Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The M in UMD does not stand for Montgomery County. In the context of UMD admissions, MCPS grads are a dime a dozen.

Actually, it is fashionable to say that, but MCPS and HoCo are still all that at UMD. Biggest Cohort.

However, understand how in-state public flagship works. UMD pays good money to swoop up the best MD high achievers in in-demand majors like CS, Engineering, Physics, Math etc. But, there is always place for most MD students in other majors too.

And yes, year after year, these STEM majors at UMD are becoming more and more difficult to get in for several reasons - 1) more and more high achieving ORMs have accepted that Ivies and T5 colleges do not want them and so UMD is a viable option for them to get a great education and tremendous leg-up financially in life, 2) as more and more high performing cohorts are congregating at UMD in these majors, they are spurring on the same dynamics in the classroom as a magnet HS program and it is leading to more competition and achievements, further strengthening the reputation of UMD. 3)UMD understands that it has a good thing going and so it is helping its high performing students succeed by creating opportunities for research and internships.

Over years, MCPS has tried to bridge the achievement gap in a dishonest way to placate URM concerns. However, in a vicious manner, instead of more educational intervention and support to poor performing URM students, MCPS has basically watered down all education, dismantled the magnet programs, discriminated against ORMs and done grade inflation, so that every one gets a medal. As a result, URMs are big losers.

So, MCPS students need to know that to get into these in-demand STEM majors at UMD without a hook they need to - make sure that they are taking the most rigorous courses in HS, have perfect grades (not difficult with grade inflation), take a lot of AP classes in 5 core subjects and also score in 4s and 5s and report these scores to colleges, score at the very top in SAT and not go TO.

The reputation of UMD continues to rest on the high achievers of the DMV area. They are mostly from public school systems and MCPS is the largest public school system. So MCPS is all that. And ORMs are all that all that.

They are expanding magnets, that the only thing they are doing right. Some of our kids don’t go to school with a lot of stem opportunities and classes and they are punished for that with college admissions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The M in UMD does not stand for Montgomery County. In the context of UMD admissions, MCPS grads are a dime a dozen.

Actually, it is fashionable to say that, but MCPS and HoCo are still all that at UMD. Biggest Cohort.

However, understand how in-state public flagship works. UMD pays good money to swoop up the best MD high achievers in in-demand majors like CS, Engineering, Physics, Math etc. But, there is always place for most MD students in other majors too.

And yes, year after year, these STEM majors at UMD are becoming more and more difficult to get in for several reasons - 1) more and more high achieving ORMs have accepted that Ivies and T5 colleges do not want them and so UMD is a viable option for them to get a great education and tremendous leg-up financially in life, 2) as more and more high performing cohorts are congregating at UMD in these majors, they are spurring on the same dynamics in the classroom as a magnet HS program and it is leading to more competition and achievements, further strengthening the reputation of UMD. 3)UMD understands that it has a good thing going and so it is helping its high performing students succeed by creating opportunities for research and internships.

Over years, MCPS has tried to bridge the achievement gap in a dishonest way to placate URM concerns. However, in a vicious manner, instead of more educational intervention and support to poor performing URM students, MCPS has basically watered down all education, dismantled the magnet programs, discriminated against ORMs and done grade inflation, so that every one gets a medal. As a result, URMs are big losers.

So, MCPS students need to know that to get into these in-demand STEM majors at UMD without a hook they need to - make sure that they are taking the most rigorous courses in HS, have perfect grades (not difficult with grade inflation), take a lot of AP classes in 5 core subjects and also score in 4s and 5s and report these scores to colleges, score at the very top in SAT and not go TO.

The reputation of UMD continues to rest on the high achievers of the DMV area. They are mostly from public school systems and MCPS is the largest public school system. So MCPS is all that. And ORMs are all that all that.

Anonymous wrote:^ Isn't there a Colleges forum on this site where you can ask your specific college questions?

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Anonymous wrote:What's the benefit of FC to the school?

It allows them to pack more students in with full use of dorms and classrooms. Spring students can take the place of students going abroad, and night students can use regular classrooms. Educate more students with the same facilities.

