TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

INDEX 1. LAX to USC Transportation a. Shuttles (Primetime and Super) b. Online Reservation for the shuttles c. How to enter the house? d. How to roam around? FORMALITIES AFTER LANDING a. Passport Verification b. Obtain your USC ID Card (USCard) OPENING YOUR BANK ACCOUNT a. Bank of America b. USC Credit Union COURSE REGISTRATION a. Activity Restrictions in myUSC b. D-Clearance (Link provided for EE) FEE PAYMENT a. Check deadline to pay b. Education Loans from India i. Wire Transfer charges OASIS DISTANCE EDUCATION NETWORK DEN a. Info about Off-campus courses and intern (CT) IMMUNIZATIONS a. MMR b. TB c. Check immunization status online EDUCATION LO ANS FROM USA BANKS HEALTH INSURANCE More Info on D-CLEARANCE, SEATS FILLING UP a. For EE b. For CS LIBRARY & LAB FACILITIES a. Printing & photocopying b. Copy House FOOD, EATERIES a. University Village (UV) i. Free optical Lens b. Good eateries on the West, South side of campus c. Vegetarian Options d. What to bring from India WALMART GENERAL TRANSPORTATION a. Public bus b. Yellow Cabs c. Zipcar d. Other rental cars

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Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

ENCOUNTERS AFTER FLYING From LAX to USC: You have shuttles. o Prime Time shuttle Costs $15 from the airport. Color- RED o Super Shuttle Costs $20 or $25 from the airport. Color-BLUE o Once you get all your procedures done you may find some coin operated phones. You can use them for calling your temporary accommodation host, friends, etc. o Move out of the airport from any nearby EXIT.

o o o o o o

In this image, all exits are located in the RIGHT SIDE end of the picture. The left side gravel is a proper road; the right side gravel is the pick-up zone. This stretch IS VERY LONG. So you may get out of the airport anywhere along the stretch. Once you get out, check for SHUTTLES/VANS sign. The shuttle vans stop at 4-5 places along the stretch. You may even come out exactly through the exit where it stops. At that spot you will find sign boards saying PRIME TIME SHUTTLE and another for SUPER SHUTTLE. You will find a guy in RED t-shirt and a guy in blue t-shirt. You can book these shuttles online and pay by your Indian Visa/Master card. You will just need a print out OR just the reservation number. ONLINE RESERVATION NOT compulsory. You can walk to that guy and tell him that you want to go to USC area. Since its the 1st time I would recommend you to book it online, otherwise you will have to pay by cash at the end of the ride. He will help you taking your huge baggage outside the van. So you can tip him a dollar or two.

Outside airport, you can ask the security personnel for the shuttles if you cant find them.

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

IMP: After reaching your destination address, say, its your temporary accommodation. Most of the apartments here are gated. It means that you can enter the complex only if you have the keys or someone should open the gate for you. o So you can tell that host/friend to look for you in about 30mins time when you call them from the airport. Else you will have to wait outside the apartment until someone enters/exits so you can sneak in. o In general you will have someone entering/exiting frequently. Also you can ask any Indian student walking outside to lend his cell phone for you to make a call. If he doesnt help then remember his face and beat him up with your friends later :P Roam around the campus with seniors help. (If you have any question regarding this, pls ask me or anyone there) You can use the USC trams and campus cruisers. Check timings, maps at http://transnet.usc.edu The main campus is called University Park Campus (UPC). This is where most of you will be. Medical students will have their classes at Health Science Campus (HSC) which is about 30mins from here. There are trams from UPC to HSC campus. MS students with courses at HSC campus also stay near UPC campus only. I think these days trams are referred to as shuttles. TITBIT: I roamed out with 1 senior and 2 peers from 11.30pm to 2am, walking all through the univ. That was when I realized that USC is a safe place if you choose the right way to walk. You will find security ppl standing 24hrs at many places (mostly concentrated near fraternities) And yes, fraternities (filled with localites) = Partying. Am telling no more on it!

