Presenter:
· Nicholas Paul Orban-Special Assistant to VP of Enrollment Management
· Alum-‘13/’19-norban@umd.edu
· Admissions.umd.edu
· 301.314.TERP (8377)
COVID Related Data
· 15-20% of courses are in-person
· 40-50 students to a course
· On Nov 15th, courses went online for the remainder of the semester
UMD Distinctions
· #19 Undergraduate Rankings-U.S. News and World Reports
· 5029 international Students-4% International Student
o 123 Countries Represented
· 43.6% Undergraduate Students of Color
· 800+ Clubs and Organization
· 10th 100 Best Values Among Public Colleges-Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine
· 4675 Faculty
· #20 Most Innovative Schools-U.S. News and World Reports
· 30,000 Undergrad Students with 75% in-state students/25% out of state student
· One of Google founders is a UMD graduate
· 12 Schools and Colleges
o 90+ Academic Majors
· #1 School for LGBTQ+ community, according to Campus Pride and Best Colleges
· 19 Division 1 Sports
· 82% of Students Study Abroad
· 12-15% Greek life
· #8 Best Undergrad Program for Entrepreneurs-Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine’s
· #11 America’s Best Value Public Colleges-Forbes
· #1 in Country for Women in Computer Science
Location
· 10 miles from the U.S. Capital Building
· Washington DC is 30 minutes by car and 1.25 hours by public transit
· Baltimore 30-40 minutes away
· 1-mile East is the Metro System, there are buses that take students there.
o Will have the Purple line run right through campus next year.
· College Park- there are lots of new restaurants/hotels/shopping
· It has a health center in the middle of campus
o And addition medical care close by three hospitals within a 10 miles radius
· From:
o Boston-432 miles
o New York-210 miles
o Miami-1073 miles
o Chicago-697 miles
o LA-2642 miles
DC is Calling
· DC is the 'calling card’ of the UMD experience; students are getting outside of classroom experience in DC
· Internships, career expos/lecture series, jobs, etc. are abundant in DC
· Architecture students go to DC and do sketches of the monuments
· Plus, non-academic experiences available through museums, shopping/athletic experiences/restaurants, etc.
Schools, Colleges, and Majors
· 12 Schools and Colleges
· 90+ Majors
· Undecided is the most popular major – most students start in Letters & Science college where there is a robust number of advisors to help students graduate in four years.
· New programs and interdisciplinary majors too
o Immersive Media and Design
o Religions of the Ancient Middle East
· 12 Schools and Colleges
o College of Agriculture and Natural Resource
o School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
o College of Arts and Humanities
o College of Behavioral and Social Sciences
o College of Information Studies
o Robert H. Smith School of Business
o College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences
§ #1 in the country for Women in Computer Science
§ Computer Science is the largest major in UMD and is the most competitive
o College of Education
o A James Clark School of Engineering
o Philip Merrill College of Journalism
o School of Public Health
o School of Public Policy
o Letters of Sciences (Undecided students-most popular major)
§ Students move to a major by second semester sophomore year
Limited Enrollment Programs
· UMD puts a cap on the enrollment of some majors (see below)
o Admissions: reads applications major-blind/then reviewed by the academic department to make a determination on their end if a student gets into a major of choice. Then admissions will notify students if they are admitted to UMD and also to major of choice. If not to their academic choice, they go into Letters of Science which will put students on the path to any of the UMD programs, depending on GPA and other factors.
§ Students will take Gateway Courses which are entry-level courses. Students need a minimum grade of B-/C- (2/5-3.0) depending on the major they are trying to enter
§ Engineering prospective students must take Calculus II with at least a B-, Chemistry with at least a C-, and Mechanics with at least a C- and a 3.0 GPA.
§ School of Business is different-3.0 GPA/but is usually around a 3.3-3.4 for successfully admitted students, and student must write a personal statement
· Limited Enrollment Programs
o Business
o Biochemistry
o Biological Sciences
o Chemistry
o Communication
o Computer Science
o Criminology and Criminal
o Engineering
o Environmental Science
o Government & Politics
o Journalism
o Psychology
o Neuroscience
Special Experiences
· Research
· Internships-over all academic disciplines
· Education Abroad-London, Rome, Barcelona are the most common
· Service Learning
· Living and Learning- House students together and giving a shared academic platform
o Six different Living and Learning Communities
§ Honors College-The Honors College is home to the University of Maryland’s highly acclaimed living-learning programs for students with exceptional academic talents.
