Indian Graduate Students Association

Wow so yummy! Hisssssss...

2009-09-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

These were the sounds overheard from the last "Taste of UIC" festival.

The smart bird predicts a sell-out of Indian food and a great profit! "Surely the other stalls will view the Indian stalls with envy!" it says.

If you haven't yet heard about this festival called "Taste of UIC" you surely haven't met the bird or the birds you should be meeting.

"What is that thing? Paa... Pae... Paav Bhaa-jee?"

Trust me, it was tough to get many non-Indians to pronounce the names of our dishes but more gratifying and satisfying was the look on their face, their return to the counter and hissing uncontrollably asking for more. Everyone hissed. It was yummy food and slightly decked up on the spice front. The Mango milk shake served helped them not only douse the spice but also enjoy a popular Indian beverage.

This time too, we have great food served at great combo prices!

Come in and give your taste buds a delightful time - something to last at least this semester!

Samosas, Fried Idlis, Pav Bhaji and Mango Milkshake will be waiting for you at the IGSA stall.

there early because we have a reputation of getting sold out.

We welcome the new batch students to come and help us out at the stalls. We need any help that anyone can offer us. This also gives a chance to meet new people, from not only India, but also other communities and nationalities. We look forward to a big number of participation

Kickstart or Kicks started?

2009-08-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

The first two days would have given an idea whether it is a kickstart to the semester or kicks started in the semester to most students. I'm hopping from class to class in search of my ideal course (something that gives me an A grade, knowledge, expertise and something easy). It is generally the combination of these expectations that is a mirage! I should finalize my courses and I hope that soon most of you will be able to do so too.

In other news, amidst heated debates and all, the IGSA cricket tournament is progressing smoothly. We'll probably have a report on it coming soon. Other events will be started soon too so we look forward to a great turnout. The enthusiasm should be that of booth capturers though the turnout should be a near 100% I'd say!

These apart, we're looking for ideas and designs for our first ever IGSA T-Shirt. At least to my knowledge this would be the first. At least, first in many years... We welcome ideas from anyone (UIC or not, IGSA or not) though I don't see how if entries don't come from our students, how they will from elsewhere! We'll record the name of the winning entry and make her/him famous! Some cultural events coming up include a Latin American event for which we (IGSA) were invited to put up food stalls.

For those who wish to contribute ideas, you're free to post your comments on these posts or email them to me or uic_incoming. Let's get ourselves a T-Shirt, I'd strongly urge. For a contingent as big as ours and that too of a university as reputed as ours, we should be famous!

Hoping you've had great first two days and that you'll continue to have great days this Fall semester. With anticipation of a great turnout for our events and contributions for T-Shirt designs I sign off.

Cheers!

Things Fall(-2009)ing into place

2009-08-21T00:06:00.000-07:00

There must have been a lot of wind and gale as newcomers were preparing to arrive at the Windy city. Some had worries about who was going to pick him/her up. Others had worries like "How many would pick me up?" Needless to say another worry was "Is my host a nice person?"

Now these issues are done and dusted with most newcomers having a rough idea about where to move. For those who have already moved - great! For those who have never considered the topic, wake up or ask for help!

I really don't want to make this article a pain to read by referring to other things. I may write later about those. Some made it, some didn't yet.

The international orientation was done, and the few whom I met came up with not so great feedback. I'm surprised! Humans are never satisfied, eh?

With a few days to go until the start of the semester, what could one be looking forward to?

1 - A great academic session

2 - New style of learning

3 - Hot and/or pretty and/or humorous profs??? (Yes there are! Don't underestimate the profs...)

4 - Regular sports/gym activities

5 - Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr-ing cold of Chicago in the latter part of Fall semester. (New students should actually enjoy the extreme weather)

6 - UPass!!! (I fall short of words for this wonderful god-send)

7 - Birthday celebrations and other celebrations (You never know what all people may want to celebrate)

8 - Blame game between roomies and/or project partners. Rule: Blame/curse all but yourself for your ineffeciency. ;)

9 - Great grades (Phew!)

Here's what we at IGSA are planning, as most would have heard of, to kick start a great semester. We have sports week coming up. Keep watching this space and the incoming groups for updates. Participate in events and activities with vim and vigor! Other events to look forward to are:

Freshers' night

Taste of UIC

Diwali

We'll keep you posted for any other event that may come up. Suggestions are welcome.

To end this post, get ready for the start of a great phase of your lives in this land. Keep cheerful and "Let's Roxxx" as our pal Neeraj says! (Don't know why he says it though...)

Cheers!

NOTE: This should hopefully revive the dormant blog site. You should see frequent updates now.

Sparsh the Band

2006-02-25T12:45:00.000-08:00

Hi All:
Get ready to Get 'Sparshed' !!!
Here are the details of the event ...

Venue:
Chicago Room
Chicago Student Center West ( formerly known as Chicago Illini Union)
828 South Wolcott Ave.
Chicago, IL 60612

Date: Today, 25th February, 2006
Time: 6 pm - 11pm

Admission free for all !!!

And yeah...fREE FooD too.....