FORMALITIES AFTER LANDING Passport Verification o It will be done during your orientation. o Without this you cannot register for courses, cannot obtain ID card. o So register for PPV prior to Orientation. Generally you must be done with this on the day you land or the very next day itself. It takes not more than 5mins. o Register here: http://sait.usc.edu/ois/intl-students/new-student/ppv.aspx o IMP: Take all the documents and photocopies that they ask for. Check that site. ID Card o In PPV you will get an acknowledgement paper. Take it and go to USCard office. It is located near Leaveey Library; head south-east from the Leavey library entrance; along the east side of the McCarthy Quad (the huge lawn outside Leavey library) o They will take a photo of yours. You will have your ID card in 10mins. In the end of the document I will give you details on photocopying, printing, other facilities. This marks the end of the most important formality. You have to do PPV within 15days from the day you land here.

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

BANK ACCOUNT OPENING IN LOS ANGELES This is another important step. You have TWO OPTIONS. Bank of America o Located right outside the university, in the University Village. o They used to have a CampusEdge plan for F1 students that include a Checking and a Savings account + a debit card. o No charge for opening an account. I think savings account requires a minimum balance of $35. o If seniors refer you, then both you and the senior (existing BofA account holder) will get $10 each. (FYI). o You get 3 cheques (check in USA) Credit Union o USC Credit Union located within the university; practically speaking you can say that BofA and Credit Union are right opposite to each other. So no location advantage. o Previously they used to give 150 free checks but then they stopped doing it. I do not know the current situation. o They charge around $9 for opening an account (All the figures are based on Spring 2010). o Hence for the 150 checks many used to sign up. Once they stopped it, not many opened an account here. o I do not know any visible advantage of one over the other in monetary terms. o Of course, BofA may have a wider network, I suppose.

COURSE REGISTRATION In http://my.usc.edu there is a module (if it is not there by default, you can add it) My Courses. In that you can see ACTIVITY RESTRICTIONS: None. o If it is NOT none, then you may have restrictions such as: English exam due to TOEFL score (<90 and <20 in one or more sections) Degree Verification If you had not sent your degree certificates or provisional degree certificates copy while applying, then you will have this hold. You will have to show your original degree certificate to remove this hold. You can do this any time before 2nd or 3rd semester. So dont worry if your convocation is not over yet. I havent heard of any other restriction. In the Quick Links module in myUSC, go to Web Registration. Follow the steps given there and register for the courses. If you need to apply for D-Clearance, please follow your departments procedure for the same. o For EE: Use the online form to apply for D-Clearance

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

The link for D-Clearance online system and for more information: http://ee.usc.edu/academics/course_index/d_clearance.htm Once you get the D-clearance for a course, say, EE477, it will be valid only for 5 days or a week. Please register within that time frame. You can apply for the D-clearance of maximum 5 courses per semester. (I hope these numbers stay the same now) When you register for, say, 3 courses on a Tuesday, the amount of fees that you will have to pay will be provided in the USC ePay website. (Find it in the Quick Links module in myUSC) This will include break-up of your fees, including insurance, health center fee, etc. If there is an associated discussion session with your course, PLEASE REGISTER FOR THAT ALSO. o

