University of Maryland-College Park Top Questions

I wish I had known how big greek life is at this school.

I knew that the campus was large. However, I wish I had known that sometimes you have to walk a long ways to make it on time to class in ten minutes or less.

I wish I had known about the different clubs and organizations offered on campus. Since I commute to campus, I did not know there were so many opportunities to meet new people with similar interests and get involved in the community.

I wish I had known that it is a very independent place where most people are competitive.

That the best way to meet people is not through classes, but through clubs. Make friends during orientation, because you will most likely be in classes with them, but most of your friends will come from the clubs you will join.

Make your schoolwork your number one priority. Even though you may have done well in high school, college is a whole new ballgame. You need to develop a different set of study habits in order to succeed. If there is something that you do not understand, make sure to ask for help as soon as you can before you fall even further behind. Also, the area you decide to major in should be something that you want to do, not what someone else wants you to do. If your heart is not in it, move on to something different.

the quality of the dorms and diner food

Before I transferred to the University of Maryland, I wish I had known how long the actual transfer process was going to take. I was not prepared for the amount of background work that I had to do for myself in order to receive the credits that I had already earned. I was unpleasantly surprised by how long it took to get my paperwork in order, and the minimal amount of time I had left to select my classes before the semester actually started.

The importance of getting involved in extra curricular activities.

I wish I had known how helpful the professors and teaching assistants are and how willing they are to help (I thought I would have to figure out most of the material on my own).

I wish I had known how dangerous the surrounding area is before I came to this school. Don't get me wrong; I feel extremely safe on campus, but when I step into the "real" College Park, this feeling of security no longer is present. As a student here, I have received countless emails of shootings, stabbings, muggings, etc. I wish that I had known this before I attended school here and I think that something should be done about the surrounding area for the public’s, and ultimately the students' safety.

Before I came to the University of Maryland, College Park I wish I had known that I would have so many memorable experiences and meet so many types of people who would make me wish I had met them earlier on in life and I also wish I had known the amount of effort and hardwork I would have to put in to reach my goals and desires in life after college.

I wish I had known how much more work it recquired of me. I also wish I had known more people who attended this school. And that is hard to receive on campus housing.

I have no regrets about coming to the University of Maryland. I transfered to UMD as a junior, so almost all of the classes I have taken here have been within a specialized program. From what I know about general education courses here, I am glad that I did not come to Maryland as a freshman. The general education courses are huge and can be overwhelming to first-time college students. I would recommend going to a Maryland community college and transferring to Maryland as a junior once students know what they want to do.

I wish I had had a better understanding of the size of the university. Although the size allows for so many awesome opportunities, especially with DC a short metro ride away, it was daunting as a freshman.

How different it would be living at school and having class that's only a 10 minute walk away. Also how your whole schedule will change and you won't be getting up or wanting to get up earlier than 8 am.

Before I first attended the University of Maryland, College Park, I wish I would have known and understood more about their online sytems including ELMS blackboard and other administrative systems available to students. Not having any prior knowledge of these systems made using them challenging at first, especially as they are highly used by most professors.

Before going to the University of Maryland I wish that I had known other people from different schools that were also going to be in my graduating class. I have found that many people know each other from childhood, high school, sleep away camp, or through friends of a friend. I went into college open minded figuring that I would meet all of my friends once at least. However, I realize now that a lot of people have had past relationships with each other and then to stick with each other through loyalty.

I wish I had known how to plan my courses. The campus is so big that if you don't arrange your schedule right, you will have to walk long distances to get to classes. This is fine when the weather is good; however, during inclement weather, this can be difficult for various reasons. Additionally, I would have liked to join more organizations. Students don't realize how important this is until they graduate. It affects you in the long run.

How hard chemical engineerin was.

Actually, to my surprise, there is nothing, other than parking availability, about the University of Maryland in College Park that I wished I had researched before becoming a student there. The teachers I have had are intelligent, mostly fair, wise people, the facilities are well-kept, and available campus resources and services offered are practical and very helpful. There is not much more you can ask from such an overall fairly designed and richly-equipped university.

I wish I would have known how much money I'd owe, and how in debt I'd be.

I wish I had learned more about its clubs an organizations earlier in the semester. I feel like it's hard as a new student to know about ALL of the opportunities the school offers. I didn't even know about the organization I am most involved in until late November. I also wished I knew how proud UMD students are. Everyone wears Maryland gear around, and coming from out of state I didn't have anything!

