New students... Please read it.

Hi Folks,

Now that actually a few of you have come down to chicago and more of
you guys will be here soon, its time to go through the following
carefully,

1. First and foremost familiarize yourself with the campus
surroundings. Its the most important thing that will help you guys out
in the first few days. One of the best ways to get a feel is to grab a
map from OIS or probably take a print of it from the UIC website and get
aboard the UIC shuttle bus and go around the campus and get a feel of
the campus. Observe where each of the key buildings are. This will
help you a lot for the GA hunt.We recommend sometime in the evening
say after 4 or 5. There will be day light till 7 or 8 for sure most
days now in summer. Use it wisely. Dont spend time during the day. Use
it just for one thing the GA hunt. Get used to the abbreviations for
the various buildings like SSB for Student Service Building, ERF (engg
research facility). Dont get into CTA buses u have to pay for them,
unless u got a U-pass.

P. S: One thing here they call the ground floor as first floor, remember.

2. Do the following stuff the first day in the order mentioned,
Fill up required paper work in OIS(office of international services) in SSB
Create ur net id and enterprise id- cauz there is a lab right
next to OIS in SSB
Give your immunization form, fill it fully. Show it to some senior.
Bank. Its on the basement of UH.There is one on W polk street in
the basement of AOB (west campus) opposite LHS (Library of health
science). There is one more in CCC.Deposit all TCs and stuff. Apply for a secured credit card
by paying a deposit of $500 if you want. But for this u need a SSN number. so wait for that alone. It is highly recommended
though, as you don't have to carry much cash then.
Go to ur department and see if you have any paperwork.
Enquire if there are any forms for them to consider you for a
dept tuition waiver. If there is one, get it and apply for one asap.
Request an appointment with ur temporary advisor and get any
holds u got waived off
Then start giving out resumes.

3. Please get the telephone numbers of the seniors with whom you are
hosted, and still imp their email addresses. Here everybody
communicates with email and almost no one cares to use cell phone for
most things. Just that everybody checks email regularly, almost like a
few times a day.Some people like me check it more like once every 2 or
3 min. Its crazy but it sure works. Especially when you see someone send replies
for your resume the sooner you respond the better it is.

4. Dont keep UIC incoming in digest mode. In case one of us hears abt
any GA openings, we will post it and make sure u go there asap. Other
imp places to keep checking is UIC announce (go find this in UIC
website, if you have not yet found where it is already you are lacking
something seriously ;-)

5. You will have to apply for SSN. You cannot do this for the first 14
or 15 days. So go there in the third week. and get it done asap.

6. Never ever carry your passports or cash more than 10 or 15$ with
you. Worst case if someone pops up armed and asks your wallet, give it
to him and do as he says...but refuse to get into any vehicle or so.
If the person in unarmed just run like crazy. Its not something that
happens here often but is definitely possible, so be careful.

7. As soon as you get the SSN, that will take 10 days after you apply.
So around a month after you come go over to the Thompson center in
Lake/clarke stop of blueline CTA and get your state ID. Dont delay it.
If you are more confident, take the drivers exam. Of course i havent
seen anyone do it that early. But do it asap. The exam is a little
crappy and you can actually fail in the exam here. There is a small booklet that you
guys will get with during your OIS orientation called 'Rules of the
road'. Go through it before giving the written test.

8. Please start looking for roomates and apts asap. The best ones are
gone already but there r still some left so find one and sign the
leases asap. Do the GA hunt from 9-4pm and apt hunt after 4pm. Go
around the streets and look for the 'For Rent' sign. Note down the tel
no. and give them a call. Most of the call go to voicemail. So leave
them a message and they'll get back to you. Another comprehensive
source ( but relatively less known) is the Off campus link under
living section in the UIC web page. You'll need you net ID to log in.
But there u'll find plenty of ads from landlord as well as for
roommates. I know the first few days are hard, but this is just a transitional phase that
everyone of us here went thru. We are here to help you, If you guys
need any help get in touch with one of us.

9. Ok I had a few people of the list ask me if there is any ragging
here. Common guys there is nothing like that here. We are all as
friendly as we can get. And dont get fantasized seeing some crappy
movies and stuff.

10. We really recommend that you move in groups if you want to hang
out late and stuff anywhere. UIC is a pretty safe community, but
incidents do happen. Don't attract any attention to yourself. Just the
usual rules. In case someone approaches and asks you about anything
just politely go away. Most poor people will come and ask you for a
quarter, but just ignore ans continue walking. Be careful when you
have your passports with you. Just the first day and then keep it
locked.

11. Please dont call /refer to people by the race/color/ethinicity. You will be in big trouble.
Of course we all have our own slangs but be careful about what you talk or refer to them in
public.

