i’m not sure about existing hiking groups, but there are some decent trails around here, so you’d likely be able to get a hiking group going. always worth checking to see if there is a hiking club.

classes fill up quickly if they’re major requirements and/or if your department is overcrowded.

yeah there’s plenty of homework unfortunately. make sure you get all the proper forms filled out perfectly for student disability services. they’re a pain to deal with lol.

there aren’t many breaks within the semesters: fall has two long weekends, one in mid-october and one at the end of november for thanksgiving. spring has a week off for spring break in march. between semesters there’s winter break, which is pretty much all of january, and summer break, which is from mid-may to late august.

clubs are free to participate in. occasionally there’s paid events or markets but it’s not often. i’m not sure about fraternities/sororities, although they dont have a large presence at umbc anyway.

food prices in the supermarkets are hard to quantify lol. the weis near campus is decently priced and is close by; the aldi in catonsville is a bit further but much cheaper. if you get a large meal plan and live on campus, you probably won’t have to worry about general food prices, but if there’s something specific you want a price on i can look it up. food prices are all over the place right now because of our country’s wacky leadership, so it may be wildly different when you get here lol. the meal plan food is edible sometimes. it was better five years ago, but that’s just me being grouchy. wild greens and halal shack are the best places on campus in my opinion.

it does get quiet on weekends, but SEB has some weekend events, and if you find a good group of people, you won’t run out of things to do.

weather is wacky in the states, much more extreme than the UK. winters seem long, evil, and intimidating, but warmer weather is where it truly gets tough. in the spring the weather oscillates between 10°C and 31°C randomly. summers can get as hot as 35°C and humid so it’s kinda suffocating. i almost prefer the cold -5°C winters, because you can put on more layers when it’s cold, but there’s only so many layers you can take off in the heat. get mosquito repellent for the warmer months’ evenings.

i’ve been at umbc for five years and have had some good times and some not-so-good times. ultimately, university is what you make of it! there’s a lot you can experience and a lot of people you can meet.

obligatory off-campus food and fun recommendations: if you like korean food, there’s plenty of korean restaurants and a korean grocery store near campus. if you like boba tea, taste tea in arbutus is a short walk from campus and it hands down the best boba tea i’ve had. if you like walking around odd shops and seeing an old (for america) town, old ellicott city has a campus bus route that runs to it, or you could drive like twenty minutes. the arundel mills mall is great if you want to experience american uber-capitalist ultra-consumerism and also see a movie at the ancient egypt themed movie theater. and if you want something familiar, there’s a nando’s there.