^^^ and I agree with 15:27 that a 250 word limit just doesn't give the student sufficient room to really tell the college about themselves. I'm 18:34 and notwithstanding our success, we spent more time advising DD how to cut and shave her story down into 250 words than on the substance of the essay. THEN we find out through an admissions person that she could asterisk something in the 250 word essay and submit something separate on the topic of why she wanted to attend this particular university. THAT opened up a lot of room for her to express exactly what she had done in certain fields and why she wanted to attend this university. 250 words is just too short. Then, again, when deluged with 100,000 applications, most get less than a six minute read and, for many, the review doesn't go beyond test scores, depth of courses taken, GPA and school attended. In other words, the university never even gets to the essay.

Anonymous wrote:

OP, if your son is still applying, a point to be taken from this would be the importance of the "why I want to attend school X" essay. I wouldn't suggest he promise every school that he will attend if admitted, but this is very important to the admissions committees.

Not the OP, but my son applied to five universities, none of which had this as an essay topic, including UMD. Honestly, I think such essays don't serve to give the admissions committee a good feel for who a student really is, so I'm surprised any schools still have such a topic.

OP, sorry that your DS didn't get into UMD. There are some fine schools in the South, though, and the merit aid DS has been offered sounds like a plus. I hope he'll be happy wherever he attends.

Nevertheless, as long as US News includes the matriculation rate in its rankings, a school will prefer the kid who wants that school.

If you can find a way to let them know, it would hurt to do so. I'm not making this up: if you go on College Confidential, you will see that kids applying to the most selective schools have researched the profs and classes and research, so that they can include particulars in their essays.

Anonymous wrote:

OP, if your son is still applying, a point to be taken from this would be the importance of the "why I want to attend school X" essay. I wouldn't suggest he promise every school that he will attend if admitted, but this is very important to the admissions committees.

Not the OP, but my son applied to five universities, none of which had this as an essay topic, including UMD. Honestly, I think such essays don't serve to give the admissions committee a good feel for who a student really is, so I'm surprised any schools still have such a topic.

OP, sorry that your DS didn't get into UMD. There are some fine schools in the South, though, and the merit aid DS has been offered sounds like a plus. I hope he'll be happy wherever he attends.

We worked the topic (that the EA school was the first and only choice) into the major essay. The particular university that DD was applying to was the only one we could find that offered the particular major and minor she wanted. That all tied nicely into what she had done in high school, and for summer activities, so the fact that this particular college was her only and first choice for E.A. made sense. Also, her public high school made it known through calls and letters of recommendation to the University that it was the only one we were applying to E.A. and that, if accepted, she would attend. THAT's really what the University cares about - will they actually show up? And, again, that all ties into the U.S. News & World Report rankings. It's all a numbers game for the universities today because of that one stupid publication (go read those previously mentioned books if you don't understand what I am talking about).

What I took away from the process, which surprised me, was that the Universities cared less about how well the applicants responded to the essay question than what they said. When DD called admissions and said she wanted to modify the required essay - they said "no problem". They also said she could submit the regular essay but tack on an additional one about separate interests and why she wanted to attend that particular university. I think there is more flexibility than is understood in the essay department. But, then, every school may have a different policy.

I know people don't think UMBC is as good as UMD, but the President of UMBC, Freeman Hrbrowski, is absolutely amazing!

OP, if your son is still applying, a point to be taken from this would be the importance of the "why I want to attend school X" essay. I wouldn't suggest he promise every school that he will attend if admitted, but this is very important to the admissions committees.

Not the OP, but my son applied to five universities, none of which had this as an essay topic, including UMD. Honestly, I think such essays don't serve to give the admissions committee a good feel for who a student really is, so I'm surprised any schools still have such a topic.

OP, sorry that your DS didn't get into UMD. There are some fine schools in the South, though, and the merit aid DS has been offered sounds like a plus. I hope he'll be happy wherever he attends.

Anonymous wrote:This does happen (9:57) We made sure the only university we applied to (VA) knew we were applying early action to it and that it was our only choice. Got in EA.

I have heard that American Univ. started refusing to accept Langley High kids. The then relatively new principal went over to find out why. A.U. said they were tired of being the "safety" for Langley kids. Colleges and Univ. not only want applications, but they wanted actual bodies to show up to increase their number for U.S. World & News Report.

