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DD got an email from UMich yesterday that the waitlist closed (LAS). Univ of Wash had accepted her from their waitlist Tuesday. (She declined, set on a school that wants her).
UMD has terrible advising, the student will have to be very aware of requirements and stay on top.
A look at scores since they have gone test optional show a relatively significant increase in the middle 50% score range, especially on the lower end.
Before COVID/test optional, admitted student SAT scores were relatively stable for many years with the middle 50% between 1290-1460. Those stats steadily increased and are now between 1410-1520, with less than 40% of kids submitting scores. Have their applicants really improved by 120 points? No. I would argue it has either gone down or not really changed at all (as it had not in the ten years prior).
If they are going to allow test optional, the policy should not punish kids that achieve a score of, say, 1350 or higher (in the top 10% of all test takers). Because I can guarantee you that the 60% of kids not submitting are well below that score.
Before COVID/test optional, admitted student SAT scores were relatively stable for many years with the middle 50% between 1290-1460. Those stats steadily increased and are now between 1410-1520, with less than 40% of kids submitting scores. Have their applicants really improved by 120 points? No. I would argue it has either gone down or not really changed at all (as it had not in the ten years prior).
If they are going to allow test optional, the policy should not punish kids that achieve a score of, say, 1350 or higher (in the top 10% of all test takers). Because I can guarantee you that the 60% of kids not submitting are well below that score.
Anonymous wrote:My daughter didn't show me the acceptance email. Do FC admits (Spring 2026) sign up to go to the reg admitted students day or are they assigned to their own days? I looked on the UMD website for FC but didn't see anything.
If you are asking about orientation, Freshman Connection at least had their own a few years ago.
https://orientation.umd.edu/freshmen-connection/freshmen-connection-do-list
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It is extremely insulting.
Insulting is the high stats kids being denied any kind of acceptance at all.
My kid will probably not be admitted because of the high school they are graduating from. But same stats graduated from a different county they probably would be in. As a MD grad, I am insulted. We’d jump at a FC offer!
My high stats kid was also rejected. I am interested to know, did your kid's rejection letter mention anything about your alumni status? Mine did in a very poorly written sentence (the entire rejection letter was poorly written). There was no reason to include anything about my being "loyal alumni", and it felt as if that was the reason she was denied. My son got in a few years ago with lower stats and less ECs and not as good LORs, we are baffled. (we are in a high performing school in AACo).
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:According to this MoCo has currently over 10k students at UMD, so I think this narrative of "our kids don't get in" is overblown. Clearly they do get in and go there. Perhaps they are trying to increase other counties to be more in line with the state? MoCo is about 17% of the state but seems to have about a third of the in state students.
https://reports.umd.edu/tableaupublic/1824
Naviance is self reported, so give the kids a minute to report it.
Interesting chart. The 10k refers to both undergrad and grad students. If you click on "undergrad" it is 8811 from Montgomery--still a great many and the top county by far, but not as high as 10k.
As an AO at UMD stated, "it's the University of Maryland, not the University of Montgomery County".
As the parent of a AACo student, I found the chart interesting. MoCo has about twice the number of students as AACo, yet almost 5 times the number of enrolled undergraduates and about 40% of all enrolled from the state. I understand a good portion are likely transfer kids, but it would be interesting to see the breakdown of admitted freshmen from each county.
Rigorous course load in AACo: 8 APs, 5 PLTW (Eng), all honors courses, 2 science courses at AACC. ~3.9 UWGPA (~4.7 WGPA equiv in MoCo). Strong ECs, excellent LORs, presumably well-written essays/responses. Based on school history (Naviance), this student should have been a shoo-in.
Rejected. Not even a spring admission offer.
The acceptance cap for the school is ~60 students. It’s particularly maddening to see OOS students with lower stats posting their acceptances.
The poorly written rejection letter directed us to a page listing 24 holistic review factors, with a note that they are "flexibly applied." These factors seem more like a way to justify rejecting students rather than selecting them for admission. It’s disappointing that there is no real transparency in the process.
Don’t get me started on how UMD uses Spring Admission to manipulate yield, outcomes, and ultimately rankings by pushing highly qualified students into Freshman Connection. Combined with the use of "test optional" policies, it makes the common data set unreliable for determining whether UMD is a target or a reach. As our state flagship, it shouldn’t be this way.
Thankfully, my kid has other options. Unfortunately they come at a significantly higher cost.
Rejected. Not even a spring admission offer.
The acceptance cap for the school is ~60 students. It’s particularly maddening to see OOS students with lower stats posting their acceptances.
The poorly written rejection letter directed us to a page listing 24 holistic review factors, with a note that they are "flexibly applied." These factors seem more like a way to justify rejecting students rather than selecting them for admission. It’s disappointing that there is no real transparency in the process.
Don’t get me started on how UMD uses Spring Admission to manipulate yield, outcomes, and ultimately rankings by pushing highly qualified students into Freshman Connection. Combined with the use of "test optional" policies, it makes the common data set unreliable for determining whether UMD is a target or a reach. As our state flagship, it shouldn’t be this way.
Thankfully, my kid has other options. Unfortunately they come at a significantly higher cost.