Organizations participating:
IGSA, SAMSA, AIPhA, SASDA, ASHA, ISA, HSC

Sponsors:
Event sponsor:
Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC)

Food sponsor:
TRAVEL VISION INC.
Website: www.travelvisioninc.com

For more info on the band visit : sparshtheband.com

Cheers!!!
IGSA Board

Technorati Tags: sparsh, uic, band, free, pizza

Sparsh...

2006-02-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

A week to go .... for you to get 'Sparshed'

So, don't miss it !!

Be there to listen n'dance to ur favorite Bollywood numbers of the 70's
and 80's....

Venue:
Chicago Rooms
Chicago Student Center West (formerly known as CIU)

Date: 25th February, 2006
Time: 6 pm - 11pm

Admission free for all !!!

And yeah...fREE FooD too.....

Organizations participating:
IGSA, SAMSA, AIPhA, SASDA, ASHA, ISA, HSC

Sponsors:
Event sponsor:
Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC)

Food sponsor:
TRAVEL VISION INC.
Website: www.travelvisioninc.com

For more info on the band visit : sparshtheband.com

Technorati Tags: igsa, uic, sparsh, free food, chicago

2005-11-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

Diwali Celebrations - IGSA - Flyer

Diwali Celebrations

2005-10-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

***************************************************************************
GARBA/RAAS (Indian cultural dance) Diwali Celebration - LIVE MUSIC
***************************************************************************

SAMSA (South Asian Medical Students Association
AIPhA (Association of Indian Pharmacists in America)
IGSA (Indian Graduate Students Association)

proudly presents

DIWALI CELEBRATION 2005

WHAT: GARBA, RAAS, BHANGRA (Traditional Indian dances)
WHEN: 7:00 PM on Friday, November 11th, 2005
WHERE: Chicago Illini Union - Chicago Rooms (2nd floor)
828 South Wolcott (Polk & Wolcott)
Chicago, IL 60612
BONUSES:
1. NO COST - ABSOLUTELY FREE
2. LIVE MUMBAI STYLE MUSIC
3. FREE LESSONS for those that haven't done garba or raas before

Don't miss out on this great opportunity!!!

*** ENJOY THE MUMBAI STYLE MUSIC BY LEHERE WITH THE SHIVANGI FROM DHOOM
UNLIMITED ON VOCALS!!! ***

*** Funded by SAFC ***

IGSA is also planning a separate event a week before this dance. More info on this soon.

Aid situation in UIC - Fall 2006 students

2005-10-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,
I seem to recieve a lot of emails already regarding the aid situation in UIC and guidance on admission. We in IGSA would like to clarify to important things,

1. We cannot speculate what the aid situation is going to be next year. However we wish to tell you that almost 95% of the incoming students in the Fall 2005 batch got some form of funding, roughly

60% - got grad assistanships
20% - got RA
10% - got tuition waivers
5% - got TA
and the rest 5% that would be at most 5 or 6 people did not manage aid for the first semester but i already hear that a few of them have got fundings. So i would speculate that fall 2005 batch was very lucky to get funding. Another fact is that we seriously did not expect the 120+ students would get aid but they managed. It is a game of luck and your efforts. And another fact is that not many folks i mean <2% of them got any sorts of funding from back in india. Hope you understand what i mean here.

2. I/we cannot comment anything on prof of a specific departments or in general about any departments. if you want to know about profs try pickaprof.com or try contacting seniors in your specifc departments, UIC_incoming primarily exists to help students with their app related queries such as enquiring your app status(to a very limited extent), helping out with filling up forms, giving some sort of help with forms and stuff regd visa and to a major extent to provide hosting and temp accomodation.

So please direct your queries accordingly.

Madhu Venkatesan
IGSA Board

Taste of UIC savors unity among students - Chicago Flame - Features

2005-09-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

Chicago flame carries a article with some highlights on us

Thanks to samantha joseph and all who had supported our stall...
and we got some good publicity thanks to some wonderful comments by our general secretary shruthi...

and thanks to Maria Cristina Gardner-Lara for mentioning us...

-------------

Here is the actual article...

Taste of UIC savors unity among students

By Maria Cristina Gardner-Lara
Published: Monday, September 26, 2005
Article Tools: Page 1 of 1

Last Wednesday, Sept. 21, The Taste of UIC kept students from lining up for the usual fast food in Student Center East. Instead, many were anxiously waiting for the ethnic and favorite dishes prepared and provided by 27 student organizations celebrating Unity Month.

The goal of Unity Month is "to unite the distinctive diversity of the campus with the diverse communities of Chicago," which Taste of UIC accomplishes by combining various dishes. SCE's first floor was packed with food vendors lined up with various foods like sweet potato, egg rolls, kabobs, gilabi and other dishes made by organization members or catered from other restaurants.

Throughout the day, the student vendors were more than happy to guide unsure students through unfamiliar foods and answer any questions that came up.

"[Taste of UIC] is a way to promote organizations and raise funds for their events," Shruti Karbhari, a graduate student in electrical engineering of the Indian Graduate Student, explained.

Vendors ranged from various sororities and fraternities, dance groups, ethnic based organizations, to political groups.

Samantha Joseph, an art and design major, loved the hearty servings and the chance to try different dishes like the Batata Wada, a stuffed potato cake with chic peas shell, served by the Indian Graduate students.

Nancy Lara, psychology major, ate standing while savoring the sweet potatoes that were served by the National Society of Black Engineers.

