Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 19:25     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If your kid wasn't accepted to UMD (in past 3 years), what college/university were they accepted to and to what program at that college?


My kid was not and she is at Virginia Tech and a lot of Maryland people there. Also my other kid went to University of Delaware and a lot of Maryland kids are there. Has bus from campus to Dulles Airport, Arlington and Union Station from campus which is great.

UDELL gives decent merit aid and is only around 101 miles from Bethesda/Rockville so it is far enough for separation. It also has a Amtrak stop on edge of campus going to Union Station which is great.

Those two schools for kids who just miss cut off for UMD are popular. Remember other schools University of Virginia, UNC Chapel Hill etc if you miss UMD cut off you are not getting in there. And schools like Towson, JMU are kinda low rated for a kid who just missed cut off at UMD.

I live in a MoCo school with three kids. Not a single one with to UMD. One did not apply, one got in but was weak her major and the third did not get in.


Can you explain missed cut off? GPA cut off?


For Churchill for instance pretty much 4.8 WGPA or higher was needed. My kid had 4.7 WGPA. At W schools they raise GPA to get in as dont want to much for certain a HS


You write like all this is set in stone when it truly isn’t.


None of this is set in stone of course. But my kid had a 4.7 at Whitman and her counselor told her 4.8 was needed last year. The acceptance rate from Whitman for class of 2029 was half of 2028.

Same for my son’s non-elite private regarding acceptance rate over the past couple of years. But it likes things are reversing this year?
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 19:20     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

UMCP is a great school but mostly because it is a great value for Maryland residents.

The engineering, business and computer science programs are top 25 for a public university.

But let’s be honest, the top reason it’s great school is because it’s a great value when many public universities are running $70K for OOS students. Many programs are mid and on par with flagship state universities.

Many who do not get accepted to to UC schools, Ohio State, Penn State, Ga. Tech, Va Tech, etc.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 19:03     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If your kid wasn't accepted to UMD (in past 3 years), what college/university were they accepted to and to what program at that college?


My kid was not and she is at Virginia Tech and a lot of Maryland people there. Also my other kid went to University of Delaware and a lot of Maryland kids are there. Has bus from campus to Dulles Airport, Arlington and Union Station from campus which is great.

UDELL gives decent merit aid and is only around 101 miles from Bethesda/Rockville so it is far enough for separation. It also has a Amtrak stop on edge of campus going to Union Station which is great.

Those two schools for kids who just miss cut off for UMD are popular. Remember other schools University of Virginia, UNC Chapel Hill etc if you miss UMD cut off you are not getting in there. And schools like Towson, JMU are kinda low rated for a kid who just missed cut off at UMD.

I live in a MoCo school with three kids. Not a single one with to UMD. One did not apply, one got in but was weak her major and the third did not get in.


Can you explain missed cut off? GPA cut off?


For Churchill for instance pretty much 4.8 WGPA or higher was needed. My kid had 4.7 WGPA. At W schools they raise GPA to get in as dont want to much for certain a HS


You write like all this is set in stone when it truly isn’t.


None of this is set in stone of course. But my kid had a 4.7 at Whitman and her counselor told her 4.8 was needed last year. The acceptance rate from Whitman for class of 2029 was half of 2028.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 17:59     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:The kids at our private school who didn't get into UMD are at places like university of Richmond, case western, or university of Rochester. Most didn't pivot to another big state school. They did really well in admissions to smaller schools that have true holistic admission, not just a hard GPA threshold.


+1
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 14:55     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Rutgers has rolling admissions and is ranked identically to UMD overall.


I don’t believe Rutgers has rolling admissions. But I agree with the second point: UMD is so overrated in the DMV area! Btw, Rutgers is the safest school on my son’s list. Its application is also super easy with no supplemental essays. UMD has designed its application like an Ivy League’s with those open handed fill-in-the-blank questions. 🙄


Those fill in the blank questions were thoughtful I thought. Literally there's no right or wrong answer. All your kid had to do was think for a few minutes for each question. No big deal. I disagree that UMD is overrated. I just think some people are pissed that their snowflake didn't get in. Remember it's a holistic process so they look at you beyond your grades and test scores.

My son got in but we still think UMD is overrated. But we’re originally from another state, so we got a different perspective!
Don’t get me wrong, I like those open-ended questions just as I like the Yale 35-word questions. But UMD is not in that league. Just saying.


+1
UMD is highly sought after because it is a decent school with a very low price tag, not because of its outstanding academics.


Many UMD programs are ranked in the top twenty nationally by USNWR. I think a lot of people go there because of academics. Lots of out of state students, great outcomes, etc.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 14:42     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If your kid wasn't accepted to UMD (in past 3 years), what college/university were they accepted to and to what program at that college?


My kid was not and she is at Virginia Tech and a lot of Maryland people there. Also my other kid went to University of Delaware and a lot of Maryland kids are there. Has bus from campus to Dulles Airport, Arlington and Union Station from campus which is great.

UDELL gives decent merit aid and is only around 101 miles from Bethesda/Rockville so it is far enough for separation. It also has a Amtrak stop on edge of campus going to Union Station which is great.

Those two schools for kids who just miss cut off for UMD are popular. Remember other schools University of Virginia, UNC Chapel Hill etc if you miss UMD cut off you are not getting in there. And schools like Towson, JMU are kinda low rated for a kid who just missed cut off at UMD.

