University of Maryland-College Park Top Questions

Some of my professors know my name and some don't. In large classes you have to go out of your way for them to recognize you. But I've had smaller classes where my professors knew my name and still do. One of my favorite classes thusfar in college was my Greek and Roman Mythology class. I've always been fascinated with it and my teacher was AWESOME. I didn't even care that it was a 10am. I enjoyed going to it. He was a little obsessed with Freud and phallic symbols, but it was so interesting and thought provoking. Class participation is common. Not so much about current events as much as your thoughts or trying to answer the question. UMD students definately have intellectual conversations outside of class. Sometimes I hear more interesting conversation outside of class than in the class. The most unique class I have taken so far has been my Internship Leadership Program. It's a class/program about Global Leadership. There was an interview process, I had to find an internship for a semester and next semester over Spring Break the 17 of us are living with Ugandan families in Uganda. I can't wait. I would say the major classes are definately geared towards teaching you everything you need to know for your field/major to get a job. UMD makes recruiters almost overly-accessable. There's so many times that they are there that you can't make them all.

With a school so large, you find it all. Each department has a different flavor, so it all depends on what you want to study. I chose to create my own major, so I got to take the classes I wanted but did not have a community of professors or students. I took some great courses on Development, Foreign Aid, and Ethics, and on Medical Anthropology. I developed a couple of close relationships with professors which I found really meaningful - professors were accessible and interested in mentoring, as were graduate students I met through some of my classes.

Overall I was incredibly understimulated by my classes at Maryland. I remember a few occasions of crying after class because of the sheer boredom and the feeling of being unchallenged by students and professors alike, and feeling like my mind was going to waste. As a freshman, I was planning to study English and Women's Studies, but after a year of taking some of the highest ranked classes available to me and still feeling bored and unstimulated, I knew I would have to choose another track. I remember going to the chair of the Women's Studies department and asking for permission to enroll in the Feminist Theory class even though I was a freshman and the catalog says that the course was restricted to upperclassmen. I told her I was unstimulated by my classes, that my friends at other schools were all studying theory, and that I was sure I was capable of taking the class. She refused. I later learned that I could have just registered and they never would have known, but it was too late. I took the English theory course with a professor who was reputed to be wonderful and felt condescended to, and felt that the material was dumbed down for us. At this point I'd had no exposure to theory and literary criticism but I knew there was better out there. I was in the University Honors program, which was billed as a way to make the university feel smaller and foster a community of intellectuals. That effort failed entirely. My "Honors Colloquium," a required 1-credit course, was a total joke and was taught by a sophomore. One of my Honors seminars was very good but the other two I took left a lot to be desired, and since the Honors students only comprised a small portion of the huge dorm, I didn't even know who was supposed to be in my supposed community, and they certainly didn't foster a more academic/intellectual air in the dorm. At the same time, my friends who majored in the sciences had a very different experience and found it challenging and stimulating.

Academics at UMD is exactly what you choose to make of it, no more and no less. If you make the effort to get to know your professors and take the initiative to find professors who do what you're interested in, then you'll have a wonderful academic experience. No one will hold your hand through the process at this school. I certainly knew most of my physics professors by their first name and spent a good deal of time visiting them during office hours--this made all the difference when I was applying for graduate school.

UMD classes are quite large at first. The introductory classes can be anywhere from 150 to 450 people; obviously it's impossible to learn in such a big environment. Most classes are geared around hard facts, and then an exam or two in the middle and final. Because of the size of the class, professors do not know your name, and the discussion sections are led by TAs. Favorite class so far has been bmgt110, Intro

Academics at UMD are good. The diploma you will walk away with four years from now will be more valuable than one 4 years earlier. The caliber of students, faculty and programs on campus continues to improve. Recently, UMD has been a hot school and admission standards have become more intense. This campus has a lot of talent and is a great place to get your undergraduate degree.

As an African American studies major I know my professors really well. I have a key to their office! But with the larger majors its much more difficult to make that kind of connection so students really need to make an effort to get noticed by their professors. Within my major (African American Studies) class participation is a fundamental component of the class Serious academic conversations happen all the time, especially within the activist community, world issues and other topics are frequent points of conversation. The African American Studies dept is really small and personal. I know all the staff and my advisor knows me really well. I have a really good relationship with the professors and I often talk to them about non class related things. I do think that the dept. is way under funded especially considering the caliber of the faculty within the dept. But Behavioral and Social Sciences in general is extremely under funded. Education here can be geared to learning to learn or to get a job it depends on the dept. and it depends on how the student takes the information given to them. The business school, criminal justice and the government and politics dept. definitely promotes just getting a job or going to law school. Only international development and conflict management seem to be interested in learning to learn. Smaller majors like American Studies, Sociology, Anthropology have students interested in learning for learnings sake.

Most professors don't know my name. My favorite class is probably outside of my major, which is dance. My least favorite was Biochemistry 2. Students study when they need to study, I don't think it's something they do everyday because they have an exam in a month. Depending on the class size, participation is low in my classes. I know for sure that the science department classes are competitive because people are trying to get in to medical school. My most unique class that I've taken is First Ladies in the Media.