Student organizations participated in the event for many reasons. Many organizations named making money as one of the reasons for participating.

"Participating in the event was an opportunity for organizations to come together, and a true bonding experience for me and my [sorority] sisters," Terri Chin, third year chemistry major, said.

The fair was a good chance for students to discover new foods and for others to find comfort in seeing familiar foods on campus. It was also an opportunity for students to learn more about the different organizations.

Ghassan D. Adhami, an electrical engineering major from the Muslim Student Association said, "Everyone has a good time. Those who already know it and those who are from another culture enjoy the food."

Article in Indian Reporter

2005-09-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

Indian reporter recently carried an article on the Independence day Celebrations conducted by IGSA@UIC.

Link to the Article

IGSA participates in 'Taste of UIC'

2005-09-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

On Wednesday, 21st September, UIC celebrates the 'Taste of UIC' festival. About 30 organizations are participating in the event this year and IGSA is one of them. You will have a wide variety of culinary delights but I'm sure u ppl must be craving for Indian food. So, please come to our stall to savour Veg. Samosas, Batata wadas or Aloo bondas and Gajar Ka Halwa. In addition, each of these items is being sold at an extremely reasonable price.

So, on Wednesday, plssss don't go buy burritos or submarines or burgers or pizzas. Instead, help IGSA raise funds by eating ur most loved Indian snack items.
Venue: CCC or Student Center East, First Floor, Outside the Bookstore.
Timings: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

In addition, if any of you r free during that time and don't mind volunteering i.e. helping us, then please let me know. We r in need of ppl and would appreciate help in any form. Let's all try make this event a huge success for IGSA.

Cheers,
IGSA Board

Freshers Party - Theme 'Mismatch'

2005-09-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hi IGSA members,

As you all know the Freshers party is scheduled for the 10th of September and the theme for the same is "Mismatch". There have been a lot of mixed reactions about this theme and so we at IGSA thought of providing you people with some ideas. Being dressed in mismatch is not necessarily being dressed "FUNNILY" but yeah it is being dressed "UNCONVENTIONALLY", "CREATIVELY", "INNOVATIVELY"

So here's what you can do:
1) Do a color mismatch...wear the brightest, dullest, wackiest of colors that you wouldn't ever wear. Wear colors that don't match, orange shirt-purple pant...hmmm now isn't that mismatched ???

2) Wear ethnic traditional wear over half your body and something westernized over the other half. A fusion with a traditional top and any casual pant below is a mismatch. Its trendy nowadays, but its a mismatch. Wear a dhoti with a formal shirt and a tie. Girls, wear a sari at the bottom and a t-shirt on the top or anything casual, formal ( now these r ideas got from other girls so plsss don't penalize me for it )

3) Don't go the conventional way. Make utmost use of your belts, scarves...wear your belt around your forehead, neck. Use the scarf to hold your pants. Sounds funny doesn't it ?? But its gotta be fun. Wear bandanas on formal wear, ties over a t-shirt. Be mismatched

4) Roll up a shirt sleeve, fold one side of your pant to reveal your skin or probably another pant. Do things you wouldn't do any other time.

Girls, I must say you probably have an added advantage over guys. You can do the craziest of things with your make-up and jewellery.

One eyeshadow blue, the other black (any other color will do too )
One large earring and the other small. Tie half of your hair to form a pony tail and leave the other half straight. Use different colors of hairpins (i'm sure you might have carried enuff stuff while coming from India). And how can I forget one of your favorite accessories ...SHOES. Use different pairs of shoes in both feet.

Hey everyone, just get your grey cells to work and i'm sure you can do the unthinkable. These were just a few ideas that popped up while I discussed this theme with my friends, but u ppl have got a week and half to think, so I'm sure you can do much better than this. I hope these ideas will atleast get you started to think of this theme.

To appreciate your creativity and innovativeness, we will have...no not Mr. Gladrags or Femina Miss India. Kya kare, IGSA doesn't have that much sponsorship. Hey but we have our very own Mr. Mismatch and Ms. Mismatch. Taaliyaaaaa..

You will be judged not only on the basis of your clothes but also on the basis of your performance during some of the events. Now don't u worry abt the events...there r going to be no 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' type questions. We can't afford to give u ppl so much prize money....so the events are also going to be just pure fun. Just be ready to introduce yourselves in the best way you can

So, that's it from my side. As I had mentioned before mail any queries and suggestions to http://in.f85.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=igsacultural2005@yahoo.com. Or call me (508-353-4819) or Ninad( 312-315-0382). Since the event is coming closer and i'm sure your excitement is rising, we've removed the 'Preferably after 9pm' barrier.

Be there at the Freshers, I'm sure you'll have a wild time members. And yeah, keep checking your e-mail for future updates.

As of now : Freshers Party stands on 10th September in the Chicago Room (2nd floor), Chicago Student Center West ( formerly called Chicago Illini Union).
Timings: 5 pm sharp (no IST will do in the US) - 10 pm

Best,
Akshay:)

Freshers Party

2005-08-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Tired looking out for GA's, RA's and TA's ???
Don't know which course to select ?? Which apartment to rent ??
Ooph !! Completely freaked out ???

