How difficult is it for a Maryland resident to get into UMCP these days?

[Anonymous]

For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

In my experience it's mostly a plus. I had good friends in high school and a girlfriend follow me to UMD . It was nice to have a girlfriend freshman year, then we broke up . I met and lived with friends thrown together in the dorm but by senior year , my high school group had a house with a couple others right off campus. Still very close to all to this day , and since most stay in DC to work we all still meet for games as well. Best of both worlds and we still party on campus !! Lol

[Anonymous]

I think the Scholars program will help make new connections since they get to know each other well. At least hoping this is the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

I think that attending a school with 37,000 students is going to provide a far broader experience than some private little pampering school. I went to UMBC. Sure, there were people I already knew and it was nice to see a familiar face, but I also got to know a lot of people who did not fit the same mold as the people of my hometown. Some students were older and were going back to school. Others were attending part-time while working and paying their own way. The ones who were already working in professional fields turned out to be great contacts when it came time to find internships and full-time employment after graduation.

During my internships, I worked with students from some of the more expensive private colleges and they were the ones who acted like they were still in high school. They were the ones whose parents packed their lunches and woke them up for work every morning. Why attend a school where every student comes from the same kind of place with the same kind of SES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

I think that attending a school with 37,000 students is going to provide a far broader experience than some private little pampering school. I went to UMBC. Sure, there were people I already knew and it was nice to see a familiar face, but I also got to know a lot of people who did not fit the same mold as the people of my hometown. Some students were older and were going back to school. Others were attending part-time while working and paying their own way. The ones who were already working in professional fields turned out to be great contacts when it came time to find internships and full-time employment after graduation.

During my internships, I worked with students from some of the more expensive private colleges and they were the ones who acted like they were still in high school. They were the ones whose parents packed their lunches and woke them up for work every morning. Why attend a school where every student comes from the same kind of place with the same kind of SES?

Excuse me? Attending a fancy, expensive private college is not the only alternative to attending your home state flagship school. Get a grip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

I think that attending a school with 37,000 students is going to provide a far broader experience than some private little pampering school. I went to UMBC. Sure, there were people I already knew and it was nice to see a familiar face, but I also got to know a lot of people who did not fit the same mold as the people of my hometown. Some students were older and were going back to school. Others were attending part-time while working and paying their own way. The ones who were already working in professional fields turned out to be great contacts when it came time to find internships and full-time employment after graduation.

During my internships, I worked with students from some of the more expensive private colleges and they were the ones who acted like they were still in high school. They were the ones whose parents packed their lunches and woke them up for work every morning. Why attend a school where every student comes from the same kind of place with the same kind of SES?

Excuse me? Attending a fancy, expensive private college is not the only alternative to attending your home state flagship school. Get a grip.

True, attending another state's public school is an option, it's just an unnecessary expense when the school in your backyard is perfectly fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

Why would the parents know if it was like high school all over again? Why don't you ask someone who actually attended? And, no, it was not anything like high school just because there were people there from my high school.

[Anonymous]

I will say that if your kid is a shrinking violet , UMD is not the place . Pampered , spoiled kids need a more bucolic and nurturing incubator . There is a reason UMD has the most accomplished alumni and entrepreneurial types. Tough kids with dreams go to UMD . Maybe they will be the next Larry David, Connie Chung , Kevin Plank, Sergi Brin , Kiren Chetry, Len Elmore or Brendan Iribe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will say that if your kid is a shrinking violet , UMD is not the place . Pampered , spoiled kids need a more bucolic and nurturing incubator . There is a reason UMD has the most accomplished alumni and entrepreneurial types. Tough kids with dreams go to UMD . Maybe they will be the next Larry David, Connie Chung , Kevin Plank, Sergi Brin , Kiren Chetry, Len Elmore or Brendan Iribe.

There is something to be said for this. The kids who go to college because they were told by their parents to go to college are the ones who act like it's high school. The kids who go to college with a solid goal of learning a field and obtaining a career are the ones who grow and succeed. The name of the school doesn't actually mean much in this case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

In my experience it's mostly a plus. I had good friends in high school and a girlfriend follow me to UMD . It was nice to have a girlfriend freshman year, then we broke up . I met and lived with friends thrown together in the dorm but by senior year , my high school group had a house with a couple others right off campus. Still very close to all to this day , and since most stay in DC to work we all still meet for games as well. Best of both worlds and we still party on campus !! Lol

This is exactly why I am glad my DC is going out of state to school. It's a big world out there. Part of the point of college is to see other places, points of view, and people. And to consider where one might want to live and work, other than where one grew up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

I think that attending a school with 37,000 students is going to provide a far broader experience than some private little pampering school. I went to UMBC. Sure, there were people I already knew and it was nice to see a familiar face, but I also got to know a lot of people who did not fit the same mold as the people of my hometown. Some students were older and were going back to school. Others were attending part-time while working and paying their own way. The ones who were already working in professional fields turned out to be great contacts when it came time to find internships and full-time employment after graduation.

