University of Maryland, College Park Admission
University of Maryland, College Park Undergraduate Program
University of Maryland, College Park Application

The Facts

The University of Maryland is a large public university located in College Park, Maryland, and is home to over 22,880 undergraduate students and approximately 9,883 graduate students.  As the university is quite large, it consequently offers a huge amount of undergraduate programs; over 97 in fact.  The university is made up of several smaller undergraduate schools including schools of agriculture and natural resources, arts and humanities, behavioral and social sciences, business, computer, math and physical sciences, education, engineering, health and human performance, and life sciences.  There is definitely am emphasis on preprofessional programs at UMD, especially in the areas of science and health.  Some of the most popular majors with students include majors in the areas of criminology and criminal justice, computer science, psychology, government and politics, and economics.

The admissions standards at UMD have gotten more strict over the years, and competition has consequently increased.  Last year, over 25,028 students applied and only 10,679 were admitted. Eventually however, only 4,063 of those admitted actually enrolled for classes in the coming fall semester.  The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1170 to 1360, and over 89% of those admitted were ranked in the top 25% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of around 3.88.  It’s pretty easy to see just how tough the university’s admissions standards have gotten.

Students say that the classes can be quite academically competitive, and students tend to get quite stressed and intense around finals and midterms.  The classes at UMD are generally quite large, and large lectures are more frequent than small discussion oriented classes.  Most professors are quite inaccessible, and many don’t even have offices for students to visit when they need assistance.

The Social Scene

The campus of UMD is located in a notoriously dangerous part of Maryland right by the D.C. area.  Students remark that the university has made an effort in recent years to secure their campus, even offering an escort service for students walking around off-campus day and night.  The surrounding area of College Park doesn’t have a whole lot to offer students, but Washington D.C. is nearby, and offers plenty of entertainment options and cultural activities. 

There are fraternities and sororities on campus, and they do throw their fair share of parties, but students say that they aren’t a huge influence on campus, due to a recent administrative crackdown on overly rowdy frat parties with excessive amounts of alcohol.  Sports are also a big draw on campus, and students love nothing more than showing up to cheer their various teams on.  Both the basketball and football teams have done quite well in recent years, and the intense school spirit has only contributed to their success. The dating scene offers something for everyone; expect a big range of diversity in both ethnicities and sexual preferences...

What’s Good

“The party scene is fantastic here.  There is always something happening on campus.”

“People here are really really friendly and really really diverse.”

“Even though the classes are large, the professors are really knowledgeable and teach good classes.”

What’s Bad

“The classes are enormous and you feel so anonymous here.”

“The surrounding area is really unsafe.  There are always lots of armed crimes around here.”

“The campus is way too big.  It’s really overwhelming.”

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