University of Maryland c/o 2016 Forum

[diegoforlan10]

Hey everyone! I'm another Maryland 1L (full-time). It feels like just yesterday I was panicking in these threads about acceptances, now I'm panicking about finals.

Anyway feel free to shoot me any questions you may have. I know stephinmd is lurking this thread, too.

[diegoforlan10]

Just got my acceptance letter! Feels good to have my 1st T-1 acceptance . This is definitely one of my top choices, hoping for a little scholly money, but we'll see. The letter says they will be in touch within the next few weeks with more info on the admissions process (assuming $$ & other accepted students stuff) Goodluck & congrats to everyone!

FYI after talking to a few people in my class it seems like Maryland has gotten more generous with their money. So even if they don't offer you anything right off the bat, you should definitely negotiate with them as your other acceptances start rolling in.

Edit - Super congrats on getting in btw

[slawww]

Just got my acceptance letter! Feels good to have my 1st T-1 acceptance . This is definitely one of my top choices, hoping for a little scholly money, but we'll see. The letter says they will be in touch within the next few weeks with more info on the admissions process (assuming $$ & other accepted students stuff) Goodluck & congrats to everyone!

FYI after talking to a few people in my class it seems like Maryland has gotten more generous with their money. So even if they don't offer you anything right off the bat, you should definitely negotiate with them as your other acceptances start rolling in.


Edit - Super congrats on getting in btw

Thanks! Maryland is definitely a top choice for me, and if they are generous with the money it would be a very easy decision for me. How do you like the school & overall atmosphere? Also, do you know if out of state students can apply for in-state tuition after their first year? Thanks!

[Dr. Dingleberry, PHD]

Thanks! Maryland is definitely a top choice for me, and if they are generous with the money it would be a very easy decision for me. How do you like the school & overall atmosphere? Also, do you know if out of state students can apply for in-state tuition after their first year? Thanks!

I'll jump in on this convo, too. I'm also a 1L.

I like the school a lot. The overall atmosphere is excellent - you really do get the feeling that everyone in the school cares about you and your success. (almost) All the professors are approachable and sincere about helping you. Faculty and staff are all positive, friendly, and pleasant. The student body is pretty good as well. I can confidently say that there are no true "gunners" in any of my classes. There are people who ask annoying questions sometimes, but nothing over the top or truly groan inducing. Actually, people are quite helpful and supportive of their classmates .Obviously this is just my experience in my super-section, could be that other super-sections are worse.

The atmosphere outside the law school is...well...less than perfect? The school is squarely in the heart of downtown Baltimore, so don't expect to see any quads, hollows, malls, fields, or green of any sort. This was different from my undergrad, but not really a big deal to me. Law school is more like a job - you go there, do what you have to do, then go home. You're not there to relax and enjoy yourself, like in undergrad. Moreover, the school is right on the line between a nice area of town and the ghetto. You will see sketchy people on the street, you will be asked for change. It's a little jarring, but a minor inconvenience. It is quite safe. There are plenty of campus police patrolling the streets, and they're also super friendly and helpful. If you've never experienced true city life, living downtown might be a useful way to challenge yourself to go outside of your comfort zone.

As to in-state residency: I have lived in MD almost all my life, so I can't really help you much with this. From what I understand you cannot qualify for in-state tuition if your only purpose for living in MD is to attend school. However, if you have significant other who works in the state I'm pretty sure you can qualify after your first year. This might be a good question to ask the office of financial aid.

Also, another piece of advice for everyone in this thread: Don't 100% commit to Maryland (or any other school for that matter) until you absolutely have to. Also, even if you are sure MD is where you want to go, apply to other schools. I say this because as long as you have acceptances/waitlists at other schools, you have ammo to negotiate for money from Maryland. Generally, this means do not remove yourself from waitlists at other schools and do not withdraw your other acceptances unless you are absolutely positive you will not attend AND that acceptance won't help you negotiate with Maryland. The only time you should remove yourself from a waitlist or revoke your admission is after a school you don't really want to go to denies you scholarship money and/or after Maryland denies giving you scholarship money based on your admission to that other school. I know TLS wants you to revoke your admission ASAP after you know you don't want to attend so that someone who really does want to go can take your spot. It sounds douchey, but if you're trying to minimize your cost of attendance, that advice is not the way to go. Negotiating works. Maryland might throw a lot of money at you or, if they don't, another school might throw enough at you to convince you to go there. Keep your options open. You gotta put yourself in the best position possible to pay as little money as possible, even if MD is the perfect match for you (god damn I sound like an awful person!).

