JD and LLM Checklist

If you are trying to decide where to live, consider talking with one of the admissions ambassadors — they’ve been through this, and they will have good advice for you.

There are housing options that are located very close to school, and others that aren’t, but that are accessible to reliable public transportation. Below are some links to help you learn about the different on-campus and off-campus housing options:

• Check out housing options near campus here.
• UMB Housing information can be found here.
• View our VeryApt Housing Guide here.
• Learn more about different Baltimore neighborhoods here.
• View a recording of our Housing Webinar here 

If you are looking for an alternative to the apartment buildings downtown or to find a roommate, we encourage our incoming 1L students to join the Maryland Carey Law Class of 2026/2027 Facebook Group. Additionally, several incoming students created groups on other social media outlets to find law school roommates. You can also visit the UMB Housing Classifieds Facebook page and UMB Housing Classifieds website. 

Scholarship awards will be credited directly to your University account, with half of the annual award credited at the beginning of each semester.

Loan proceeds are almost always received electronically by the University and are applied first to the student’s outstanding tuition account balance. Residual loan funds are refunded to the student through BankMobile. You will receive in the mail a personal code from BankMobile.  Do not make the mistake of thinking this is junk mail, and do not throw it away.  If you applied for loans and are expecting a refund, this is the mechanism through which the University will refund loan proceeds to you above and beyond tuition and fees. Information about this refund process and other financial aid processes is available in the Disbursements and Refunds section of the Student Financial Services page of the UMB website. 

AccessLex

Ask EDNA! – the Education Network at AccessLex is your one-stop shop to access MAX by AccessLex®, the personal finance program for law students, as well as student success and bar success tools.

• Register for your free account at AskEDNA.AccessLex.org now to enter MAX by AccessLex® and sign up for live events and one-on-one financing coaching with Accredited Financial Counselors®.
• Complete the “MAX 1L Financial Foundations” course activities to gain entries to the annual MAX scholarship drawings.

Additional Financial Aid Resources

• Tuition and Fees
• Scholarships and Aid
• UMB Student Financial Assistance
• In-State Residency Policy
• Application for In-State Residency
• Financial Planning and Financial Aid Calculators

If you have questions about this, please contact Maryland Carey Law’s financial aid planning manager, Marilyn Jones, at mmjones@law.umaryland.edu or (410) 706-0873 or the University Financial Aid Counselor, Laura Evans at jd@umaryland.edu. You can also reach out to the University’s Office of Student Financial Assistance & Education at (410) 706-7347 or aidtalk@umaryland.edu.

Veterans and Military Service Members Submit your G.I. Bill Yellow Ribbon Application

If eligible, be sure to complete this application for the Yellow Ribbon program. You should coordinate with our Associate Director of Registration and Enrollment, Lori Powell at lpowell@law.umaryland.edu or (410) 706-2045. Don’t forget to check out our Military Law and Veterans Society as well.  

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) campus will no longer use the Complio software. We will continue to utilize Castle Branch as the immunization compliance platform for this academic year. All incoming students are requested to submit their immunization data into Castle Branch in accordance with the Student Health immunization requirements here. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

You can find additional information on accessing Castle Branch here. Please note that COVID-19 and influenza immunization requirements, for students who have this requirement, must be entered in the COVID-19 Management Portal here.

Please note:

• For Incoming Students – To be in compliance with the immunization requirements, please follow the instructions above by creating a secure My CB account using your UMB email address only. Once done, select your school/program and the appropriate package to place your initial order. This document contains instructions on how to place an order.

We want to assure you that no student will be impeded from registration at this time due to not meeting their immunization requirements. Due to this change, we have extended the previous deadline of August 1^st to August 15^th to fulfill the immunization requirements. 

Do not hesitate to contact the Student Health Center at 667-214-1883 or shealth@som.umaryland.edu if you have any additional questions or concerns. 

TO BE UPDATED FOR FALL 2023 SHORTLY 

Read this even if you already have health insurance. All students are required to have and will be billed for health insurance. You can find information about student health insurance here.

