New Student Resources

The New Student Checklist will help guide you through a number of items to complete before and just shortly after you arrive on campus. This page will also help you with these items.

Arrival and Orientation Events 

Getting to Campus

Transportation from the airport to College Park is arranged by students on their own. The Graduate Student Government offers the Airport Pickup Program. Students should sign-up through the GSG to participate. Other options include, shuttle services, taxi, and public transportation. ISSS’s New Student Arrival guide provides great resources regarding area transportation.

ENTS Orientation Events

All new ENTS students are required to participate in one New Student Welcome and Orientation Session. We strongly encourage students to also complete the placement exams for ENTS 622 and ENTS 640. The results of the exams will determine if you are exempt from completing either/or two of the technical core courses. An “exemption” allows you additional room in your program of study to complete electives. If you do not take or pass the placement exam(s), you must enroll in both of these courses. There is no disadvantage to attempting the placement exams. The results are not a part of your academic record and this is your only opportunity to take the exams.

ISSS Orientation Events

International students are required to attend one immigration session. You must register for your preferred session. ISSS also offers a variety of other orientation activities and events. We encourage you to participate in these sessions in order to help you transition to the academic culture and campus community at UMD.

Graduate Student Kickoff

The Graduate Student Life office hosts a week of fun-filled activities for new and returning Grad Students! They offer a wide variety of activities throughout the first weeks of the semester that include prizes, food and drinks, bowling, billiards, photobooths, minigolf, dance lessons, crafts, information on UMD resources, and much more!

Graduate School Orientation

The Graduate School will host a campus wide orientation to provide students with an overview of the Graduate School at the University of Maryland.

Engineering Career Services

Engineering Career Services requires that new international students attend workshops in order to have their resume critiqued by a staff member. These workshops include “Job Search 101 for F1 Students” and “Resume Writing.” These sessions will be offered throughout August so that students can take advantage and begin to prepare for their job-search. Students must sign up for these workshops.

Course Registration

The registration block for new students will be lifted in January for Spring and August for Fall. Once registration has opened, you can register via Testudo. In order to register you will need to establish a Directory ID and password by visiting the Office of Information Technology.