Student Profile
Benjamin
- Class: Junior
- Major: Engineering
- Gender: M
- High School: Homeschool
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
UMBC's location is one of the greatest things about it. It takes less than 10 minutes to get to downtown Baltimore and only about half an hour to get to Washington D.C. UMBC has its own exit on Route 195 and is immediately accesible from both the Baltimore beltway (695) and the 95 interstate. UMBC also offers a shuttle service that runs downtown, to the Arundel Mills mall and to the neighborhoods surrounding campus on a daily basis. UMBC is a very liberal school. There are student organizations and groups willing to express and represent any sort of political, religious or philosophical leaning you might have. Tolerance is pretty much the highest virtue. Students interested in organizations have a great resource through the Office of Student Life. Student organizations can apply for funding from the student government association, are qualified as non-profit organizations for charity purposes, have access to professional sound, video, catering, management, and security personel amoung other perks. If you have good highschool grades, AP credit and/or good SAT scores, you'll probably get a scholarship from UMBC. The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships on campus give out lots and lots of money to lure prospective freshman but if you receive an award, be sure to keep your grades up. Scholarships require a 3.00 or 3.25 ***ulative GPA maintenance depending on the award.
Academic Life
Academics at UMBC are held to a high standard. Professors are generally very interested in their field of study and interested in sharing what they know with their students. Many freshman courses are held in large lecture hall students which afford students little face-to-face time with their professors but as students declare majors and join departments it becomes much easier to gain a personal knowledge with their professors. Education at UMBC is very much geared towards job placement. There is an office on campus called the Shriver Center that schedules job fairs and brings employers to the campus to conduct interviews. They also manage a database of employers with internship or entry-level job opportunities.
Student Body
My experience has been that just about every group possible is represented at UMBC. A large computer science program means lots of nerdy kids. Division I athletics provide a fairly large representation of jocks. Lots of preppy kids join fraternities and sorrorities. However, most students at UMBC defy such petty pidgeonholing. You will be sure to meet lots of truly individual people.
The Best Things
The fact that I'm on a full scholarship!
The Worst Things
Parking during the week
