Visit to University of Maryland

The University of Maryland in College Park sits on 1200 acres. The core of the campus offers handsome Georgian style buildings with white columns. The location is just a few miles outside DC and even inside the beltway. The campus has a stop on the DC metro, so students can get to downtown as well as make connections to Amtrak.

There are 24,000 undergraduates and 8,000 grad students. So, many classes for freshmen and sophs will be large; our student guide reported that his intro biology class had 225 students. Most students live off campus after their sophomore year.

Students can choose their major after enrolling, with the exception of the business school; the College of Business requires a second application and is competitive. Students are automatically considered for the honors college if they apply early.

All undergraduates are able to apply for a project to do research. 10% of students are studying abroad every semester; 150 countries are available.

UMD is in the top 10% for universities sending students on to law school.

Some advice from Admissions for freshman applicants:
• The short answer questions on the application are important.
• The November 1 application deadline gives the best opportunity for admission, merit scholarships and special programs.
• Most of the class is filled from the early action applications.

Merit scholarships worth from $2000-$12,000 per year are available for out-of-state students.

When I was at NC State, Maryland was in the Atlantic Coast Conference; but recently, they switched to the Big Ten.
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See the UMD page on College Board for more data.