The St Mary's College of Maryland

Date: Sep 06 2012
Major: Psychology (This Major's Salary over time)
I went to this school because it was in state & I got a partial scholarship, meaning my parents were paying about 6 grand/year for me to go there full time. The only other school I got into was Boston U, which was $40k/year & not worth it. Comparing the prices, there was really no choice. I have since transferred to UMD College Park, which is more competitive, higher avg everything, bigger, more people/parties/stuff to do, smarter people, some famous (in academia) teachers, etc.

The good: classes are small, so you really do get to know teachers well & most are available to help you understand material after class (or in class). This also comes in handy for recommendation letters. Most depts are easy, except the sciences & math. I dunno who said people there are stuck up; they're not. The avg student may be middle to upper-middle class, but its not like you need lots of money to live in bumfck nowhere. Lots of hippies (like cartoonish caricatures of hippies who don't go to shows), some trustafarians, some squares, some jocks. If you have avg social skills you will have a small group of (relatively close) friends who you will see ALL THE TIME. There are "parties" on the weekends which consist of sitting in someone's house (which all look alike btw) & drinking. It feels like you do the exact same thing every day. Everyone plays guitar. Lots of alumni go to grad school. Its extremely easy to get good grades (at least in psych) if you just show up to class & do homework.

The bad: The #1 thing I wanted to point out is that if you're from rural MD (as most people at this school are), you'll probably like the school fine. But if you're from a city, big town, or anywhere where you're used to having things to do on the weekend (besides drink beer in or next to a corn field), you will be bored out yo mind. You will see the same people every day & it's impossible to avoid anyone. This school does not have nearly as good of a reputation as their administration likes to pretend. The other side of small classes is that they take attendance, and it counts towards grades for most classes (at least in the psych dept.), no matter how easy the class is. So if you're over the age of 12 it can feel like you're being babysat. Also I met the 3 most annoying people I've ever known at this place. One time I counted everyone who walked into the cafeteria wearing jeans or sweatpants: it was about 98%. If you don't understand why this would matter, explaining it wouldn't help. The frequent grammatical/spelling errors in reviews on here written by graduates should give you some idea of how rigorous the school is. Outside MD, nobody's heard of SMCM (and most alumni plan on never leaving MD, or at least never will). Inside MD, most people will think you said "Mount St. Mary's", because apparently that school is better known. Some schools (like the Ivy League, for instance) have very active alumni networks where there are people just lining up to give you a job upon graduation; SMCM has NO alumni network and the name never helped me get so much as an internship when I went there. An unsettlingly high number of people who I went to SMCM with are now waiters/waitresses 2 years after graduating (mostly social science degrees). A degree from there will not impress employers. UMBC is an "honors college" too. The people who constantly repeat that slogan don't even know what it means. It means that the classes are (almost) all 4 credits, and that's it.

In summary: classes - good, social life - bad (unless you're from rural MD & used to being bored). People - OK but there's very few of them, reputation - non-existent. If you want a good College college experience, go to California, go to NYC, go to Boston. See the world. If you want a summer camp, well, SMCM is always there.