Its time to CHiLL out guys and gals

IGSA anNounCeS
ThE FReSHeRS PaRtY

Tentatively scheduled for:
10th September

Planned Theme: Mismatch
Wear wot you like but see that it is a complete mismatch.
Ek pair mein sandal to doosre mein chappal,
badan pe formal shirt aur neeche dhoti !!

Events planned :
Dumb charades, just a minute sessions and many more fun games.
(Note: We r open to suggestions, so seniors, juniors plz mail any ideas..no no not to uic_incoming but to igsacultural2005@yahoo.com

And yeah Freshers, plz plz plz come forward to showcase any of your talents. Be it singing, dancing, monoacting, just about anything !!!

The day is yours, the time is yours and last but not the least the FOOD will also be yours

So, enjoy !!!

Note: Hey, we want to get as much input from all you IGSA members out there to make this event a success. So, plz come forward with any innovative ideas you've got.
Either mail: igsacultural2005@yahoo.com OR
Call :
Akshay (508-353-4819)
Ninad (312-315-0382)
PREFERABLY AFTER 9 pm

P.S.: Keep checking your e-mail for more updates about the Freshers Party

Movie time - Sarkar

2005-08-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hi ppl,

IGSA will be screening the movie 'Sarkar' coming Friday, 8/19/05. The timing/venue is the same as always.

The details are:
Venue: Recovery Room (Lower level), Student Center West (Formerly CIU)
Date: Friday, August 19th
Time: 5:15 pm sharp

Quality of Print: DVD

Review: The movie has received rave reviews from everyone and is a must watch. You can read a review here. The movie stars Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!!

Cheers,
IGSA Board

Indian Independance day celebrations

2005-08-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

It gives us great pleasure to bring to you the celebrations of Indian Independance day.IGSA invites all of you to be a part of this auspicious occasion. Let us all get together to commemorate the consummation of the enormous amount of sacrifices endured by our great National Heroes.
The details of the event are as follows:

Venue: 'CCC Quad' ( The quadrangle right in front of CCC between the UH and SEL)
Day,Time: Monday (15th August ), 8:00 A.M.

Come lets celebrate the spirit of Indian freedom!!!!

Jai Hind!

P.S Follow CST and not IST
Most of us go to work after that.

IGSA Orientation for new incoming students

2005-07-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

Hello Guys & Gals,
IGSA will be organizing an Orientation for new students coming to UIC, on Friday the August 5th at 5.30 PM. Venue will be

Recovery Room (first room when you come down the stairs to the basement)
Chicago Illini Union (CIU) - West Campus
828 S Wolcott st

We'll touch upon some of the basic tips and strategies to help you get started, settle down and enjoy your student experience at UIC to the fullest extent.

Hoping to see you all there,

Regards,
Prem
IGSA Board

P.S - Entry is free

Padayappa - Movie Screening

2005-07-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

Folks,

IGSA welcomes you for seeing Thalaiver Rajnikanth' Padayappa Movie(Tamil)

Venue CIU Recovery Room basement
Time 05.15 p.m (do not follow IST)
Date Friday, 29 July 2005.

A First chance to meet your seniors...!! please do come.. its free.

For reviews, http://in.rediff.com/movies/1999/apr/28pada.htm

P.S We will try to provide sub titles in english but we are not sure...

Regards,
IGSA/UIC

New students... Please read it.

2005-07-23T23:42:00.000-07:00

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.

IGSA MOVIE: 'Bunty aur Babli' - 22nd July, 2005 @ CIU

2005-07-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Dear guys and gals,

IGSA will be screening the movie 'Bunty aur Babli' coming this Friday. The timing/venue is the same as last time.

The details are:
Venue: Recovery Room, Student Center West (Formerly
CIU)
Date: Friday, July 22nd, 2005
Time: 5:15 pm sharp
The website for the movie:
http://www1.yashrajfilms.com/

Looking forward to see you all there!!

Regards,
IGSA Board

FYI - pickp and hosting

2005-07-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

Folks,
Guess most of you have filled up the forms. monel/ramya and nikhil are working hard on ur pickup and accomodation stuff. Just in case you have not do fill it up asap.

Now for those of you who havent understood how the hosting system works please read this.

1. we are doing this as a courtesy and please do not give us conditions like you need this and that. we are trying to help u guys but understand our situation.
2. Hosting will be given only for a few initial days. It will not be for ever. So please start looking for apartments asap and move out, so that other new students will have a place to stay, i mean those who come after you.
3. We will try our best to host you with people from the same state, like people from bombay with seniors who r from bombay kind but it is not for sure.
4. One thing i find a lot, is people requesting to go to veggie house. Free your mind. you cannot expect all that.
5. Try and help the persons with whom you stay by offering them to help with some stuff. and some sweets to those people who host you will be appreciated.
6. offer to pay for anything that the people who host you provide with like phone cards and stuff.

