University of Maryland

Nice and beautiful campus. If it weren’t for family, I would think UM as my priority for PhD career. Now the decision hasn’t been made, but UM is possible to be a road not taken. However, I would highly recommend its beautifully arranged place.

I came here to attend a b-​ball game at Xfinity Center. (Don’t know why it didn’t come up when l was trying to check-​in). Since we attended a game during winter break, we were allowed to park on one of the lots for free, the only caveat, we had to endure a short hike over to the arena. So glad it wasn’t raining or snowing…
The arena is typical, no bells and whistles. Before entering, you have to get checked by security (ladies had to open their handbags, but no big deal in the name of security). Upon entering, they scan your ticket and you’re on your way. The layout consisted of food and drink (including beer and wine) counters around the perimeter of the walkway. They even had an Xfinity area that had three charging stations with various adapters so you could charge your phone, nice. Upon entering the actual basketball arena, since we had student general admission tickets, we could sit in any of the assigned student seating areas, which were located on every level of the arena. We chose to sit near courtside. The view was awesome and we had a blast! It was the icing on the cake when the Terps won! Would definitely come to another game. Go Terps!

I’m going to preface this review by saying I’m a Terp snob.
I received my undergrad from here and am currently working on my Master’s here as well. So I am a loyal Terp and will not talk badly about my school lol.
I don’t live on campus so I can’t really comment on campus life. The classes are reasonably sized and the staff that the university hires are usually top of the crop. I’ve had a couple of professors, usually one a year that have been absolutely terrible, but THANKFULLY most of them are not employed anymore.
UMD really listens to the opinions of the students and I appreciate that. I would recommend this school to anyone looking for a public ivy league university in the area and who has the qualifications for admittance.
P. S. Watch out for the squirrels, they will chase you and try to eat your food.

Dining is horribly expensive. If you live in the dorms, you are required to purchase a plan, along with a $ 450 service fee and a $ 100 renovation fee. That money is a fee, doesn’t get you any food. Then you have to pay for the food, which runs about $ 2000 per semester. Other universities give you incentives to purchase their dining plans, UMD penalizes you $ 550.
You’re charged a la carte at the main dining hall, so expect to spend $ 15-​$ 20 per meal. To give you an example, I had 2 pieces of pizza, a trip to the salad bar, a soda, and a piece of cake and it cost $ 26. There is a buffet style dining hall, but it’s not open on the weekends, not open for lunch, not open for breakfast, and closes permanently 2 weeks before the semester ends. If you do make it during the few hours they’re open, it is only included with your dining plan 1 time per week, so expect to spend $ 18 to eat there.
Only 2 dining halls, so expect to walk a mile to eat. And the decent dining hall is closed most of the time. So for breakfast, lunch, and weekends, there’s only 1 dining hall for a campus of over 26,000 students
You can eat fast food at the Stamp building, but expect ridiculous lines
They have pre-​packaged sandwiches at the mini-​convenience stores, but they’re usually sold out
Parking is almost $ 400
Unexpected tuition increases in the middle of the semester
Everything on campus is under construction
Traffic is horrendous
Mystery charges on your student account, make sure you proofread it every month

I was considering Grad school here until they decided they hate American service members. Atrocious they are allowed to still be open.

Garbage school. Way too expensive and the education quality is below average. I literally did not gain anything from this school other than patience. The school is a complete bureaucracy and everything is handed off to another person. For two months I had to jump through hoops and different departments to get an answer. The admin that work there just blow you off, take weeks to return emails and days to return calls — if at all. Their system is co confusing. Orientation was a joke. Students are fairly anti social and in their own worlds half the time. I’m from LA and have lived in NC for years… maybe southern hospitality has spoiled me but everyone is just so rude up in Maryland. And like I said, the admin is awful too. One lady in the bursar office was horrendous and was extremely rude! She had an attitude with each student! Including myself. The health department is garbage as well. They don’t keep an accurate record of anything and they do not explain anything because they don’t know about anything. Like I said, it’s a complete bureaucracy! Told me I never had health insurance with the school and then I get billed for it. I even contacted their healthcare provider and they said I was not insured. This school is money hungry and does not care about the students. Considering the school makes billions every year, you would think they would work with you. Nope! Garbage, garbage, garbage. Spent one semester there and that was more than enough! I wasted my time and so much money! I could rant all day but you get the picture. DO NOT GO HERE FOR SCHOOL. I have been to other universities and seen MUCH, MUCH better.
Only plus side is it’s a beautiful campus. It’s beautiful on the outside and ROTTEN and GREEDY on the inside. They charge you for everything! Bunch of…(Insert curse word)‘s.

Don’t go to grad school here. The administration is horrible.

