University of Maryland, College Park

College Park, MD · founded 1856 · 41,000 students · public research university · Big Ten

Known for: A major public research university and the flagship of the Maryland system, it is renowned for its strong programs in computer science, engineering, and business, as well as its proximity to Washington, D.C. for policy and research opportunities.

Rankings

U.S. News national: #46
QS World: #164
Times Higher Education: #90
ARWU Shanghai: #51
Forbes: #38

Top programmes

Computer Science
Engineering
Business
Journalism
Public Policy
Physics

Notable alumni

Sergey Brin — Co-founder of Google
Larry David — Co-creator of 'Seinfeld' and star of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'
Jim Henson — Creator of The Muppets
Connie Chung — Award-winning broadcast journalist
Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson — NASA mathematician featured in 'Hidden Figures'
Boomer Esiason — Former NFL quarterback and sports commentator
Kevin Plank — Founder and former CEO of Under Armour
Steny Hoyer — U.S. Representative and former House Majority Leader

Traditions

Rubbing Testudo's nose for good luck
Midnight Breakfast
Maryland Day
Fear the Turtle

If University of Maryland, College Park were…

As a food: Maryland crab cakes — Like this Baltimore-born delicacy, UMD mixes blue-collar practicality with sophisticated research ambitions, thriving where Chesapeake Bay meets the Beltway.
As an athlete: Kevin Durant — Like the lanky superstar who honed his game in nearby D.C., Maryland excels through raw talent development and explosive growth in competitive environments.
As a person alive today: Sergey Brin — Like the Google co-founder who transformed information access, UMD operates at the intersection of cutting-edge tech and real-world impact just outside the capital.
As a historical figure: Benjamin Banneker — Like the self-taught African American mathematician who surveyed D.C., UMD combines grassroots ingenuity with monumental institutional achievements.
As a movie or TV show: House of Cards — Like the D.C. political thriller, Maryland operates in the shadow of power with ambitious players maneuvering through complex systems and explosive revelations.
As a US president: Lyndon B. Johnson — Like the master legislator who understood power dynamics, UMD thrives through coalition-building and pragmatic deal-making in a political ecosystem.
As a city: Berlin — Like the German capital that blends gritty industrial past with cutting-edge culture, College Park mixes post-war campus architecture with Silicon Valley-adjacent innovation.
As an element: Titanium — Like this aerospace metal that's strong yet lightweight, UMD combines heavy research muscle with agile adaptation to political and technological shifts.
As a car: 2020 Ford Explorer ST — Beltway-commuter SUV with sport trim, Big Ten decals, and think-tank internship parking passes. UMD sits in the DC suburbs churning out policy wonks, journalists, and Terps fans—pre-professional, politically wired, diver

Campus life

The campus has a vibrant, diverse, and politically engaged atmosphere, fueled by its location near Washington, D.C. Social life is active with a large Greek system, hundreds of student clubs, and strong school spirit around Terrapins athletics.

The film, scored

This profile answers “if University of Maryland, College Park were a movie or TV show?” with House of Cards (1990). Like the D.C. political thriller, Maryland operates in the shadow of power with ambitious players maneuvering through complex systems and explosive revelations. It sits in the 99th percentile on rankquant, which re-centres every critic score on the reviewer who gave it, so a percentile means position against peers rather than a raw star average. The full film & TV catalogue ranks the rest the same way.