Why isn't St. Mary's College of Maryland a hot college?

[Anonymous]

LOL I've been to Bowdoin and St Mary's. They are both great schools but St Mary's is cheaper and more beautiful! The only thing Bowdoin has that SMCM doesn't is polar bears ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL I've been to Bowdoin and St Mary's. They are both great schools but St Mary's is cheaper and more beautiful! The only thing Bowdoin has that SMCM doesn't is polar bears ?

Bowdoin has a much nicer campus than St Mary's. You've never been to Bowdoin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL I've been to Bowdoin and St Mary's. They are both great schools but St Mary's is cheaper and more beautiful! The only thing Bowdoin has that SMCM doesn't is polar bears ?

OMG, St Mary is no Bowdoin! A lot of crazy posters here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL I've been to Bowdoin and St Mary's. They are both great schools but St Mary's is cheaper and more beautiful! The only thing Bowdoin has that SMCM doesn't is polar bears ?

OMG, St Mary is no Bowdoin! A lot of crazy posters here.

Op here. Yes, but that's my question. Here we have an SLAC, it's small, on the water, it's the honors college of Maryland. Why isn't it a hot school? Why isn't it more well known?

I'm definitely not saying it should be compared to Maryland. Maryland definitely has a different vibe and it meets different needs. But, St. Mary's should meet the needs of kids who want to go to an SLAC and want all that offers without paying the big price tag. Just wondering why it doesn't have that cache.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL I've been to Bowdoin and St Mary's. They are both great schools but St Mary's is cheaper and more beautiful! The only thing Bowdoin has that SMCM doesn't is polar bears ?

OMG, St Mary is no Bowdoin! A lot of crazy posters here.

Op here. Yes, but that's my question. Here we have an SLAC, it's small, on the water, it's the honors college of Maryland. Why isn't it a hot school? Why isn't it more well known?

I'm definitely not saying it should be compared to Maryland. Maryland definitely has a different vibe and it meets different needs. But, St. Mary's should meet the needs of kids who want to go to an SLAC and want all that offers without paying the big price tag. Just wondering why it doesn't have that cache.

I think the answer to your question was given many times already - the quality of students and the quality of teaching. Size and location do not make a school "hot" (or "cold"). Compare the CDS of incoming students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL I've been to Bowdoin and St Mary's. They are both great schools but St Mary's is cheaper and more beautiful! The only thing Bowdoin has that SMCM doesn't is polar bears ?

OMG, St Mary is no Bowdoin! A lot of crazy posters here.

Op here. Yes, but that's my question. Here we have an SLAC, it's small, on the water, it's the honors college of Maryland. Why isn't it a hot school? Why isn't it more well known?

I'm definitely not saying it should be compared to Maryland. Maryland definitely has a different vibe and it meets different needs. But, St. Mary's should meet the needs of kids who want to go to an SLAC and want all that offers without paying the big price tag. Just wondering why it doesn't have that cache.

Because it's less selective (79% acceptance), less known, and less regarded in terms of the quality of academics and teaching.
Being on the water does not a selective and well regarded college make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL I've been to Bowdoin and St Mary's. They are both great schools but St Mary's is cheaper and more beautiful! The only thing Bowdoin has that SMCM doesn't is polar bears ?

OMG, St Mary is no Bowdoin! A lot of crazy posters here.

Op here. Yes, but that's my question. Here we have an SLAC, it's small, on the water, it's the honors college of Maryland. Why isn't it a hot school? Why isn't it more well known?

I'm definitely not saying it should be compared to Maryland. Maryland definitely has a different vibe and it meets different needs. But, St. Mary's should meet the needs of kids who want to go to an SLAC and want all that offers without paying the big price tag. Just wondering why it doesn't have that cache.

I think the answer to your question was given many times already - the quality of students and the quality of teaching. Size and location do not make a school "hot" (or "cold"). Compare the CDS of incoming students.

I've heard the teaching is actually excellent, and that they have a good placement record. I think it is one of these things where something is much better than its reputation, but reputations are very hard to change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Ugh... bunch of non sense. Phys major going to engineering? What are you talking about??

So you think that only people with a BS in engineering go on to grad school in engineering? Think again.

Actually, I do. Almost 30 years working as an engineer, I don't believer I have ever met an engineer with masters/phd with non engineering bs degree such as physics.

Then you haven't met my husband!

[Anonymous]

19:44 again.

