Didn’t want UMD
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Anonymous
Liz Lemon was a theater tech major at UMD—she even had a partial competitive jazz dance scholarship! (Tina Fey, however, went to UVA.) |
Anonymous
What's so bad about the UMD campus itself? |
Anonymous
And so do… wait for it….summer internships. Most schools in the top 30 are frequented by every top company including the federal government. These events happen throughout the year and the employers come to them. |
Anonymous
PP you replied to. I went to UMD for grad school myself, and my building was modern with top notch labs for research. But for undergrads who need to stay on campus, it's not as pleasant. The Purple Line construction has been going on for years and is incredibly disruptive: it goes right to the center of campus, to the student union building. Parking lots have been pulled up, new buildings added, but driving around and even crossing the street is fraught because of construction, to say nothing of finding a parking spot. The seniors graduating now from UMD spent their entire undergrad dealing with this mess without getting the benefits. Also, unlike some other planned campuses, UMD feels very hodge podge, construction just plops down another building randomly somewhere. There's no sense of architectural planning. There are so many students it feels quite impersonal and the dorms and dining halls aren't that nice. |
Anonymous
YES UMD is Steely Dan.. Complex, urban, beautifully complex. |
Anonymous
I attended UMD. The golf course is across the street, and there’s a trail on campus. Greenbelt Park, Lake Buddy Attick, the metro to all the art museums. I do think they have taken away too many green spaces and north campus seems a bit crammed but it’s fine. Grass is not required for my education. There’s also the Clarice Smith Center, basketball, and all so walkable. The purple line is annoying but not near most of the dorms. |
Anonymous
We made sure to walk through South Campus at Maryland Day. There was sunlight on the green space (weather cleared up late afternoon) and you could hear the birds chirping. DS made his decision to be a Terp. |
Anonymous
Yep. If you aren't around the purple line construction, I'd say it is one of the nicest campuses I've been on. My DS attends and he and his friends joke about all of the construction but it's really no big deal to them. He loves the school and the campus. There are more than enough really beautiful open spaces if that is what you want. Most of his time is spent in classes and labs and the facilities are really amazing. But this thread is about those that didn't want to attend UMD which is a weird thing to me. Your kid is going somewhere else. Why do you want to fixate on the school where they decided not to attend? |
Anonymous
| There were kids in our Bethesda neighborhood who didn't even apply to UMD because they wanted to get away from MoCo students. |
Anonymous
Because OP was a little disappointed her kid didn't want UMD. |
Anonymous
Of my three kids, one did not choose UMD, and the others did not apply. Their choices are in no way a reflection of what a great school UMD is, but personal preferences and realistic views of the type of environment in which they would be most likely to succeed. They all thought that the campus felt too big and overwhelming. Unlike some other larger schools, which are either situated in a small town where the university is the town (UVA, VT, Penn State) or in urban areas (Pitt), College Park is a hybrid of urban and stand-alone town. I agree with the others who said that you have to be a go-getter to do well in College Park. Some kids function better in a smaller, more manageable environment. |
Anonymous
One of ‘‘em was my kid. Horrible high school experience. Traumatized. |
Anonymous
This is how my kid felt. I know it is a big school, so perhaps this is a non-issue. But she did not want to run into kids from her high school. I had an intern from U of MD. She felt the campus was crowded. Like she describes having to go back to her parents' home during finals week because she could not find a quiet/empty space to study. I felt like the kids there have to fend for themselves. But that is the big school experience. Not unique to UMD. My kid went to a very tiny, rural school (not elite). If you needed help, you could always reach the decision-maker, who would hear you out and often be flexible. I don't picture that in a large state system. |
Anonymous
| At the end of the day, we found a smaller place with good academics in a nice, supportive environment. This was the opposite of her MCPS school. Just nice kids. Half the time I wasn’t looking at academics. They needed to be decent. But we needed a nicer crowd. |
Anonymous
The new dorms and dining halls are much nicer. I do agree that they need to modernize the old dorms, though. |