FEE PAYMENT This page should provide you with all the details http://fbs.usc.edu/depts/sfs/object.aspx?object_id=2106 Last Fall (2010), I had few people, whose ePay showed them a deadline of some date that is 3 weeks into the future while the Credit Union had their deadline of the upcoming Friday. They were not aware of this and ended up paying $100 late fine. I would advise you that after you register for the courses, you pay the fees soon. Go to USC Credit Union and check your deadline if required. There is a clause in their website somewhere that made the students deadline the upcoming Friday and so $100 fine as they paid the next week. In general the Credit Union people will be nice to waive off the fine. But at times I guess they dont want to do it to avoid huge number of students coming to them for waiver. EDUCATION LOANS FROM INDIA: (click here for education loan from USA info) o Online transfer (SWIFT transfer, as they call it at times) will take about 2-3 working days. Worst case it will take not more than 4-5 days. Plan accordingly. o Banks request you to give an official statement (either on USC letterhead or printed from USC website) to release funds for each semester. o For 1st semester, you have to register after coming here and then you can email the USC ePAY statement to the bank asking them to release the funds for the fees. o WIRE TRANSFER CHARGES: Assuming you do NOT have your parents, friends, relatives working in the same bank, you will be charged around Rs.1000/- in India (point of origin) Somewhere in the middle, generally in New York, around $30 will be deducted from the amount you sent from India. The 2nd amount used to be $50 for SBI, $30 for Bank of India, etc Please enquire the banks for any change of these rules and for the exact current deductions. If you have parents working in the same bank, generally they can waive off all of these charges.

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

So by now you have 1. Landed in LA 2. Got your passport verified 3. Got your USC ID CARD (USCard) 4. Opened a Bank account and deposited all of your cash, travelers cheque 5. Registered for courses 6. Paid the fees Of course LA is hot for entertainment, but let us talk about serious things here. :P OASIS If rules did not change, you will not have to do anything to get OASIS access. You will get it by default. You dont have much to do in OASIS in the 1st semester. OASIS gives you information about: o Courses enrolled o Grade report o Completed Course Summary o STARS Report (determines if you have satisfied all the requirements for graduation) o A number of other services As soon as you decide your house, please log into OASIS and change your address. DISTANCE EDUCATION NETWORK (DEN) Most of the Engineering Graduate courses are available off-campus. For their convenience USC records the video lectures and stores it available for all of the off-campus and on-campus students to download and listen to them as many times as required. http://uscden.net or http://den.usc.edu will provide you with the access to it. Department will email you regarding when you have access to it. So this section about DEN is just FYI. DEN also will have the lecture notes and homework. Some courses may require you to submit the homework through DEN. YOU WILL HAVE ACCESS ONLY TO THE COURSES YOU ARE ENROLLED IN. IMP: Off-campus?? o US Citizens can take any course off-campus, whenever they want. o F1 students can take a course off-campus only while interning outside Los Angeles. o *You can intern outside Los Angeles during summer without any restriction. But to intern outside LA during Fall or Spring you need to have 4 or >4 units remaining for graduation. These are some important details you need to know about CPT. Refer here for more details when you start looking for interns. http://mapp.usc.edu/mastersprograms/currentstudents/CPT.htm So after the initial setting up of things you had to do NOTHING from your side for OASIS and DEN.

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

IMMUNIZATIONS Next stop Student Health Center. MMR: o You can fax your MMR proof from India. o If not, you can come in person, give your MMR proof. They will take a photocopy of it and give the original back to you o If you are not showing the proof then you will have to pay for two doses of MMR vaccination. I do not know the current price but in my time it was around $130 totally. TB Test: o Free test o When you go to the Health Center, they will inject some test liquid in your arm o You will have to go back in 3 days. If your arm has any new development (like a pimple) then they will have you take the 2nd test. I think this will be a paid test, paid by YOU. o Few Indians will have to go to the 2nd test, but nothing to worry. Check your Immunization status here: http://usc.edu/myshr

