
It's summer, which means... it's orientation time! During orientation, you'll familiarize yourself with the campus with the help of orientation advisors (basically, tour guides), register for classes, learn about university policies, and (hopefully) make some new friends.
General Advice and Random Tibits:
- REGISTER FOR AN EARLY ORIENTATION DATE. REGISTER FOR AN EARLY ORIENTATION DATE. REGISTER FOR AN EARLY ORIENTATION DATE!!! You might not feel like going to orientation right after your high school graduation ceremony, but register for the earliest orientation date possible. At orientation, you register for classes, and classes fill up quickly. If you go to orientation at the end of July, all the good professors will be taken, and you'll be left with the bad professors and 8 am classes. (I realize that you already picked your orientation date at this point in time, but try to move it up if you can.)
- Try to make a class schedule ahead of time. On the second day of orientation, students are split into groups based on major, and a staff member will help the group of students choose and register for classes. Although you are split off into small groups, you don't get that much individualized attention. Each major has its own set of requirements, and if you are clueless, the process can really fly over your head. Try to read up on your major's four year plans and degree requirements ahead of time. You don't need to know your exact schedule, but at least figure out which electives you are interested in and which classes you must take your first year (English 101, for example). A little research beforehand will pay off a long way!
- Create your university email and directory ID at home. You will need a directory ID to log into secure wifi while on campus, and you also need a directory ID to register for classes.
- If you are attending a two day orientation, you'll stay overnight in a dorm room. Bedsheets aren't provided, but AC is. (Or at least when I went to orientation, two summers ago, there was AC in the dorm hosting all the orientation students.) The suffering starts later.
- If you haven't already, send your AP scores to UMD. It will make registering for classes much easier.
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