Packing o List out items, and decide priority o Do it slowly o Baggage dimensions o Don't get lot of short term items Maggi etc. o Get toor dal o Get spices, will last o No jeera or rice! o For initial days, get ready to eat. Ask seniors for help.
Flight o Make sure you are thorough about itinerary o Immigration can take 40 minutes - 1 hour o Baggage dimensions have to be precise
Laptop o Carry yours if you have, else buy in the US
Communication o Teach people VoIP: Skype, Hangout o Get calling cards o VoIP to phone network (Telcan, ActionVOIP) o Vonage
Housing o Pickup and accommodation will be by ISA o Try getting the unit checked by a senior o Try a 6 month lease if possible. Rent might change (it might go up) Recommendation is 6-12-6. Aishwarya suggests 10, because 6 month lease might end in January (spring semester). That will leave you free for intern. o Try getting a apartment nearer to the department (EE is usually on the East, Bio in East) o Buying a bicycle is a good idea. Side of apartment will not matter much then. Will help you get classes. o Get to know the area, grocery stores, Indian stores o Apartments with less Indians: socializing depends on you. Lots of Indians around anyway. Choice of university does not matter as long as you are willing. No specific advantages and disadvantages. o West side doesn't have a proper market. East side has several Indian and grocery stores
Transportation o Orbit buses will plenty around the campus, you can use them to get to class, but have to be punctual about timing and watch out for the stops o Still better to get a bike. It gives you more flexibility. Might also help if you want to stay late in lab/lib. o Register it with ASU PD with photo and serial number. They are very vigilant.
Academics o Make sure all the subjects you take are in alignment with what you want to do, not disjointed o Try to balance learning and GPA o Do not copy. It can lead to legal issues. o Concepts and knowledge and project are important. First 20-25 minutes of job interview will be about your resume, so know it well. Especially, projects. o Thesis/portfolio/comprehensive exam (Bio has thesis/project, no non-thesis) o New course: go through coursework, analyze, mail the professor about the course. Take the risk if you're interested and willing to work hard. It will be up to the mark despite being new. Also evaluate the value of the course in career/research path. o Degree certificate: new students can provide provisional degree certificates o Biomed: 598 is special topic, usually first time offer
Research o No problem if you don't know o Join the labs, at the start if you can o Balance academics with labs. Don't let acads slip. o You can move labs, but tell your previous supervisor before moving o If you want to do PhD, research work will be important o Biomed is low on funds, so RA/TA only when you want to go for PhD
Part-time Jobs o Student employment search on the ASU Campus Services o Prepare resume and cover letter o Doesn't need professional work (projects etc.) o Event management, guest work, interacting with teams outside o Desk assistant is what receptionist is in India o Get your terminologies right o Work on your resume, don't do halfhearted jobs. Don't have paragraphs. Points and correct sub headings o Apply everywhere. You can apply for any part time, all of them need you to communicate with people, work hard and finish on time o Get the cover letter right, you can have different letters for jobs. Make it more personalized. o References are important o Number of hours can be discussed with the employer. Allowed only 20 hours a week, so even if you have multiple jobs(you can), split them properly. o Don't worry much about part time job, focus on internship. More benefit (80% time to internship and 20 % to part time) o For VLSI, lot of assignments and labs. Very heavy course load. Courses getting revamped, might get heavy. It will eat into your resting time (one senior had 10 projects in one semester). If you go for tough courses, don't go for part time. Might hurt GPA. o RA, prof already has students working. Initially work for prof for free, then they might hire. Look at projects, find something interesting, talk to the prof and work for free. Even if you're exploring, tell the prof, they will be happy about it. Then work for 2-3 months, prof keeps evaluating. Then they might take you as thesis student. o Read about the prof's work and recent papers. That will give you an idea of recent work o Jobs that are off-campus but on the portal: You can't do that in the first year. The exceptions are ASU affiliated organizations.
Things to get o Really hot place, winter wear is available. Come here and get winter wear. o List on site, narrow down.
Academics o Gokul: took two circuit courses, that helped him decide on what to do in the future o Can always mail professors, they can help us with pre reqs and details o EEE: 591: Undergrad eq., 598: special courses, 6xx & 7xx: PhD o For first 3 sems, 9 credits, last sem it's ok (you might get thesis credit, give your notice of graduation) o Embedded: 3-4 courses, lots of job offers. Take RTES (Real time embedded sys), RTOS( Real Time OS), ESP (Embedded SP) and EOS (Embedded OS) o Power systems: lots of employers for full time. Internship is tougher o Embedded programming needs good C++ skill o EEE can have more than 2 electives, so fairly flexible
Books o Department hangouts o Do not depend on library for basic course books o Indian editions are cheaper o Ebooks also work. Do not take printouts of illegal ones to exams though. o Abebooks will ship Indian versions for some fee, so if you're worried about weight, you can use them. They take some time to ship though.
Forex Cards o It's more convenient to transfer funds directly to account o Best choice till you get a new account, it's safe o You can transfer cash at tellers counter
Credit Cards o You need some sort of employment, it gives you an SSN o Then you can get a credit card o Then build a credit o Bank of America does not need an SSN (was the case last year) but you may need to provide a cash collateral o Do not carry much cash. Mostly swiping. o Keep 2-3 cards o Having a credit card is good for finances later
Finances o Best time to buy dollars?: Doesn't really matter. Wait a little for stabilization. Still, only get money for first semester.