They could achieve exactly the same goals by simply admitting the FC students as regular students.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. I'm not sure you understand how class space is assigned at UMD. There are limited seats per space. Space depends on the needs of the class (intro classes are going to get priority in the Lecture classrooms. Labs need specialized spaces. There are only so many places on the UMD campus that can manage a large-scale lecture-style classroom. FC helps to offset the need for classroom spaces. Using the space at "off times" provides small classes for FC students and helps to balance out the class assignment challenges the University is trying to meet. The University’s on-grid standard class scheduling patterns allow for maximum access to class offerings for students and facilitate the most efficient use of classrooms.

Seminar Room – small classroom, generally 20 seats or fewer
General Purpose Classroom – medium size classroom, generally 21-80 seats
Lecture Hall – large lecture-style classroom, generally 81+ seats
Computer Classroom – classroom with computers for instructional use

They could have exactly the same classes at exactly the same times with exactly the same instructors, without labeling them "Freshman Connection".

What? Call it Spring Admit? I don't understand your issues with Freshman Connection.

No, just admit them as regular fall admission, instead of as fall admission with an asterisk.

If they did this they would have to admit fewer students to UMD in the Fall which would reduce the number of students accepted from school districts like MCPS. FC is a smart approach for ensuring there are more opportunities for a broad range of students.

Eh? No, they would admit more students in the fall. The ones they're currently officially admitting for fall, PLUS the ones they're actually, in reality, admitting for fall, in the "Freshman Connection" category.

Space space space space space space …
Reading comprehension issue?

What space space space space space space? A person who is on campus taking classes as Freshman Connection is taking up exactly the same space as a person who is on campus taking classes as a regular fall admit.

One method FC alleviates the classroom headcount space issue is by offsetting the times. Classes can be offered to more students by spreading out the instructional space to times that are not typically used. The classrooms are literally filled to capacity you can't fit one or more students. FC uses the spaces more wisely and allows the FC students to get through they general education classes more efficiently.

Or they could just schedule regular classes at those times, to make the same efficient use of space.

They would need to hire more professors to teach the additional class. With FC, they don't have to hire more prof.

It's not just a matter of space, but a matter of professors.

Given what they are charging for 5 classes, there is no excuse not to hire more professors. They have plenty of buildings. Many classrooms are empty at any given time.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Seems some we not only need to talk about space, allocation of professor teaching units, but also budgets and expenses at UMD. Oh and they have plenty of building empty at any given time. Do you mean midnight on a friday?!

Clearly you've never been on campus during the day. They have a huge budget.

What are you basing the "huge budget" on? They also have huge expenses.

https://finance.umd.edu/budget/facts-and-figures/operating-budget

They have a spending issue and need to cut back expenses. Also, cut out merit aid for wealthy families.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:What's the benefit of FC to the school?

It allows them to pack more students in with full use of dorms and classrooms. Spring students can take the place of students going abroad, and night students can use regular classrooms. Educate more students with the same facilities.

They could achieve exactly the same goals by simply admitting the FC students as regular students.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. I'm not sure you understand how class space is assigned at UMD. There are limited seats per space. Space depends on the needs of the class (intro classes are going to get priority in the Lecture classrooms. Labs need specialized spaces. There are only so many places on the UMD campus that can manage a large-scale lecture-style classroom. FC helps to offset the need for classroom spaces. Using the space at "off times" provides small classes for FC students and helps to balance out the class assignment challenges the University is trying to meet. The University’s on-grid standard class scheduling patterns allow for maximum access to class offerings for students and facilitate the most efficient use of classrooms.

Seminar Room – small classroom, generally 20 seats or fewer
General Purpose Classroom – medium size classroom, generally 21-80 seats
Lecture Hall – large lecture-style classroom, generally 81+ seats
Computer Classroom – classroom with computers for instructional use

They could have exactly the same classes at exactly the same times with exactly the same instructors, without labeling them "Freshman Connection".

What? Call it Spring Admit? I don't understand your issues with Freshman Connection.

No, just admit them as regular fall admission, instead of as fall admission with an asterisk.

If they did this they would have to admit fewer students to UMD in the Fall which would reduce the number of students accepted from school districts like MCPS. FC is a smart approach for ensuring there are more opportunities for a broad range of students.

