students I have in intro courses could have these high school grades and stats. Some of them can barely write a coherent paragraph.

Not even a Spring admit?

I'm sorry, but a 4.3 is not hard to get in MCPS, if that is the school district.

She's not in MCPS. What's wrong with those grades?

I suspected. Is she in a private? Our kid coming from a Catholic HS could not compete with the GPAs coming out of public schools, and was rejected by UMCP.

We don't know yet if the PP's child is coming from a non-MCPS public or a private. Based upon my experience with MCPS, a 4.3W is low for public school. I typically see parents of kids with 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 bragging of admits on these message boards. The kids in MCPS can take honors everything except for PE, beginning foreign language, and algebra, I believe. Beginning art is non-Honors, but a talented kid can skip the lowest-level class. My kid happened to skip Spanish 2.

For the PP with the 1400/4.3W, is your child coming from private or public? How many AP classes has she taken? How many 4's and 5's did she have to report? No, UMD doesn't mandate that students report their AP scores, but great scores certainly don't hurt.

As far as I know, legacy status doesn't count at all at UMD. It stings, but that's the truth. Also, what major did your daughter indicate she wanted? The competition for slots in CS and engineering can be brutal. Perhaps in business as well.

For those who mentioned that UMD takes gender into account, I would assume that this is within majors. A young woman might still have a slight edge applying to CS or engineering. A young man might have a big edge applying to study Russian literature or English. Overall, UMD is around 50/50 male/female, which I see as a plus.

UMD really likes to report the average weighted GPA for its incoming freshmen, whereas a lot of other schools report the average unweighted GPA, which is more uniform across school systems around the country.

Do AP scores get reported on college applications?

Candidate chooses to submit or not. Like other testing, it’s optional, but if you score well you submit of course. If you don’t submit it’s assumed they didn’t score well. You won’t hear that from admissions however when they describe “test optional,” common sense tho

I have a kid in college and have no recollection of a place where AP scores are reported on the application. Perhaps I am not remembering correctly?

My student reported her strongest scores two years ago, but I do not remember where on the application they went. We might have just sent a College Board report. Unfortunately, public school guidance counselors just emphasize that you don't HAVE to submit.

You usually report after you get accepted, not as part of the application process. I wasn't aware that people sent them before that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 1440 SAT. 4.2 WGPA. Full IB diploma.

Total BS!

UMD admission comm has a deep knowledge of area public schools.

It depends on what major the candidate above applied to.

UMD is hard to get in some of the majors. Especially CS. Howard and Montgomery county schools are full of super high performing students and there are huge benefits of getting into UMD for the hard sciences at least.

DP... not to be mean, but for an IB student, 1440 and 4.2 WGPA are not very high stats. I would expect better numbers. But, yes, major also matters.

DP: Why? IB diploma is very rigorous and 1440 is 97th percentile. Why would you expect higher.

Because it is or should be a rigorous program, which means if the student managed to get the diploma (you have to pass all six IB exams), then they should have better test scores, period.

An IB student would be compared to other IB students, not the general student population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You usually report after you get accepted, not as part of the application process. I wasn't aware that people sent them before that.

From what I recall, you can elect to have them publish the score after you review them. There is a selection on the website to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 1440 SAT. 4.2 WGPA. Full IB diploma.

Total BS!

UMD admission comm has a deep knowledge of area public schools.

It depends on what major the candidate above applied to.

UMD is hard to get in some of the majors. Especially CS. Howard and Montgomery county schools are full of super high performing students and there are huge benefits of getting into UMD for the hard sciences at least.

DP... not to be mean, but for an IB student, 1440 and 4.2 WGPA are not very high stats. I would expect better numbers. But, yes, major also matters.

DP: Why? IB diploma is very rigorous and 1440 is 97th percentile. Why would you expect higher.

Because it is or should be a rigorous program, which means if the student managed to get the diploma (you have to pass all six IB exams), then they should have better test scores, period.

An IB student would be compared to other IB students, not the general student population.

This sounds completely wrong to me. I’d like to hear from an admissions counselor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 1440 SAT. 4.2 WGPA. Full IB diploma.

Total BS!

UMD admission comm has a deep knowledge of area public schools.

It depends on what major the candidate above applied to.

UMD is hard to get in some of the majors. Especially CS. Howard and Montgomery county schools are full of super high performing students and there are huge benefits of getting into UMD for the hard sciences at least.

DP... not to be mean, but for an IB student, 1440 and 4.2 WGPA are not very high stats. I would expect better numbers. But, yes, major also matters.

DP: Why? IB diploma is very rigorous and 1440 is 97th percentile. Why would you expect higher.

Because it is or should be a rigorous program, which means if the student managed to get the diploma (you have to pass all six IB exams), then they should have better test scores, period.

An IB student would be compared to other IB students, not the general student population.

This sounds completely wrong to me. I’d like to hear from an admissions counselor.

There is more to the story on this candidate. Likely no hooks, so grouped with general pop. IB is built into weighted grades - similar to any other honors classes that weigh 5.0. So, it’s a great specialized program but no extra cookies for completing it except weighted consideration for the classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. 1440 SAT. 4.2 WGPA. Full IB diploma.

Total BS!

UMD admission comm has a deep knowledge of area public schools.

It depends on what major the candidate above applied to.

UMD is hard to get in some of the majors. Especially CS. Howard and Montgomery county schools are full of super high performing students and there are huge benefits of getting into UMD for the hard sciences at least.

DP... not to be mean, but for an IB student, 1440 and 4.2 WGPA are not very high stats. I would expect better numbers. But, yes, major also matters.

DP: Why? IB diploma is very rigorous and 1440 is 97th percentile. Why would you expect higher.

Because it is or should be a rigorous program, which means if the student managed to get the diploma (you have to pass all six IB exams), then they should have better test scores, period.

An IB student would be compared to other IB students, not the general student population.

This sounds completely wrong to me. I’d like to hear from an admissions counselor.

There is more to the story on this candidate. Likely no hooks, so grouped with general pop. IB is built into weighted grades - similar to any other honors classes that weigh 5.0. So, it’s a great specialized program but no extra cookies for completing it except weighted consideration for the classes.

Agreed. Likely the lower unweighted GPA was glaring. But, like PP said, likely more to story including others from school had better numbers.