[tlink1990]

I like the school a lot. The overall atmosphere is excellent - you really do get the feeling that everyone in the school cares about you and your success. (almost) All the professors are approachable and sincere about helping you. Faculty and staff are all positive, friendly, and pleasant. The student body is pretty good as well. I can confidently say that there are no true "gunners" in any of my classes. There are people who ask annoying questions sometimes, but nothing over the top or truly groan inducing. Actually, people are quite helpful and supportive of their classmates .Obviously this is just my experience in my super-section, could be that other super-sections are worse.

The atmosphere outside the law school is...well...less than perfect? The school is squarely in the heart of downtown Baltimore, so don't expect to see any quads, hollows, malls, fields, or green of any sort. This was different from my undergrad, but not really a big deal to me. Law school is more like a job - you go there, do what you have to do, then go home. You're not there to relax and enjoy yourself, like in undergrad. Moreover, the school is right on the line between a nice area of town and the ghetto. You will see sketchy people on the street, you will be asked for change. It's a little jarring, but a minor inconvenience. It is quite safe. There are plenty of campus police patrolling the streets, and they're also super friendly and helpful. If you've never experienced true city life, living downtown might be a useful way to challenge yourself to go outside of your comfort zone.

I received my admit in the mail today. Pretty cool. I have a question. How do you like Baltimore as a city and do you feel there are a lot of job opportunities coming out of the law school?

[Dr. Dingleberry, PHD]

I received my admit in the mail today. Pretty cool. I have a question. How do you like Baltimore as a city and do you feel there are a lot of job opportunities coming out of the law school?

I grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore, so I'm probably biased, but I love the city. It's not perfect, though. Its no NYC, DC, or Philly in terms of cultural/nightlife offerings, but the bar scene is still pretty good. I've never felt like there was a lack of things to do. In terms of safety - I haven't had any issues yet. Be smart and you should be OK.

Jobs - I don't know what to tell you. Being here hasn't given me any better picture of how the job market is. Everyone is so caught up in studying for class that no one really talks about the employment prospects. I know from the research I did back when I was in your shoes that the prospects are pretty average for schools in the 30-50 range. Sorry I'm not more helpful, but I simply don't know any better than you do.

If you don't know already, lawschooltransperency.com is a good source for info on employment prospects at many different schools.

[tlink1990]

I received my admit in the mail today. Pretty cool. I have a question. How do you like Baltimore as a city and do you feel there are a lot of job opportunities coming out of the law school?

I grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore, so I'm probably biased, but I love the city. It's not perfect, though. Its no NYC, DC, or Philly in terms of cultural/nightlife offerings, but the bar scene is still pretty good. I've never felt like there was a lack of things to do. In terms of safety - I haven't had any issues yet. Be smart and you should be OK.

Jobs - I don't know what to tell you. Being here hasn't given me any better picture of how the job market is. Everyone is so caught up in studying for class that no one really talks about the employment prospects. I know from the research I did back when I was in your shoes that the prospects are pretty average for schools in the 30-50 range. Sorry I'm not more helpful, but I simply don't know any better than you do.

If you don't know already, lawschooltransperency.com is a good source for info on employment prospects at many different schools.

Thanks Dr. My dad was just in Baltimore and he said he really liked it. I definitely have to visit sometime next year. Thanks for the website too

[Granfalloon12]

re: Baltimore, I currently go to school there, and it's definitely a great college city -- believe it was named one of the top cities in America to live in for recent grads based on things like housing, nightlife, etc., if that counts for anything. I'd love to stay there at Maryland for law school pending an acceptance and how things work out with other offers.

[slawww]

I'll jump in on this convo, too. I'm also a 1L.

I like the school a lot. The overall atmosphere is excellent - you really do get the feeling that everyone in the school cares about you and your success. (almost) All the professors are approachable and sincere about helping you. Faculty and staff are all positive, friendly, and pleasant. The student body is pretty good as well. I can confidently say that there are no true "gunners" in any of my classes. There are people who ask annoying questions sometimes, but nothing over the top or truly groan inducing. Actually, people are quite helpful and supportive of their classmates .Obviously this is just my experience in my super-section, could be that other super-sections are worse.

The atmosphere outside the law school is...well...less than perfect? The school is squarely in the heart of downtown Baltimore, so don't expect to see any quads, hollows, malls, fields, or green of any sort. This was different from my undergrad, but not really a big deal to me. Law school is more like a job - you go there, do what you have to do, then go home. You're not there to relax and enjoy yourself, like in undergrad. Moreover, the school is right on the line between a nice area of town and the ghetto. You will see sketchy people on the street, you will be asked for change. It's a little jarring, but a minor inconvenience. It is quite safe. There are plenty of campus police patrolling the streets, and they're also super friendly and helpful. If you've never experienced true city life, living downtown might be a useful way to challenge yourself to go outside of your comfort zone.