Pickup
1. If you have filled up the form atleast 5 days in advance you can be assured that someone will be there to pick you up.
2. You will NOT repeat NOT be informed as to who will be coming to pick u up or where you will be hosted. However if the seniors decide to let you guys know abt it, its upto them. but IGSA will not inform you abt this.
3. Please try and determine who else is flying along with u in the same flight by interacting with each other in uic_incoming.
4. A real big request, please do not give any of our telephone numbers to your parents in INDIA for them to call and learn your safe arrival. Tell them clearly that it will take approximately 4-5 hours for you to reach home and call them after you land in chicago. They can track your flights if the need be through websites like http://www.aeroseek.com/webtrax/
5. You will have to pay for taxi and do not expect the person who picks you to pay the taxi. It will take upto 30-50$ for a taxi depending on time of the day and size of your luggage. If two people share the cab you can split the money. Carry suitable change with you.
6. If possible have a smaller suitcase with you with enough dresses and stuff that you need for a few days so that you need not open your actual suitcases in the place where you are hosted.

Immigration stuff
1. you will be given a I-94 form on the flight before you land in US. fill that form before to save some time.
2. you will be finger printed and photographed and you might be asked a few questions.
3. have ur passport, i-20 and filled up i-94 form.
4. the whole process takes abt 2 or 3 min but the queues might be long.
5. your luggage will have to picked up outside of the immigration area.
6. usually no one will be asked to open your bagggage but just in case co-operate.

Hope you guys all have a gr8 flight and see you all the IGSA orientation.(date to be announced)

--
Cheers,
Madhu
http://igsa.pages.uic.edu
webteam@IGSA

IGSA MOVIE TIME!! 'D' - 8th July, 2005 @ CIU

2005-07-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

IGSA will be screening the movie 'D' coming this Friday.

The details are as follows:
Venue: Recovery Room, Student Center West (Formerly CIU)
Date: Friday, July 8th, 2005
Time: 5:15 pm sharp
You can have a look at the reviews at
http://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/jun/03dreview.htm
http://indiafm.com/reviews/05/d/index.shtml

Looking forward to see you all there!!

Regards,
IGSA Board

Pickup and accomodation

2005-07-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

Hi guys !

Just a reminder to fill up the pickup and accommodation form.

Note:
All those who have filled the form will receive pickup from the airport and will be temporarily hosted.
Taxi fare from the airport to UIC campus ranges from $ 30 to $ 60 plus tip, depending on the location etc,. So it would be better if u all could come in groups by the same flight.
Please carry change of 100$ - 1$, 5$, 10$ notes of sufficient amount. Sorry but we can’t give the names of people who are picking or hosting u’ll until u are in Chicago.

The hosting is temporary, only for a couple of weeks till u folks find your roommates and apartments and get settled down.
The hosts are doing a great job so please be thankful and adjusting.

These are the pple who have filled the form till now:

Ms.Geetanjali Kshirsagar
Mr. Mahender Hari
Mr. Arunan Rabindran
Mr. Prasanth Parmeswaran
Ms. Dhwani Palan
Mr. Rahil kothari
Mr. Saiprasad Santhanakrishnan
Mr. Sureshkumar govindaraj
Mrs. Kavitha Shankaranarayanan
Mr. NIRANJANKUMAR R.
Mr. Phani Shashank Vajha
Mr. Saurabh Thosar
Mr. Sushant Ranadive
Ms. Dipi kale
Mr. Kumaran babu Kaliamoorthy
Mr. Paresh Shenoy
Mr. Rakesh Kaimal
Mr. Sheshadri Srinivasa Raghavan
Mr. Shriram Krishnamoorthy
Ms. Rima Chaudhary
Mr. Lama Chaudhary
MS. Subhashree Ganesan
Ms. Poornima Krishnan

Here is the link for those who haven’t filled the form:
Do it here

monil.

Books for MBA

2005-07-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Here’s a list of books for the MBA Students

Accounting 500 – Antle
Microeconomics 520 - Robert Pindyck
Organizational Behavior - Kreitner
Marketing Management 500 - Philip Kotler
Finance 500 - Brealy and Myers
IDS 532 - Jay Heizer / Barry Render

As said earlier the profs keep changing and therefore the books also. Read previous mails to get the links for the courses available and then mail the professors.

Nikhil Lobo

Things to carry

2005-07-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,
this is just the same text that is there on the IGSA homepage.. i wonder how many cared to look at it.. hence this post.
Hmm this has quite a few additions in fees and personal expenses... so i guess u should read it...

In this page we list out some of the common stuff that you want to include for sure.. but this is not a comprehensive list. There is always something that is personal and stuff that you might need. Use this list as a starting point.

Tuition Fees

If you do not have assistantship, prepare to get the first semester tuition fees listed on the I-20. This is usually around US $10500 and may vary depending on the department. Please check your I-20 or department brochure for further details. The tuition fee draft should be drawn favoring "University of Illinois". The fee needn't be paid immediately; you have about a month after the classes start to make your fee payment, installment facility is also available at UIC. So in case you want to wait you could come here and if the worst thing happens you can have them mail your cheque. In case you have any loans and stuff fix them all up and sign all the papers before you come. And you might want to make sure you return the money back to india in case you get aid...! Well on second thoughts we hear that the fee structure has been changed, so it would be better if you email the department and ask them the correct fees. my advice, come here and ask ur parents to send the DD if u dont get aid, else get all the money as a DD on ur name and give UIC a cheque from ur account later.

