Incoming Student Information

Orientations and Events

• Graduate Division Orientation

  This orientation will be available online via Canvas. If you do not complete this in a timely manner, it could result in a hold being placed on your registration so it is highly recommended you work on completing this as soon as it is made available by Graduate Division. They will contact you regarding this. 

• Safety Orientation

  This orientation is mainly for PhD students who will be working in labs with potentially hazardous materials. The safety orientation date and time for Fall 2026 is Monday, September 23^rd, 2026 from 9:00am – 4:00pm at Environmental Health & Safety. Check in is at 8:30 AM. You can find a map to help you locate the building here: https://campusmap.ucr.edu/?id=2106#!ct/79413,71304,71297,71247,71305?m/830024?s/environmental. Information regarding this orientation will be delivered to your R'Mail account through UCR's Environmental Healthy and Safety Department. Please keep an eye out for this email as it is mandatory. 

• International Students and Scholars Orientation

  International Students and Scholars Orientation will be held on September 14th, 17th, and 18^th. Orientation will be in person. No make-up dates will be available.

  During ISO you will learn about life at UCR, and about off and on campus resources through presentations from various departments and offices on campus. There will be opportunities to connect with your peers, explore the campus as a group, more! You can find more information on orientation here: https://international.ucr.edu/students/orientation. 

  Orientation updates and information will be sent to your UCR email account (called R'Mail), so please check that account regularly. You can register here to reserve your spot. Please also visit the ISS website for more detailed information here: https://international.ucr.edu/students/orientation.

  For any questions, please contact their office at internationalstudents@ucr.edu.

• Mechanical Engineering Department Orientation

  Department Orientation will be held on Monday, September 21^st, 2026 from 8AM-3PM in Winston Chung Hall (WCH) 205/206. Please mark your calendar as attendance is MANDATORY. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. For assistance locating the building, please visit https://campusmap.ucr.edu/.                                                                    

• Teaching Assistant Orientation

  This orientation is mandatory for all new students that will TA in their first year. All New TA Orientation components for Academic Year 2026-2027 will be held online via eLearn. The orientation will be asynchronous; however, our expectation is that each TA will complete the required training between the beginning of the quarter and the conclusion of Week 3. A tutorial on how to self-enroll to the TA Orientation Canvas course can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CPkVz4LLD8RW27T9Bb5gmg6WZyy2c4zC/view?usp=share_link

  To register for orientation, please visit TADP's website. 

Student Checklist

Students must consider and complete the following tasks prior to their official start date:

Statement of Legal Residence 

As noted in your admission offer and post admission documents, all students are required to complete the statement of legal residence. Students who do not complete this online form should be assessed nonresident tuition. This includes students who completed their undergraduate degree at UCR.  Please click the following link, Residency for Tuition Purposes and complete this form as soon as possible. 

Direct Deposit

DIRECT DEPOSIT FORM: Enroll for direct deposit via R’Web for fellowship stipends, financial aid or any other student refunds. Visit the Student Business Services page for more information on Refunds, Loan Processing, Payments, 1098-T Taxpayer Relief Act, Forms and Student Accounts. 

UCR R'Mail

Please ensure that you have set up your UCR R’Mail account if you have not done so already. Please note that all communications from myself and other campus agencies will always contact you using your R’Mail account.  

ENGR Account 

Although all students have R’Mail accounts, it is still vital to create an ENGR account. Please visit the BCOE systems website to create an account. It is the only way you can be added to any mailing lists created by BCOE which often carry important department information. You can visit this page for explicit instructions on how to make an ENGR account: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oX0ZYzlXolmpZ0fJNAy_cVPW6i22R3PRp1TenrxjHMw/edit?tab=t.0 If you were previously an undergrad at UCR, you will need to email the systems team (systems@engr.ucr.edu) and ask to be moved to the graduate student mailing list. You will need to provide them with your full name, SID, NetID, and email. 

Parking

Visit Campus Transportation & Parking Services for: 

• Parking Permits. 

• RTA (Rapid Transit Agency) local Riverside bus line.  Bus passes are free for UCR students. 

• Metrolink (Southern California Commuter Train) - easy access to Los Angeles, Beaches and San Diego 

• Carpool. 

• Other Alternative Transportation Programs. 

