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Graduate Student Resources
Tips for Graduate Students
Being a graduate student can be a lonely, daunting undertaking, but it doesn't HAVE to be! Here are some hints and tips on how to get the support you might need to make your studies and grad experience both successful and meaningful. If you have a tip you would like to see added to our list, please email us at mail to: coe-student-services@umd.edu--we'd like to add it to our list!
- Re-read your letter of acceptance to graduate study! Many students never get beyond the "Congratulations, you have been accepted...." part of the letter, when in fact, there are often provisions and important information that may be overlooked and affect your admission status if not tended to. The official acceptance letter will tell you how you have been classified for tuition purposes (in-state or non-resident). You CANNOT assume that because you have lived in the state of Maryland all your life, that you will be classified as a resident for tuition purposes. (A student who has lived in the state all his life can be classified as a non-resident simply because a box on the form was left blank.) The letter will tell you what admission provisions may have been applied such as criteria (i.e. grade of B) that you must meet within the first semester, or retake of an entrance exam, or some other stipulation. The letter may also state that you still need to submit "official" transcripts required by the admissions office to replace photocopies of ones submitted earlier. In any case, read the letter from start to finish--call the admissions office if you don't understand something stated in the letter--don't just ignore it--it WILL come back to haunt you!
- Learn about campus parking regulations! Get a legal parking permit! There's no more frustrating, disconcerting thing that can happen to a student than to get a parking ticket the first time s/he visits campus. Tickets are real tickets. Tickets are expensive. Tickets can keep you from registering for class and from graduating. Check out the campus website Campus Parking for info on parking and also to apply for your parking permit.
- Get familiar with the www.testudo.umd.edu website. It will be your key to ease of connecting with almost all of the campus administrative offices that you will need to access to register for classes, to pay your bill, to change your schedule, to update your email and mailing address, to check your grades, to request a transcript, to connect to the library, etc. etc. If you can't find it on Testudo, it probably doesn't exist!
- Stay connected with campus, your advisor, your department, and other grad students in your area of study. Being around other students and just "hearing" others talk about forms and processes and deadlines, etc. is both helpful and supportive. Part of the value of your degree will be in the friendships and professional contacts you develop here at the University.
- Keep your email address updated with campus offices so that you can be included in messages of importance and interest to grad students. Use the www.testudo.umd.edu site to update both your email and mailing addresses. Remember to keep your department informed of address changes too, as many departments maintain their own mail lists that are not always generated from campus databases.
- Join the graduate student organizations in the College and in your department. These associations will allow you to form valuable contacts with other students and can be a major support system in your academic success. Some socializing couldn't hurt either!
- Keep copies of EVERYTHING! A form is required for almost every step in the process toward earning your degree. Every form has a deadline or due date. Every form needs to be signed and approved (usually by your advisor and department chair). Every form must make several stops along the way to the Graduate Studies Office and finally to the Graduate School. Forms get lost. It's much easier to produce another copy than to start over. Keep copies of EVERYTHING you submit!
- Get organized! Keep the copies of forms (see number 7 above) and other administrative-type documents in a single place--(or two, if you're really stressed). Keep track of who you talk to, what office you contacted for info, who tells you what, dates and times of certain events, a list of "to do's" by certain dates, your own check list of program steps and so on. You will be assigned an advisor upon admission to your program, but it will be YOUR responsibility to stay on track, to find accurate information, and to meet deadlines.
- Make back up copies of EVERYTHING you create on computer-- research notes, seminar papers, manuscripts, proposals, dissertation writing, etc. etc.--anything you DON'T want to retype. There's nothing more stressful to a student than an "unreadable" disk that contains a paper due the next morning....
- Ask questions! Don't take anything for granted. Find good sources. Trust your judgment. Then, ask questions again.
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