UMD A-Y
- Assistantships: Can't live without them. Can't live with them (they are so meagre).
- Buying Stuff: Your grocery and other shopping options.
- Cars: Tips and resources on buying and selling them.
- Drivers License: Obtaining it and driving around.
- Eating: In and Around College Park.
- Financial Resources: Choose your bank, send money to India, etc.
- Going Places: All your transportation options locally and globally.
- Housing: Find the place to hang your hat.
- Insurance: Health? Life? Car? House Rental?
- Jobs: Build your career.
- Living Expenses: Budgeting tips with your Assistantships.
- Medical Matters:
- Net: The World Wide Web. Here are some fun sites to visit.
- Phone Calls: Phone cards and dialling idiosyncracies.
- Recreation: Fitness, movies, and attractions near the DC area.
- SSN: Social Security Number
- Taxes:
- Utilities:
- Visa:
- Watch out: Credit card fraud, Academic Honesty, etc. A friendly list of warnings and things to be careful about.
- X-ams: You have cleared many of them to come here. Here are some more tips on tackling Academics in College Park.
- Yummy: Cooking resources to help you make this kind of food.
- Z End: Pronounced Zee in America. Sounds French. Contact us with suggestions about what to do with the Z.
We at the SCI have no idea what your chances of getting an Assistantship are. So please DON'T ask.
There are four kinds of Assistantships: Fellowships, Graduate Assistantships, Research Assistantships, and Teaching Assistantships.
GA Positions are often advertised on this site. This is a broader University link for on-campus jobs. For TA positions you need to contact various department administrators to see whether they have TA slots available. Prior teaching record helps. For RA positions you will need to talk to individual professors who might be able to give you projects. Take along a Resume during your TA and RA search.
Most assistantships pay about the same-- roughly 1000$ per month. After taxes.
Other on-campus jobs are not too hard to get, but may take a little while. They usually pay about $500 - $600 per month, enough to cover living expenses. You can look/apply for them only after you come to the US.
Grocery
Shoppers Food
Warehouse in the Adelphi Plaza (on 193, near the Graduate
Hills Apartment) is the nearest supermarket around the campus.
However, they have a newest store at the intersection of Route 1
and Cherry Hill Road, which is larger and cleaner. The Giant in Beltway Plaza on 193 is
another alternative.
Costco Warehouse on Route 1 (in Beltsville) is a humongous store that sells things at bulk rate. It can really save you some money. The annual membership costs $45 but the cost can be shared with a friend because they issue two cards for a single membership.
Langley Park has a large number of Indian Shops for food, groceries, clothes. The Adelphi South Shuttle bus goes through there.
- Buying a New Car
Car dealers are not your friends! Research the topic thoroughly before proceeding with such a purchase. - Buying a Used Car
You can look for ads from local newspapers or on the internet. You MUST make sure that the car can pass the state inspection. Don't just go to any inspection station. Sometimes, they will ask you to repair something you don't need to repair. Sometimes they will exchange your parts, etc. Please ask your friends before you send your car to inspection station. Check for the value of the car in Blue Book instead of believing the owner. You can check car buying guide from Edmunds. - Parking
Sooner or later you will encounter problems with parking on campus. Make sure that in whatever situation you do not violate any parking rule because the Department of Campus Parking is lightening quick in handing out tickets. At the beginning of every semester, one can obtain a parking permit. Many lots, including some in Parking Garage II, are open to permit holders after 4:00 pm. The meters are also free for permit holders after 10:00 pm. If you manage to receive a ticket, you can often get the fine reduced by writing a smart appeal. The parking, and also the traffic, is worst during a football game. Make sure you plan your day wisely during these days. - If you are driving around a lot, it might be a good idea to get a AAA membership. They include services like free towing, free maps, and free road side assistance for an annual fee of about 54$.
Drivers License
You have to obtain your driver's license form MVA (Motor Vehicle
Administration).
The nearest MVA is at 11760 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville (MD Rt.1). It is between Muirkirk R. and Powder Mill Rd. If you do not have an international driver's license, then you must pass a written test to get a learner's permit, after which you must pass the road test. (If you do have international driver's license, please don't forget to bring your Indian driver's license as well when you are applying for a driver's licence here.) Before attending the paper and road test, you have to bring your original driver's license and two inhabitant identifications.