If you do not have a parking permit yet, daily permits are available for purchase at our University Kiosk located on University Avenue and West Campus Drive. Hourly parking is also available for purchase via the park mobile app. See https://transportation.ucr.edu/visitor-parking#parking_options_how_to_pay for more information on how to use this service. For more detailed information on visitor parking availability, please visit https://transportation.ucr.edu/visitor-parking. You can find a printable map to help you locate the parking kiosks and lots here https://campusmap.ucr.edu/. 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact TAPS. 

Housing 

Below are some resources for on and off campus housing.  Please be proactive in your housing search. 

1. UCR Housing Services  

2. Riverside Neighborhoods information from the City of Riverside 

3. Riverside Apartment Finder   

4. Zillow 

5. Roomies 

Medical Insurance

Graduate Students are automatically enrolled in a UCR policy. Students that prefer to keep their own medical insurance will need to cancel UCR’s policy by applying for a waiver as soon as possible.  Any questions, please contact the Student Health Services. You can also read more about your Graduate Student Health Insurance (GSHIP) here https://studenthealth.ucr.edu/graduates

Campus Safety

Learn more about Campus Safety Services and tools for all students online.  

Campus ID Cards

Visit Card Services to obtain your UCR Student ID card! 

Registration

Registration is currently open and you will have the option to add and drop courses online through October 9th, 2026. Many of your registration questions will be answered during orientation but feel free to reach out to me if it is urgent or you feel it cannot wait. For instructions on how to register online, visit the Registrar's Office Website. Please note that Graduate Advisors and the Graduate Officer cannot remove restrictions/holds that are set by other departments. You will need to contact that specific department to have the restriction/holds cleared.  

Fall instruction begins September 24, 2026. Generally, it is recommended that our first-year graduate students complete 3 or 4 PhD prelim or MS comp preparation courses (ME200, ME235/EE235, ME240A, ME241A, ME243A, ME261, ME266) so that you will be ready for the spring prelim/comp exams. Please Note: ME 250 (Seminar) is required to take in order to graduate. You may take it at any point during your time in the program but understand that there are a certain number of seminars you must take before graduating from the program. The number ranges depending on your degree objective: 

• The M.S. Plan I (Thesis) degree objective requires students to take a total of 3 seminar units prior to graduation.
• The M.S. Plan II (Comp Exam) degree objective requires students to take a total of 1 seminar units prior to graduation.
• The Ph.D degree objective requires students to take a total of 6 seminar units prior to graduation. 

You should consult with your respective faculty advisor (PhD students) or with the department Graduate Advisor (MS students), Dr. Chen Li (chenli@engr.ucr.edu), for further guidance on which courses to enroll. 

The written preliminary (PhD) and comprehensive (MS Plan II) examination is designed to test understanding of graduate-level mechanical engineering concepts and methods. It covers three subject areas to be selected by the student: materials structure & properties, control systems, engineering analysis, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and solid mechanics. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the relevant graduate-level coursework for the selected subject areas. NOTE: The Comprehensive and Preliminary exams are not based solely on the relevant course materials. These courses should be viewed as relevant to the subject exam and as an aid to your exam preparation. 

**These courses may be subject to change.  For the complete list of ME Courses being offered, please click here. 

You can find our graduate student handbook here: https://me.ucr.edu/document/me-graduate-handbook. Please refer to it often during your time in the program. This may have minor revisions by the time you arrive but you will be notified if a newer version becomes available. 

Additionally, you can find the UCR course catalog here: https://documents.ucr.edu/registrar/UCR%20Catalog%202025-2026.pdf. This also has important information about our program.

International Students

The International Student Resource Center assists incoming international students in answering questions and services. Should you have any Visa, I-20, or travel related questions, they should be directed to their office  (internationalstudents@ucr.edu). We encourage you to visit their site.

Deferring Attendance

PLEASE NOTE: Our Graduate Division is currently allowing deferments.  If you believe that you will need to defer, please complete the following survey, Deferment Request , as soon as time permits. Please also send myself and Dr. Bhargav Rallabandi, the Faculty Advisor of Admissions an email: bhargav@engr.ucr.edu confirming you would like to defer.

Local Address

Once you have a local address, please be sure to update this information on R’Web. This is very important. If your local address is not updated, all mailed information will be sent to your home address on record.  

Once again, please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions or concerns you may have. 

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