If you are covered by another policy and do NOT need the student health insurance offered by the University, you must show proof of comparable insurance under which you are covered and file a request to waive Maryland health insurance. For each new policy year, Gallagher’s website will not be available to complete an Enrollment or Waiver Form until the last week of June. Students will receive an email from Gallagher Student Health & Special Risk to your UMB email address providing instructions to complete the forms once the website is available.

This July you will receive health insurance information from the University and from Gallagher Student Health & Special Risk concerning enrollment in our insurance plan and the procedure for waiving that coverage. If you do not successfully waive coverage by September 15, 2023, you will automatically be enrolled in and billed for our insurance plan. Newly admitted students will need their UMB e-mail established before they are able to access Gallagher’s website.

See instructions to waive or to enroll in health insurance in the FAQ section on the Gallagher page.   

All official final certified transcripts must be sent to LSAC by October 1, 2023. Please do not send them directly to our Registrar's Office.

By October 1st of each student’s first year of enrollment at Maryland Carey Law, the Office of Registration & Enrollment (ORE) must have official transcripts verifying all academic credits undertaken and degree(s) conferred. If you enrolled in courses or received a degree after you submitted your application for admission, arrange for final, certified transcripts (showing degrees, where appropriate) from every college or university you have attended to be sent to LSAC in an updated Credential Assembly Service (CAS) Report that will be sent to Maryland Carey Law and that will be provided to the ORE.

The copies attached to your (CAS) Report will not suffice if they are not final and must show an undergraduate degree was conferred. It is not sufficient to submit final, certified transcripts that were initially sent to you. 

Students whose transcripts have not been received by October 1st of the first year of enrollment will not be permitted to continue enrollment. 

It would be difficult to overemphasize the importance of candor in law school and thereafter as a lawyer. Your obligation to be candid begins with your law school application.

When you applied for admission, you answered several character and fitness questions. In addition, our application instructions explained that applicants “have a continuing duty throughout the application, admission, and enrollment process to inform the Office of Admissions of any changes in the information provided….” Please take the time now to review the disclosures you made on your application to ensure that those disclosures are accurate and up to date. Failure to be honest and candid in the application process can have serious consequences, including the possibility of withdrawal of admission. If you have any questions about this, contact Director of Student Affairs, Ann Kim at a.kim@law.umaryland.edu as soon as possible.

Also, please be aware that you have a continuing obligation to report in writing any citations, charges, summonses, or arrests that occur not only after you submitted your application but also throughout your time in law school. Failure to make these disclosures could delay or preclude your admission to practice law. Again, if you have any questions, please ask Director Kim. It is always best to err on the side of over-disclosure.

Between now and orientation, any additional disclosures should be forwarded to the Office of Admissions at admissions@law.umaryland.edu. Beginning with orientation, any additional disclosures should be forwarded to Director Kim. Please feel free to come in to talk with Director Kim if you have any questions or concerns.

You may find when you apply to take a bar exam, that the bar application requires disclosure of specific types of misconduct not requested on your law school application.  For that reason, once you are enrolled here, we will ask you to disclose even minor traffic violations, which you were not obligated to disclose on your law school application.  You may wish to begin gathering that information now, as we will ask both for violations that took place prior to your enrollment and any that take place going forward.

Admission to the Bar Resources

• National Conference of Bar Examiners: Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements
• National Conference of Bar Examiners:  Character and Fitness Requirements
• ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar:  Bar Admissions Information

Professors may post course syllabi and reading assignments for the first class session on Blackboard, the online course management system. You are encouraged to check Blackboard after August 1. 

JD Students (Incoming 1Ls only)

Incoming 1L JD students are automically registered for courses and by early August, our Office of Registration and Enrollment will send you your fall class schedule. You will also receive a list of books assigned by each instructor and instructions regarding how to log in to Blackboard where most assignments will be posted.

Course Registration

Incoming first year students for the Full-time Day Program will be assigned to class sections and registered for classes automatically. This section assignment determines the student’s academic schedule for both the fall and spring semesters of the first year. Section assignments are typically announced by August 1.

Incoming first year students for the Part-time Evening Program will also be registered for classes automatically. 