Some of my professors do surprisingly know my name, and I rarely speak in class. Even in large lecture halls, it's easy to make your class seem smaller if you sit toward the front. My favorite class was likely one of my introductory history classes with Professor McNeilly. I've never seen anyone make history that exciting before. Another class, MUET200 with Dr. Sandstrom, I took had me attend a popular music concert and write a review as a final paper. Neither of these were in my major, I actually had to take them as part of our CORE requirements, but they were really excellent and I'm glad I did. I think although many people complain about the liberal arts CORE curriculum requirements, it is actually a very valuable part of our institution and the well rounded education we receive because of it. Students are somewhat competitive depending on the discipline. I'm currently a Physics major and I love it a lot. I was a Mathematics major as of last week, and switched out of it because of a loss of interest in the subject, nothing against the department itself. One of my professors had our honors seminar over to his house for dinner that his wife cooked, and that was really interesting. The education at UMD is good for a combination of being ready for the job market and to be well-versed in the subject area you are attaining a degree in, which I believe is a perfect combination.

I don't think the professors know my name but that isn't their fault. They have at least 100 other students in the class. I know at least one of my TA's knows my name. My favorite class would have to be Math141 just because I'm only taking two classes and I enjoy math when it can be applied to the real world. My least favorite class would have to be Psyc100 because although I enjoy the material covered in the class, the professor is the most boring person I have ever had to listen to. Also, my TA can't speak english very well and can't understand us, so our discussion class is basically a waste of time. I know students who study too much and those who would benefit from a little more. It depends on the class whether people participate. Since my Psyc100 class is boring no one really participates unless they are forced but, in my math141 class people ask questions and help each other out. There are a fair number of intellectual conversations outside of class. Especially if the students are in the same class. I haven't taken that many classes yet but, Last semester I took this HIST157 class which was the history of the United States since 1865. We looked at the US from an analytical point of view. We saw how all these events in our history connected in some way or another and how things became as they are today. I do not spend time with my professors outside of class, although they have office hours that people are welcome to go to. The education at UMD is geared toward getting a job. Especially in engineering they teach you how to think. The college has so many connections that create endless internship opportunities.

1. No. Unless it is an upperlevel class, which usually has smaller classes 2. Honors seminar, more discussion based and organic learning. Least favorite are the large lectures that lack intimacy and discussion- purely memorizing and regurgitating whatever the professor said 3. I study about 10-20 hours a week, some do much more, some do much less, depends on your major too. 4. Common, but not stressed. Primarily used as an alternative measure of attendance. 5. Some do, UMD is very diverse. 6. When it comes to grades, I think students are competitive 7. Understanding the World Through Reading (Honors Seminar) which allowed students to read the classics and apply literary concepts into the culture and society we create, teacher was a great part in how much I liked the class 8. Accounting/Business 9. No, I don't even think any of the accounting professors know who I am. 10. Standard, I don't expect any other college to really differ that much. 11. Getting a job, definitely. Especially in the Business school.

The only professors that know my name are the ones where participation is a must and the class size is small. I feel that you usually see the same students studying all the time than there are some that you sometimes see them study and others that you always see partying. I feel that students at UMD are really smart and that they have all types of conversation, I hear conversations about spongebob and then I hear conversations about scientific terms that I dont even know how to say. UMD is a very known school and I feel that the students here are all competitive.

This all goes back to the whole major vs. university thing. Within the journalism school, I had a very close relationship with many of my professors. A lot of them ended up writing me recommendation letters and even giving me tips on jobs. My favorite classes in college (though it pains me to say) were my hardest. The journalism classes that tempted me to drop out of the major altogether, by far, taught me the most. For example, Journalism 320 and Feature Writing were a challenge throughout my entire semester. But, looking back, those were the most rewarding and were also taught by my favorite professors. Class participation is completely necessary and usually very common, especially in smaller classes. The most unique class I took was a winter course about women in hip-hop. Whenever I told friends and family about it, they couldn't believe that such a class existed. That is a true testament the the diversity and unique spirit alive on the Maryland campus. The academic requirements at Maryland do tend to fall heavy. I had to take winter and summer courses to graduate on time. While I understand that math, economics, science, computer science and a second language are all important, it was a little cumbersome to fit those, plus everything else, in four years. The education at Maryland is definitely geared towards getting a job. They offer a lot of courses related to job skills and host numerous career fairs throughout the year.

Most professors do not know my name. Class participation is important for your grade, especially in discussion groups. Students often have intellectual conversations outside of class. Some fields, usually the professional ones, at UMD seem to be geared towards getting a job.

You need to be a self-motivated individual. No one will lead you by the hand, especially in the big 500 plus people classes. Talk to the professors make them know your name. Participate in class. Try hard. Take notes and study them. Read the textbook and take notes on that and study those (and the textbook itself). Prepare diligently. And you'll probably be alright.

Academics really depend on the department you're in. I'm a journalism major, where the class sizes are tiny. In one class I'm taking this semester, there are eight students. That environment barely feels like class. Everyone just sits around the table and chats like we're old friends. The professors within the journalism department have either been in the business for years or are still working. I'm friends with the broadcast teachers. In my experience, they're all very helpful. I'd have no problem going into their office to shoot the shit for a while. It takes a while to get to this stage though. Students in other departments have large class sizes and have to work hard to get to know their professors. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

Whether professors know my name depends on (a) the size of the class and (b) whether you speak up in class. For me, it's about 50/50. My favorite class was a seminar on Globalization. We spent the whole time discussing various issues, and the professor was really smart. Least favorite was a management class. Really pointless, taught me pretty much nothing, tho I suppose the prof tried to make the best of it. Depends on the student. Anywhere from all the time to never. I study probably 3-4 hours a day. Class participation is pretty common, especially in discussion based classes. And when the professor stops lecture to ask for questions. Again, depends on the student. I've stayed up late talking about deep stuff with my roommates quite a few times. I don't really think that most students are really competitive, at least not academically.