Author: Lauren Tabbacchino, Coordinator for Commuter Engagement, Off-Campus Student Services

Getting to campus can be challenging at times, but did you know your student has alternative options to driving? Off-Campus Students Services (OCSS) can help students join carpools to save on the expense of gas and tolls, and to have someone to share the ride with. Getting connected with other students is easy with our myUMBC Casual Carpooling group: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/casualcarpooling. To access the group, students login with their myUMBC account credentials. Then, they can join one of the Discussions, categorized by the town the student commutes from. Students who live near to campus or who commute from Baltimore City can take advantage of the free UMBC Transit shuttles. The complete list of shuttle lines and schedules is available online: http://www.umbc.edu/transit/, or tell your student to stop by our office, and we can help with navigating the route. Public transportation is available to students living near and far. Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) buses stop at several locations around campus. Students can purchase discounted monthly bus passes in our office.  A complete list of bus lines is available online http://mta.maryland.gov/.

Now that your student has multiple ways to commute back and forth to campus, he or she will feel more comfortable staying after class to get involved on campus! In addition to the multitude of programs offered by Student Life, OCSS offers commuters a special line of social programs called Commuter Connections. These once-monthly events are held during free hour on Fridays. We also host a commuter breakfast every Tuesday morning. Good Morning Commuters, or GMC as it’s more commonly known, is held in the Commons on Main Street from 8:30am-10am. Breakfast is free for students who have a Commuter Gold Card. Students can purchase their Commuter Gold Cards for just $5 at any Tuesday breakfast. For more information about these and all of our upcoming events, visit http://my.umbc.edu/groups/ocss. 

Whether it's doing a field study searching for fossils, discovering new ways to interpret hieroglyphs, or doing a documentary series on the life of Cleopatra, there is absolutely NO WAY that conducting undergraduate research in this field could be boring!

YOU decide what you want to research, and what burning questions you want to ask.

YOU decide if you want to apply for grants, travel, or do an internship.

YOU decide if and how you want to showcase your findings.

Undergraduate research is fun, rewarding, and whatever else you want it to be. Check out the link provided for more information and to see what other students have done!

P.S.  The UMBC Ancient Studies Department will conduct its 49th annual study tour in Turkey next spring! Deadline to apply to is September 26, 2014. Don't miss out on this AMAZING opportunity!

computer-adaptive Graduate Records Examination. The purpose of the
course is to improve students' performance on the GRE by:

• Providing students with successful test management techniques
  
• Familiarizing students with question types specific to the GRE
  
• Teaching the logical, rhetorical, and mathematical problem-solving techniques relevant to the GRE
  
• Teaching essential grammatical and mathematical concepts and techniques in application to real test problems
  
• Identifying the specific problems posed by the GRE, and analyzing common test-taking errors
  
• Improving performance and reducing test anxiety through practice testing
  

This workshop is taught by Dr. Anthony Poplawski, who has
helped thousands of students perform better on their GRE examinations.
While this workshop provides participants with very valuable
information, techniques and strategies for maximizing their potential on
the GRE, please note that it does not replace studying. In addition to
taking this workshop we recommend that students dedicate significant
time to studying for the examination in order to be truly prepared.

Please visit the Graduate Record Examination web site at www.gre.org to view information on the GRE exam.

TO REGISTER AND LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COURSE, PLEASE VISIT:

http://www.umbc.edu/testprep/gre.html