Eh? No, they would admit more students in the fall. The ones they're currently officially admitting for fall, PLUS the ones they're actually, in reality, admitting for fall, in the "Freshman Connection" category.

Space space space space space space …
Reading comprehension issue?

What space space space space space space? A person who is on campus taking classes as Freshman Connection is taking up exactly the same space as a person who is on campus taking classes as a regular fall admit.

One method FC alleviates the classroom headcount space issue is by offsetting the times. Classes can be offered to more students by spreading out the instructional space to times that are not typically used. The classrooms are literally filled to capacity you can't fit one or more students. FC uses the spaces more wisely and allows the FC students to get through they general education classes more efficiently.

Or they could just schedule regular classes at those times, to make the same efficient use of space.

They would need to hire more professors to teach the additional class. With FC, they don't have to hire more prof.

It's not just a matter of space, but a matter of professors.

Given what they are charging for 5 classes, there is no excuse not to hire more professors. They have plenty of buildings. Many classrooms are empty at any given time.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Seems some we not only need to talk about space, allocation of professor teaching units, but also budgets and expenses at UMD. Oh and they have plenty of building empty at any given time. Do you mean midnight on a friday?!

Clearly you've never been on campus during the day. They have a huge budget.

What are you basing the "huge budget" on? They also have huge expenses.

https://finance.umd.edu/budget/facts-and-figures/operating-budget

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The M in UMD does not stand for Montgomery County. In the context of UMD admissions, MCPS grads are a dime a dozen.

Actually, it is fashionable to say that, but MCPS and HoCo are still all that at UMD. Biggest Cohort.

However, understand how in-state public flagship works. UMD pays good money to swoop up the best MD high achievers in in-demand majors like CS, Engineering, Physics, Math etc. But, there is always place for most MD students in other majors too.

And yes, year after year, these STEM majors at UMD are becoming more and more difficult to get in for several reasons - 1) more and more high achieving ORMs have accepted that Ivies and T5 colleges do not want them and so UMD is a viable option for them to get a great education and tremendous leg-up financially in life, 2) as more and more high performing cohorts are congregating at UMD in these majors, they are spurring on the same dynamics in the classroom as a magnet HS program and it is leading to more competition and achievements, further strengthening the reputation of UMD. 3)UMD understands that it has a good thing going and so it is helping its high performing students succeed by creating opportunities for research and internships.

Over years, MCPS has tried to bridge the achievement gap in a dishonest way to placate URM concerns. However, in a vicious manner, instead of more educational intervention and support to poor performing URM students, MCPS has basically watered down all education, dismantled the magnet programs, discriminated against ORMs and done grade inflation, so that every one gets a medal. As a result, URMs are big losers.

So, MCPS students need to know that to get into these in-demand STEM majors at UMD without a hook they need to - make sure that they are taking the most rigorous courses in HS, have perfect grades (not difficult with grade inflation), take a lot of AP classes in 5 core subjects and also score in 4s and 5s and report these scores to colleges, score at the very top in SAT and not go TO.

The reputation of UMD continues to rest on the high achievers of the DMV area. They are mostly from public school systems and MCPS is the largest public school system. So MCPS is all that. And ORMs are all that all that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is done so UMD-CP does not need to include the stats/demographics, etc. of freshman connection students (or admits), but they can still admit them. This way, UMD can provide USNews and others with higher stats for their incoming freshmen (or admitted students) - average or range of GPAs, average and range of SAT/ACT scores, and diversity admission profile etc. Basically, UMD excludes the stats of freshman connection students to game the system (and presumably a lot of other schools do this too)…

That explanation makes sense to me.

So, FC kids do not have the best of stats?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is done so UMD-CP does not need to include the stats/demographics, etc. of freshman connection students (or admits), but they can still admit them. This way, UMD can provide USNews and others with higher stats for their incoming freshmen (or admitted students) - average or range of GPAs, average and range of SAT/ACT scores, and diversity admission profile etc. Basically, UMD excludes the stats of freshman connection students to game the system (and presumably a lot of other schools do this too)…

That explanation makes sense to me.

Anonymous wrote:The M in UMD does not stand for Montgomery County. In the context of UMD admissions, MCPS grads are a dime a dozen.

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Anonymous wrote:*plenty of classes at UMD are taught by people who aren't professors

Most schools hire adjunct professors.

