MD In-state options beyond College Park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are all your public in-state options.

Bowie State University
Coppin State University
Frostburg State University
Morgan State University
Salisbury University
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Towson University
University of Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
University of Maryland University College

Since OP asked about 2nd best schools if her son does not get into UMD, the following are the best choices IMHO. I know happy students at all of them and they all offer some amount of merit aid, even for students who might not have the stats for UMD.

UMBC – 11,000 undergrads, 85% retention rate, 67% graduation rate
Excellent school and the only other state school besides UMD that offers engineering. Attracts lots of smart students. Know several great students who chose to attend UMBC over UMD because of substantial merit aid. Nice dorms and new athletic facilities. Hrabowski is a fabulous president. Look up his speech on Youtube.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland – 1700 undergrads, 87% retention rate, 80% graduation rate
Public liberal arts college in a beautiful location next to historic St. Mary’s City and on the river. Sailing and water sports are popular. Very environmentally focused with small classes. Most students live on campus all 4 years. No Greek life. Has lots of new facilities and has been adding new majors. Feels like a private college with a public price tag.

Towson – 20,000 undergrads, 85% retention rate, 75% graduation rate
Closest to UMD in terms of size and school spirit. Nice surrounding location. Lots of pre-professional programs. Know many teachers who attended and loved their time there. Strong Greek presence. Lots of off-campus housing options.

Salisbury – 8,000 undergrads, 82% retention rate, 75% graduation rate
Cute campus with a beautiful new student commons. An hour to the ocean. Lots of majors and I think it will only become more and more popular in the future. The surrounding area is a bit sketchy. They offer a nice honors program.

OP here. Thanks so much. I’m betting that over time, all of these schools will become more popular and more selective. We are planning to check out the four listed above. Towson has an honors program. Can anyone speak to that from personal or family experience? Thanks!

I agree. These are good schools and as UMD gets harder and harder to get into, these 4 will only see their popularity grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any personal experiences/input on Salisbury?

I went there my freshman year but transferred after one year. I went to a Catholic high school and Salisbury was easier than high school. The campus is nice and people were friendly but I always expected college to be more of a challenge than high school. There wasn’t much to do on the weekends and I only went to the beach once in November and it was depressing. The students in my classes weren’t the brightest either (I’m not a genius but how do you get through four years of high school and not know what a thesis statement is?) Nice campus and good food but lots of kids left on the weekend because there wasn’t much to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any personal experiences/input on Salisbury?

Perdue is pouring money into the business school.

[Anonymous]

UMBC is expending incredibly fast. Working with Nasa. Imo, it is better than all the other choices apart from CP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any personal experiences/input on Salisbury?

My DS is there. He is also on a sport that does really well there even though it is DIII. He likes it a lot, it suits him that it is smaller, he has nice teammates so while there is partying there is also no partying during the sport's season for his sport. Apart from that he is doing well, and we are very happy with this choice for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMBC is expending incredibly fast. Working with Nasa. Imo, it is better than all the other choices apart from CP.

Yes.

[Anonymous]

UMBC campus is terrible and there is nothing around there. Lots of parking lots for all the commuters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMBC campus is terrible and there is nothing around there. Lots of parking lots for all the commuters.

Yes, that is true, but they have dorms now and are expanding the housing. None of that matters, they are excelling in education each day. A whole center for Autism research. Hussman Institute for Autism.
Prof. Green receives nearly $1 million NIH epigenetics grant.
Hu

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any personal experiences/input on Salisbury?

My DS goes there and likes it. It’s a good size, helpful profs and nice campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are all your public in-state options.

Bowie State University
Coppin State University
Frostburg State University
Morgan State University
Salisbury University
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Towson University
University of Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
University of Maryland University College

Since OP asked about 2nd best schools if her son does not get into UMD, the following are the best choices IMHO. I know happy students at all of them and they all offer some amount of merit aid, even for students who might not have the stats for UMD.

UMBC – 11,000 undergrads, 85% retention rate, 67% graduation rate
Excellent school and the only other state school besides UMD that offers engineering. Attracts lots of smart students. Know several great students who chose to attend UMBC over UMD because of substantial merit aid. Nice dorms and new athletic facilities. Hrabowski is a fabulous president. Look up his speech on Youtube.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland – 1700 undergrads, 87% retention rate, 80% graduation rate
Public liberal arts college in a beautiful location next to historic St. Mary’s City and on the river. Sailing and water sports are popular. Very environmentally focused with small classes. Most students live on campus all 4 years. No Greek life. Has lots of new facilities and has been adding new majors. Feels like a private college with a public price tag.

Towson – 20,000 undergrads, 85% retention rate, 75% graduation rate
Closest to UMD in terms of size and school spirit. Nice surrounding location. Lots of pre-professional programs. Know many teachers who attended and loved their time there. Strong Greek presence. Lots of off-campus housing options.

