University of Maryland-Baltimore County Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Jordan

The worst thing about UMBC is that our institution overworks its students academically but this still doesn't translate in the return that the average UMBC student realizes in the job market. A great deal of students at UMBC have received significantly lower GPAs for their overall effort. These same students, in my opinion, could've receive much higher GPAs in the same major at other institutions and been rewarded better by the labor market. Since UMBC is building its academic reputation they have to set standards higher which can have averse effects on its students in this labor market.

Nicole

The school to fund for teachers for the engineering majors. Many students can not finish degree programs on time because of the available of classes is once a year. This is due to the understaffing.

Gunner

The stress and pressure to do well.

Malarie

Possibly the excess of people who think they are the bee's knees. Sometimes classes get a little tense because a lot of heated conversations happen and some people have big egos, though this does provide for some very insightful discussions.

Jessica

The worst thing about UMBC is it's uncanny ability to make sure that many things stay the same. It's very difficult to make changes at UMBC, it is very difficult to bring change at UMBC. If you want to create a club or make a new performance group it is very difficult to gain the permission of the staff to do so. It is very unfortunate that there is no support for this sort of growth.

Jamal

The worst thing about this school is the stagnancy of some areas, especially student life. It is nearly impossible to start a club or a group of almost any kind and get it approved and funded by the school within four years. Moreover there is very little support for clubs that have been established. They are underfunded and in the areas of club that I am interested in, specifically performing arts and comedy, there are very few areas where they can perform in and the theatre department faculty is straddling the line between extremely disinterested and actively aggressive.

Bilal

It only emphasises education. Haven't grown as a person at all.

Joy

the social life is really not good, alot of people that attend umbc are commuters. and most parties happen outside of school.

Umu

I really enjoy attending the University of Maryland Baltimore County. As a first year transfer student, I had a great experience ad can't state anything as the worst of my school. Although no school is perfect, I have yet to have the best experience. The faculty really cares about helping their students learn and prepare them for the real world. They have a variety of internships and networks to connect the students with the right career path or job.

Jasmin

I am a transfer student and have not yet attended this school.

Ariana

The worse thing about the school is the older dorms/apartments.

Mitchel

Well, sometimes there is a lack of things to do. It gets a little boring here sometimes. The social life at my university isn't too great.

Stephanie

The worst thing about the school is that the social atmosphere during the weekends is very weak. This causes the students to feel overwhelmed. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

maria

No one has school spirit, no one hangs out or cares if we are both from umbc

Adedayo

The campus is not really known for having a great soicial life experience. During the weekends it seems like the school was haunted by ghosts. I would consider this the worst thing about my school, because during these times, there was a huge sense of boredom which left only room for unsmart decisions.

Xenya

The worst thing about UMBC is the parking. A lot of students and teachers have a hard time with finding parking in a timely manner. Some people arrive to school 2 hours early just to get a parking spot.

Dennis

The discussion sessions are informative but not helpful in in-depth review of material needed for a exam

Nicolas

the campus, becuse is not as good looking as the other MD schools

Comfort

Nothing

Jasmine

The campus is usually dead during the weekend unless there is an event going on most people just go home.

Dawn

The worst aspect about UMBC is the lack of student involvement on campus. There are countless opportunities to get involved on campus, from sports, to Greek life, to academic organizations, to different clubs. However, many students do not invest in UMBC and simply take classes. This leads to the campus being "dead" on the weekends and not many social events occurring on campus. I am heavily involved, but feel that I am one of the few. It is harder to get involved than on some universities, but definitely a positive experience.

Lyndsey

Most students at my school two-thirds in fact are commuters so there are a limited number of students that residents get to know.

Schillica

I absolutely love my school! I cannot pick out a "worst thing", but some might say that not having a football team lowers the school spirit.

Ezekiel

The worst thing about this school is research opportunities for engineering majors. Being a mechanical engineering major, I feel as though there are not a lot of interesting areas of research, since the school is kind of small, and a lot of the research tends to be more life science driven.

Ryan

The worst thing about UMBC is that most of its students are commuters. A nickname for the school is U Must B Commuting, sadly. Since so many students commute, you really lose the chance to meet a majority of your peers, and it can get tring to routinely see the same on campus students everyday. Therefore I suggest to try your hardest to meet people in your classes as welll as your neighbors in the dorms!

Megan

I would say that the "worst" think about my school is the level of competitiveness. From talking to my hallmates in the Honors College, I've heard that most of them received a 4.0 GPA this first semester. Even if you do perfectly in a given semester, which is very hard to do with the rigor of the classes at UMBC, there are many others who have also done perfectly.

Peter

I think academically, the school is top notch. As a matter of fact it was just rated number 1 up-and-coming school in the nation. But if you are looking for fun on the weekends, all the time, this may not be the best school for you. UMBC is actually the opposite from a party school, but in a way it helps so you can focus on your classes.

Sadiq

Most of the professors, especially in Comp Sci department act like machines with no heart. For example, if you are late with your project even by a minute, unless its a documentable excuse, you get a 0. And some teacher will not curve, for example 89.4 = B and 79.3 = C.

Ashley

Honestly, The only negative is the weather and that has nothing to do with my school. It rains a lot in Baltimore and I am from Florida so that is a little different for me. In saying that it means I am in love with this school. I just wish I had enough money to continue to go here all 4 years.

Bethany

Staying open with ice on the roads and sidewalks. It's hazardous getting to both campus and class sometimes, but no one ever wants to close school.

Morgan

The campus is completely dead on the weekends. So for the freshmen who don't know anyone yet and are stuck living on campus with no means of transportation (because everything there is to do is at least 20 minutes away by car), you better learn to make friends fast or get used to being bored.

Asia

The minimal amount of social activities on campus.

Gregory

UMBC doesn't offer enough scholarships to its students. There are scholarships for people in certain fields but for the rest of us, we're given the smallest amount possible when we're more qualified than other students.

Jesse

Sometimes I feel its to liberal

Elizabeth

Public relations when it comes to activities that students could do. They also have a problem in distinguishing the difference from College Park and Univeristy of Maryland - Baltimore, which can cause confusion with potentials.

chinelo

social life... it doesnt exist

timothy

over crowded and professors with horrible accents

Tiffany

Classes are hard.

Sean

everyone leaves on the weekends.

Danielle

I enjoy my school overall, but feel that not everyone interacts as much as they could. You see a lot of stratification based on greek life, ethnicity and sometimes religion. We are one of the most diverse schools in the US, but don't embrace it as well as we could.

Daniel

A lot of the required classes are extremely boring and painful to sit through. With some of the upper level courses, only one professor teaches the course so you sometimes get stuck with someone who really does not know how to teach.

Alex

When friends get too comfortable and take up your personal space.

Leah

Parking

Eden

The worst thing about my school is the tuition! It's like 14,000 per year which I dont have even have .001{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of . It is also a pretty small school, which is not always bad but it makes it quite boring at times. But this is an academic focused school so the smallness helps us determined student's stay focused. But the tuition is the worst considering it is not as steep as most schools, I guess i don't have much to complain about.