University of Maryland-College Park Top Questions

I think we are stereotyped as a proud student body, and this stereotype is very accurate. Most if not all UMD students are Proud to Be a Terp!

The University of Maryland is a hard school to stereotype because it is honestly as diverse as it hopes to appear. To mention a few of the generalizations though, people sometimes think there are a lot of Asian and Jewish students at UMD. This is true to a certain extent, there are many of these students at UMD but it must be appreciated that there are a lot of most every kind of student as well. Maryland is a huge school and thus there is a group or niche for everyone. Maryland also has a very prevalent Greek community which can sometimes get a bad rep as loud, rowdy, and exclusive. Of course there will be some students like that, as there will be anywhere, but UMD actually has one of the leading Greek communities as far as Greek life being more than glorified drinking clubs. The bottom line is that UMD is a big school with many diverse students and groups that provide something for literally everyone.

Maryland is thought to be a "party" school, but in my opinion, there is something for everyone and your undergraduate experience is what you make of it. Maryland has numerous nationally-ranked academic programs.

Stereotypes do not follow the University of Maryland, however, depending on what you are looking for in a school, one might place their own stereotypes on UMD students. Maryland was ranked as the #19 party school by the Princeton Review, so one may place the stereotype of "party-ers" on students. Then again, Maryland has 50 top 20 programs, and the average GPA for acceptance is 4.0, so one may put the "Geeky" stereotype. As far as Greek life stereotypes, it may seem as though everyone is in a fraternity or sorority, but only 13{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the 36,000 student body are in Greek Life. The truth is, you cannot place stereotypes, because we are not a stereotypical school. Everyone is different, but with the 36,000 undergrads attending the school, everyone is bound to find their place.

The stereotype of students at the University of Maryland seems to be that they are lazy students. The University of Maryland has been on top ten lists of some major publications for its students' "lacking work ethic" and "party school personalities". While I do notice many students at College Park who exhibit these traits, that is by no means the identity of the majority of our campus personality. Students who attend this institution are intelligent, hard-working, and progressive men and women. While there are exceptions to the rule, the University of Maryland's student population is much smarter and hard working than the media give them credit for, especially in the science, business, and journalism departments.

I think the great part about the University of Maryland is that there is not one central stereotype about the students who go here. Sure, there are the jocks, and frat kids, but there are also the serious students and the creative students. Our school is so big that all of these stereotypical children can coexist. I would say that UMD would be considered a party school but most people here know how to balance responsibilities with having a good time.

The stereotypes are that many people come from the suburbs and are rich. It is also believed that many people wear northface jackets and uggs all of the time. There is also the belief that many people do not study and wait until the last minute to get work done and that the Universit of Maryland is an "easy school". These stereotypes are not true; there are people on scholarships for their academics and people from diverse backgrounds come to this University. People wear a variety of clothing and there are many people who chose to express themselves this way, wearing shorts when it's cold or simply wearing a jacket they think is cool. Finally, Maryland is definitely not an easy school. The classes are challenging and the professors try their hardest to impart thier knowledge on thier students. Students constantly go to the library to study and durring the spring and early fall months, many students can be seen studying outside.

The stereotype of students at my school, which is true, is that everyone is a terp with amazing school spirit. While walking on campus there is never a day where someone doesn't have on Maryland paraphernalia. Whether it's a hat, bookbag, sweatshirt, sweatpants or a t-shirt, you can always find someone wearing Maryland gear. Also Greek life seems to be a BIG deal at UMD. And I think it is to a certain extent. Girls are proud to wear there letters on their bags or coffee mugs. The clamor and fun doesn't only surround Greek life, which is a common misconception. There are an abundance of organizations and clubs on campus, not just Greek life.

The University of Maryland is a hard school to stereotype because it is honestly as diverse as it hopes to appear. To mention a few of the generalizations though, people sometimes think there are a lot of Asian and Jewish students at UMD. This is true to a certain extent, there are many of these students at UMD but it must be appreciated that there are a lot of most every kind of student as well. Maryland is a huge school and thus there is a group or niche for everyone. Maryland also has a very prevalent Greek community which can sometimes get a bad rep as loud, rowdy, and exclusive. Of course there will be some students like that, as there will be anywhere, but UMD actually has one of the leading Greek communities as far as moving past "animal house" type traditions and turning Greek Life into a whole lot more than glorified drinking clubs. The bottom line is that UMD is a big school with many diverse students and groups that provide something for literally everyone.

Maryland has a reputation to be a party school. There definitely are people who party a lot -- bars and buses are packed on weekends, and there's always people wondering around the frat houses. However, Maryland is very diverse. If partying isn't your thing, you can definitely find other people to have fun with. Maryland students also have a reputation to have a lot of school pride. This is definitely accurate. It is one of the reasons I love Maryland so much. People that go here are proud to go here. This also shows through heavily at sporting events (for better or for worse).