My DD wanted a SLAC, so a small student body is a plus for her. She also wasn't interested in a school with a big Greek life, or party scene. Or one that was heavily populated by trust fund babies. We looked at Bowdoin, Bard, Bryn Mawr, Bennington, Haverford, Dickinson, Gettysburg and a few others. They all had their pluses, including gorgeous campuses, and she was accepted into several. But, St. Mary's felt like the right place for her, and they gave her the best package. She wants to go to med school, so graduating debt-free is a huge plus. She liked the vibe, the student body, the faculty, and the STEM courses. We live in DC, so it's not too far from home. She graduated from a top DC private, and did not feel like SMCM is a "lesser-than" school.

I think she made an excellent choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:19:44 again.

My DD wanted a SLAC, so a small student body is a plus for her. She also wasn't interested in a school with a big Greek life, or party scene. Or one that was heavily populated by trust fund babies. We looked at Bowdoin, Bard, Bryn Mawr, Bennington, Haverford, Dickinson, Gettysburg and a few others. They all had their pluses, including gorgeous campuses, and she was accepted into several. But, St. Mary's felt like the right place for her, and they gave her the best package. She wants to go to med school, so graduating debt-free is a huge plus. She liked the vibe, the student body, the faculty, and the STEM courses. We live in DC, so it's not too far from home. She graduated from a top DC private, and did not feel like SMCM is a "lesser-than" school.

I think she made an excellent choice.

If she's happy with her choice then you need to be too and stop grasping for validation from internet strangers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19:44 again.

My DD wanted a SLAC, so a small student body is a plus for her. She also wasn't interested in a school with a big Greek life, or party scene. Or one that was heavily populated by trust fund babies. We looked at Bowdoin, Bard, Bryn Mawr, Bennington, Haverford, Dickinson, Gettysburg and a few others. They all had their pluses, including gorgeous campuses, and she was accepted into several. But, St. Mary's felt like the right place for her, and they gave her the best package. She wants to go to med school, so graduating debt-free is a huge plus. She liked the vibe, the student body, the faculty, and the STEM courses. We live in DC, so it's not too far from home. She graduated from a top DC private, and did not feel like SMCM is a "lesser-than" school.

I think she made an excellent choice.

If she's happy with her choice then you need to be too and stop grasping for validation from internet strangers.

Settle down there Missy. Just sharing my 2 cents on my recent experience in looking at a wide variety of SLACS over the past year.

[Anonymous]

OP, I’m not exactly sure what you mean by a “hot” college but I’ll assume that you are wondering why St. Mary’s does not have more students applying and/or a lower acceptance rate. I think there are many answers to that question including the fact the school does little to recruit from outside of Maryland so their pool of applicants is much smaller than similar SLACs. Also, there are those who think a public SLAC with an affordable price tag can’t possibly be as good as a private SLAC that costs 3X as much. Also, it doesn’t help that the college does a so-so job of marketing. But I’m sure you realize that the popularity of a school is a silly metric to base a school choice on and that there are colleges out there with much lower stats (worse graduation rates, etc.) that would be considered “hotter” just based on their acceptance rates.

Maybe you and your DC like St. Mary’s but are hesitant to apply because it is not “hotter”? I hope this isn’t the case because I’m sure you know that fit is the most important thing to consider when choosing a school. If a prospective student does care that much about rankings/acceptance rates, probably the culture at St. Mary’s is not going to be right for that student anyway. St. Mary’s is a supportive community of serious students who work hard but they are not all about competing with each other.

As you’ve seen from many of the responses from people with actual knowledge of St. Mary’s – ignoring the typical DCUM haters of anything not ivy league - the students who attend are very, very happy there and get a great education. Many of them chose St. Mary’s over more selective schools. If it sounds like a good fit for your DC, then you should look at St. Mary’s more closely. If you want a “hotter” school, really, please look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

I hope my child settles in MD but I want them to leave the state and come back if they want b/c they want, so St. Mary's is just not an option as most kids don't leave MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope my child settles in MD but I want them to leave the state and come back if they want b/c they want, so St. Mary's is just not an option as most kids don't leave MD.

Have you saved enough for OOS for 4 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SMCM is a best kept secret. All of you snooty people can stay away from my alma mater The campus is beautiful. Most affordable waterfront property you'll ever live on.

The area is gorgeous. The campus is not. We just drove through it with two teens, and they couldn't believe parking lots weren't paved. Some weird stone job with rubber matting underneath.