Throughout my time at the University of Maryland, I can say that the most frustrating thing I’ve had to deal with, academic and otherwise, has had to do with Limited Enrollment Programs (LEP) and their related majors. Although I was admitted to my LEP recently, others were not as lucky. No matter what the result, the long, tiring road through the LEP department is a tough and arduous one.
A Limited Enrollment Program is a major (usually very popular) at the University of Maryland that requires a limit on the number of students they can accommodate. Students can be directly admitted to these majors when applying as a freshman, but if they are not, they must fulfill the gateway requirements set for the major, and apply to that major specifically. UMD’s LEPs are: Business, Biological Sciences, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Environmental Science & Diversity: Biodiversity, Communication, Criminology & Criminal Justice, Engineering, Government & Politics, Journalism, and Psychology. These are some of the university’s most popular and sought-after majors.
Let me just state that I do not know a single student who has had a pleasant or relatively painless experience regarding information or admission to an LEP. Why? What is so bad? You take the gateway classes you need, then switch right into the major, right? Oh, if only it were that easy. Just for the amount of students enrolled in LEPs alone, even without considering the huge amount of those looking to enroll in one, the university does not put nearly enough resources into the LEP department.
My experience with the LEPs has been disappointing, to say the least. Last year, when I initially became interested in applying to UMD’s Smith School of Business, I contacted the LEP department and went to walk-in advising hours. I met with an advisor, but they couldn’t discuss the Smith School application process, help me in assessing my chances of admission or advise me on what my academic track should be. They told me to contact the Smith School, who quickly told me that they could not discuss applications or admissions with me.
I gave them the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t until I was actually applying to my LEP that the (lack of) department became a problem. After sending in my application, I waited patiently for the ‘mid-November’ response date listed on the LEP admissions website. The end of November was coming around, and I was days away from having to sign up for my next semester classes, but I was still major-less and guidance-less.
After multiple emails and phone calls to multiple LEP contacts, with no response, I showed up at the office I had visited last semester, simply wondering if anyone was still there. I talked to the student secretary there, who told me that the LEP advisor, presumably the one I spoke to, quit, and that there was no replacement. He was honest with me, and told me that there was basically no one I could talk to, but told me that I could talk to an admissions advisor for the University of Maryland. As in, an advisor for people looking to apply to the school as a whole.
The advisor was not helpful, but I can’t put the blame on her. She told me that the LEP website was wrong, and that decisions are never out mid-November. She apologized for almost all of LEP-related information being removed from the LEP website, and told me to talk to the Smith School. To no one’s surprise, the Smith School admissions told me that they could not discuss admissions or applications with non-Smith students. They directed me straight back to the Undergraduate Admissions office. If the Smith School cannot discuss applications to their own school with applicants, then who can they discuss them with?
Finally, almost a week after I was scheduled to register for classes, I was accepted to the Smith School. Of course I was happy, but I was not able to register for many of the classes and sections I wanted to. I’ve been directed and redirected and directed again to different departments and different people about a dozen too many times. And my story is much too similar to that of about every other prospective LEP internal transfer that I have met. Individualized departments are avoiding prospective students and waiting for a no-longer-existing LEP department to step up.
The University of Maryland needs to recognize the importance that advising has on the success of its students. It has a snowballing effect on everything academic-related that UMD prides itself on. Our four-year graduation rate? Maybe a student has to stay an extra semester because they couldn’t meet with an advisor to tell them that their four-year academic plan couldn’t be done. The average student GPA? Maybe a student was taking the wrong classes or could not get into the classes they were attempting to take, and their GPA suffered, because they couldn’t meet with an advisor to inform them of what classes they should be taking. Students’ academic goals are not being prioritized, and many students are suffering.
UMD needs to start putting resources into its LEP department. A very, very high amount of UMD students are enrolled in or interested in the LEP majors. They are some of the university’s best and most prestigious programs. There is no reason for this neglect, and there needs to be a change so that UMD can help all of its students, regardless of their major, their intended major, or whether they have no idea what they want their major to be at all.