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

Information Section EDUCATION LOANS FROM USA BANKS If you have someone with US citizenship or green-card, they can sign as Surety and you can get a loan from USA banks. ADVANTAGES IN GETTING LOAN FROM USA BANKS: o Interest rate will be very low o Repayment period is very long (you even have plans of 20years!) You can get more info here http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/loans/private.html HEALTH INSURANCE If you have taken Health Insurance from USC, the insurance provider for you is Aetna. You will be getting an insurance card in a month or two to your housing address given in OASIS. If you want to visit a doctor while at USC you can visit the Student Health Center here and fix an appointment or go in emergency line. They will have the info on your insurance from your USC ID card number. If you visit any hospital outside USC you need your AETNA INSURANCE NUMBER. This number is given in the card; so please keep the card with you or with someone responsible for you. If you did NOT get the Insurance card, nothing to worry till you move outside USC. Just call Aetna and ask them to send another card for you. They will send it in 10-working days. This insurance is valid throughout USA. You are allowed to take insurance outside USC also. o If you take from India the hospitals have several hassles in getting the claim back from India. But it is not illegal to take it in India. o I do not want to give my speculative views on this. Please enquire with USC Insurance office for more info. http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/Health_Center/ins.index.shtml (located right behind the Leavey Library)

D-CLEARANCE, SEATS FILLING UP ! In general, lets say a class has a total strength of 60. Once the 60 students are enrolled, you cannot enroll in it. But if more people want to register for it, then the dept will include another section of the same class.

For EE Students: I havent seen any course where a student was not able to take it. If the class is full just go to the professor. He/She will sign a form for it and the department will take you into the course. (I dont know anyone who had to do this)

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

If you are taking a high-demand CS course, (not courses like 402 where the number of students is very high) then you will face problems o High-demand courses that are project based (I dont remember the number of this CS course) will be first opened within CS dept. All seats get filled up there itself. o Following that will be a waiting list of CS students. o Only after that EE students waiting list will come into place. So hope you understand the problem.

For CS Students: For some courses the dept may not increase the strength. So you will have to register early.

LIBRARY and LAB FACILITIES You will find the location and other info about libraries here: http://usc.edu/libraries Computing Centers: http://www.usc.edu/its/spaces/computing_centers/index.html Leavey library is the most used one 24hrs open; need ID card to go after 10pm. SAL computing center : 24hrs during weekdays. Initially for the 1st day if you dont have ID card you can log into your USC account in the computer at the library entrance and enter. Leavey also has discussion rooms that you can reserve and use. Printers and scanners are available in all libraries and computer labs. In labs (computing centers) you will have small break-out rooms with digital TV for team working environment, white boards, etc. PRINTING/PHOTOCOPYING: o It costs $.10 to $0.12 for b/w print and $0.5 for color print. ($0.10 in labs and $.12 in library) o You can check the rates online o You will either pay by your USC ID Card or with Print/Copy card o You can recharge your ID card with money from here http://www.usc.edu/busaffairs/admin_serv/uscard_serv/ o RTH (a building in engineering side) has a Center for Engineering Diversity that provides limited Intl students with accounts there, where you can get 200 free print outs. COPY HOUSE: (near Health center) o Around $.03 for print outs. Minimum charge = $1. ($1 upto 25 pages of print) o Good for large quantities, notes. Previously (until Fall 2010) there was a way of printing docs for free. That has been disrupted. Still, there may be ways that you can explore. Scanning is free.

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

FOOD, EATERIES AROUND: This section is intended to help the night-outers and for studying so hard that you dont have time to cook. University Village is a place attached with the university that has Burger King Subway Yoshinoya (a Japanese fast-food cuisine) Starbucks (a famous coffee chain) 21 Choices Yogurt (Ice-cream kid of yogurt. Do try it with the toppings. Its nice) Superior Groceries (a huge super-market) LA Bikes (a bike shop where you can buy used and new bikes, but slightly expensive. You can use the shop for filling air though also repairs tend to be a bit expensive but they do really good job) Radioshack (cell phones, all electronic accessories) Opticals (glasses, lens) o Great news for the ones wearing lens: Each lens (not pair) costs $35 here and you can get 3 lens (1 pair + 1) for $100 as a package and that will be covered by your USC insurance! SCallers o A call center kid of place owned by USC to keep in touch with alumni. o Must-stop place for part-time job And a lot of other places (Dollar store, theatre, blood donation, pharmacy, beauty parlor,) In the West side of Campus you have a Taco Bell right outside the univ where the food will taste good and amazingly cheap. (Rice and Bean Burritos is $1.30, other burritos are available for $.90, and under). Just cross the signal besides KAP building. In the south you have Chipotle Quiznos (subway kind of shop) Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Coldstone creamery (famous ice-cream shop) Of course you will find plenty more shops in the Figueroa (your trams will come this way) that you can try. Non-Veg eaters have numerous options.