This school has a reputation for being military friendly, and also was one of the first online universities to offer a CyberSecurity Program. These two things are the main reasons why I decided to pursue an education here.
That being said, there are certain things that are absolutely unacceptable and downright disappointing.
The good — The fact that you can work on your homework anytime, and that there is no set schedule is great. I have also had the opportunity to take some classes with some top notch instructors that were not only working in the same field they teach, but took the time to actually be truly involved in every students work (meaning they actually read every post and every assignment submitted and provided specific feedback) Most of the professors are reasonable when it comes to utilizing common sense (in regards to due dates, extensions, etc.)
The bad —
–There are some professors who apparently are absentee landlords. Their syllabus has incorrect dates. Their syllabuses do not match their «weekly schedules», or «to do lists», and instead of taking the time to correct issues like this when the students bring it to their attention, they just sideskirt the issue and usually tell the students to default to the syllabus (even when the syllabus still has missing or incorrect information). These are also the same types of professors who will respond to your emails or questions way too late (the classes run in 8 week sessions… I’ve had times when I emailed a professor the middle of one week, and they respond 1 to 2 weeks later — after everything is already turned in) UMUC does not seem to do much in regards to holding their professors accountable to their own guidelines even when given proof that their professors are not meeting them. These are also the same professors who give completely worthless feedback on your posts and assignments (comments like «great job» or «needs work — see rubric»)
–The whole concept of an online class requires that you the student have an internet connection and the ability to get online, but also that the college have their online site/​class/​labs/​turn in the assignment server available. I can confidently say (after attending for one year) that there are many times when their system is down, or when certain sites, or labs have technical issues. This would not be such a big deal if extensions were given for the down time on their end (a handful of professors are fair and work with you if you provide proof that you attempted to submit an assignment or you screenshot an error on their site)
HOWEVER some professors just don’t care. To really drive home this point, lets say you work full time, or you are deployed, or you only have 2 – 3 days off a week to really spend a lot of time doing homework. I feel confident saying that most people logically submit homework on the day it’s due (not days before especially when they are 8 week sessions). SO… if the systems down on the day the works due, some professors will just give you big fat zero’s on all your work…
–The other thing that just doesn’t make sense to me is that you could be taking two classes at the same time, and different professors have different due dates. Meaning that one professor wants to run their class mon thru sun (assignments due on Sun) and the other professor wants to run their class thur thru fri (assignments due on Fri). This combined with different schedules for posting discussions just makes everything unnecessarily confusing and complicated. Most of the students I’ve been in class with agree that having initial posts due friday, and all homework and response posts due Sunday is what makes sense for the MAJORITY of students.
–This is advice for military only… unfortunately there are some professors who will not accommodate extreme situations in regards to homework/​assignment due dates. You would think if you are deployed, or if you literally don’t have access to internet for days at a time, that occasionally you might get an extension on deadline. Like I mentioned before, some professors do, and some professors refuse. It’s crazy that the same guidelines would apply for a person stateside with internet at home and on every corner compared to a person in Iraq or Afghanistan etc.
P. S. If by chance someone from UMUC actually reads this and wants to respond or address some of these issues, I would be happy to provide you my contact information.

Bad, this place was bad administration DOES NOT HELP!!!
They only care if you have money if you want student aid of any class they will say you don’t qualify without even checking.

My grades may not be 5 star but the school is awesome. Who cares how big the classes are?! The staff will help anyone who asks. If you take a summer class it’s a gem. DC is so close. Route 1 will take you anywhere-​Key West or local bars. If you don’t go there for classes– go to see the campus and surrounding area and A

Ugly campus located near the end of the Greenline in an ugly part of Maryland. It is a huge, sprawling mess with very few signs to tell you where to go, not that safe, not cultured and the few «Professionals» I have met have been anything but. I lost out on quite a bit of money when an accountanting grad from this school, working in DC, failed to do my taxes correctly on my last visit state side. Yes, I work abroad, but it should not be that difficult for someone who mastered in accounting to work that out! Is this what we can expect from grads finishing school here? Only good thing to come out of this UNI is Larry David!

I am writing this review only as a visitor to the university. The campus itself is very pretty. However, navigating it is almost impossible if you’ve never been there. There are very few signs. Be prepared to haphazardly follow a map and wander around to find the building you need. The area is also rather run down. There aren’t many hotel or restaurant options around. The football stadium is one of the worst I’ve been in. It is so incredibly steep and there is poor visibility from a lot of the seats in the lower sections. That being said, I’ve experienced better.

I loved every minute of my 4.5 years as an undergrad at College Park! Truly were the best years of my life (besides living in Fed Hill a few years later). I lived both in South Campus dorms (Cecil Hall all girls dorm) and the Commons (best apartment ever).
Facilities are first-​rate, both resident life and especially the vast, huge classrooms. The campus itself is gigantic and sprawling, and even has its own zip code. Walking from my dorm to classes could take 10 minutes or it could take 40 minutes if the class was on the other side of campus.
The labs and classrooms were state-​of-​the-​art, and SAT scores to get in have been consistently stellar for the last 15 years. I remember folks in my highly-​rated high school who got into Ivy Leagues but did NOT get into UMD’s Honors or Gemstone programs. I also know several who went to Towson or UMBC because they couldn’t get into College Park but hey, those are great schools too (especially UMBC. Towson — not so much).
Science classes were exceptionally hard; I was pre-​med PHNB but then switched to English. The English department was delightful but also challenging in terms of curricula.
The area around campus is a little sketchy, with regular muggings and car break-​ins, but I was never targeted. Lots of local bars and hangout places, as well as the original Chipotle of Maryland. I miss the WaWa on Route 1 though!

