UMD Admissions from MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many families have also left MCPS for other school systems or private schools in the midst of the decline of MCPS. So while MCPS once had by far the most high performing students in the state, that is no longer the case, so we’re not seeing MCPS students dominate college admissions like they once did.

This may be true but other counties have 100-300 students at UMD and MoCo has over a thousand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many families have also left MCPS for other school systems or private schools in the midst of the decline of MCPS. So while MCPS once had by far the most high performing students in the state, that is no longer the case, so we’re not seeing MCPS students dominate college admissions like they once did.

This may be true but other counties have 100-300 students at UMD and MoCo has over a thousand.

Moco has more students than other counties

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Should have specified. Question is about UMCP and what appears to be a change in the admissions rate this year from MCPS.

Don’t confuse admission rate with total number of admits. If there are more applicants but same # of admits, the rate goes down.

Also, you HAVE to ask what program a kid applied to. The limited enrollment programs (computer science, engineering, and business) get soooo many applications and high stat kids may be rejected, where they might have been admitted to a different major,

One thing that DID change this year is how Computer Science is managing enrollment. They are no longer guaranteeing transfers into the major based on a set of criteria (both from internal and external transfers). They are admitting more freshmen this year, but students who would have been admitted to letters and sciences but not the comp science LEP in the past are now just being declined because they won’t be able to transfer into the major. I know people find that frustrating, but I think in the long run it’s better to clearly tell the kid that there is no room at UMD for them so they can choose a different place with the program they want.

Does that mean students who did MCPS/MC dual enrollment can’t get into CS at UMCP?

there are only 100 spots open for CS transfers. It's going to be like a lottery. They have stated that students in L&S need to have a backup major.

https://undergrad.cs.umd.edu/cs-lep-faq-effective-fall-2024

I wonder if all dual enrollment counts as a transfer

Dual enrollment, Early College, MC2, P-tech, etc are all freshman admits, not transfers. Until you have a HS diploma you apply as a freshman and are considered part of the freshman class, even if you have 60+ credits.

Doesn't matter. The rule still applies. If you were not a direct admit to CS, you are a transfer; it applies to internal (DE) and external transfers.

I plan to apply as a freshman for Fall 2024 and have completed the Gateway requirements while I was in high school. Which set of requirements apply to me?
Students who matriculate at UMD as freshmen in Fall 2024 or later must follow these LEP guidelines, regardless of whether or not they have completed transferable coursework, participated in early college programs, and/or participated in dual enrollment programs.

Wouldnt. student that is DE still be a freshman admit though directly to CS potentially?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many families have also left MCPS for other school systems or private schools in the midst of the decline of MCPS. So while MCPS once had by far the most high performing students in the state, that is no longer the case, so we’re not seeing MCPS students dominate college admissions like they once did.

Everything in this post is wrong.
MCPS still has by far the most high performing students in the state.
MCPS still dominate college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The acceptances from my child’s school seemed pretty predictable this year. The only thing that was surprising was some of the students who were offered freshman connection. That seemed more random with a couple of students who had gotten into very selective schools (like USC early action) getting freshman connection.

I do not understand Freshman Connection. "Dear student, We're not admitting admitting for fall; instead, we're admitting you with the condition that you won't be able to take classes in the morning during fall semester."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The acceptances from my child’s school seemed pretty predictable this year. The only thing that was surprising was some of the students who were offered freshman connection. That seemed more random with a couple of students who had gotten into very selective schools (like USC early action) getting freshman connection.

I do not understand Freshman Connection. "Dear student, We're not admitting admitting for fall; instead, we're admitting you with the condition that you won't be able to take classes in the morning during fall semester."

It’s better than what some other schools do. Would rather that for my kid than being forced to go overseas or not be able to attend at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The acceptances from my child’s school seemed pretty predictable this year. The only thing that was surprising was some of the students who were offered freshman connection. That seemed more random with a couple of students who had gotten into very selective schools (like USC early action) getting freshman connection.

I do not understand Freshman Connection. "Dear student, We're not admitting admitting for fall; instead, we're admitting you with the condition that you won't be able to take classes in the morning during fall semester."

Yeah, that's the part I don't get either.

[Anonymous]

It is done so UMD-CP does not need to include the stats/demographics, etc. of freshman connection students (or admits), but they can still admit them. This way, UMD can provide USNews and others with higher stats for their incoming freshmen (or admitted students) - average or range of GPAs, average and range of SAT/ACT scores, and diversity admission profile etc. Basically, UMD excludes the stats of freshman connection students to game the system (and presumably a lot of other schools do this too)…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The acceptances from my child’s school seemed pretty predictable this year. The only thing that was surprising was some of the students who were offered freshman connection. That seemed more random with a couple of students who had gotten into very selective schools (like USC early action) getting freshman connection.

I do not understand Freshman Connection. "Dear student, We're not admitting admitting for fall; instead, we're admitting you with the condition that you won't be able to take classes in the morning during fall semester."