As to in-state residency: I have lived in MD almost all my life, so I can't really help you much with this. From what I understand you cannot qualify for in-state tuition if your only purpose for living in MD is to attend school. However, if you have significant other who works in the state I'm pretty sure you can qualify after your first year. This might be a good question to ask the office of financial aid.

Also, another piece of advice for everyone in this thread: Don't 100% commit to Maryland (or any other school for that matter) until you absolutely have to. Also, even if you are sure MD is where you want to go, apply to other schools. I say this because as long as you have acceptances/waitlists at other schools, you have ammo to negotiate for money from Maryland. Generally, this means do not remove yourself from waitlists at other schools and do not withdraw your other acceptances unless you are absolutely positive you will not attend AND that acceptance won't help you negotiate with Maryland. The only time you should remove yourself from a waitlist or revoke your admission is after a school you don't really want to go to denies you scholarship money and/or after Maryland denies giving you scholarship money based on your admission to that other school. I know TLS wants you to revoke your admission ASAP after you know you don't want to attend so that someone who really does want to go can take your spot. It sounds douchey, but if you're trying to minimize your cost of attendance, that advice is not the way to go. Negotiating works. Maryland might throw a lot of money at you or, if they don't, another school might throw enough at you to convince you to go there. Keep your options open. You gotta put yourself in the best position possible to pay as little money as possible, even if MD is the perfect match for you (god damn I sound like an awful person!).

Hey, Dingleberry, thanks for all the info!

I'm very curious about negotiating scholarships with Maryland. Did you and/or anyone you know do this successfully? Did you negotiate with schollys from other schools or just with acceptances? Also, do you know when Maryland usually sends out their scholarship offers? You're definitely not an awful person, haha! Thanks for all the insight!

[harveyfan]

I was away for the thanksgiving holiday, but when I was gone, I received my acceptance letter!
It feels so good to start my cycle with this!

[slawww]

I was away for the thanksgiving holiday, but when I was gone, I received my acceptance letter!
It feels so good to start my cycle with this!

Congrats!

[harveyfan]

I was away for the thanksgiving holiday, but when I was gone, I received my acceptance letter!
It feels so good to start my cycle with this!

Congrats!

Thank you! Same to you!

[Dr. Dingleberry, PHD]

Hey, Dingleberry, thanks for all the info!

I'm very curious about negotiating scholarships with Maryland. Did you and/or anyone you know do this successfully? Did you negotiate with schollys from other schools or just with acceptances? Also, do you know when Maryland usually sends out their scholarship offers? You're definitely not an awful person, haha! Thanks for all the insight!

I did negotiate successfully. So did a few of my classmates. I was offered a very small grant with my initial acceptance. Later, a "higher ranked" school (literally like 10 spots, nothing huge) accepted me with a larger scholarship. I sent that info over to Maryland, and Maryland matched it. Then I waffled for a bit between which school to actually attend, told Maryland I wasn't ready to fully commit, and Maryland upped their offer more. Actually, the other school also upped their offer as well. I chalk this up mostly to luck, but it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't heard from another TLSer back when I was in your shoes that negotiating works . You gotta put yourself into the best position possible.

I don't want to get into much more detail because I feel like I'm coming off like an entitled prick. Obviously its impossible for everyone to receive grant/scholarship money. But know that few people who get accepted to UMD read TLS. The vast majority of people won't even think about negotiating a scholarship, so you shouldn't have that much competition. Also, once you've been accepted, you're golden. Maryland can't revoke that offer unless you do some REALLY bad character & fitness stuff (or don't pay your seat deposits). So why not try to negotiate? The worst that will happen is somebody in the admissions office who you'll never see rejects your offer. There's no downside, so you might as well try.

All that being said, its probably way too early to worry about negotiating scholarships. I just realized how early in the cycle we are (what's with you overachievers?? ). I'm pretty sure UM doesn't make any moves regarding scholarships or grants until the spring, so you have a lot of time to think about what you want to do. My advice for now is to apply to as many schools as possible.

[slawww]

Hey, Dingleberry, thanks for all the info!

I'm very curious about negotiating scholarships with Maryland. Did you and/or anyone you know do this successfully? Did you negotiate with schollys from other schools or just with acceptances? Also, do you know when Maryland usually sends out their scholarship offers? You're definitely not an awful person, haha! Thanks for all the insight!