Same with some highly positioned minority students. Some colleges or universities won't accept them because they know they will get turned down. So they drop down further in the minority applications to accept those that they know will show up. That increases the school's yield number and makes it appear more selective in U.S. News & World Report.

Read Andy Ferguson's, "Crazy U". He explains all the application nonsense in a very funny way. A good read.

OP, if your son is still applying, a point to be taken from this would be the importance of the "why I want to attend school X" essay. I wouldn't suggest he promise every school that he will attend if admitted, but this is very important to the admissions committees.

I'm another poster who loved "Crazy U." It's well-written and very funny, but it also opens your eyes to a lot of what's going on in the admissions process. If you want to cry instead of laugh, read Goldin's "Price of Admission," which is a more serious investigation into college admissions decisions. Both authors are local journalists.

This does happen (9:57) We made sure the only university we applied to (VA) knew we were applying early action to it and that it was our only choice. Got in EA.

I have heard that American Univ. started refusing to accept Langley High kids. The then relatively new principal went over to find out why. A.U. said they were tired of being the "safety" for Langley kids. Colleges and Univ. not only want applications, but they wanted actual bodies to show up to increase their number for U.S. World & News Report.

Same with some highly positioned minority students. Some colleges or universities won't accept them because they know they will get turned down. So they drop down further in the minority applications to accept those that they know will show up. That increases the school's yield number and makes it appear more selective in U.S. News & World Report.

Read Andy Ferguson's, "Crazy U". He explains all the application nonsense in a very funny way. A good read.

I think it might actually be that UMD thought those grades/test scores would likely put your child into a better school and they may have doubted you'd accept UMD

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I think the essays and letters of recommendation were weak. But still- I thought it was mostly numbers driven. He did get into Towson and UMBC, but he has no interest in those schools. We did get some good merit offers from schools in the south- Georgia, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina- I think mostly based on his ACT scores- but considering the merit aid offers I thought he would be a shoe-in for Maryland. Live and learn

My nephew did not get into UMCP and was accepted to UMBC. He was told - just go to UMBC for a year and then transfer to UMCP. That was his plan but he loved UMBC and ended up getting recruited by PwC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
1980 SAT
30 ACT

3.7 unweighted
4.1 weighted
Instate applicant
5 AP classes
Most other classes honors.
Public school montgomery county

Denied U of Md

This surprises me a lot. Some thing else must have done him/her in.

possibly they had taken too many already from his high school?

Anonymous wrote:
1980 SAT
30 ACT

3.7 unweighted
4.1 weighted
Instate applicant
5 AP classes
Most other classes honors.
Public school montgomery county

Denied U of Md

This surprises me a lot. Some thing else must have done him/her in.

OP here. I think the essays and letters of recommendation were weak. But still- I thought it was mostly numbers driven. He did get into Towson and UMBC, but he has no interest in those schools. We did get some good merit offers from schools in the south- Georgia, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina- I think mostly based on his ACT scores- but considering the merit aid offers I thought he would be a shoe-in for Maryland. Live and learn

That surprises me, too. I think the UMD honors program is looking for a little higher SATs and GPA, but regular UMD should have been OK.

I have heard that the earlier you get your application into UMD, the better. One mom even told me a story about her kid and a friend who basically looked identical on paper, and the kid who applied in September got in but the kid who applied in January didn't.

Also, you don't mention anything about extracurriculars. There's a possibility they think some kids are too tied to their desks. On the other hand, maybe your kid has tons of ECs and that's not it. Or possibly bad teacher recs? There may be no obvious answer.

That surprises me too. According to the scattergram on our HS (BCC's) naviance that would put him over the average for unweighted GPA, ACT, and SAT. It does look like he took a slightly less challenging courseload than the average applicant, given that he has received .4 weighting, indicating that 40% of his classes were Honors, Advanced Level, or AP. The average kid accepted from BCC gets a .67 bump from weighting, indicating that 2/3 of their classes are honors, advanced, or AP.

1980 SAT
30 ACT

3.7 unweighted
4.1 weighted
Instate applicant
5 AP classes
Most other classes honors.
Public school montgomery county

Denied U of Md