University of Maryland-College Park Top Questions

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.