First-Year Sections

First-year law students are assigned to sections, primarily for the purposes of community building, but they also serve as a helpful organizing tool. Day students will take some courses with only their section, but other courses include more than one section.  The Evening Division is its own JD section and students in this section share the same class schedule during their first year. 

Each section of first-year law students, day and evening, will be assigned Peer Advisors.  Peer Advisors are upper-level students who serve as mentors to first-year law students and other new students throughout the academic year.  Our hope is that students will find a supportive community as you connect with your section-mates, Peer Advisors, and other students at the law school. Peer Advisors will meet with students during orientation.

Books

The list of required and recommended textbooks for each class is incorporated into the Course Catalog. Until you receive your section assignment you will not be able to determine your course schedule or required books. Once you have received your section assignment in late summer, you can create your booklist.

Once your section assignment and class schedule is confirmed, you can purchase your books at the University Bookstore or any other source you choose. Some professors make some or all of the reading materials available in course packs, distributed at the law school, or online in Blackboard, the online course management system.

SURFS and Blackboard

Go to any page of the law school website, click on “Log In” in the upper right corner, and you will be brought to a list of sites (including Blackboard and SURFS).

To view the information on SURFS, click on SURFS, then “Login to SURFS,” then type in your UMID and password.  You can also go directly to www.umaryland.edu/surfs.  To view the information on Blackboard, click on Blackboard, then “Login with your UMID,” and then type in your UMID and password.  You should then see the classes for which you are registered and any postings, including assignments, from your professors.

LLM Students

Each LLM student develops an individual course of study. To ensure that your courses will satisfy the LLM degree requirements, please contact Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Crystal Edwards at  cedwards@law.umaryland.edu or (410) 706-2091 to schedule a time to discuss your course preferences and finalize your schedule. We will register you for your fall semester classes during the summer. The list of required and recommended textbooks for each class is incorporated into the Course Catalog. You can purchase your books at the University Bookstore or any other source you choose.

Transfer Students

Our Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Crystal Edwards, will contact you as soon as you have made your commitment to arrange a time to speak with you to plan your schedule. Dean Edwards will also go over other topics to help make your transition as smooth as possible. 

Start the process of obtaining a One Card/Campus ID.  The One Card is required to access all University facilities, including the law school building. Find instructions here.  Briefly, you will submit a photo of yourself electronically, and the One Card office will create your ID card and will notify you when it is available for pick up.  

If you have been notified that your ID is available and you want to pick it up, contact the One Card Office at umb-one@umaryland.edu or call 410-706-6943 to schedule an appointment to pick up your ID. The One Card Office is located at the SMC Campus Center at 621 W. Lombard St., Room 004, Lower Level, Baltimore, MD 21201. (This building is across from the University of Maryland Medical Center's Emergency Room entrance on Lombard Street near the corner of Lombard and Greene).
 
The Office of Student Affairs will be picking up all remaining available new student IDs from the One Card office just before Orientation to distribute them. These IDs will be available for pick up in the Office of Student Affairs, Suite 280.  However, any student wishing to pick up their own ID ahead of Orientation must make an appointment at the One Card Office to pick it up.

Public Transportation

Students have many options to commute to our campus. The UMB Shuttle has three routesthroughout campus and to nearby neighborhoods: 702 Mount Vernon, 703 Federal Hill, and 704 Canton/Fells Point. There is also a bike parking facility and other transportation alternatives.

Additionally, Baltimore has reliable public transportation, including to the airport via light rail. The Charm City Circulator, which runs through many areas of the city, is free. Students may also qualify for discounted mass transit fare.

Parking

Student parking will be available for incoming students and more information about different parking options can be found on the UMB Parking and Transportation Services page. 

If you plan to seek educational accommodations under the ADA, read the instructions on the UMB Educational Support and Disability Services page, click on "Disability Disclosure and Reasonable Accommodations Application," and log in to complete the accommodations application form. This form will request a list of your classes so aim to complete it in late July or early August when you have received your fall class schedule.

