Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:52
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There might be a few odd cases, but like PP said, the top 10% are getting into UMD. Not into CS though.
You are clearly not from Maryland. I’m not sure if it’s worse in other states, but here for certain high schools it’s essentially a lottery.
That’s the whole point. Guaranteed admissions is guaranteed. Maryland is vibes.
UVA is that way in VA. The difference is we have William&Mary, VA Tech and JMU—so really 4 state flagships and then GMU and VCU are well-respected too.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:49
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
UMD CP admissions uses a secret internal tool to re-weight GPA based on rigor of classes taken and their views of the high school. That kind of thing should be public knowledge.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:44
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's ridiculous that you can bring your kid up in a state public school system from k to 12 and they can graduate with a perfect or near-perfect grade record and they don't get into your taxpayer-funded state college. There is an annual cycle of people in Maryland learning that going to a good public high school, taking hard classes, and getting good grades is not enough to get into UMDCP. Especially in MoCo. This is a system for distributing a government benefit, and it shouldn't be done through a mysterious black box and essentially random back room vibes.
It should be clear to every student no later than the first year of freshman year of high school what they will need to do to get into their state flagship. In a lot of states it is, but in particular in Maryland it is not and it is ridiculous. In Maryland kids are actively punished for attending good schools and working hard to do well.
It's all part of a unified public education system. If the people running the state university flagship don't think that the most academically accomplished high school graduates should attend the college, something is wrong.
In Texas, the top 5% high school kids are guaranteed admission to its top public college (UT Austin), but there’s no guarantee that they’ll get into their first choice majors. Other TX colleges (including Texas A&M) will take the top 10% for sure, again to some major not necessarily your first choice. In practice, the top 5-10% of high school kids in Maryland ARE pretty much guaranteed a spot at UMD. I don’t see how imposing such a rule would make any practical difference.
+1. Holistic is not the problem here. It’s that you went to a school with way too many other smart kids.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:43
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
Anonymous wrote:There might be a few odd cases, but like PP said, the top 10% are getting into UMD. Not into CS though.
You are clearly not from Maryland. I’m not sure if it’s worse in other states, but here for certain high schools it’s essentially a lottery.
That’s the whole point. Guaranteed admissions is guaranteed. Maryland is vibes.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:42
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's ridiculous that you can bring your kid up in a state public school system from k to 12 and they can graduate with a perfect or near-perfect grade record and they don't get into your taxpayer-funded state college. There is an annual cycle of people in Maryland learning that going to a good public high school, taking hard classes, and getting good grades is not enough to get into UMDCP. Especially in MoCo. This is a system for distributing a government benefit, and it shouldn't be done through a mysterious black box and essentially random back room vibes.
It should be clear to every student no later than the first year of freshman year of high school what they will need to do to get into their state flagship. In a lot of states it is, but in particular in Maryland it is not and it is ridiculous. In Maryland kids are actively punished for attending good schools and working hard to do well.
It's all part of a unified public education system. If the people running the state university flagship don't think that the most academically accomplished high school graduates should attend the college, something is wrong.
In Texas, the top 5% high school kids are guaranteed admission to its top public college (UT Austin), but there’s no guarantee that they’ll get into their first choice majors. Other TX colleges (including Texas A&M) will take the top 10% for sure, again to some major not necessarily your first choice. In practice, the top 5-10% of high school kids in Maryland ARE pretty much guaranteed a spot at UMD. I don’t see how imposing such a rule would make any practical difference.
+1
Every kid can get into *a* public college, and the top 5% or 10% can get into the flagship but not necessarily their preferred major. This is true in both MD and VA. Sounds like the state funded education system is doing what it should.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:39
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
I just want to +1 the folks mentioning UMBC, Towson, St. Mary's, etc. In practice, every Maryland kid who does reasonably well can get in SOMEWHERE but the idea that every kid should be guaranteed UMDCP is bonkers.
If you look at Maryland's statistics, they get about 65,000 applications. They admit about 30,000 and about about 5,500 attend.
Towson gets about 22,000 applications, admits about 7,000 and enrolls about 3,500.
Both are taxpayer funded, and both offer a pretty decent admissions shot for a qualified kid actually.
If you look at Maryland's statistics, they get about 65,000 applications. They admit about 30,000 and about about 5,500 attend.
Towson gets about 22,000 applications, admits about 7,000 and enrolls about 3,500.
Both are taxpayer funded, and both offer a pretty decent admissions shot for a qualified kid actually.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:38
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
I’d be perfectly happy to see MD have a top 10% program. But that could mean that fewer kids from DCUM-landia get in, because the top 10% from across the state will now be admitted. There are a lot of schools. And if you are admitted like that perhaps you go, even if you live in the MD panhandle or wherever, because they explicitly said you belong, they want you. I think the more likely scenario would be about the same as the status quo, though.
Regardless…Maryland has some good public colleges and Universities. My kid is at St Mary’s of Maryland and thriving.