Personal Expenses

Please bring US$1500 - US$2000 (preferably by Traveler's Checks) for preliminary expenses for the first semester. We just would not recommend cash. Also make sure you have around US$50 to US$100 in cash in smaller denominations for emergency. If possible try to carry some change for US$2.00 as dimes and quarters in case you have to use the telephone. Please don't get cents as they serve no purpose here other than for returning the exact change. Regarding credit cards in case you have an international credit card have it with you as a safety measure, though you dont want to use it. Reason for every dollar you spend say about 3 to 4% is taken as commission and misc charges putting it to close to 55 rupees for a dollar. You may want to look at this small expenses table for some idea,

1. House deposit - 1 1/2 to 2 months rent - lets say 2000-3000$- divide it by 4 u need 500-800$ roughly for that.

2. 2 months rent till august/sep - 800$

3. initial house items - 200$ Max.(including beds and stuff)

4. food - 500$ for 3 months

5. misc - 500$

And if you want to get money for the differential (u need to pay that even if u get aid) - 1200-1600$

So think how much u need, if u get a 50% GA u will be paid around 1200$ initially by sep 15. We have our payrolls on 15th of each month.

Clothing

Less of formal wears and more of casuals (T-shirts and jeans), a dozen or more of inner wear. Warm clothing like sweaters sufficient for a while. You will necessarily have to buy winter jacket here (approx.$50 - $100) to combat the Chicago's cold. You could get a leather jacket from India, but it is not recommended as leather and water does not go very well. Try and get some traditional Indian dress for occasions like Diwali etc when IGSA has get together. Get some formal dresses (shirts, trousers, blazers/suits, ties for guys and similar formal wears for girls along with churidars etc) for interviews. Girls - you can definitely wear churidars here. So get if you like them. Add on to the list, about 7 pairs of socks (woolen ones), handkerchiefs, a good swimming trunk, few shorts, a tie, 1-2 belts (formal & casual), 2/3 Towels (not turkey towels for they take a long time to dry), bedspread (double bed size), 1 or 2 pillow covers (large) and night dresses. A pair of thermal underwear might also be useful (may be a pair - these may be quite expensive in India so just get one if you find them expensive, but seriously speaking most of us find it very uncomfortable, meaning once you go into a building it is heated and this gets stuffy). Also buy a pair of decent formal and sports shoes.

Keep in mind that everything here is a machine wash. Select your clothing accordingly. Dont buy some cheap clothes cauz they will shrink and it will look bad.. And people who are horizontally challenged (read fat people) might want to pick up dresses one bit bigger than the usual wear for you tend to put on weight very easily (cold weather, beer, non-veg....!)

Personal Items

Toiletry items like soap, brush (2/3), paste, comb etc sufficient for a couple of months. 1 pair leather chappals, 1 hawai chappals (+ extra straps).. If you wear glasses carry spare (1 or 2 for its really expensive here) pairs, nail cutter, umbrella, CDs/DVDs, socks, and shoelace. Buy a purse/wallet sufficient to hold 10 credit cards. If you are talented in some art like playing instruments, please bring them so that you can perform at IGSA gatherings.

Stationary Items

Please bring ball pens, eraser, pencils, stapler, blank notebooks, markers, tapes, clips for couple of months. These are quite expensive when you buy them in the University but you will get used to it. A good school bag is a must to go around. A good file to carry your resumes will definitely be helpful. But if you are considering a career in anything that involves a lot of sketching get quite a bit of stationary.

Having said the above, we dont want you to open a stationary shop here ;-) ... so buy just a few pens, depending upon your usage.

Books

Textbooks are a little costly here, so we recommend you get the latest editions before you come here. For most of the courses, the same textbooks are available in India, and you should get them from there. Visit the department's web page to get a listing of the courses. For some departments the textbooks are mentioned in Department Info link of IGSA. For others, write to us what you want to specialize in and we will let you know some general books that you might need. You may not use all those books but it's safe to carry them. They will cost just an additional Rs.2500 or so, but each book here is at least $50 and most engineering ones are close to 100$. Check out the Books List to see what all you can get from India itself. The other thing i personally felt a lot more comfortable with the same books that i used in india. So try to get some books the fundemental ones if you can. For example if you are a mechanical engineer specialising in fluid mechanics side consider getting a good math book, basic fluid mechanics book and one advanced one. The library here is very comprehensive and usually you can borrow a book for an entire semester.

Cooking Items

Cooking vessels, pressure cooker with spare, plates, tumblers, spoons, frying pans and all spices which you might need for cooking. Let the vessels (preferably non-stick ware) be big enough to cook for 3-4 people. If you have already got in touch with other Indians coming to UIC and will be your room-mates, plan what kind of vessels you can get and thus you can eliminate redundant utensils. We suggest that you think carefully about all the stuff, You will be cooking everyday here so you should plan accordingly. Regarding food, don't stuff your baggage with them, just get the stuff you would miss otherwise from home. You are coming to Chicago and there is devon here. You can get all kinds of Indian groceries at reasonable rates here. Just get stuffs enough for a couple of months. And btw, also try and learn some cooking before you come ;-) it helps.... some sweets for the people who host you would be very nice...