§ College Park Scholars-Is a living-learning program that provides intellectual challenge and vibrant community for academically talented freshmen and sophomores.
§ Global Communities-Truth and acknowledgment are critical in building mutual respect and connections across all barriers of heritage and difference. Such statements become truly meaningful when coupled with authentic relationships and sustained commitment. We, therefore, commit to moving beyond words into programs and actions that fully embody a commitment to Indigenous rights, respect, and equity.
§ CIVICUS-is an invitational living and learning program that empowers first- and second-year students to become active and engaged citizens through a focus on community service learning, political engagement, and leadership development.
§ BioFire Innovation and Research-was designed to support your success at the University of Maryland by providing positive experiences that reinforce your interest in a major in the biological sciences, biochemistry, or chemistry.
§ Carillon Communities-Where first-year students work with faculty to ask Big Questions that matter to our world and learn to use teamwork and creative problem-solving approaches.
Student Life
· Housing and Dining
· 800+ student organizations
· D1 Athletics
· Club and Intramural Sports
· Greek Life: 12-15% participate in social Greek life
· Vibrant College Town
· Community Service and Civic Engagement
· Biggest strengths-campus diversity is huge.
o Jewish student life-huge Jewish life brand new Hillel coming in a couple of years. 80% of gap years are Jewish students going to Israel for an immersive experience.
Application Process
· Common App/Coalition App
· 26 Application Factor when reading an application as a part of the admissions review.
· 2/3 are not academic factors
o There are 26 factors that UM considers for admission. 2/3 of these are non-academic
o They are test-optional for this year & will re-evaluate for the future.
o Increase app volume with new common app
o 50-50 split with apps submitting testing and not submitting
· High School achievement
· Grades in academic subjects
· Progression of performance
· Rank in class
· Written expression of ideas (essays)
· Gender
· SAT/Act scores
· Work experience
· Extenuating circumstances
· Recognition of special achievement
· Breadth of life experience
· Extra-curricular activities
· Special talents and skills ‘Community involvement’
· Community Service
· Demonstrated leadership
· Academic endeavors outside the classroom
· Quality of coursework
· Residence status
· Race
· Ethnicity
· Family educational background
· Learning differences
· English as a second language/langue spoken at home
· Geographic origin
Types of Admissions Decisions
· Fall Admit
· Spring Admit -students come spring term instead of fall
o Can go to another school within U of Maryland and transfer credits/gap semester/internship
or
o Freshmen Connection 95-98% of incoming students will do this program. where students come on campus in the fall semester and take courses and have on-campus housing. But taking classes in the late afternoon and night. Courses are smaller too.
o Some students are admitted for Spring if not eligible for Fall – Freshman Connection – They can still take fall classes on campus & live on campus. Classes are during non-peak hours and are smaller (50-60 students)
· Denied
o They get more than 30K+ apps per year and get over 4K+ frosh apps
UMD Application Checklist
· UM doesn’t require the writing portion of the SAT/ACT. Also does not require a subject test.
· Take a large portion of the class from EA making the regular decisions more competitive.
· Automatically considered for scholarship & Living Learning Communities.
· Shoot for a class of about 4000, about 1150 for spring (approx. 1000 choose to do Freshman connection)
· This year about 50% of applicants were test-optional.
· Application Form and Fee
· Letters of recommendation (one teacher, one counselor)
o Always important but using them more this year b/c of testing
· Don’t track demo interest
· Official transcripts
· Official standardized test scores
· Activity list or Resume (not looking for anything other than the activities list but if they have the resume to submit as most students don’t have one.
· Essay and short answers
· Terps Application Portal-get instructions within 2 business days to create the portal
UMD Application Deadlines
· Early Action Nov 1st -the large percentage is taken in EA group
o Get most consideration for living programs and merit scholarships
· Release by Feb 1st?
· Regular Decision Jan 20th
· No special benefits
· Need blind with applications
· FAFSA due January 1st
· Merit
· 1500-12K per year depending on the application, etc. mostly academic merti0GPA Testing and no separate applications.
Out-of-State student apps:
· 75 in-state students /25 out of state students split
· Applicant pool is quite balanced with this split.
· Honors program/scholarship program for out of state students (20-25% are awarded a scholarship-but not only honor students-fits within programs)
Financing Your Education
· Need-Based Financial Aid
· FAFSA becomes available on October 1
· UMD’s priority FAFSA deadline: January 1
· UMD school code: 002103
· Merit-Based Scholarships
· Early action applications automatically reviewed: no separate application necessary
· Go-umd.edu/typesofaid
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