Salisbury – 8,000 undergrads, 82% retention rate, 75% graduation rate
Cute campus with a beautiful new student commons. An hour to the ocean. Lots of majors and I think it will only become more and more popular in the future. The surrounding area is a bit sketchy. They offer a nice honors program.

Can you share where you are getting those graduation rates? Or are you looking at 6-year? Because the published four year graduation rates are as follows:
Towson four year graduation rate- 47%
UMBC- 39%
Salisbury- 48%
SMCM - 70%

[Anonymous]

Good information here on graduation rates: https://mhec.state.md.us/publications/Documents/Research/AnnualReports/2017%204-Year%20Retention%20and%20Graduation.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are all your public in-state options.

Bowie State University
Coppin State University
Frostburg State University
Morgan State University
Salisbury University
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Towson University
University of Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
University of Maryland University College

Since OP asked about 2nd best schools if her son does not get into UMD, the following are the best choices IMHO. I know happy students at all of them and they all offer some amount of merit aid, even for students who might not have the stats for UMD.

UMBC – 11,000 undergrads, 85% retention rate, 67% graduation rate
Excellent school and the only other state school besides UMD that offers engineering. Attracts lots of smart students. Know several great students who chose to attend UMBC over UMD because of substantial merit aid. Nice dorms and new athletic facilities. Hrabowski is a fabulous president. Look up his speech on Youtube.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland – 1700 undergrads, 87% retention rate, 80% graduation rate
Public liberal arts college in a beautiful location next to historic St. Mary’s City and on the river. Sailing and water sports are popular. Very environmentally focused with small classes. Most students live on campus all 4 years. No Greek life. Has lots of new facilities and has been adding new majors. Feels like a private college with a public price tag.

Towson – 20,000 undergrads, 85% retention rate, 75% graduation rate
Closest to UMD in terms of size and school spirit. Nice surrounding location. Lots of pre-professional programs. Know many teachers who attended and loved their time there. Strong Greek presence. Lots of off-campus housing options.

Salisbury – 8,000 undergrads, 82% retention rate, 75% graduation rate
Cute campus with a beautiful new student commons. An hour to the ocean. Lots of majors and I think it will only become more and more popular in the future. The surrounding area is a bit sketchy. They offer a nice honors program.

Can you share where you are getting those graduation rates? Or are you looking at 6-year? Because the published four year graduation rates are as follows:
Towson four year graduation rate- 47%
UMBC- 39%
Salisbury- 48%
SMCM - 70%

They are probably 6 year graduation rates.

Four year graduation rates are highly correlated to family income. People who have to pay for school as they go, often do 6 years since high student loans are not available to people with low income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here are all your public in-state options.

Bowie State University
Coppin State University
Frostburg State University
Morgan State University
Salisbury University
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Towson University
University of Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
University of Maryland University College

Since OP asked about 2nd best schools if her son does not get into UMD, the following are the best choices IMHO. I know happy students at all of them and they all offer some amount of merit aid, even for students who might not have the stats for UMD.

UMBC – 11,000 undergrads, 85% retention rate, 67% graduation rate
Excellent school and the only other state school besides UMD that offers engineering. Attracts lots of smart students. Know several great students who chose to attend UMBC over UMD because of substantial merit aid. Nice dorms and new athletic facilities. Hrabowski is a fabulous president. Look up his speech on Youtube.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland – 1700 undergrads, 87% retention rate, 80% graduation rate
Public liberal arts college in a beautiful location next to historic St. Mary’s City and on the river. Sailing and water sports are popular. Very environmentally focused with small classes. Most students live on campus all 4 years. No Greek life. Has lots of new facilities and has been adding new majors. Feels like a private college with a public price tag.

Towson – 20,000 undergrads, 85% retention rate, 75% graduation rate
Closest to UMD in terms of size and school spirit. Nice surrounding location. Lots of pre-professional programs. Know many teachers who attended and loved their time there. Strong Greek presence. Lots of off-campus housing options.

Salisbury – 8,000 undergrads, 82% retention rate, 75% graduation rate
Cute campus with a beautiful new student commons. An hour to the ocean. Lots of majors and I think it will only become more and more popular in the future. The surrounding area is a bit sketchy. They offer a nice honors program.

Can you share where you are getting those graduation rates? Or are you looking at 6-year? Because the published four year graduation rates are as follows:
Towson four year graduation rate- 47%
UMBC- 39%
Salisbury- 48%
SMCM - 70%

They are probably 6 year graduation rates.

Four year graduation rates are highly correlated to family income. People who have to pay for school as they go, often do 6 years since high student loans are not available to people with low income.

Yes, these are 6 year graduation rates.

[Anonymous]

OP - don't overlook out of state options.

My son wouldn't have gotten into VT engineering, but he's at a highly regarded engineering school elsewhere with enough merit aid that we're close. Certainly cheaper than UVA or WM

You just have to look around a bit. DMV kids have a good reputation in the midwest.

He's thriving.

[Anonymous]

I'm also optimistic about our in state options improving

I predict a bright future for umbc and St Mary's