Admitted Student’s FAQs

You can submit your payment with a credit card (Visa/MC) via your Applicant Gateway, by personal check sent to the Business Office, or by calling the Admission Office at (240) 895-5000 – we will take your credit card information and submit the payment for you!

While in the SMCM Applicant Gateway, you must first “Reply to Offer of Admission”. Once you have accepted your offer of admission, a “Pay Your Deposit” button will appear in the SMCM Applicant Gateway. If you need assistance, please reach out to the Office of Admission at (240) 895-5000 or admissions@smcm.edu.

Your enrollment deposit is non-refundable, but it is not an extra charge. It will be applied to your first semester’s tuition bill. If you choose not to enroll at St. Mary’s College, it will not be refunded.

Please contact the Office of Admission at admissions@smcm.edu, (240) 895-5000 (phone), or text (240)219-8995.

You can access your Admission and Financial Aid letters via your Applicant Gateway. An Admission Packet including the Admission and Financial Aid Letters will also be mailed to your mailing address on file.

There is approximately a two week window from the release of your decision and when you will receive your Financial Aid letter if your FAFSA was submitted on time. Delays may be caused if OSFA does not have your social security number to match to your FAFSA. Beyond the above stated two week window please contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance at (240) 895-3000 or osfa@smcm.edu.

Please contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance through the chat feature on their webpage, or call them at (240) 895-3000 or email them at osfa@smcm.edu. They will be able to answer your questions.

Upon submission of your application, we sent you an email with instructions on how to set up the SMCM Applicant Gateway. If you cannot find the instructions or cannot remember your password, we can easily resend the email containing the instructions or send you a password reset. Please contact the Office of Admission at admissions@smcm.edu, (240) 895-5000 (phone), or text (240) 219-8995.

No. You will use both the SMCM Applicant Gateway and SMCM Student Portal until you arrive on campus as a student. Please make sure that you can access both. Once enrolled and on campus, you will only use your SMCM Student Portal.

No, the SMCM Applicant Gateway uses your personal email, while the SMCM Student Portal uses your SMCM email.

24-72 hours after you pay your enrollment deposit, you will receive a sequence of two emails to your personal email on file. The first email will have a subject line of “IMPORTANT: Activate your SMCM Email Account”. This email will have instructions on how to enroll in the password manager and how to reset your password. The second email will have a temporary pin for you to use to log in for the first time. Then complete the steps in the instructional email using the temporary pin when needed. Doing this as soon as possible ensures you have uninterrupted access to your SMCM Student Portal.

You will use your SMCM Student Portal to access the housing application, choose your meal plan, register for classes, take placement tests, finalize financial aid, and pay your semester bill. Once your SMCM email is activated, communication from all campus departments will be sent to your SMCM email.

Yes, until you arrive on campus and start attending classes, you will be receiving emails to both your SMCM email address and personal email address. Please check them both frequently.

Yes! As your admission counselor comes back to life post application reading season, they will follow up with you (through emails or texts) to make sure you know how to submit your deposit, and to help you move forward after depositing (thus committing) to SMCM. You will also be contacted by other members of our campus community as we head into the next steps of the enrollment process. You will be contacted concerning housing applications, advising, registration, etc.

We are required to receive official final high school transcripts (which have the date of graduation noted on them) for each enrolled student. Contact your high school/counselor and have them email them to admissions@smcm.edu. These need to come directly from the school, they can not be forwarded by you.

St. Mary’s College is test-optional for admission purposes, but as with the official high school transcript, we are required to have official test scores for each student. Contact your high school/counselor and have them email the scores to admissions@smcm.edu. If you did not take an ACT or SAT standardized test, then the requirement does not apply to you.

SOAR (Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration), is a mandatory one day event for incoming first years (and their family members) to meet your Orientation Leader and group, work with an advisor to create a schedule & register for classes, become more familiar with campus, connect with your fellow incoming classmates and to get any questions regarding next steps, orientation and more. You may register for SOAR tentatively on either June 16, 17, or 18 here using your Applicant Gateway credentials. If you are unable to attend on one of these dates, please contact the office of admission at admissions@smcm.edu or call at 240-895-5000 to arrange an alternative option.

August 28 to September 1 is Orientation and “WOW”, our Week of Welcome. You will meet with your academic adviser, get to know other Seahawks and the many campus resources and activities designed to help you maximize your St. Mary’s College experience. At Orientation you will attend sessions designed to assist your transition to St. Mary’s College.

After you commit and set up your SMCM accounts, you will receive an email to your personal email account indicating that your housing application is available. Access will also be available in your SMCM Applicant Gateway enrollment checklist. You should log into our Residence system using your SMCM credentials and complete the housing contract. Applications/contracts for Fall 2023 are open from March 20 on and are due June 1

The roommate matching portal on the Residence system will open on June 1 if you have completed your housing contract. You will be notified mid-July of your housing placement and assigned roommate.

Incoming Transfer Students will move into the residence halls on Friday, August 26. Orientation will be held August 26 through August 28. Orientation is composed of three days of events provided to assist you in finding your way around campus, learn about academic and social activities, make new friends, and prepare for your first days at St. Mary’s College.

New students move into residence halls on Thursday, August 25, starting at 8:00 a.m., Week of Welcome (WOW) begins at 2:30 p.m. Commuter students check in on Thursday, August 25 at 1:45 p.m. and will join WOW at 2:30 p.m. Orientation is composed of four days of events to help you from Thursday, August 25 through Sunday, August 28. Sessions are provided to help you find your way around campus, learn about academic and social activities, make new friends, and prepare for your first days at St. Mary’s College.

If you are a first year student, you will select classes after SOAR (Seahawk, Orientation Advising, & Registration). We will send you information regarding SOAR to your email during the first week of May. Stay tuned!

If you are a first year student, you will meet with your temporary summer advisor during eSOAR. By the end of July, you will receive your fall course schedule.  In August, you’ll be assigned your faculty advisor. All students work with faculty advisors to plan their coursework and discuss how to reach their academic, social, and professional goals. Once you begin your SMCM coursework you may request a specific faculty advisor.

After your enrollment deposit is paid, information regarding advising/registration will be emailed to the email account that you used for your application. You will then call the Office of Student Support Services at 240-895-4388 to schedule your advising appointment. For the Fall 2022 Semester, this process will begin May 3 and continue until Aug. 27.