I live in a MoCo school with three kids. Not a single one with to UMD. One did not apply, one got in but was weak her major and the third did not get in.


Can you explain missed cut off? GPA cut off?


For Churchill for instance pretty much 4.8 WGPA or higher was needed. My kid had 4.7 WGPA. At W schools they raise GPA to get in as dont want to much for certain a HS


You write like all this is set in stone when it truly isn’t.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 14:38     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If your kid wasn't accepted to UMD (in past 3 years), what college/university were they accepted to and to what program at that college?


My kid was not and she is at Virginia Tech and a lot of Maryland people there. Also my other kid went to University of Delaware and a lot of Maryland kids are there. Has bus from campus to Dulles Airport, Arlington and Union Station from campus which is great.

UDELL gives decent merit aid and is only around 101 miles from Bethesda/Rockville so it is far enough for separation. It also has a Amtrak stop on edge of campus going to Union Station which is great.

Those two schools for kids who just miss cut off for UMD are popular. Remember other schools University of Virginia, UNC Chapel Hill etc if you miss UMD cut off you are not getting in there. And schools like Towson, JMU are kinda low rated for a kid who just missed cut off at UMD.

I live in a MoCo school with three kids. Not a single one with to UMD. One did not apply, one got in but was weak her major and the third did not get in.


Can you explain missed cut off? GPA cut off?


For Churchill for instance pretty much 4.8 WGPA or higher was needed. My kid had 4.7 WGPA. At W schools they raise GPA to get in as dont want to much for certain a HS
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 14:28     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Some people are doing a year at Prince George's Community College and transferring over. If you maintain a high GPA you are almost guaranteed admission.


is it the same for montgomery college too?


This page will have most recent info:

https://admissions.umd.edu/apply/maryland-transfer-advantage-program

Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 14:12     Subject: Re:If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I know a group of kids that didn't get into UMD. They went to different colleges for freshman year (university of Delaware, Penn State, JMU etc. and then sophomore year transferred to UMD. all got in as sophomores


Them applying as sophomores and getting in means they are taking slots away from those applying that year as first year Freshman?

I don't think so.

-dp
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 13:39     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Some people are doing a year at Prince George's Community College and transferring over. If you maintain a high GPA you are almost guaranteed admission.


is it the same for montgomery college too?


UMD has one guaranteed transfer program called MTAP. All Maryland CC's participate, but there is an application required (on top of the transfer application to the school itself).

https://admissions.umd.edu/apply/maryland-transfer-advantage-program

Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 12:54     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:Some people are doing a year at Prince George's Community College and transferring over. If you maintain a high GPA you are almost guaranteed admission.


is it the same for montgomery college too?
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 12:52     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If your kid wasn't accepted to UMD (in past 3 years), what college/university were they accepted to and to what program at that college?


My kid was not and she is at Virginia Tech and a lot of Maryland people there. Also my other kid went to University of Delaware and a lot of Maryland kids are there. Has bus from campus to Dulles Airport, Arlington and Union Station from campus which is great.

UDELL gives decent merit aid and is only around 101 miles from Bethesda/Rockville so it is far enough for separation. It also has a Amtrak stop on edge of campus going to Union Station which is great.

Those two schools for kids who just miss cut off for UMD are popular. Remember other schools University of Virginia, UNC Chapel Hill etc if you miss UMD cut off you are not getting in there. And schools like Towson, JMU are kinda low rated for a kid who just missed cut off at UMD.

I live in a MoCo school with three kids. Not a single one with to UMD. One did not apply, one got in but was weak her major and the third did not get in.


Can you explain missed cut off? GPA cut off?
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 12:51     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Rutgers has rolling admissions and is ranked identically to UMD overall.


I don’t believe Rutgers has rolling admissions. But I agree with the second point: UMD is so overrated in the DMV area! Btw, Rutgers is the safest school on my son’s list. Its application is also super easy with no supplemental essays. UMD has designed its application like an Ivy League’s with those open handed fill-in-the-blank questions. 🙄


An easy application is irrelevant some schools. SUNY Binghamton my kid applied to had a super easy application. But they basically go off percent of GPA, Test Scores, AP clases, etc. It is all number based and not really holistic.

For instance I went SUNY StonyBrook back in the early 1980s and you need 85 or above GPA and above 1,100 on SAT or you were auto rejected. The process was more honest in a way

Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 12:43     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:If your kid wasn't accepted to UMD (in past 3 years), what college/university were they accepted to and to what program at that college?


My kid was not and she is at Virginia Tech and a lot of Maryland people there. Also my other kid went to University of Delaware and a lot of Maryland kids are there. Has bus from campus to Dulles Airport, Arlington and Union Station from campus which is great.

UDELL gives decent merit aid and is only around 101 miles from Bethesda/Rockville so it is far enough for separation. It also has a Amtrak stop on edge of campus going to Union Station which is great.

Those two schools for kids who just miss cut off for UMD are popular. Remember other schools University of Virginia, UNC Chapel Hill etc if you miss UMD cut off you are not getting in there. And schools like Towson, JMU are kinda low rated for a kid who just missed cut off at UMD.

I live in a MoCo school with three kids. Not a single one with to UMD. One did not apply, one got in but was weak her major and the third did not get in.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2026 12:40     Subject: If kid wasn't accepted to UMD College Park

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:UMBC, Towson, Salisbury, and Catholic.


Don’t forget Montgomery college, University of Baltimore, and McDaniel college.


How can you tell the previous poster was accepted at those places?