Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has decided he is going to UMD. He says he will apply, and if he doesn’t get in he will take a gap year and apply again.

If he gets in, I am totally fine with UMD, it’s a great fit for him. But I am wondering if this is a safe plan, or it I should encourage him to apply to other schools.

His stats are high, his EC’s strong but not tippy top.

Of course he should apply to other schools. If you're in state apply to UMBC as well. The admission process is so uncertain. Many high stat prospective engineering students are rejected from UMD. Virginia Tech, Penn State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, UMBC have become alternative options for in state students who were rejected from engineering at UMD.

Also, if your child has high stats apply to some other top engineering programs. I do not recommend a prospective engineering student to take a gap year. Taking some core math, science, and tech courses at a community college would be better than taking a gap year.

I know far too many Howard and Montgomery County high stat students who were rejected from UMD. Some of these students are attending Carnegie Mellon, Hopkins, Michigan, Cornell, Georgia Tech etc. for engineering. UMD is such a crapshoot especially for engineering majors.

I find this very funny considering many students rejected from those schools have to settle for UMD.

Anonymous wrote:My kid has decided he is going to UMD. He says he will apply, and if he doesn’t get in he will take a gap year and apply again.

If he gets in, I am totally fine with UMD, it’s a great fit for him. But I am wondering if this is a safe plan, or it I should encourage him to apply to other schools.

His stats are high, his EC’s strong but not tippy top.

Of course he should apply to other schools. If you're in state apply to UMBC as well. The admission process is so uncertain. Many high stat prospective engineering students are rejected from UMD. Virginia Tech, Penn State, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, UMBC have become alternative options for in state students who were rejected from engineering at UMD.

Also, if your child has high stats apply to some other top engineering programs. I do not recommend a prospective engineering student to take a gap year. Taking some core math, science, and tech courses at a community college would be better than taking a gap year.

I know far too many Howard and Montgomery County high stat students who were rejected from UMD. Some of these students are attending Carnegie Mellon, Hopkins, Michigan, Cornell, Georgia Tech etc. for engineering. UMD is such a crapshoot especially for engineering majors.

I would not call UMCP Engineering a safety for very many kids. In-state will help.

If UMCP Engineering offers a Spring admit, instead of a Fall admit, the he should take it (but take a course or two in the Fall someplace, just to stay fresh with material.)

Just in case UMCP might not admit, consider also applying to UMBC Engineering as backup. In that scenario, applying as an in-state/in-system transfer to UMCP for sophomore year. Odds are better that way than a gap year. First year of engineering is a fairly generic curriculum, so UMBC is reasonable even if they do not offer his intended major.

Anonymous wrote:yes, it can be with an over 50% acceptance rate for instate

Interesting article from Wootton this year:

"When examining the admitted students’ data, Macdonald noticed that there was less of a clear GPA cut-off, whereas last year’s admitted students had a rough cut-off of 4.68 weighted, barring exceptions. “Last year, most of the students who received a GPA above around 4.7. got in, and if you fell below that, you likely didn’t get in; this year, there’s no clear number. This year, we definitely have kids with very high GPAs who did not get on. Legitimate 4.0s did not get in,” Macdonald said.

Based on this trend, Macdonald deduced that UMD likely weighed the student’s course load more heavily this year alongside GPA. “If I had to guess, and this is purely speculative, is that the level of rigor needs to be high enough, like rigor in terms of what classes are you choosing and how well are you doing in them and if you are declaring a major, how well do they accentuate that major,” Macdonald said."

https://woottoncommonsense.com/23388/news/umd-rejects-over-half-of-applicants-early-action/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. It's not. My kid has 1580 SATs and a 3.98 UW GPA, something like 4.7 weighted. And he just barely squeaked in with a freshman connection/spring semester admit.

Someone in his high school class got rejected by UMD but into HYPS.

So your kid could very well be taking a gap year if he only applies to UMD. And UMD only lets you know your acceptance Jan 31 even if you apply early.

The HS counselor told us when he was a junior that every year they are surprised by who does and does not get into UMD.

Maybe OP’s kid has much higher stats.

It's harder to have "much higher stats" than 1580 (the highest is 1600) and 3.98 (the highest is 4.0).

I am sure that was joke

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. It's not. My kid has 1580 SATs and a 3.98 UW GPA, something like 4.7 weighted. And he just barely squeaked in with a freshman connection/spring semester admit.

Someone in his high school class got rejected by UMD but into HYPS.

So your kid could very well be taking a gap year if he only applies to UMD. And UMD only lets you know your acceptance Jan 31 even if you apply early.

The HS counselor told us when he was a junior that every year they are surprised by who does and does not get into UMD.

Maybe OP’s kid has much higher stats.

It's harder to have "much higher stats" than 1580 (the highest is 1600) and 3.98 (the highest is 4.0).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. It's not. My kid has 1580 SATs and a 3.98 UW GPA, something like 4.7 weighted. And he just barely squeaked in with a freshman connection/spring semester admit.

Someone in his high school class got rejected by UMD but into HYPS.

So your kid could very well be taking a gap year if he only applies to UMD. And UMD only lets you know your acceptance Jan 31 even if you apply early.

The HS counselor told us when he was a junior that every year they are surprised by who does and does not get into UMD.

Maybe OP’s kid has much higher stats.

LoL. But This story is from a school like Winston Churchill

Anonymous wrote:No. It's not. My kid has 1580 SATs and a 3.98 UW GPA, something like 4.7 weighted. And he just barely squeaked in with a freshman connection/spring semester admit.

Someone in his high school class got rejected by UMD but into HYPS.

So your kid could very well be taking a gap year if he only applies to UMD. And UMD only lets you know your acceptance Jan 31 even if you apply early.

The HS counselor told us when he was a junior that every year they are surprised by who does and does not get into UMD.

Maybe OP’s kid has much higher stats.

It's a safe plan only because it sounds like he has decided doesn't want to go anywhere else, so applying to another school might be pointless.

Is it a safety school? No.

Anonymous wrote:It can be a safety. You have to be at the top of the class if you are in a competitive high school with hundreds of applicants. Results, however, are predictable in this scenario.

This.

No. It's not. My kid has 1580 SATs and a 3.98 UW GPA, something like 4.7 weighted. And he just barely squeaked in with a freshman connection/spring semester admit.

Someone in his high school class got rejected by UMD but into HYPS.

So your kid could very well be taking a gap year if he only applies to UMD. And UMD only lets you know your acceptance Jan 31 even if you apply early.

The HS counselor told us when he was a junior that every year they are surprised by who does and does not get into UMD.

It can be a safety. You have to be at the top of the class if you are in a competitive high school with hundreds of applicants. Results, however, are predictable in this scenario.

yes, it can be with an over 50% acceptance rate for instate

Anonymous wrote:My kid has decided he is going to UMD. He says he will apply, and if he doesn’t get in he will take a gap year and apply again.

If he gets in, I am totally fine with UMD, it’s a great fit for him. But I am wondering if this is a safe plan, or it I should encourage him to apply to other schools.

His stats are high, his EC’s strong but not tippy top.

It is. Just for your clueless family.

My kid has decided he is going to UMD. He says he will apply, and if he doesn’t get in he will take a gap year and apply again.

If he gets in, I am totally fine with UMD, it’s a great fit for him. But I am wondering if this is a safe plan, or it I should encourage him to apply to other schools.

His stats are high, his EC’s strong but not tippy top.