University of Maryland-College Park Top Questions

One of the worst things about this school is how worried and strict the administration and the local police are about parties, when there is a great deal of real crime that happens on and around campus almost daily. Parties have a good chance of being broken up, but while the police are busy with that, there are muggings, assaults and robberies that occur. Also, campus is very strict with Greek Life, and they have put a strong control over what is allowed to happen. Administrators also did not build in "study days" this semester for final exams.

their lack of updating their facilities

That it is in Maryland. Maryland weather is the worst.

The worst thing about UMCP is the transportation to baltimore. You can easily get to DC and other areas, but to get to baltimore a car is needed.

It is too big and the housing situation can be ridiculous. Also, too expensive!

The worst thing about my school has to be the need for more housing, which affected my class last semester. The majority of us juniors had to find places off campus, because we were basically kicked off campus.

The surrounding neighborhood of College Park. I wish we had a classic college town but instead it's dirty and crime-ridden. This makes some off-campus housing options unsafe, which is especially disconcerting because so many students are forced to find housing off campus because of our on-campus housing crisis.

It would be the weather. It is far too windy and cold

The worst thing about this school would have to be how some of the teachers run their classes. I have had quite a few classes where the professors do not try to make their classes interesting and seem like they do not even want to be there. Then they have things on the exams that they did not cover in the lectures and are not in the readings.

The worst thing about this school is the lack of communication between advisors and students. It is nearly impossible to talk to an advisor, and when you do, they are usually not very helpful.

the performance of the sports teams

The administration is out to squeeze every penny out of you but doesn't offer much help, the professors care more about research than teaching but they are forced to teach.

The housing crunch is the worst policy the school has made. although reslife is making long-term plans students are moving off campus because of low availability. furthermore, the school uses a lottery system and it is terrible. A student's housing decision is created on a gamble. furthermore, there are specialty housing for special programs such as honor, hinman CEO and beyond the classroom. students apply and get into these programs solely for housing reasons. this isn't fair to the student who really wanted to be in these programs for more than just housing.

Not enough publicity of clubs

The worst thing is safety. The surrounding neighborhoods are nice, but you can't walk alone at night. People from surrounding (bad) areas come into College Park occasionally, and unfortunately there's not enough security around the area to keep them from threatening students.

there is currently not enough housing but more buildings are currently being built

the cost

The large population of the school typically makes registering for classes difficult and frustrating. Additionally, I abhor the cost of on-campus parking tickets ($75). Although some students dislike the City of College Park , I think it has charm despite its somewhat run-down appearance and the fact that walking alone after dark is not an option.

The worst thing about my school is the lack of off-campus activites. Since only freshman are guarenteed housing, it puts a damper on the involvement at the school and the ability to meet new people.

I think the worst thing about my school is the billing office. If you have .35 on you bill and you need to register, they WILL NOT register. They are not sympathic to family situations that occur at times. Even if you are able to provide documentation of a hard ship it is VERY unlikely that anything will be done and that the bursar's office will work with you. It has caused a few people I know to have to stay an extra semester and even an extra year because they couldn't pay and they coun't register.