Requests for accommodations are evaluated by the University’s Office of Educational Support and Disability Services (OESDS). Maryland Carey Law implements the accommodations determined by the OESDS to be appropriate. Note: You must reapply for accommodations each semester that you will need them. Questions about applying for or receiving accommodations should be directed to Heather Moore, Assistant Director of Educational Support and Disability Services, at disabilityservices@umryland.edu or (410) 706-5889.

Campus Center and Athletic Facility

The law school shares a campus with the University of Maryland Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work, and Graduate School. Students from all over the world come here to study, which makes for a wonderfully diverse and energetic student body. The SMC Campus Center has excellent athletic facilities, including a fitness center, indoor pool, basketball courts, racquetball courts, fitness classes, and more. The Campus Center also has a wellness hub and relaxation rooms, and is the source of many gatherings, lectures, and films.  

Counseling Services 

The Counseling Center is an important resource, too. If you are a student who will need medication management while in law school, you should contact the counseling center well before you arrive on campus to schedule your first appointment with the counseling center staff. But more generally, it’s just good to know that the Counseling Center and the Wellness Hub exist.

Safety on Campus

The UMB Police Department is dedicated to providing a safe and secure environment for the University community to the best of our ability. Learn more about safety services on the UMB Police Department website.

Alumni Mentor Program

To help you navigate your first year, the Career Development Office (CDO) will invite you to participate in its Alumni Mentor Program for First-Year Law Students. Participating students will be matched with an alumnus who will serve as a mentor during the 2023-2024 academic year. Your mentor will be someone you can turn to for general guidance about succeeding in law school and entering the legal profession. In matching you with a mentor, the CDO will consider your preferences for geographic location, legal areas and industries of interest, and particular attributes that are important to you. While your mentor is not intended to become a potential employer, they should be viewed as a member of your new network of legal professional contacts. You will receive more information about the Alumni Mentoring Program as well as the registration survey after Orientation.

Peer Advisors

Peer advisors are upper level law students who serve as mentors primarily to first-year sections but they also help other new students to get acclimated to the law school. Peer advisors are available to answer questions and offer advice about the first-year experience and about law school generally. They can be very helpful to you as you navigate everything from finding housing to figuring out what to do if you’ve lost your ID card to deciding what study methods might be most effective for you. You will soon begin hearing from them via the Facebook page for the Class of 2026/2027. If you do not use Facebook, contact us at osa@law.umaryland.edu, and we will put you in touch with a peer advisor.

Mailboxes for students are located on the 1st floor of the law school in the student lounge, between the Atrium and the Comcast Dining area. At the beginning of each school year, each student is assigned a mailbox for school mail, event flyers, and intra-campus mail. Your mailbox number will change each year. To find your mailbox number, check the “Mailbox Guide” (an alphabetical list of students, with mailbox numbers, located on a bulletin board in the lounge area). The Mailbox Guide should be posted by the end of the first week of classes.

Update your emergency contact information AND your own contact information on SURFS by logging in with your UMID and password. You can also get to SURFS by clicking “Log In” at the top of any page of our website; you will see a list of sites to which you may log in; choose SURFS. 

Review the policies in the Policy Directory to ensure you are adhering to the rules set for for employment and other relevant topics.

Prepare for Orientation

Orientation plans for incoming JD, transfer, and LLM students are currently being finalized. Orientation programming will include in-person law school classes and presentations to introduce you to the law school and campus services.

JD Students

Orientation is mandatory for JD students.  Orientation for JD students will take place on Thursday, August 17^th from 8:15 am to 5:00 pm and Friday, August 18^th from 9:00 am to 6:30 pm. First year classes will begin on Monday, August 21^st at 10:00 am (Day students) and 6:30 pm (Evening students). There is no programming scheduled for August 19^th or 20^th.

If your schedule permits, we hope that you can attend the Welcome to Maryland Carey Law Reception on Wednesday, August 16^th from 5:30 – 7:00 pm. This gathering is an opportunity for you to meet some of your classmates before the official Orientation program begins.

Detailed Orientation Schedules for Day and Evening students will be available in early August on the Orientation Website.   

Looking for ways to get in the law school mindset before classes begin? Check out our list of suggested summer activities. 

Transfer Students

LLM Students