3.72 UW, 4.66 W, no SAT score submitted, 60 college credits due to Early College program. Daughter was accepted into Freshman Connection for UMD. Just got the notification Friday night 10pm EST. In state MD.

DD admitted, scholars program
DC private
Mathematics major
1500 SAT
4.4 GPA
4 year sport obviously interrupted by covid
Ok ECs.

Spring Admission - In state - 32 ACT and 3.8 UW with 7 APs. Internship, sports. Very dissapointed. Trying to decide what to do now.

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Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In state, legacy, 1400 SAT, 3.7 uw, 4.3 w
I am so pissed.

To add: applied Arts & Sciences

I’m a professor at UMD, a liberal arts department. This is bonkers to me. There is no way that some of the students I have in intro courses could have these high school grades and stats. Some of them can barely write a coherent paragraph.

Not even a Spring admit?

No. I am so upset. I am going to appeal but I realize it will have no impact. I don't know what the issue is. She could have tried test optional, maybe, but what's so wrong with 1400? 720 verbal. This process is a joke.

I am so sorry. My DC was accepted but not that much better stats. 33 ACT, 3.8uw. I’m sorry but how does an in-state applicant with 720 verbal applying to Arts and Sciences not get Freshman Connection?? I would be so pissed too. You pay taxes to Maryland, kid excels in school, over 92%tile test scores. Really sucks. So sorry.

Thank you! That's what I'm saying. I thought she would get spring admit. And yes, the taxes are hella high in this state and it would be nice to get something for it.

My youngest child is in the same boat. My husband’s job is now online and I have a skill set that I can easily get another job elsewhere. We were only considering staying in Maryland if he was admitted. We now are going to prepare to put our house on the market this spring. No more Maryland taxes after this year. Thank you UMD.

I should add that our family has a four generation legacy at UMD. My son applied for Letters and Sciences. 31 ACT. 4.5 Weighted GPA. MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:My kid got in, but doesn't see anything about honors college. Do they divvy these up by hs at all? Her stats are higher than most of the honors people on this thread, and she is nmsf, has national awards and excellent ECs. Is there a way to appeal that?

I know this is trifling compared to those dealing with rejection. We've had our fair share of that too. Any info welcome.

PP here just following up in case others wondered this too. DD got Honors College letter during the night. Initial acceptance yesterday was from School of Music, so there were 2 separate letters that arrived at 2 different times FWIW.

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Anonymous wrote:3.6 uw/1520/top private school. In at a top 10 university already. Rejected from Maryland. What a wild ride.

That's astonishing. Makes no sense whatsoever.

Congrats on the T10 acceptance!!

Maybe you can appeal? Seems crazy to be rejected with those stats.

I wonder if this is an example of how lower grades at private schools hurt when applying to public universities that are more stat driven and don’t take into account different programs the same way private colleges do.

This is what we think happened. A 3.6 doesn't look great, but he has taken many APs etc. We were counting on UMD to help us compare financial aid packages. I'm more astonished than upset. I guess we're heading to Philadelphia!

Wait. Your kid got in ED to UPenn, and you're not pulling apps? Aren't you supposed to do that for the binding ED decision?

Anonymous wrote:What is the difference between scholars and honors? I know honors is the most prestigious, but what is the actual difference.

What I hear from others is that the Honors program has some very specialized academic programs, such as Integrated Life Sciences (generally full of pre-meds) and ACES (cybersecurity). The Honors students are the only ones who can be awarded Banneker Key scholarships (the biggest academic awards). The Scholars students are often still very strong academically, but also have members who excelled more in the extracurricular realm in HS. They are supposed to have a lot of fun field trips and service projects. Both the Honors and Scholars programs are excellent opportunities. I see any Living-Learning community at UMD as a chance to have a smaller, close-knit experience within a larger university.

Please do not be insulted if your high-achieving student was not chosen for the Honors College. The university makes an effort to select students from a variety of majors, geographic diversity, ethnic diversity, etc. It can often seem like a lottery.

What is the difference between scholars and honors? I know honors is the most prestigious, but what is the actual difference.

Anonymous wrote:Accepted to Honors! very happy

3.98/4.84 GPA from magnet program.

SAT 1590, ACT 36

national merit scholarship semifinal

international, national awards ( all major related).

national award for creative ideas (also major related)

several community service awards (close to 1000 SSL)

headship awards


Asian, female in state, need financial aid.

Why not go for the ivies if qualified for FA?

Does anyone know what percentage of applicants are accepted into the Honors College? I can’t find any information on it on UMD’s website or anywhere else for that matter.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rejected. In state, legacy, 1400 SAT, 3.7 uw, 4.3 w
I am so pissed.

To add: applied Arts & Sciences

I’m a professor at UMD, a liberal arts department. This is bonkers to me. There is no way that some of the students I have in intro courses could have these high school grades and stats. Some of them can barely write a coherent paragraph.

Not even a Spring admit?

No. I am so upset. I am going to appeal but I realize it will have no impact. I don't know what the issue is. She could have tried test optional, maybe, but what's so wrong with 1400? 720 verbal. This process is a joke.

Too many qualified MoCo kids. Same thing happened last year.

I'd love to see what percent is accepted from each county in MD. I keep hearing that they won't take more than half of the MoCo applicants because they need to spread admissions around the state and want to get at least 25% OOS.

Anonymous wrote:UMD acceptance decisions are algorithmic and they generate some weird results based on mechanic restrictions imposed. Nobody is really trying to understand the human being behind the application.

Head of the counseling office at our high school walked off the job (or was fired) and popped up in undergrad admissions at UMCP.

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to all.

My DD is still waiting b/c no decision letter has been posted to the portal. Question: did you all also receive an email saying that your portal had been updated? thank you

No email just logged in the portal.

Congrats to all.

My DD is still waiting b/c no decision letter has been posted to the portal. Question: did you all also receive an email saying that your portal had been updated? thank you

Accepted to Honors! very happy

3.98/4.84 GPA from magnet program.

SAT 1590, ACT 36

national merit scholarship semifinal

international, national awards ( all major related).

national award for creative ideas (also major related)

several community service awards (close to 1000 SSL)

headship awards


Asian, female in state, need financial aid.