12. Some tips on GA Hunt.
No place is a exception. If you feel something is remotely
connected to UIC give it a shot. Especially west campus is huge, take
care not to miss any place.
If they ask you, if you know some software say yes without
thinking, but make sure u learn it. No body is going to question you
or ask certificates.
Most cases,if you know just the usuals MS office, basic
networking, web design using dreamweaver/photoshop, some statistical
tools etc you'll be fine.
Spend more time in west campus than east. But dont neglect
the east altoghether.
Spend time to meet profs and talk about RA and TA things too.
I dont want to mention any particular places where u can
look for GAs, but meet seniors here, they will help you out.
When you give a resume, make sure you know where you give
it and get the contact name and address and follow it up. Thats very
imp. More imp than giving resumes.
Be polite. They might get pissed off but have a pleasant
smile and say "Hi", "Thank you", "Have a good one" ( This is a common
phrase here) and stuff.
Try having resumes with multiple skills, like one for RA,
one for TA and one for say web design GA, one for office assistant
kind of GA. and target them correctly, highlight relevant experience
in them.
Show seniors ur resumes and then give it
Most of you will not know what address to put, just put in
the house address where u r being hosted currently, and give their
tel#. No body will call you. It will all be through emails. But make sure you give
UIC ids. It shows u r a bonafide UIC guy to them.
If someone calls for an interview be there on time. This is
very important here. They can be late but not you. Make sure u are
well dressed. Just a shirt and trouser, no ties or suits please. Just
simple and neat and on time.
For GA hunt,you can wear something casual like a simple
shirt/T-shirt and a jeans/trouser. Girls I haven't seen anyone in salwar kameez
orvchuridar. Jeans is very much accepted form of wear. 2 reasons, u
don't have to bother washing it often and second it doesnt look bad.
Dont wear T-shirts with crazy stuff atleast during GA hunt.
Sounds silly, but have a nice breakfast every morning. It
helps, try to give as many resumes that should be the goal. Get used
to cereals/bread toast/glass of milk kinds.
A Bottle of water can save a lot of money. Why the bottle ?
This is because of water fountains to drink water here. Come and see
for urself.

13. There are these creme colored campus phones all over the campus.
You can use them to call any campus number. Most of us have phones in
our offices. When you want to do the follow up stuff, go to a phone thats not used very
frequented and call them one by one.

14. Email as I said is accessible in almost any building in the
campus. There are a lot of public labs operated by ACCC. You can login
using your net ID. They are located in BGRC,BSB, CCC, SSB, SEL,
ERF,.. for a list refer to ACCC site. Almost every one of us have a
laptop or a desktop and I haven't actually seen someone without
internet access at home. If not broadband atleast dial up. So you can
check them anywhere. ACCC gives u a printing allowance from Pharos
stations in all public labs. This is 15$/sem it costs 10 cents a page
but don't worry u wont be needing it. Once you get a job u will have
access to plenty of printers in most dept. Usually ur academic dept
will have a computer lab where u can print ur assignments. Don't abuse
the printers at work place but no one will mind the occassional 2 pages.

15. Use the campus shuttle wisely. Learn abt it. It always starts near
ERF parking and goes all over the campus. The last stop usually is
SEO. So get out there and get in back at ERF. There is red car
facility for use after 11 at night. But you won't use it for the first
few days. U need an I-card to get into them. For the shuttle alone
initial few days say u r a new student and they should let you get in.

16. Culture Shock. Well this is a big thing. This is summer you will
not see all people dressed so .... u guys know. So dont stare. Be
polite. When someone says Hi say Hi back. Anybody on the street will
say Hi to almost anyone. Be polite. Say Thank you and bye when you
leave a office. Appreciate the time they spent for u. Courtesy matters
and remember it. If someone offers you anything be polite.

17. Some ethics on pickup and hosting
Please pay for the cab when you come home.
Offer to help the people who host you. Dont be a burden to them.
If you get into some serious problems with your hosts
(common that wont happen we r all good guys here remember...!) let one
of us from the IGSA board know.
You will not be expected to cook, but offer to help like
washing vessels and stuff.
And please find a house and move asap, we need more houses
to host new people who come after you.

18. Some cheap places to eat on campus
Lao Sze Chuan - near TPA. on Taylor.
China night cafe near racine on taylor
Subway - one on taylor near aberdeen and another on jackson
near halsted
White hen pantry - if you want grab a sandwich or coffee.
On campus food is quite expensive but u get used to it.

19. First few days u folks get this one thing in mind 1$=43 rupees.
Yes I had that feeling too. But get out of it. Don't convert the cost
on everything. Food for one. A bottle of pepsi is about a $1.25 thats
a good 65 rupees if u want to convert. Coffee again $1.25 but yes this
is what it costs and get used to it asap. Want to save money, drink
water!

20. Every building has good AC, and most have a nice lobby. So if you
want to relax for a few min just take a few min off and water
fountains almost everywhere. You will also see vending machines
almost in every building.


Read ACCC website for any comp issues, and get onto listservs.

Guess this must involve a lot of reading and understanding... I guess
time is up plus its late I need to sleep now. So folks please try to
follow this and all the best for ur GA hunt.
Do realise your best friends become your dreaded enemies in the quest
for getting a job now :)

Welcome aborad and best of luck.