Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD is objectively a good school, especially in STEM. But a lot of kids who grew up nearby just really want to get further away for college. I think the other issue is its location is not appealing to some students.

A common reason for putting down the school. Plenty of kids from nearby love it too.

With the current state of world affairs, it has been really important to DC to be close by. They aren’t running home all the time. We saw DC for a football game one time and another time picked up DC to go out to dinner for extended family birthday. DC has told us that these brief touches are incredibly stabilizing right now.

YMMV depending on your kid, but don’t knock the potential value.

After speaking with countless locals and a handful of fancy sat/act prep college application gurus, here’s my two cents (as a UMCP alum married to an alum):

-the school prioritized diversity for a period and many white families soured on the school as their white kids were rejected while their diverse friends with comparable or worse stats made it in

-the school started prioritizing more OOS students

-kids still want to go there (or their families do), but it’s a crapshoot whether they will get in

-college application experts say while they can almost always predict whether a kid can get in or if it’s a reach, they can’t accurately predict UMCP. And nobody likes a crapshoot.

-kids are still applying, but not getting in…and then they/their families trash the school.

-a prof penned a bizarre rant that went viral and it likely turned off people

-MD Asian and Indian families are staying put at UMCP. White families with $$$ in MD are looking elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were looking at UMDCP as our best instate option and I was depressed by that, honestly. Now we live in California and have so many options, it's a relief.

And you have earthquakes and wildfires- #feartheturtle- UMD alum and parent

Sure. I don't live in the wildfire areas though, you have to know that CA is huge. And I experienced an earthquake living in Bethesda that was worse than any I've had in CA. So...

…and you don’t know the difference between one minor experience you had in MD and living on top of fault lines??

-np

Anonymous wrote:Reputations take decades to build and almost as long to catch up to reality. And the reality is that for many years Maryland was mediocre.

A lot of reputable colleges are mediocre in reality. I went to Georgetown 25 years ago and I didn't think my education was all that stellar for the price tag and reputation. Maybe I got an unlucky set of profs. I bet this is more common in the top colleges than you think.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were looking at UMDCP as our best instate option and I was depressed by that, honestly. Now we live in California and have so many options, it's a relief.

And you have earthquakes and wildfires- #feartheturtle- UMD alum and parent

Sure. I don't live in the wildfire areas though, you have to know that CA is huge. And I experienced an earthquake living in Bethesda that was worse than any I've had in CA. So...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were looking at UMDCP as our best instate option and I was depressed by that, honestly. Now we live in California and have so many options, it's a relief.

Same, but went to VA. Much greater variety of great options than MD—UVA, Tech, William & Mary, etc,

DS graduated FCPS and is now attending UMD. Having a blast. Shockingly he's a CS major.

Anonymous wrote:We were looking at UMDCP as our best instate option and I was depressed by that, honestly. Now we live in California and have so many options, it's a relief.

Same, but went to VA. Much greater variety of great options than MD—UVA, Tech, William & Mary, etc,

Anonymous wrote:UMD is objectively a good school, especially in STEM. But a lot of kids who grew up nearby just really want to get further away for college. I think the other issue is its location is not appealing to some students.

A common reason for putting down the school. Plenty of kids from nearby love it too.

Anonymous wrote:I think plenty of people consider it a good school, especially for STEM.

The issue is a mix:

1. Some people want to go away as people have noted.
2. The town around campus is pretty vanilla. Cannot compare to Chapel Hill, Charlottesville, Athens, Boulder, it just has zero charm nor personality. I wish that part was different.
3. Yes they have to overcome rep as mediocre school, which is happening but it just is not a school people are used to bragging about. They did such a poor job for so long in image, brand, quality and let themselves be defined by comparable schools.

It could be different in another 10-20 years - the academic side is coming along. But they need legit better town, better sports and some better marketing people/ambassadors. I do not even think most people know it is 30 minutes to DC, though even that may not be considered a positive compared to other big cities.

Great action plan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD is objectively a good school, especially in STEM. But a lot of kids who grew up nearby just really want to get further away for college. I think the other issue is its location is not appealing to some students.

This. We literally live within walking distance to campus and my kids do NOT want to go there.

yeah, same here... both of my kids chose Ivies over UMD.

I think plenty of people consider it a good school, especially for STEM.

The issue is a mix:

1. Some people want to go away as people have noted.
2. The town around campus is pretty vanilla. Cannot compare to Chapel Hill, Charlottesville, Athens, Boulder, it just has zero charm nor personality. I wish that part was different.
3. Yes they have to overcome rep as mediocre school, which is happening but it just is not a school people are used to bragging about. They did such a poor job for so long in image, brand, quality and let themselves be defined by comparable schools.

It could be different in another 10-20 years - the academic side is coming along. But they need legit better town, better sports and some better marketing people/ambassadors. I do not even think most people know it is 30 minutes to DC, though even that may not be considered a positive compared to other big cities.

Anonymous wrote:We were looking at UMDCP as our best instate option and I was depressed by that, honestly. Now we live in California and have so many options, it's a relief.

And you have earthquakes and wildfires- #feartheturtle- UMD alum and parent

Reputations take decades to build and almost as long to catch up to reality. And the reality is that for many years Maryland was mediocre.

Myths on DCUM:

1. UMD is bad.
2. UVA is an Ivy.

Both are exaggerations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD is objectively a good school, especially in STEM. But a lot of kids who grew up nearby just really want to get further away for college. I think the other issue is its location is not appealing to some students.

This. We literally live within walking distance to campus and my kids do NOT want to go there.

yeah, same here... both of my kids chose Ivies over UMD.