
UNC Chapel Hill
Marchmain05 / Wikimedia Commons
More College Photo Tours

The essay is the perfect place to highlight your character, sense of humor, and writing ability.

Quality public universities represent great educational values, especially for students who don't qualify for financial aid. Tuition is often less than half the price of private universities.

More College Photo Tours

UMBC's admissions standards make it more accessible than some other top-ranked universities, but high-achieving students will find lots of challenges and opportunities through UMBC's Honors College, Scholars Program and Living Learning Communities. For its strengths in the liberal arts and sciences, UMBC was awarded a chapter of the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.
The university's location also opens many opportunities for students -- Baltimore's Inner Harbor is just 15 minutes away, and Washington D.C. is easily accessible. Nearby colleges include Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College in Maryland and Goucher College.
UMBC is a public university, and it represents an excellent educational value for both in-state and out-of-state students. Maryland doesn't penalize out-of-state students on tuition as much as California and many other states.
In athletics, the UMBC Retrievers compete in the NCAA Division I America East Conference.
If you'd like to learn more about the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the school's admissions standards, visit the UMBC Admissions Profile and the university's official website. If you have visited or attended UMBC, please share your impressions below.
Every week I spotlight a great college that might be off the radar of college applicants. If there's a college you'd like to see featured here, please post your recommendation in the College Admissions Forum.

More College Photo Tours
Wake Forest also deserves some kudos for moving to test-optional admissions back in 2008. They are one of the most selective universities to reduce applicant stress levels by making the SAT and ACT an optional part of the application process.
Lincoln is one of those rare figures who becomes more interesting the more you learn about him. More >
Responding to near-anarchy in the Republic of Haiti, the United States occupied the nation from 1915 to 1934. More >
©2010 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.
All rights reserved.