Regardless…Maryland has some good public colleges and Universities. My kid is at St Mary’s of Maryland and thriving.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:29
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
I can get behind this. Arlington resident for 26 years. Paying a ton in taxes. Every kid in my kid's social circle is an exceptional kid - As, sports, community engagement, etc. and yet most will be denied from top VA public schools. Why should my kid pay almost the same
amount in tuition to attend CNU that they would need for W&M? How much of the Nova tax base goes to the budget of each public institution? Should NOVA kids get a bigger percentage of seats for top 10% or 5%? Why is it so much cheaper to go down south even as an OOS?! Make it make sense.
amount in tuition to attend CNU that they would need for W&M? How much of the Nova tax base goes to the budget of each public institution? Should NOVA kids get a bigger percentage of seats for top 10% or 5%? Why is it so much cheaper to go down south even as an OOS?! Make it make sense.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:26
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
So, basically OP’s kid had good grades, no material extra-curricular and no story that they could articulate that made them standout from other academic bots. Reasonable summary?
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:25
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
[b]Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's ridiculous that you can bring your kid up in a state public school system from k to 12 and they can graduate with a perfect or near-perfect grade record and they don't get into your taxpayer-funded state college. There is an annual cycle of people in Maryland learning that going to a good public high school, taking hard classes, and getting good grades is not enough to get into UMDCP.
They do get into a taxpayer-funded state college, just not one you think are worthy. Towson, UMBC, and many others. Why? Because they are not prestigious enough, says the DCUM folks.
TRUE.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:23
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
Anonymous wrote:It's ridiculous that you can bring your kid up in a state public school system from k to 12 and they can graduate with a perfect or near-perfect grade record and they don't get into your taxpayer-funded state college. There is an annual cycle of people in Maryland learning that going to a good public high school, taking hard classes, and getting good grades is not enough to get into UMDCP.
They do get into a taxpayer-funded state college, just not one you think are worthy. Towson, UMBC, and many others. Why? Because they are not prestigious enough, says the DCUM folks.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:20
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
There might be a few odd cases, but like PP said, the top 10% are getting into UMD. Not into CS though.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:18
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It's ridiculous that you can bring your kid up in a state public school system from k to 12 and they can graduate with a perfect or near-perfect grade record and they don't get into your taxpayer-funded state college. There is an annual cycle of people in Maryland learning that going to a good public high school, taking hard classes, and getting good grades is not enough to get into UMDCP. Especially in MoCo. This is a system for distributing a government benefit, and it shouldn't be done through a mysterious black box and essentially random back room vibes.
It should be clear to every student no later than the first year of freshman year of high school what they will need to do to get into their state flagship. In a lot of states it is, but in particular in Maryland it is not and it is ridiculous. In Maryland kids are actively punished for attending good schools and working hard to do well.
It's all part of a unified public education system. If the people running the state university flagship don't think that the most academically accomplished high school graduates should attend the college, something is wrong.
In Texas, the top 5% high school kids are guaranteed admission to its top public college (UT Austin), but there’s no guarantee that they’ll get into their first choice majors. Other TX colleges (including Texas A&M) will take the top 10% for sure, again to some major not necessarily your first choice. In practice, the top 5-10% of high school kids in Maryland ARE pretty much guaranteed a spot at UMD. I don’t see how imposing such a rule would make any practical difference.
I was coming to make this exact same point.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:16
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
Anonymous wrote:It's ridiculous that you can bring your kid up in a state public school system from k to 12 and they can graduate with a perfect or near-perfect grade record and they don't get into your taxpayer-funded state college. There is an annual cycle of people in Maryland learning that going to a good public high school, taking hard classes, and getting good grades is not enough to get into UMDCP. Especially in MoCo. This is a system for distributing a government benefit, and it shouldn't be done through a mysterious black box and essentially random back room vibes.
It should be clear to every student no later than the first year of freshman year of high school what they will need to do to get into their state flagship. In a lot of states it is, but in particular in Maryland it is not and it is ridiculous. In Maryland kids are actively punished for attending good schools and working hard to do well.
It's all part of a unified public education system. If the people running the state university flagship don't think that the most academically accomplished high school graduates should attend the college, something is wrong.
In Texas, the top 5% high school kids are guaranteed admission to its top public college (UT Austin), but there’s no guarantee that they’ll get into their first choice majors. Other TX colleges (including Texas A&M) will take the top 10% for sure, again to some major not necessarily your first choice. In practice, the top 5-10% of high school kids in Maryland ARE pretty much guaranteed a spot at UMD. I don’t see how imposing such a rule would make any practical difference.
Anonymous
02/02/2026 08:06
Subject: State school admissions should not be wholistic
It's ridiculous that you can bring your kid up in a state public school system from k to 12 and they can graduate with a perfect or near-perfect grade record and they don't get into your taxpayer-funded state college. There is an annual cycle of people in Maryland learning that going to a good public high school, taking hard classes, and getting good grades is not enough to get into UMDCP. Especially in MoCo. This is a system for distributing a government benefit, and it shouldn't be done through a mysterious black box and essentially random back room vibes.
It should be clear to every student no later than the first year of freshman year of high school what they will need to do to get into their state flagship. In a lot of states it is, but in particular in Maryland it is not and it is ridiculous. In Maryland kids are actively punished for attending good schools and working hard to do well.
It's all part of a unified public education system. If the people running the state university flagship don't think that the most academically accomplished high school graduates should attend the college, something is wrong.
It should be clear to every student no later than the first year of freshman year of high school what they will need to do to get into their state flagship. In a lot of states it is, but in particular in Maryland it is not and it is ridiculous. In Maryland kids are actively punished for attending good schools and working hard to do well.
It's all part of a unified public education system. If the people running the state university flagship don't think that the most academically accomplished high school graduates should attend the college, something is wrong.