I did negotiate successfully. So did a few of my classmates. I was offered a very small grant with my initial acceptance. Later, a "higher ranked" school (literally like 10 spots, nothing huge) accepted me with a larger scholarship. I sent that info over to Maryland, and Maryland matched it. Then I waffled for a bit between which school to actually attend, told Maryland I wasn't ready to fully commit, and Maryland upped their offer more. Actually, the other school also upped their offer as well. I chalk this up mostly to luck, but it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't heard from another TLSer back when I was in your shoes that negotiating works . You gotta put yourself into the best position possible.

I don't want to get into much more detail because I feel like I'm coming off like an entitled prick. Obviously its impossible for everyone to receive grant/scholarship money. But know that few people who get accepted to UMD read TLS. The vast majority of people won't even think about negotiating a scholarship, so you shouldn't have that much competition. Also, once you've been accepted, you're golden. Maryland can't revoke that offer unless you do some REALLY bad character & fitness stuff (or don't pay your seat deposits). So why not try to negotiate? The worst that will happen is somebody in the admissions office who you'll never see rejects your offer. There's no downside, so you might as well try.

All that being said, its probably way too early to worry about negotiating scholarships. I just realized how early in the cycle we are (what's with you overachievers?? ). I'm pretty sure UM doesn't make any moves regarding scholarships or grants until the spring, so you have a lot of time to think about what you want to do. My advice for now is to apply to as many schools as possible.

Thanks again for all the info! I have applied to many schools exactly for that reason. I may be sending you a PM down the road as scholarship info starts to come out, if you don't mind!

[muskies970]

Got accepted last week as well! I'm really excited, I grew up in Maryland and love Baltimore.

Does anyone know about admitted students events? Or should I just do a regular tour of the law school?

[tony2167]

Got my acceptance letter today (3.19/164). Nothing in it about a scholarship but I wasn't really expecting much of one from them. From what I've gathered in this thread they dont even start talking scholarships until the spring?

[zoomzoom88]

status update to 11/26 but nothing else changed... any guesses if this is important or completely irrelevant?

[slawww]

status update to 11/26 but nothing else changed... any guesses if this is important or completely irrelevant?

That's hard to say, but I had an update like that, then the next say my status was "decision made," and then I received an acceptance letter 3 days later. Hopefully they were just preparing your acceptance letter today!

[zoomzoom88]

haha i'd be so excited!... idk it must have changed late this afternoon because I checked around 5 and still had an old update date.

[pret]

Hey everyone, I applied pt and am in need of some of your guys' wisdom. My application went complete on 11/15, I then went In Review on 11/16 but went In Review AGAIN last night. Does anyone have any clue as to what, if anything, this means?

[harveyfan]

Hey everyone, I applied pt and am in need of some of your guys' wisdom. My application went complete on 11/15, I then went In Review on 11/16 but went In Review AGAIN last night. Does anyone have any clue as to what, if anything, this means?

I went under review twice (on 11/16 and 11/20) before getting a decision on 11/21. Might mean that they're almost ready to issue a decision for you.

[slawww]

Hey everyone, I applied pt and am in need of some of your guys' wisdom. My application went complete on 11/15, I then went In Review on 11/16 but went In Review AGAIN last night. Does anyone have any clue as to what, if anything, this means?

I went under review twice (on 11/16 and 11/20) before getting a decision on 11/21. Might mean that they're almost ready to issue a decision for you.

+1.

[pret]

Hey everyone, I applied pt and am in need of some of your guys' wisdom. My application went complete on 11/15, I then went In Review on 11/16 but went In Review AGAIN last night. Does anyone have any clue as to what, if anything, this means?

I went under review twice (on 11/16 and 11/20) before getting a decision on 11/21. Might mean that they're almost ready to issue a decision for you.

A good one or a dark/evil/sinister one?

[harveyfan]

Hey everyone, I applied pt and am in need of some of your guys' wisdom. My application went complete on 11/15, I then went In Review on 11/16 but went In Review AGAIN last night. Does anyone have any clue as to what, if anything, this means?

I went under review twice (on 11/16 and 11/20) before getting a decision on 11/21. Might mean that they're almost ready to issue a decision for you.

A good one or a dark/evil/sinister one?

I was admitted! So hopefully a good one!

[pret]

Hey everyone, I applied pt and am in need of some of your guys' wisdom. My application went complete on 11/15, I then went In Review on 11/16 but went In Review AGAIN last night. Does anyone have any clue as to what, if anything, this means?

I went under review twice (on 11/16 and 11/20) before getting a decision on 11/21. Might mean that they're almost ready to issue a decision for you.

A good one or a dark/evil/sinister one?

I was admitted! So hopefully a good one!

I certainly hope so, thanks! I just noticed on LSN that nobody who's gotten a decision back thus far has been dinged, so I really hope they make a decision on my application soon. Maryland's my #1 choice.