Adjunct professors = people with advanced degrees but no real jobs. Or even people without advanced degrees. My kid at UMD has had several classes taught by graduate students, with undergraduate TAs. Universities don't want to pay for tenure-track professors anymore.

Right. That's the dirty secret about the big state schools you all like so much. Great football teams, and the people teaching your kids get 3k/class. If they're lucky. I'm sure you think that's plenty, but let's consider, again, how much more than that you're paying for your kid to take it.

If you believe College Factual's Faculty composition stats:

At University of Maryland - College Park , only 25.0% of the teaching staff are part-time non-faculty or non-tenure track faculty. This use of adjuncts is far below the national average of 51.4%, which could be indicative of University of Maryland - College Park's commitment to building a strong, long-term instructional team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:*plenty of classes at UMD are taught by people who aren't professors

Most schools hire adjunct professors.

Adjunct professors = people with advanced degrees but no real jobs. Or even people without advanced degrees. My kid at UMD has had several classes taught by graduate students, with undergraduate TAs. Universities don't want to pay for tenure-track professors anymore.

Right. That's the dirty secret about the big state schools you all like so much. Great football teams, and the people teaching your kids get 3k/class. If they're lucky. I'm sure you think that's plenty, but let's consider, again, how much more than that you're paying for your kid to take it.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's the benefit of FC to the school?

It allows them to pack more students in with full use of dorms and classrooms. Spring students can take the place of students going abroad, and night students can use regular classrooms. Educate more students with the same facilities.

They could achieve exactly the same goals by simply admitting the FC students as regular students.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. I'm not sure you understand how class space is assigned at UMD. There are limited seats per space. Space depends on the needs of the class (intro classes are going to get priority in the Lecture classrooms. Labs need specialized spaces. There are only so many places on the UMD campus that can manage a large-scale lecture-style classroom. FC helps to offset the need for classroom spaces. Using the space at "off times" provides small classes for FC students and helps to balance out the class assignment challenges the University is trying to meet. The University’s on-grid standard class scheduling patterns allow for maximum access to class offerings for students and facilitate the most efficient use of classrooms.

Seminar Room – small classroom, generally 20 seats or fewer
General Purpose Classroom – medium size classroom, generally 21-80 seats
Lecture Hall – large lecture-style classroom, generally 81+ seats
Computer Classroom – classroom with computers for instructional use

They could have exactly the same classes at exactly the same times with exactly the same instructors, without labeling them "Freshman Connection".

What? Call it Spring Admit? I don't understand your issues with Freshman Connection.

No, just admit them as regular fall admission, instead of as fall admission with an asterisk.

If they did this they would have to admit fewer students to UMD in the Fall which would reduce the number of students accepted from school districts like MCPS. FC is a smart approach for ensuring there are more opportunities for a broad range of students.

Eh? No, they would admit more students in the fall. The ones they're currently officially admitting for fall, PLUS the ones they're actually, in reality, admitting for fall, in the "Freshman Connection" category.

Space space space space space space …
Reading comprehension issue?

What space space space space space space? A person who is on campus taking classes as Freshman Connection is taking up exactly the same space as a person who is on campus taking classes as a regular fall admit.

One method FC alleviates the classroom headcount space issue is by offsetting the times. Classes can be offered to more students by spreading out the instructional space to times that are not typically used. The classrooms are literally filled to capacity you can't fit one or more students. FC uses the spaces more wisely and allows the FC students to get through they general education classes more efficiently.

Or they could just schedule regular classes at those times, to make the same efficient use of space.

They would need to hire more professors to teach the additional class. With FC, they don't have to hire more prof.

It's not just a matter of space, but a matter of professors.

Given what they are charging for 5 classes, there is no excuse not to hire more professors. They have plenty of buildings. Many classrooms are empty at any given time.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Seems some we not only need to talk about space, allocation of professor teaching units, but also budgets and expenses at UMD. Oh and they have plenty of building empty at any given time. Do you mean midnight on a friday?!

Clearly you've never been on campus during the day. They have a huge budget.

You are insane. My bestie is teaching a 3 credit, academic course in an attic room that hasn’t been used in 25+ years. Classroom Space is at a premium.