University of Maryland-College Park Top Questions

I wish I had known what it really meant to be on a large campus. It means that when you meet someone by chance one day, you'll probably never see them again unless you immediately get their number. It means that you really have to immerse yourself in student organizations or the like to be able to see the same people consistently. But it also means that there are multitudes of people with vastly different backgrounds and perspectives enriching the campus. You just have to look a little harder to find what you're looking for.

Greek life was a large part of this schools activities

I wish I knew more about financial aid opportunities.

The school is very large and many of the generic undergraduate classes are gigantic. When you get into higher level degree sepcific classes the class sizes are smaller.

I wish I would have know about decline of financial aid you're given the more years you attend.

I wish I had known how important it is to get into your college initially.

I am going into my senior year at umd to obtain a bachelor's degree in Psychology. What I wish I knew before I came to this school was how fast the experience was going to be, and how important it is to try as many different activites and classes before deciding what major to focus on, your major is not as important as gaining experience in different environments, meeting new people and building relationships, having fun and learning to work hard while having alot of new freedoms.

Many incoming university students seek the advice of friends, family or alumni and while these personal accounts can act as an important guide, they are not always applicable. In many situations, I wish I had known not to rely on others experiences when making my own personal decisions. It is important to realize that each person has their own individual goals and are following a certain direction. When seeking advice it is important to stay objective, to know the options are endless and it is up to you to discover, experience and learn!

I wish I would have known more opportunities for financial aid and scholarships for the present year and the future years. If I would have known that I would have been better prepared now going into my second year when it comes to paying for tuition.

I wish someone had told me that it's hard to attend and work full-time. You must manage your time very wisely if you are attending full time and working full time.

How to get more academic advising

That it was so different from highschool. I mean thats any university but I can only speak for UMD. The work load is heavy and the expectations are high. Dont plan to attend if you dont plan to put in work.

I wish I had known the rigor of the courseload that I was going to take on, and that high school may not prepare you as well as you would have liked. The workload is doable but all of the professors do expect a lot out of you. In this regard take advantage of all the resources Maryland has to offer you because there are many that will help you suceed at this school.

I wish I would have known that I was not going to get any help from FAFSA. There is not a lot of help for middle class families with multiple kids to attend college.

I wish I had known how much AP classes were going to help me. I would have taken more and been more serious about performing well on tests. Getting "core classes" out of the way early helps and allows more flexiablity in changing majors.

I wish I would have known what I wanted to study before attending this school. It would have saved a lot of time instead of exploring various subjects during my first two years. I would also have liked to be informed about the career opportunities for those who pursued my major, and learn about other areas of interest and the path that I could take after graduation.

I wish I knew the importance of taking AP and Honors classes and high school. If I took more AP classes in high school I could have avoided taking some of the harder college courses in college.

I would have liked to be informed more about the career opportunities for individuals who pursued my major, and other areas of interest so that I could better see the path that I was about to take after graduation.

I wish I had known how big the campus was before I decided to go here, but I got used to and now don't mind it.

I wish I had known how many clubs were available!