Check out these University eating links:
Area Restaurants
The Co-Op receives our special mention. It is a great alternative to McDonald's, Eateries and Taco Bell. Although you had more choices, the food there is more expensive than outside.
Also, while buying food, Credit Card is not accepted in Stamp Union.
Banking: There are two choices of banking on campus. One is Chevy Chase Bank; the other is State Employees Credit Union (SECU). The Chevy Chase Bank has a branch in the Stamp Student Union, which is very convenient. SECU has an ATM in the Union but they have no branch on campus. SECU's nearest branch is on Route 193 (Opposite Beltway Plaza); it may not be as convenient as Chevy Chase Bank but it provides free checks and does not require minimum balance. To open an account in SECU, you have to be a State employee or a full time student in the University of Maryland.
Local Transporation Options:
Shuttle-UM (404-2255) is a good choice if you do not have a car. When taking a shuttle, Maryland Student ID is required to present but actually it is not strictly enforced. So do not worry if you forget to bring your ID. Schedule of shuttles can be obtained beside the information desk in the Stamp Union or from Shuttle-UM web site.
Call-A-Ride (404-2255 x4call) provide escort service from one part of the university to another not covered by a shuttle bus. You can call between 5:30pm and 7:00am.
Metro is a good choice if you would like to go to Washington DC. A typical round-trip cost is around $5 but it may be cheaper during off-peak hours. The Green Line stops at College Park (Calvert Road) and Prince George's Plaza (on East-West Highway facing the Plaza). UM Shuttle (College Park-U of MD) runs between the College Park Station and the University. The parking lot east of the station provides daily parking, and it is free on the weekend.
For longer distance travels, Amtrak, MARC trains, Greyhound, and Peter Pan bus are good alternative to air travels.
Global Transportation: Booking your tickets to India. Here are a list of Travel Agents that some of our Yahoo! Groups users have recommended personally.
- Alanita Travels: A Massachusetts based company which has provided some good deals and reliable service.
- Directory of Travel Agencies according to Immihelp.
- Little India Travel Agency Directory
- World-Wide Travels: Phone number 202-659-6431. Ask for Chaya.
- Avani - 301-431-4990
- M & M travels: 410-254-9421
- East West - 202-833-6068
- APtravels - 301-431-1120
- Travel Net: 202-955-6000
- Van Ness - 202-966-4000
- MRP: 202-293-7090
- SONA TRAVELS: 301-589-3344
- TRAVEL CITY INC - 301-754-3625
- Shoppers Travel: If you call them up ask for Harjit or Raghu.
- Mahabazaar.com: Get online quotes.
Important topic, right? Well, SCI will do their best in finding some temporary accommodation when you arrive. Try this link to the SCI Housing Page.
Off Campus Housing
Office
The Off Campus Housing Office (Room 1195, 404-3645) maintains
lists of room vacancies provides listing of available housing
that meets your personal specifications. The office also
maintains a bulletin board where people advertise for rooms. You
can advertise by simply giving them a 3x5 index card for
posting.
Health: With assistantship, you are entitled to Health insurance, and this University site underlines the benefits package details, and what various kinds of insurances cover. This page has not been updated since 2001 however.
One can also purchase insurance with many health insurance providers on one's own, in case one does not have Assistantship. Though the costs may be significant, it is never a good idea to live and work in the US without any kind of health insurance coverage. Therefore, SCI recommends some form of health insurance coverage at all times.
University Health Services can provide you with help some times.As an University of Maryland Student you are eligible for subsidized health benefits there.
Public Service Announcement: We wish to inform you of the Personal Accidental and Death/Dismemberment insurance. Unlike Life insurance, the AD&D plan also covers loss of body parts, for less than 6$ a month (typically). This plan is open to active Maryland State employees and their dependents, like other Health insurance benefits of this school.
Auto/Car: There are a variety of companies offering car insurance. The premiums are determined by the market value of your vehicle, the quality and age of your driving record, your address, and a variety of other factors. You need to take at least the State Minimum liability coverage to legally drive a car in Maryland. We would suggest:
- Negotiate your insurance rates on the phone with a representative (don't go for online rate quotes).
