Freshman Admission Decision FAQs

Q: How will I know when my admission decision is available for review?

Our office will send you an email notification when your admission decision is ready. When you receive this email, you can view your admission decision online by logging in to the Terps Application Portal. For security and privacy reasons, we cannot reveal admission decisions over the phone or email.

If you are offered admission to the University of Maryland (UMD), you will also receive a general welcome letter from our office in the mail a few days later. Unlike the virtual letter, this hard copy will not include your major or university identification number (UID). 

Q: What if I forgot my password?

If you have forgotten your login information, use the “Forgot Your Password?” link on the login page of the Terps Application Portal. Our office does not have access to recover or reset your password. Recovering or gaining access to the Terps Application Portal without a password cannot be accomplished over the phone, through email or in person.

Q: What information is included in my admission decision letter?

If you are offered admission to UMD, be sure to review your electronic decision letter carefully as it will include details on your semester of admission, your major, your UID and your resident status (for tuition rate classification purposes). Students admitted for the fall semester may also see information on any living-learning program they have been invited to join. 

Q: I applied but did not receive an admission decision. Why?

Review our application deadlines for more information on when application materials are due and when decisions will be released. If you believe you submitted a completed application and all required documents by the appropriate deadline but did not receive an admission decision by the listed date, please first confirm that all of your application materials were received by our office by logging into the Terps Application Portal and reviewing your Checklist.

Applications are considered complete when the online application and all required documents have been submitted. All materials must be submitted electronically or postmarked by the appropriate deadline for consideration, and it is the applicant's responsibility to confirm receipt of documents through the Terps Application Portal. 

If you still believe that you are deserving of an admission decision, please email us with your full name, date of birth and the county and state where you live. In the subject line of your email, please write “Admission Decision.” Once we receive your email, we will review your application and be in touch with you shortly.

Q: I applied for the fall semester but was admitted for the spring semester. Why?

Given the university’s continued commitment to academic success for all students, we remain unable to increase the size of our classes to accommodate additional students. We offer spring admission to students who we feel will be academically successful and contribute to the overall campus community. Freshman students who are offered spring semester admission should confirm enrollment online and pay the enrollment fee by November 15, unless they choose to participate in Freshmen Connection. Freshmen Connection participants must confirm their enrollment by May 1. 

Decisions are final and students admitted for the spring semester cannot appeal their admission decision or defer their enrollment to the fall semester. Requests to be admitted for the fall semester instead of the spring semester will not be considered.

Q: I was admitted for the spring semester. What is Freshmen Connection?

Freshmen Connection is a fall semester extension program offered to all students admitted for the spring semester. In Freshmen Connection, you enroll in courses for the fall semester during off-peak times (3:00 to 9:00 p.m. ET, Monday throughThursday, and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 ET p.m. on Fridays). These courses will count toward your UMD degree. Freshmen Connection students can live in on-campus housing beginning in the fall semester, take advantage of the university’s resources and participate in UMD activities and organizations. 

Participation in Freshmen Connection is optional, but interested students must first confirm their enrollment at UMD by May 1.

Q: I believe my resident status is incorrect. How can I fix this?

If you believe your resident status (for tuition rate classification purposes) is incorrect, please review our residency reclassification policy. If you still have questions, please email oua-residency@umd.edu with the subject line "Recent Freshman Admit Residency Inquiry". Be sure to include your full name, date of birth and UID to assist our team in addressing your inquiry as quickly as possible. This process is strictly handled via email. Cases are reviewed on an individual basis and depending on the circumstances, can take considerable time to resolve as supporting documentation is often required. Our staff will let you know if/when documentation is needed as your residency is reviewed.

Q: Why wasn’t I admitted to UMD?

We understand you are disappointed that we could not offer you admission to UMD at this time. The undergraduate admissions process is rigorous and individualized, and admission to UMD has become increasingly competitive. Our review process considers 26 factors that allow us to make a decision based on a holistic review of your application. We encourage you to review our admission requirements.

Q: I was not offered admission to UMD. Can I reapply?

If you were not granted freshman admission, you can re-apply as a transfer student when you have earned enough credits at another academic institution. Please be sure to review the transfer admission requirements.

Q: Can I appeal my decision?

Due to our rigorous and holistic review process, it is very rare that an initial admission decision is changed. For an appeal to be considered, new and significant academic information is required and only students who were denied admission are eligible for an appeal. Students admitted for the spring semester cannot appeal their decision.

If you have new and significant academic information and would like to pursue appealing your decision, please review our Appeal Requests page for more information.

Q: Can I defer my enrollment to another semester?