Medicine and Medical Prescriptions

If you have any particular medical conditions get the medicines, as well as a prescription from your doctor. Crocin, Actified, Avil, Benadryl tonic, Band-Aids, cotton, cotton bandage, Iodex, Vicks, Digene, Baralgan, Brufen. We strongly recommend you get a Dental and Eye Examination before you come here, as both of the problems can cause a lot of inconvenience and can prove very expensive as they are not covered by insurance. And don't forget to leave a copy of these prescriptions at home while you get the originals here.

Other stuff

Sets of original documents and sets of photocopies in your handbag (leave a photocopy of all documents at home in India too). Attested copies of transcript in a sealed envelope. Keep all these documents safely.

Electronic Gizmos

Stuff like cell phones and laptops everyone has one here... but we recommend you dont buy them in India. Its cheap here and warranty stuff are very much applicable here. And if you intend to buy any other electronic stuff remember it is 110V check with the stuff you carry. For Cell phones you need to have a credit history and that takes some time to build up... so dont bother bringing in one.

Things not to get

Do not buy expensive winter clothing in India. Do not carry pickle or pointed items in your hand baggage. Do not carry food grains (rice, dal, sugar etc.). Do not worry if you can't bring any of the stuff listed above - most of them are available in Chicago. In a month or two you will be in a position to get anything you want.

Things to be kept in hand baggage

Some medicines (including for airsickness), sweater, original important documents (I-20, visa, passport, tickets). Enough money (little cash, traveler checks), address book/phone book (Indian & US). Things to survive for a week in case luggage gets misplaced - two sets of clothes and misc.

Things to be kept in person

Shorter extract of contact addresses/phone numbers - especially of people coming to pick you up. Receipt got along with traveler checks - in case you lose the TCs; cotton in case you get ear pain; moisturizer.

Things to be left at home

List of addresses/phone numbers at which info about you can be obtained, one copy of all your important documents (passport, transcript). You can also leave your original mark sheets in India just in case you need to get them attested later. A copy of all relevant parts of Medical History files. A few blank signed papers - so that your parents can be authorized to look after anything on your behalf. Traveler Checks numbers should also be given to your parents.

Madhu
IGSA Board
http://igsa.pages.uic.edu

Stuff to do after u land

2005-06-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,
the following document details things that you people will have to do the next few days after you land in Chicago.

A few pointers before we get onto the actual stuff, Make sure u print a copy of the UIC map and have it with you for the first few days atleast.

In US you have to know directions very well. You will hear people talking about go east 2 blocks and turn south for one block. That is quite confusing for most of us. As a rule of thumb as long as you are in campus the direction of downtown(that's where sears towers is.. I am pretty sure u cant miss that) is east. So navigate accordingly. Familiarise with the roads and stuff. The other important thing is the shuttle service. UIC runs a shuttle, a white bus that goes all over the campus. Its free to ride if u have an I-card. In the first few days u will not have an I-card, so tell the driver that u are a new student and he will let u in.

The other important thing is you need to familiarise with the building names. They are in the maps. Some of the most common buildings that you will need are mentioned here. The street intersections are inside parenthesis)

SSB - Student service building (Harrison and Racine)
has OIS, I card office and general admin offices and depts

UH - University Hall (Harrison and Morgan)
tallest building on campus, lots of LAS depts, grad college, MBA

SEL/SEO/ERF - Engg and sciences buildings (Taylor)
mostly engg/physics/chem/bio depts and labs

CCC/CIU now called SRC east and west - recreation centers (one is in Halstead and other is Wolcott)
has swimming pools, gyms, food courts

BSB - behavioral sciences building (Morgan and Harrison)
One crazy building to get lost in. Mostly LAS depts

Apart from this there r college of medicine,dentistry,pharmacy,nursing and lots more in west campus. Basically these building have GAs. So note them down properly.

Look online for the info and a link to the map is http://tigger.uic.edu/index.html/maps.shtml

Lets get down to details now

1. First thing go and eat someplace with the people who host u, or probably eat in their house if they have cooked. And then grab lots of sleep to get over with the jetlag. Most of us sleep as soon as you come, so it gets crappy and u get up at mid night when most of us would be sleeping and go without food. Don't do that. I know a lot of u people would not have slept on the plane for it would be the first time you go on a plane(atleast for most guys). Try to sleep, eat, don't drink much.

2. The first day in US if its a weekday you got a lot of things to do.
#1 go to OIS(office on international services). This is located in the SSB.
take ur originals - I20/passport/i-94(u will be given one when u land here)
fill up the forms there and they will give u details on how to go for orientation and a letter to request ur SSN. All students have a registration hold with OIS so make sure u clear it.

#2 Admissions office
its right beneath OIS, here get ur certificates verified if u have not. Make sure u get ur docs as official transcripts. If u cant get it from the university make sure u get them each sealed and attested and put in a envelope get that attested atleast from ur principal and get it.. University is better but just in case u don't have time....

#3 Immunization
this is also in SSB. Go there and get ur hold cleared.

#4 ACCC lab
This is on the same level as OIS. Basically people who have not gotten their net ID's and enterprise aids. Go there and get it. Its very simple. If u don't know how to do it ask someone for help, a desi senior would be lot better than the support staff there though.

