The University of Maryland - College Park

Okay, so a lot of people have some negative things to say about College Park. I will try to break it down to be fair. I love College Park, I have made great friends and have learned a lot about myself in the past four years. But this school is not for everyone by any means. 1. It is a HUGE campus, and if you allow yourself to get lost in the crowd you will. But with having a huge campus it means you see and meet people you would never experience somewhere else. 2. There are a lot of people that go home on weekends, etc. That being said if you live oncampus for atleast one year (which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND) that problem disappears. Most of the people who are home on the weekends do not live on campus so you will find it will not really affect you. 3. The university gives a lot of aid, with scholarships, grants, and federal loans. But you must make sure your FAFSA is in by February 15th!!! 4. There is definitely two separate worlds in college park. Greek and non-Greek. I personally chose not to join a sorority, but most of my friends are in one. I do find that those in the Greek system seem to be more satisfied with their decision to come here because it is such a huge campus and the greek system sort of forces you to be a part of it. Since most of my friends are in fraternities and sororities I was able to be a part of that too and I have to say its nice to know you can always go somewhere and have 20 people to talk to. That being said, make sure you look at all the fraternities and sororities carefully. There are definitely different houses for different kids of people, so make sure you join a place where you will feel comfortable. 5.College Park, the town is in a very low income area. The roads outside the campus look like city streets, there are delapitated buildings, homeless people at 7-11, and issues of violence. I am not judging that whatsoever, but I am making an observation. Campus is extremely safe if you make it that way. It IS a CITY on its own, and with that come dangers. If you decide to walk alone down a road at 2 in the morning that is not a safe decision. But the campus offers so many services, like escorts, busses, drunk busses (which pick you up anywhere in a 5 mile radius of campus and bring you back to your dorm, apartment, house etc.) There is a blue safety light system, and within 30 seconds of pressing the button a police officer will be there. PLus they are no using cameras to monitor the entire area. 6. Get used to walking. This is a huge campus, and car or no car you will be doing some walking. The campus is beautiful and enjoyable to walk around, but just make sure you dont feel the need to wear stilettos to class! 7. D.C. and Baltimore are very accessible. Which can come in handy when you are bored on a Saturday. (The inner harbor in the spring is the best place!) 8. There are now 4 bars in college park... which come the weekend you will be glad for all those students who go home on the weekend. Every bar has a different "personality" and has different crowds. There is always one bar that is PACKED depending on what night of the week it is and what specials are going on. And there is always on bar that is dead. It is ridiculous that there are only 4 bars in the area, and YOU WILL get tired of them very quickly. But they can still be a good time, and there are many other things to do. There is the cities like I mentioned, a movie theatre and bowling and pool etc on campus, lots of local movies, malls, and restaurants, and a great gym. And an outside pool where all the girls wear bikinis and the boys flaunt their beer guts in the spring!Essentially, I would recommend coming to check out the campus, I love it here. It has great sports teams! GO TERPS! and is just a really amazing place to be if you make it that way. Try an overnight visit where the campus will match you up with someone in the dorms so you can be there for a day or two... and just remember there is no "perfect" college, its all about what you make of it!

4th Year Female -- Class 2003

Scholastic Success: A+, Surrounding City: C