University of Maryland Class of 2009

[Huntre17]

Inquirer - are you a current law student?  Just curious because you seem pretty knowledgeable!  Obviously you are a local, since you know about Santoni's! 

Re housing - My advice is if you aren't living right near campus try to find somewhere that you won't have to pay for parking, since you will probably end up paying for parking at school unless you take the bus or light rail.  Does anyone know if the school offers any type of parking pass for us to buy? 

Re utilities increase - I have been trying to follow this but am tempted to give up until it is worked out!  The most current plan, which I like best is the one presented by the general assembly.  The electricity bill increase is capped at 15% as of July 1, then a phase in will occur to bring the cost to market rate beginning as early as June 1st.  As far as all that opt in/opt out crap well I don't know!  I'm waiting to see what happens when the dust has settled on the final choices.  So basically, electric rates are going to increase quite a bit during the three years you are in Baltimore. 

[Inquirer]

Inquirer - are you a current law student?  Just curious because you seem pretty knowledgeable!  Obviously you are a local, since you know about Santoni's! 

Does anyone know if the school offers any type of parking pass for us to buy? 

Huntre - No, I'm not a current law student, but I'm going to be an evening student at Maryland in the fall. I guess I am sort of a local.  I'm originally from California, but I went to UG in Baltimore and then moved here permanently when I graduated in 2002.  I suppose Baltimore's really grown on me  

About parking passes...

According to the student affairs rep that spoke at the Welcome Night, student parking passes are $5 for the year.  On top of that $5, students have to pay an additional $4 every time they park in the student garage (on the corner of Paca and Baltimore)

If you feel like walking, you can park for free about a mile away on Pennsylvania Ave (before MLK) or Druid Hill Ave./Paca (right where Druid Hill turns into Paca (or if you arrive after six p.m., the meters surrounding the school are also free)

[Huntre17]

Just a FYI, health information is being sent in the next few weeks and supposedly coverage starts August 1.  And we all need a TB test, which I'm glad I found about as I leave town in just over a week and won't be back till a week before school starts.  So it would have been nice if they'd sent us this stuff a little earlier!

[kmatt]

Hey everyone,

JTRich, as far as I know, it's a non-refundable deposit. I asked if I could get it back if I changed and they said basically not unless I am no longer attending Maryland Law. I think they're probably pretty tight-fisted about keeping their free money if you decide not to stay with them. And I actually did order the computer and received it 2 days ago. I upgraded the RAM and the processor speed a little bit and I really like the machine. It runs really fast and without a hitch installing all of my programs on there. It seems to be a good bet. I think I got my machine with the upgrades for about 1600. By the way, if we haven't said this, they told us at Welcome Night that you don't have to have their computer but you have to make sure it's "compatible" with them, basically meaning check with their Tech Department before making any big purchase. Anyways, best of luck to everyone in the last months of our free lives :-) Peace.

Kevin

[kmatt]

JTRich,

Awesome about your computer, hope you like it as much as I'm enjoying mine. And glad to hear you may be finding some luck on the apartment hunt. BTW, I have no idea about the cancelling check thing...I believe they state that it's a non-refundable deposit and if they say it's a 48 hour thing, then you might be out of luck. Maybe just call them and say, I'm not going to live there and you haven't cashed it, so just pull it out. If they don't really HAVE your money yet, maybe they'll be more willing to just give it back to you. I dunno, seems kind of unfair that they'd cash a check knowing you aren't going to live there. It would be one thing if it was an application fee...but not a big-time deposit. Anyways, good luck with that!

Kevin

[thelynifer]

kmatt- where do they have information about the computer they want you to order? i haven't been able to find it...

[Huntre17]

kmatt- where do they have information about the computer they want you to order? i haven't been able to find it...

http://www.law.umaryland.edu/dept/it/notebook_requirement.asp

They also sent out an e-mail this week.  I'm bummed I can't get a mac and just run windows on it. 

[thelynifer]

kmatt- where do they have information about the computer they want you to order? i haven't been able to find it...

http://www.law.umaryland.edu/dept/it/notebook_requirement.asp

They also sent out an e-mail this week.  I'm bummed I can't get a mac and just run windows on it. 

thanks!

[thelynifer]

kmatt- this might sound nitpicky, but how much does your computer weigh? lol i'm only 4'11" and i don't think i can carry around an 8lbs laptop all day i checked the dell website and it said the latitude D620 starts ate 4.37 or something. i hope this one is around that...

[kmatt]

Hey,

I wouldn't say that it's the lightest notebook I've ever held, but it's certainly far from heavy. Sorry I don't have a scale on me to measure it but I'd say it's between 4 and 5 pounds. Hope that helps!!

Kevin