Deferral requests are not guaranteed and will be evaluated on an individual basis only if the applicant meets certain criteria. Students admitted for the spring semester cannot defer to the fall semester. All students that are interested in a deferral are required to pay the confirmation fee of $400 before submitting the deferral request and should review the deferral request criteria. 

Q: When will I know more about financial aid and merit scholarships?

For admitted students who applied by the November 1 early action deadline, financial aid offers will be released electronically by March 1. All candidates for merit scholarships are notified by March 1 and all final awards are made no later than April 1. Admitted students who applied by the January 20 regular deadline are not considered for merit scholarships and financial aid offers will be released by early April. Once available, you can view your financial aid status online.

Q: I did not receive a merit scholarship email notification. What is my award status?

All candidates for merit scholarships will receive an email notification by March 1. If you did not receive a merit scholarship email notification by March 1, it means, unfortunately, that you did not receive an award. All merit scholarship decisions are based on academic and applicant information at the time of applying, not current or ongoing work. Additional eligibility requirements for each scholarship can be found on our Freshman Merit Scholarships page. 

Q: If I was not awarded a merit scholarship, can I appeal this?

Students cannot appeal their merit scholarship decisions and the university does not match award offers from other institutions. Awards offered to admitted students who do not enroll at UMD cannot be disbursed to other students. Students are only eligible to receive one merit scholarship. To be considered for merit scholarships, students must submit a completed undergraduate admission application for the fall semester by the November 1 early action deadline. Students admitted for the spring semester are not considered for merit scholarships. 

Q: I did not receive any merit scholarships. Are there other scholarships or aid available to me?

Yes! There are many scholarship opportunities available, whether at UMD or through an outside organization. Scholarships can be offered based on your major, minor, college, department, academic merits, financial need, hobbies, interests, affiliations and more. Once admitted, students can access our scholarship matching tool to find and apply for scholarships.

Visit the Office of Student Financial Aid’s website to get started on your scholarship search and to learn about the financial aid process.

Q: Where can I find my major on my admission decision letter?

Your academic major is listed at the bottom of your online decision letter.

Q: How do I change my major?

To request a change of major, email us with the subject line "Major Change Request" and include your full name, date of birth, current major and desired major in the body of the email. Once your email has been received, an admission representative will be in touch with you regarding your request. All change-of-major requests will be reviewed by our office.

If you were placed in Letters and Sciences, but originally applied for an Limited Enrollment Program (LEP), we discourage submitting a major change request, as it is very rare that these decisions are reversed. If you are requesting to change your major to one that is a designated LEP, it will have to go through a competitive review process.

Q: How can I see if I’ve already earned credits toward my degree?

Some of the coursework you have completed as part of your high school curriculum may count toward your UMD degree. Please explore our Transfer Credit Services website to see what coursework is eligible to transfer. For more information related to credits often taken during high school, please visit the Prior Learning Credit page.

Q: Why was I placed in Letters and Sciences instead of the LEP selected as my preferred major?

If you originally selected a Limited Enrollment Program (LEP) as your preferred major on your application, you may have been placed in Letters and Sciences (LTSC) due to the competitive admission criteria for these programs.

LEPs are very popular and require a limit on the number of students they can accommodate. The determination of whether a student will be admitted into an LEP is made as a component of our holistic application review process. As the number of students who have expressed interest in our LEPs has increased, admission into these programs has become more competitive. If you applied for an LEP but were not found admissible, you were placed in LTSC.

Q: What is Letters and Sciences?

LTSC is an advising college that incoming students are generally placed in for one of two reasons; they want to explore several fields of study before selecting a major or they are pursuing entry into one of our LEPs.

Academic advisors in LTSC will help you explore course possibilities and instruct you on choosing required gateway courses to gain entry to an LEP once all the requirements are met. Because the academic advisors in LTSC are the most adept at helping students gain entry into their preferred major, students are admitted here rather than the second choice major they indicated on their application for admission. To learn more about the resources available to LTSC students, please visit the Letters and Sciences website. For international students, we encourage you to visit their International Student Programs page as well.

Q: How do I gain entry to my LEP of choice?

As you progress through your educational career at UMD, you will have the opportunity to enter your preferred major as a current student. Each LEP has a series of courses, called gateway requirements, which must be completed before applying to the major. If you are able to successfully complete the gateway requirements, you will be reviewed for admission into your preferred LEP. For more information on the specific requirements needed to enter your preferred major, please visit the Limited Enrollment Program website.

Q: Can I change to a non-LEP major at this time?

If you are interested in switching to an alternate major, which is not an LEP, you may email us with the subject line "Major Change Request". In your email, please include your full name, date of birth, current major and desired major. Once your email has been received, an admission representative will be in touch with you regarding your request. All change-of-major requests will be reviewed by our office.