- Try to avail of the "Good Student Discount". . .this usually requires a 3.0+ CGPA average which most graduate students automatically maintain.
- Sometimes taking renter's insurance from the same company can actually lower your monthly premium (?!).
Jobs: The University Career Center has some resources.
It costs about $500 - $600 per month as living expenses. This includes rent, groceries, phone bill etc on a normal and average basis. This does not include your college tuition (fees). This is assuming you are living in an apartment on or near campus, sharing your apartment with two or more room-mates and your food expenses include mostly home-cooked food. So better ask your mom's to teach you cooking before you come.
This is a very conservative estimate however, and might not reflect what you will naturally land up spending. Add $30-$50 per month for a cell phone. If you have a car, a $100 for car insurance. Another $50-$100 for Gasoline and Car Repairs. A typical meal costs between $5-$20 if you are eating out. Movies cost $3-$10.
Subsidized health insurance is available to TA's, RA's and any Maryland state employees. A vision plan, which reimburse you for up to $80.00 on eye exams and glasses, is currently provided for free. The two cheapest plans are "MD IPA" and "Health Plus." Click here for more information on Insurance. Keep in mind that the UM Health Center (404-8180, across from Stamp Union) provides many services for free (well. . . not really because the mandatory fees include a Health Center fee) . If you are not qualified for a subsidized insurance, contact IES (404-7740) for the "Health Care Plus International Student Plan. More useful information on health insurance can be obtained here.
Net:
The Computer Science Center (405-7171) offers training classed
for IBM, NeXTstation, and Mac. Be sure to apply for your wam
account here. In the Apple Multimedia Center (Room 3326,
405-4261), you can make computer generated slides and
transparencies, or scan images etc. to prepare for an impressive
presentation; however, you must be a faculty or a staff to use
the facilities. Parking Garage Computer Lab is always open when
classes are in session. If you need a computer late at night,
then this is the place to be. As expected, the place is very
crowded during mid-terms and finals.
The photocopy center in the basement of the McKeldin Library sells copy cards, which could save some small amount of money for those who tend to photocopy a lot. You can either prepay for copies (8 cents per copy) by cash or by using an FAS#. All photocopier in the libraries have an insert slot for copy cards.
Dialing on the Phone
- If you would like to make a long distance call in the United States, dial 1, area code, and the 7-digit phone number.
- In Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland, all local calls
require dialing the area code and the 7-digit phone number (since
May 1, 1997) .
-
Example:
- A call from DC to College Park requires the area code 301; but the public phone requires 35 cents since it's a local call.
- Area code:
- Maryland's Baltimore area: 410
- Maryland's DC suburban area: 301
- Washington DC: 202
- Northern Virginia: 703
-
- It is much cheaper to use a prepaid phone card to make a long distance call than to insert coins in the pay phone.
- Making a call to College Park area from the airport:
- From BWI or Dulles (Long Distance): Dial 1-301-(phone number) and the operator will tell you how much money is required to make this phone call. In BWI, there are phones marked as "local to DC". You can use these phone to call people in College Park as local call. You can just dial 301-(phone number) with 35 cents.
- From DCA (Local call- 35 cents): Dial 301-(phone number)
- International calls to India: Dial 011-91-(area code without the initial 0)-(home number) Example: a phone call to Delhi is 011-91-11-(home number), the initial 0 for the area code 011 is omitted.
- Making a collect call: Local Operator (and the most expensive): Dial 0 AT&T Service: 1-800-225-5288 (CALL ATT) MCI Service: 1-800-265-5328 (COLLECT) Example: say "Collect call to Mr. Nanda at area code 301 and the number 405-8368."
Calling Cards:
Here are a list of links to calling cards that some of us have used.
Net2Phone: Expensive, premium calling card. Calls to India at 49 cents a minute. I like this card because it has many convenient features such as auto-recharge, and gives a low long distance rate of 3.9 cents per minute within the US.