It makes sense when you consider that most regularly admitted students will want to take daytime classes so those sections will be a max capacity, but an evening section or two would have room for FC students.

Over three decades ago, the university I attended did something similar, but kept those students cohorted the first two years. Because they were cohorted, it was possible to offer them sections of Gen Eds at less popular times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The acceptances from my child’s school seemed pretty predictable this year. The only thing that was surprising was some of the students who were offered freshman connection. That seemed more random with a couple of students who had gotten into very selective schools (like USC early action) getting freshman connection.

I do not understand Freshman Connection. "Dear student, We're not admitting admitting for fall; instead, we're admitting you with the condition that you won't be able to take classes in the morning during fall semester."

It makes sense when you consider that most regularly admitted students will want to take daytime classes so those sections will be a max capacity, but an evening section or two would have room for FC students.

Over three decades ago, the university I attended did something similar, but kept those students cohorted the first two years. Because they were cohorted, it was possible to offer them sections of Gen Eds at less popular times.

But generally students would PREFER not to have morning classes...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is done so UMD-CP does not need to include the stats/demographics, etc. of freshman connection students (or admits), but they can still admit them. This way, UMD can provide USNews and others with higher stats for their incoming freshmen (or admitted students) - average or range of GPAs, average and range of SAT/ACT scores, and diversity admission profile etc. Basically, UMD excludes the stats of freshman connection students to game the system (and presumably a lot of other schools do this too)…

That explanation makes sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The acceptances from my child’s school seemed pretty predictable this year. The only thing that was surprising was some of the students who were offered freshman connection. That seemed more random with a couple of students who had gotten into very selective schools (like USC early action) getting freshman connection.

I do not understand Freshman Connection. "Dear student, We're not admitting admitting for fall; instead, we're admitting you with the condition that you won't be able to take classes in the morning during fall semester."

It makes sense when you consider that most regularly admitted students will want to take daytime classes so those sections will be a max capacity, but an evening section or two would have room for FC students.

Over three decades ago, the university I attended did something similar, but kept those students cohorted the first two years. Because they were cohorted, it was possible to offer them sections of Gen Eds at less popular times.

But generally students would PREFER not to have morning classes...

Freshman Connection students can take classes between 3-9pm. So, while it’s true that most students don’t want 8am classes, most freshmen do have classes at 10 or 11 (and right after lunch, too). Freshman Connection students also can’t take classes in their major. The idea is that they start getting required core classes out of the way so they can still graduate in four years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is done so UMD-CP does not need to include the stats/demographics, etc. of freshman connection students (or admits), but they can still admit them. This way, UMD can provide USNews and others with higher stats for their incoming freshmen (or admitted students) - average or range of GPAs, average and range of SAT/ACT scores, and diversity admission profile etc. Basically, UMD excludes the stats of freshman connection students to game the system (and presumably a lot of other schools do this too)…

This could be true but this cycle I know of a few high stats minority students that are in FC.

Guess we will have to wait until summer to see how this works out. Rumor at our up county HS is that more kids were flat out rejected this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many families have also left MCPS for other school systems or private schools in the midst of the decline of MCPS. So while MCPS once had by far the most high performing students in the state, that is no longer the case, so we’re not seeing MCPS students dominate college admissions like they once did.

How many is "many"?

MCPS had 11,332 seniors in 2019-2020 and 11,798 seniors in 2022-2023.

There are more seniors today than 4 years ago but the increase has come from kids who aren’t going to be applying to umd. Largely English language learners and kids struggling to get through high school

Oh for heavens sake take your ridiculous agenda elsewhere. MCPS remains chock full of high achieving, high stat kids applying to UMD, probably more than ever. I have one them (who got in, to my great relief, but we knew it was not a sure thing).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The acceptances from my child’s school seemed pretty predictable this year. The only thing that was surprising was some of the students who were offered freshman connection. That seemed more random with a couple of students who had gotten into very selective schools (like USC early action) getting freshman connection.

It was very random in my DD’s friend group. She was accepted, but some friends with overall equivalent high stats didn’t. None of them treated UMD as a safety, but Naviance said it was a match. No use appealing because nothing substantial has changed since 11/1.

A couple of the girls are reeling. One has made a spreadsheet to try to determine if there was a pattern in who was accepted. When there are tiny percentage differences in scores and gpa among peers, it’s going to make rejected kids a little nuts for a while.

I just checked my school's naviance and it looks like about 1430 SAT was a soft pivot point-- above that number there were plenty of reds but mostly greens. Below that, there were plenty of greens but mostly reds. This is data from a year or two ago. That said, my kid also tells me of kids this year with 1500+ who weren't admitted or who got freshman connection. I wonder if many kids didn't take the essays very seriously (assuming they were shoe-ins) or if the red checks are kids who didn't take rigorous classes.