I have been to UMD’s College Park campus twice.
Most recently, I came for the National Weather Service’s SKYWarn class in conjunction with the University of Maryland Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department (MetoGrads). The facility were the class was held was comfortable. While waiting for the class to start I walked around the hall, where the class was being held, which is the same building as the Engineering Department. Not the most modern building on campus, but very functional.
Previously, I have been to UMD for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival Fencing Tournament held in the Armory. This is probably the only time each year that the building is now used for an armory purpose. It was incredibly hot in the hall, but there was plenty of room to stretch out without feeling squished.
Had no issues with finding parking on weekends near the buildings we had to go to. Definitely a nice perk.

Going to the University of Maryland was the best 4.5 years of my life! I studied English and being that it is a smaller department, it felt like I was at a small liberal arts college my last two years. I absolutely loved my professors, the cirriculum, and the abundance of things to do around College Park! I loved it so much, in fact, that I still live in CP! It’s a great place to live and a great place to go to school.

Hey, I attended and got my Bachelor of Science here. Maryland is a big campus where you get treated like a number. But the campus is beautiful and on school days, parking is extremely difficult. But it has the feel of your prototypical large east coast university. Be careful of where you park and the parking meters. They will ticket you. Head to the Student Union for a number of eats, but the university store with all your Terrapin needs are there. Walk through the large mall where students are often basking in the sun. I hated it when I went to school, but once I got my degree, I suddenly had nostalgic feelings for it. It’s a nice campus to walk and see, but only come on non-​school days.

University of Maryland has been a mixed experience at best. The campus is beautiful and the school spirit is great. The administration, advising, and approachability of professors and deans has been horrific. Trying to get information is difficult and the advisors are too busy to get back to you and be helpful. The administration will not go out of their way to help you and say their hands are tied by excessive bureaucracy.
Graduating in four years is a challenge due to poor advising and difficulty getting into essential classes. Be advised you are on your own navigating a large uncaring machine.

It’s funny, I went to Rutgers for my undergrad degree, so I’m a Scarlet Knight, but I always torn because the time I spent at UMD for grad school really, really makes me feel like I’m a Terp as well.
Not only is this a GREAT school academically, but the campus is beautiful, it’s located between DC and Baltimore (two of my favorite cities on the east coast), and there is so much to do it’s hard to imagine anyone not loving this school. Like Rutgers, SOOOO much has changed on the UMD campus since I left, but everytime I go back I’m sucked in by its beauty.
Getting into grad school here all those years ago wasn’t the hard part (I did pretty well at Rutgers)…the hard part was waiting until about 10 days before school started to find out I had an assistantship-​which meant WOO HOO, it hey were actually going to pay for my tuition and pay me to teach undergrads! Otherwise I’d still be paying off student loans I think.
Seriously though, it was a great two years! Best of all, I met my future wife the day before school started… though, we actually couldn’t stand each other when we first met. So much for love at first sight. Good thing one of us smartened up…

I’m a Terp. I will forever be a Terp. I will sing thy praise forever throughout the land (alumnus know what I’m talking about).
I am a tour guide and present the University of Maryland to prospective students every week. I see the looks on their faces as we walk across the glorious McKeldin Mall, or peak inside a state-​of-​the-​art classroom. I am lucky to be a student here.
I have a tremendous sense of pride in this school. From the nationally ranked programs to our endlessly gorgeous brick-​building-​green-​grass campus, the University of Maryland will forever hold my heart in it’s hands.

I came of age here. I learned many life lessons on this campus and none of it related to academics.
When I started off as a freshman, I was a bright-​eyed, bushy-​tailed nerd with dreams of becoming a medical doctor. When I left as a senior, I was no longer bright-​eyed and bushy-​tailed, but still a nerd and still with dreams of becoming a medical doctor.
This campus is extremely large, so if you’re one of those people that needs extra attention, I would not suggest coming here. You will get lost in the mess. I found it refreshing to be anonymous and to only be known by my social security number.
I took all 120 credits to graduate and also took some summer classes. Like all universities, some classes were excellent and others were a flop. I thoroughly enjoyed my Spanish classes, including the Composition class taught by an Argentinian of Italian descent with a uni-​brow.
What I enjoyed the most was learning about life and the world. I learnt about Octavio Paz, and Trotsky and about the Socialist movement. I went to pro-​Palestinian protests. I fought for Asian-​American rights. I learnt how to drink a man under the table. I learnt how to properly smoke a fag. I learnt how to flirt. I learnt about Bob Marley. I learnt about racism. I learnt that I identified with left-​wing, liberal politics. I learnt that a woman had control over her own sexuality and that she no longer lived in the shadow of a man. She could be anything she wanted to be.
This place helped to shape my formative years as a young adult. It helped to solidify in my mind what I truly believed in. I believe in championing for the under dog, to always work tirelessly for those that do not have a voice, and to wake up every morning with the goal of learning something new and being inspired. Give those without a voice a place in this world, never be afraid to stand up for what you believe in. After all, when we bleed, isn’t all blood red?