Tip: When using calling card, experiment with a few different companies. Sometimes, the most popular calling cards start giving the worst service because of the larger call volume, while relatively obscure ones start doing well. So be prepared to try out new cards and change calling cards whenever your service does get bad.
Best of luck.
Student Stamp Union
Stamp Union provides a lot of facilities for our UM students
including Banking, USPS mailing service, Ticket Station service,
Theatre and Off-Campus information service.
Hoff
Theater provides second or third round movies in a
very low price. There are occasional free previews but waiting to
get a pass is often troublesome. At the end of semester, there
are free showings for an entire week. It would also be wise to
get a frequent viewer coupon which gives you a free viewing with
every 5 visits. Also available in the Union are a bowling alley
and a pool hall.
The Campus
Recreation Center is the best place to go to.
In North Gym, racquetball, basketball, volleyball, table tennis,
indoor/outdoor swimming pools and badminton courts are available,
some on limited schedule. The Weight Room and the Fitness Room
are really great for a good workout. A student ID card is
required to enter the fitness room.
SURROUNDING AREA
ATTRACTIONS
Baltimore - Museum,
Aquarium,the Inner Harbor etc.
Chesapeake Bay and Ocean City
Shenandoah National Park and Virginia Beach
Atlantic City
The entire state of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, all
the famous historical sites including Gettysburg, and Yough river
for white water rafting.
Washington D.C.
- Map , Metro In the summer, many well-established musicians, as
well as young talents entering the William Kapell Piano
Competition, come to campus to perform in the the Rossborough
Festival. Students registered for the summer or those who have a
Summer Activity Card ($10.00) can enjoy many performances
practically free. Cole Field House have jogging tracks; but in
reality is the place to see the famous Maryland Terrapin
Basketball.
Social Security Number: In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN) is a 9-digit number issued to citizens, permanent residents, and temporary (working) residents. The number is issued to an individual by the Security Administration, an agency of the federal government. Its primary purpose is to track individuals for taxation purposes..
Taxes: Try taxes.yahoo.com for an overview. And watch out for Tax Workshops conducted by IES to help out International Students. You'll get notices through the IES newsletter.
AT&T, MCI and Sprint are the major long distance carriers. There is simply not enough space to describe clearly all available programs here. Once you have a long distance service, you can be sure that every long distance carrier will start calling you up and offer some special discount programs.
When the salesperson call you for their new promotion, please pay attention to the following: Is there different prices for different time? How long is this promotion? When you get your phone bills, please check all your phone calls. It is said some companies will charge you for some numbers you never called.
Visa: Refer to the IES web site. The INS Web site.
Beware of those special offers. It may be a Florida vacation, a luxury cruise or a personal computer. They will try everything to get you to dish out some money. If you receive anything of this sort, maybe even a phone call, just IGNORE it.
Here are some useful contacts for those emergency situations:
Campus Escort: after 7pm Sun-Thurs
405-5878
On-Campus emergency: 405-3333
On-Campus non-emergency police: 405-3555 (burglary, lock out
etc)
Student Legal Aid Office
Student Legal Aid Office (Room 1219, 404-7756, 404-5330) provides
some free legal services. They can also link you up with a lawyer
if you need representation.
- Walk-in registration in the Mitchell Building (or in the
Armory Building in the beginning of the semester).
Mail-in registration (can be done with your department secretary)
MARS (Phone-in): registration, which requires a PIN (Personal Identification Number).
Register from Web. - Some departments require new students to meet advisors before registration. So, be sure to obtain your advisors' information and make an appointment with them. Remember to find out the deadline for dropping and adding classes.
- Register in required units of classes. All international
students must maintain full time status. Generally, a minimum of
48 units per semester is required to keep the status; however,
the required units for TAs and RAs are 24. As for
unit-calculation, please refer to the rules in the class schedule
published by the University. You have to maintain full time
status throughout the semester. Therefore, before you drop a
class, be sure that you can still meet the required units even
you drop it.
Petition for waiver is the last resort.
You will be cooking a lot here. Refer to Bawarchi or Daawat site for some interesting ideas and reference on cooking. Check out cooking.com or research healthy eating at the GNC site. Personally, I found the following cooking algorithm pretty useful. You can also download a Recipe Book (Word Document) here.