I wish I was told that books were so expensive.

differences between on-capus lifestyle and off-campus lifestyle

If you are an engineer, you need to manage your time well. Part of what makes this school so great is the sheer amount of activities, clubs, and sporting events you can get involved in. If you get bogged down in an engineer's workload, you won't be able to participate. That being said, a lot of the engineering work is hard and tedious but you get to do some pretty cool projects, including building your own autonomous hovercraft in your first year!

That all of the bars would be shut down this year!

The classes were difficult to me. I was not prepared for so much studying.

close to city

I wish I knew less, I had to unlearn a lot.

There is not any much difference about what i should have known or not but the biggest problem for me is the tution. I thought the school was going to aid me with tution money because my EFC was 0 but now i have all this money to pay and the school can't really do much about this problem. I thought I was going to be offered Work Study but that didn't happen. I wish i should have know better so i could better adjust my budget for the school year. All the same hoping for the best

That I could have helped my parents more by being more proactive about applying for scholorship money.

I wish I knew more about the different buildings and about how to manage some academic problems.

Before I attended Maryland, I wish I had known how much more demanding the work load and the academic level were. I had attended a junior college beforehand and considered it relatively easy; thus, I had a somewhat naive perspective when I went to the university. The workload was very demanding, and it threw me off for the first semester I was there. I guess that kind of awareness comes with experience, and I gained mine!

I wish i had known the sheer variety of people that would attend this school. To begin with, i thought it would mostly be in state students, but ive come to know many out of state students also studying at Maryland. It makes for a very diverse community with a wide range of interests and backgrounds.

I wish I had known how important it is to participate in school organizations in groups in order to help you socialize more with other people. In such a large school, sometimes it can be difficult to find people with similar interests, and it is a little hard to find a niche where you can be yourself and people accept you for who you are.

I wish I had known more about the off campus housing options.

I wish I had known that you don't get the same experience if you start during the spring semester. I was admitted for the spring semester which made it difficult to register for classes and get good housing.

It would have been nice to have known the many organizations and fraternities within my engineering major. Typically, students find out because of their friends or from flyers, but the clubs are not widely publicized.

When I was in high school, I was a decent student, but I really didn't know how to study. I would do most of my homework, but I never really studied, mostly because I didn't know how . When I got to college, I had a pretty good start, but things were rocky at times. It wasn't until my 3rd year in college that I learned that I had to read my textbooks. I also took notes on what I read. This skill allowed me to get a 4.0 during my last four semesters of college.

Exactly what I wanted to do.

I wish I had known how to manage my time a little better. I feel like I always have time on my hands and yet I'm extremely busy too. It's such a weird experience for me that I am not used to. It took me about a month into the first semester to really get my footing and prioritize what I was doing whether it studying for classes, going to club meetings, or hanging out with my new friends. I somehow worked everything out nicely, but it would have saved me a few headaches if I were prepared.

I wish I had known how much emphasis they put on having AP credit. Had I known this I would not have done concurrent enrollment in high school because I feel like it hindered my application when applying to this school. Also, I wish I would have moved on campus my second semester freshman year because I feel like I missed out on a huge part of the freshman experience by not living on campus.

THAT BEING HOUSED ON CAMPUS MAY HAVE BEEN CHEAPER BECAUSE OF PARKING.

It would have been helpful to know the intensity in the study standard required at the college level. Throughout high school I had always studied hard, but I did not know that college meant using a majority of your free time to study. Going into college I believed that I had the perfect study habits; however, I learned quickly that I needed to improve my routine. I went from reading notes and memorizing to creating detailed study guides and actually learning the content I was studying. It would have been helpful to practice this technique before moving on to college.

I wish I would?ve known how heavily the campus life gravitated around the bars. And I wish I would?ve come better prepared with what I wanted to accomplish here in my 4 years. The school takes your money and leaves you to fend for yourself which can lead to a lot of unneeded stress. So a well thought out 4 year plan, of where I was getting my funds to pay for school and what classes I needed to take and with whom, would?ve been unfathomably helpful.

I wish I knew that the food on campus was so obnouxiously expensive.

Since this is my first semester, I wish that I could have taken the transfer programs that the University has to offer, thus making my transition easier.

Get good chance of education in this school and good job after graduation

Although I cannot tell that I knew everything, I did a great deal of research before choosing this school. Fortunately, with having access to the web, all information are just some clicks away. So there is almost no question or concern left unanswered.