During my internships, I worked with students from some of the more expensive private colleges and they were the ones who acted like they were still in high school. They were the ones whose parents packed their lunches and woke them up for work every morning. Why attend a school where every student comes from the same kind of place with the same kind of SES?

1. The plural of anecdote is not data.
2. Many if not most people do not pay the sticker price at expensive private colleges.
3. Why attend a school where 70% of the students are from the same state you are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

I think that attending a school with 37,000 students is going to provide a far broader experience than some private little pampering school. I went to UMBC. Sure, there were people I already knew and it was nice to see a familiar face, but I also got to know a lot of people who did not fit the same mold as the people of my hometown. Some students were older and were going back to school. Others were attending part-time while working and paying their own way. The ones who were already working in professional fields turned out to be great contacts when it came time to find internships and full-time employment after graduation.

During my internships, I worked with students from some of the more expensive private colleges and they were the ones who acted like they were still in high school. They were the ones whose parents packed their lunches and woke them up for work every morning. Why attend a school where every student comes from the same kind of place with the same kind of SES?

1. The plural of anecdote is not data.
2. Many if not most people do not pay the sticker price at expensive private colleges.
3. Why attend a school where 70% of the students are from the same state you are?

For a lot of families in DC area who do not qualify for FA, choices are limited. Not too many can pay 60-70k/year. Worse if you have multiple kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

In my experience it's mostly a plus. I had good friends in high school and a girlfriend follow me to UMD . It was nice to have a girlfriend freshman year, then we broke up . I met and lived with friends thrown together in the dorm but by senior year , my high school group had a house with a couple others right off campus. Still very close to all to this day , and since most stay in DC to work we all still meet for games as well. Best of both worlds and we still party on campus !! Lol

This is exactly why I am glad my DC is going out of state to school. It's a big world out there. Part of the point of college is to see other places, points of view, and people. And to consider where one might want to live and work, other than where one grew up.

I can see that in general , however, I can assure you ... PG county is different than where I grew up ( Potomac ) and there is a different point of view. PG felt much like the south to me with a high AA population , old tobacco farms and some plantations , the riversdale plantation is about a mile from campus , even the weather is a little hotter in that it is coastal plain and not peidmont with a longer fall and hotter summer. It's close but a world away .

[Anonymous]

Going to school out of state is a luxury that most people cannot afford. I have seen no difference between the successes of adults who went to school in-state vs. out-of-state. The only difference I noticed was the out-of-state folks complain a lot about paying off their student loans.

I will add that we are very lucky to live near so many high quality schools and to have so many employment opportunities in this area of the country. In other places, relocating for school and work are the only options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you that are MD residents and whose children went to UMCP - did any of them feel like it was highschool all over again? I know the school is large but I worry about the temptation to just hang with the same crew as high school and thus not really spreading your wings. My own bias is definitely present here - I chose not to go to my flagship state school (Univ of Wisconsin) because I wanted to branch out and was worried I would just stay in my comfort zone with my very good HS friends that were going to UW.

I think that attending a school with 37,000 students is going to provide a far broader experience than some private little pampering school. I went to UMBC. Sure, there were people I already knew and it was nice to see a familiar face, but I also got to know a lot of people who did not fit the same mold as the people of my hometown. Some students were older and were going back to school. Others were attending part-time while working and paying their own way. The ones who were already working in professional fields turned out to be great contacts when it came time to find internships and full-time employment after graduation.

During my internships, I worked with students from some of the more expensive private colleges and they were the ones who acted like they were still in high school. They were the ones whose parents packed their lunches and woke them up for work every morning. Why attend a school where every student comes from the same kind of place with the same kind of SES?

Excuse me? Attending a fancy, expensive private college is not the only alternative to attending your home state flagship school. Get a grip.

True, attending another state's public school is an option, it's just an unnecessary expense when the school in your backyard is perfectly fine.

Or in my case (UW poster) I earned a merit scholarship to a mid sized private university in a big city on the east coast. My horizons were broadened in a way that would have been impossible in Madison (though I love the school and city).