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

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TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

Vegetarians: (approximate prices) Burger King (BK is not the most healthy place to eat. But once in a while is cool) Veggie Whopper Jr - $0.75 Veggie Burger - $3 Milkshakes starting $1.74 (very good! ) Subway Veggie delite - $5 footlong (6-inch is $3.5 I think) Veggie Patty - $6 footlong (very filling) Chipotle (very famous Mexican cuisine) Veggie Burrito - $6 Veggie bowl same price (both are extremely filling and very good to eat) Some other tips: DONT BRING LOTS OF MAGGI FROM INDIA. For non-veg eaters you get Top Ramen noodles at a very cheap price. Each packet will cost you under 20cents (price falls when on offer) Vegetarians: Top Ramen has a vegetarian also. BUT THE MASALA HAS BEEF EXTRACT. So you can decide on it. For vegetarians, you get Noodle Soup (basically like magi but it will also taste like a soup with noodles) at Superior for about 50cents. You just have to add hot water (u get it in all starbucks, Trojan Grounds a coffee shop inside univ, next to Leavey Library) and eat. Superior Groceries Muffins and other pastry items cheap and good Milk and bread, bun, etc cheap at Ralphs super market (near Ellendale. Catch Route-A, get down at Menlo) Rice: Cheapest is at Superior. It is good (am alive after 1.5yrs). Its cheaper than Costco. Some dhal items are cheaper at Ralphs. But you can bring your varieties of dhal, turmeric, chilli powder, masala items. The more, the merrier. Indian stores: o GH Bazaar: In Vermont avenue Has an attached Indian restaurant, Maanas (decent one, very good lunch buffet) o Lees: In 23rd street Next to 23rd street caf, a very nice caf for Indian, Mexican food Famous for its channa samosa ($5) I feel that the AIS list is pretty comprehensive. WHAT ELSE TO BRING? Most of the houses will come with a microwave. If not then you can buy one from some moving-out senior or from Walmart, etc. You must bring your cooker, and other vessels you need for cooking.

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

11

TIPS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FALL 2011

WALMART Lots of items are cheaper here than any other store. You can find people going to walmart to buy even trash cans, door-mats, etc. Wireless router Radioshack is hell expensive. You get basic Belkin Wireless router for $30 in Walmart whereas Radioshack sells expensive models of Netgear priced from about $70 to upto $130. Door mats Trash cans (for these items you can also check a dollar store in UV) Cheap dress Any kitchen/household items such as cleaning You can either walk from the south of Univ to a bus stop for about 10mins and catch a direct bus or take 2 buses from where you stay. TRANSPORTATION Public buses (http://metro.net) o Standard fare: $1.5 per head, irrespective of distance Yellow Cabs (u can google for their number) o 10% discount if paid with USC ID Card Zipcars o Rental cars, $8/hr (cheap on hourly basis) o Cars parked all over the univ and also at specific places outside o Register by paying $35, get $35 worth of free car hours and your zipcar card o Book online and vroom.! Enterprise, Hertz, Thrifty and other rental cars o All are located in Figueroa. o Cheap when taken on per day basis YOU CAN DRIVE WITH YOUR INDIAN LICENSE AS LONG AS THE LICENSE IS VALID.

Hariharan Subramanian

sh3658@gmail.com http://harisub.com hsubrama@usc.edu

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