Q: How do I respond to my offer of admission?

To respond to your offer of admission, log in to your Terps Application Portal and navigate to the Decision Form. Complete the response form and, if prompted, submit your enrollment deposit. This nonrefundable, $400 deposit will reserve your place in the incoming class and will be applied to your tuition. It may take up to 48 business hours for your confirmation to be processed. Once you submit the form, you will receive an email confirming your UMD enrollment.

If you were offered fall admission to UMD, you can confirm your enrollment online anytime before May 1. If you were offered spring admission to UMD, you can confirm your enrollment online anytime before November 15. We also encourage you to review additional next steps for admitted students. 

Q: How do I update my personal information?

If you need to update your personal information, please email us with your full name, date of birth and any requested updates to your personal information.

Q: I am a recently admitted international student and I need to submit additional documents. Where should I go?

Now that you have been admitted, please review your next steps and visit the International Student and Scholar Services website. You will not be able to begin your visa application process until you have confirmed your enrollment at UMD.

Once enrollment is confirmed, international students must submit all additional materials required for the visa application process to the International Student and Scholar Services office, not the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Q: I confirmed my enrollment at UMD. What should I do now?

Congratulations and welcome to UMD! After you confirm your enrollment at UMD, you will need to register for New Student Orientation, explore housing options and more. View the full list of next steps you can take as a newly enrolled Terp!

Q: I am not enrolling at UMD. Is there anything I should do?

We are sorry to hear that you will not be joining us at UMD. To notify us of your decision not to enroll, please use the Decision Form found within your Terps Application Portal to confirm “No.” We wish you the best of luck in your personal and academic endeavors.

Q: What are living-learning programs (LLPs)?

Living-learning programs, or LLPs, are specialized residential programs initiated by and having direct connections with faculty and specific academic units/departments within the university’s Division of Academic Affairs. In partnership with Resident Life staff and other student services at the university, these faculty and academic administrators link the curricular and residential experiences in ways that create opportunities for deeper understanding and integration of classroom material.

Q: Can I be invited to more than one LLP?

Newly admitted freshmen can be invited to only one LLP.

Q: How do I confirm my participation in the LLP I was invited to?

To respond to your LLP invitation, log in to your Terps Application Portal and navigate to your Checklist. Once there, you will find your program invitation on the checklist and be able to confirm whether or not you will participate. You will need your UMD App ID when completing your program response form. Your UMD App ID can be found within the Terps Application Portal.

Q: Is my UMD enrollment confirmation separate from my LLP confirmation?

Yes, you must respond to your LLP invitation in addition to submitting your Decision Form and enrollment deposit for UMD. 

It is important to note that some LLPs have confirmation deadlines other than May 1 and these programs tend to fill up quickly.

Q: I wasn’t invited to an LLP. Are there other opportunities for me to get involved at UMD?

Absolutely! As a Terp, you have access to over 800 clubs and organizations, a wide network of Education Abroad programs and all of the exciting events happening across campus.

Q: What is the Maryland English Institute?

The Maryland English Institute (MEI) provides English language instruction and assessment at the postsecondary level for speakers of other languages who wish to learn English for academic, professional or personal reasons.

In some cases, UMD applicants must complete coursework through MEI before beginning their degree program.

Q: What is the difference between MEI’s Intensive English Program and the English Bridge Program?

The Intensive English Program is a full-time program during which participating students will take two English classes. Students will take a placement exam to see in which of the five levels of the program they will be placed. After successfully completing the highest level of the Intensive English Program, admitted students can start their degrees at UMD.

The English Bridge Program is a part-time program during which participating students can take two non-MEI classes for an additional six to eight credits. After successfully completing the English Bridge Program course (UMEI005: Advanced English as a Foreign Language), students can enroll full-time in their degree program courses.

Q: How many classes am I allowed to take at UMD while studying through MEI?

If you are admitted to the Intensive English Program you can only take the English course in which you have been placed. If you are admitted to the English Bridge Program, you may take two more classes for six to eight credits. You must be registered for at least 12 credits to be a full-time student; the English Bridge Program course is weighted at six credits.

Q: Do you provide housing for MEI students?

MEI students that are admitted through undergraduate admissions as incoming freshmen are guaranteed housing following the same guidelines as other incoming freshmen. MEI admitted transfer students and students studying exclusively through MEI are offered housing on a space-available basis.

Q: While studying through MEI, will I be able to fully access UMD facilities?

MEI students are UMD students, therefore they have access to all facilities in the same manner as other UMD students.