I've been at the university of maryland in college park for about 3 weeks now. There are so many differences between UMD and Carleton, so I am only going to point out a handful.
1) Famous people. Today, President Obama came to campus to talk about health care. Ya'll might be upset, but I didn't go. Obama was supposed to talk at 11am, they opened the doors at 9am, and they allowed people to line up at 5am. I really did not want to wait for 4-6 hours to hear him talk. I know, I'm a piece of shit. It's kind of like how I didn't go to see Scarlett Johannson when she visited. I suppose Al Franken and Kip Thorne also visited Carleton...but those are the 3 most famous people that visited in the four years I was there...at least that I know of. Anyway, Obama spoke here within 3 weeks...beat that!
2) Exploring Campus. Maryland is huge. One things I've realized about Maryland is that I will probably never go into most of the buildings. So far I've been in the materials science building, the physics building, the mechanical/aerospace engineering building, the student center (like sayles), and the rec center...and I suppose the football stadium counts too. And I've only been in the mech/aerospace engineering building to talk to a prof. who's office is there. Its as if I went to Carleton and only went in Olin, the CMC, Sayles, and the Rec. It takes so long to walk around everywhere...fortunately there are plenty of state-school grade girls everywhere.
3) the Segregation. I'm not talking racially here, I'm talking intellectually. There are literally "smart" and "dumb" dorms. It's basically the university's attempt at building a community. All the first years who come in with good grades and high test scores live in a group of buildings called the "Cambridge Community." The 4 dorm buildings (which are huge), surround a little courtyard that has banners that say things like "Economy, Environment, and Technology." Anyway, this dorm building is on the other side of campus as the other dorms, which are apparently like interest houses in that an entire dorm could be devoted to students who put on their application that they were interested in spanish. Okay, I'm starting to ramble now, so this section is done.
4) Athletics. I went to my first D1 football game last weekend when Liz visited. It was Maryland vs James Madison. There were over 46,000 people in the stadium and 2 jumbotrons. Of course there were all the overpriced foods like boardwalk fries and funnel cake too. I was sitting in the student section, and apparently its customary for the students to stand the entire game. Also, anytime a JMU student walked by, everyone would start chanting "Asshole, Asshole, Asshole" and point in their direction. I was so happy to be wearing a Maryland shirt. It was tight though. I was amazed when I first walked in. Did I mention that the stadium has night lights? Carleton should get some of those. The one thing I do love the most about Carleton athletics is that I am watching people I know play. At Maryland, I really couldn't care less. And tailgating! Wow. So many people chilling in the parking lots drinking. And littering like crazy. When Liz and I were walking back to the car, there was trash everywhere. It's like the cops pretend not to see or something.
5) Cops. Speaking of cops. I see at least 3 cop cars everyday. They are everywhere! Of course I never speed, so I'm not too worried.
6) Independence. Carleton does not prepare you for the real world. Carleton holds your hand throughout all 4 years. If you want to get things done at Maryland, you have to do it yourself. No one is going to come to you and let you know what you have or haven't turned in...unless its for money.
7) Freebies. There are so many things at Carleton that I took for granted. At Maryland, it costs $35 to get a locker at the rec center for one semester, $25 to get towel service for a semester, and $18-$30 each time you want to use the climbing wall or challenge course. I hope this doesn't make me sound cheap. On a side note, inside the rec center here is a place that sells the same smoothies we used to have in the snack bar. I was so happy about that.
8) Office Hours/Faculty. This is a huge difference from Carleton. A lot of faculty I have met with (especially the older ones) have offices both at Maryland and somewhere else, most commonly at NIST. Basically, they are only on campus on the days they have class. It's such a bummer when you're stuck on a problem. Some of the best faculty members don't even teach classes sometimes because they have so much grant money to do research that teaching would get in the way.
Well, those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. I'll have to write a real blog post one of these days...
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