What is left to finish on the home stretch? (UMD-CP)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
1

Just in case I or anyone else is missing anything on our road to starting college at UMD I wanted to make this post as a test to see if I’ve completed everything that is necessary of me. Anyone with a lot of knowledge can give a helping hand to this post to help me and anyone else that’s browsing this to make sure they are ready.

What I’ve done so far is accept admission and pay the $400 dollar fee, sign-up for orientation on August 18th, turned in my housing and dining forms, finished my math placement test, and ordered all necessities for my dorm room.

I’ve yet to send my dual enrollment transcripts or prepare my immunization form for orientation.

Is there anything I’m missing in preparation that I will need ready in the coming months? Thanks for any responses :slight_smile:

2

Good question. I’ll be following along!

3

This is a pretty late reply, sorry! I’m an incoming freshman too, so these are just things I’ve come across in the months before the fall semester.

I’d recommend coming up with a tentative schedule you’d like to have before showing up at orientation. It’s not necessary, but making a tentative schedule before showing up for orientation is SO helpful. It helps guarantee that you get the sections of a class that you want, since, at orientation, everyone will literally be registering at the same time. By having a schedule already made, you’re able to quickly register for those spots before everyone else. I used Courseoff (https://umd.courseoff.com/workspace) to do this, and most current UMD students use the same site to build their schedules before signing up for classes, rather than the Venus program that’s linked to on the Testudo website. Make sure to write down what section number you want, though.

Have you accepted any potential financial aid packages, if you have any?

Let me know if you have any questions (esp. about orientation)!

4

Thank you! Do merit scholarships show up on the financial aid page? Do they have to be accepted or is that just automatic?

5

@vandygrad87 No problem! Merit scholarships should show up on the awards page when you log in to view your financial aid, and I’m 90% sure that they’re automatically accepted.

6

Thank you @whenyoubelieve !

7

No problem, @vandygrad87 !:slight_smile:

8

One thing not on your list was insurance waiver, if you already have medical insurance http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-maryland-college-park/1998693-medical-waiver-do-it-now.html#latest

If you are out of town, and your parents have any potential interest in family weekend, get a hotel room asap. http://fwumd.com

Collect Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons from friends, family and neighbors…

Open up a Terrapin Express account https://terpexpress.umd.edu/index.html. This page shows you where you can use this account http://dining.umd.edu/plans/where-to-use-your-points/. It’s “attached” to your university ID so you are basically never without some way to pay for food and various services (laundry, copies, etc) around campus without having to carry your wallet/money.

If you are on Facebook, “like” all the Maryland pages so you get news of events such as
University of Maryland
University of Maryland Bookstore
Maryland Terrapins (BIG 10 events/athletics)
University of Maryland Office of Student Financial Aid (alert for scholarship opportunities, FAFSA deadlines)
SEE (Student Entertainment Events) (news of campus headliner entertainment events)
University of Maryland Career Center (news of job fairs)
Adele H. Stamp Student Union (news of campus events hosted by Stamp)

These are just a few suggestions, but of course there are far more…also be sure to like whatever department your major falls under at the University of Maryland (like Smith, Clark, Merrill, etc)

Be sure to check http://calendar.umd.edu/cal/main/showEventList.rdo;jsessionid=97BAD92490F0B46D0E3E746572DE3C90
on a regular basis to see events around campus (obviously, much more will be filled in by late August)

If you don’t know already, learn how to do your own laundry…practice now while mom is around…

@vandygrad87 financial aid is not automatically accepted, but most merit awards at this stage are automatically accepted. HOWEVER, there are some, such as individual donor/departmental scholarships that are contingent upon uploading a thank-you to the donor as part of the acceptance.

As soon as the date is announced, mark your calendar for the First Look Fair. If you are really looking for something to do to be super organized, prep small file size labels with your name and school email address so that when you go around to different clubs/activities, you can easily add your contact info to sign up for emails (to get more info, invites to events, etc).

FYI, you do NOT have to buy books before the first class - you may end up changing your schedule, or the teacher may say textbooks are optional, etc.

Another tip is to arrive at athletic events EARLY to be sure to get the giveaways…some are limited supply. However, you can safely assume you will need to dedicate at least one drawer entirely to all the free t-shirts you will be getting…

I will add more later as I think of things…in the meantime, shower your mom with lots of affection…

9

Thank you very much @whenyoubelieve and @maryversity