#5 Bank
we recommend u have an account with credit union 1. There r 2 branches one in the basement of UH, other in CCC and third in AOB(find this...). They do not need ur SSN, but take ur passport with u and encash all ur TCs here for sure. And have at max 50-60$ cash with you and put the rest in the bank. There are a few things to note. Here the savaging account does not mean the same as what we have in India. The checking account is where u should put most of the money in. U can always transfer and stuff. And do make sure to request a debit card instead of an ATM card. U can use the debit card like a credit card. I guess u might have to wait until u get a SSN before u get a debit card though.

#6 Department
go to ur department and tell the grad secretary or someone in the dept office that u have come to join this year. They will have some forms for U. Fill them up.

Probably that should keep u busy for atleast half a day. Head for lunch. One of the most important thing that u should come in terms with is spending money. Of course spending 1$(45 rupees) is a lot for a single can of coke. But when u come here stop converting money. U will after a few days but until then, don't bother too much. There are a lot of places around. The CCC food court might be closed in summer, so probably head to a subway for a cheap meal or one of the numerous restaurants.. U will meet a lot of new people try to remember them. These people will be ur best friends and ur worst enemies in the following days...
friends because they might become ur roomies, ur classmates,...Enemies in the ironic sense that when one guy gets a GA the other one looses it. Its a rat on rat situation. Make the best out of it.
If you haven't given out a single resume for a GA till now, think again u lost half a day in ur hunt. So start giving out resumes asap. We hope u have prepared one by now. If not look at the sample resume online and get it done. You will all have a good printing allowance (about 150 sheets before the start of school, use it if that's over ask us, we will get u more).
Feel free to discuss abt ur resume and GA positions with any of us here, we will definitely help u with that.

By 2 or 3 days u should have all your holds cleared off your records, so its time u register some dummy course and get ur I-cards asap.

The GA hunt - start it asap. The biggest thing to do here.
The most simple way of saying this is take resumes and give it to every office on campus that is even vaguely related to UIC. Be courteous, and most imp thing is follow up. Almost every body will use email. So don't worry abt Tel numbers. And keep checking you email Avery hour. The minute u see a position opening up run and give ur resume. Ask seniors they r the best help again. If someone is leaving then go talk with them to see if that position is filled up. Look at Uic_incoming, uic announce. People post them all the time. Get into all this listservs that advertise it. Talk with people and find out where to give ur resumes.. i mean potential GA hotspots as i liked to call it last year. By the end of the first week, if you have not run out of ur print allowance u r not making any progress.

When u get some time go and apply for the SSN. Make sure after 15 days u land not until then. OIS will tell u abt it. Don't miss the new students orientation. The main one will be thru OIS, IGSA will also conduct one around Aug 10-14th. Make sure u guys come in before that.... Remember every min u loose in India ur GA probability is coming down.

OIS has a nice page on orientation. Visit www.ois.uic.edu for some good info.

we hope this doc must throw some light into what we want u guys to know abt. Most of this has been talked abt before... But read this and the information.pdf file.. And see you guys here soon...

Bon voyage.
p.s if u have not yet filled up the pickup form please do it asap. The more the time u give us to plan the better we can do it...

Google Earth - Sightseeing

2005-06-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

Google Earth - Sightseeing

All right time for some sight seeing... and its google time..
go over there and type in our addresses and see how the houses will look like in real.. of course they are an aerial shot but its still good.

Book List

2005-06-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

Please visit the Book List page of IGSA website. Please note the following:

These books are here just to give you an idea of the books that have been used in the recent past to teach the courses. This list is NOT official list of books being used here.

NOTE:
1. Please talk to profs of various courses to get to know what books are going to be used in the following semester.
2. Usually the course book is announced on the first day of class.
3. Departments do not maintain any book lists. Things here dont work like they do in India.
4. Most of the Foregin author books are available in library in large numbers, but it's always better to have your own copy.

housing and what to do if u land on weekends

2005-06-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,
Of late we been getting emails (a lot personal to our ID's too.. Please avoid it and worst is chat/IM..) about 2 things

1. Housing
2. What if i come during weekdays

let me clarify both ..

1. housing

# on an avg 2 people per room in individual houses
# there r 3 big apts on campus
1. TPA/medical district city apt - in bet west/east campus
a little costly than houses. Rent around 1200 for 1 bedroom (max 3 people, but 2 on lease)) and 1600$/month for 2 bedroom(max 5 people live, but 4 on lease). Nice neighborhood and has a pool, fitness center and all.. But is quite costly for what u get here.

2. MDA/i forgot the correct name. - in Oakley Blvd. kinda ok, in west campus. Cheaper than TPA

3. Presidential towers
costliest and also the best one. Its in downtown, closer to east campus. Not many desis live but its a really nice one.

apart from these there r a lot of houses. Most desis live in

carpenter/miller/Aberdeen streets ---very close to east campus
Claremont/western/Oakley - close to west campus
flournoy/laflin/Loomis/Lexington/Polk - in the middle.

the way u look for apts,
once u come here go around and see the apts. See what u like and then decide.
we will help u on that. Most juniors tend to become roomies of the people to whom they r hosted (for instance i did).

after an year u might want to have a room for urself. So plan accordingly.
typical rent in houses - 200-400$ a month+utilities(60-100$)
apts tend to be a little safer than houses for obvious reasons.

there will be lots of houses for rent with realities/real estate owners and adds on uic_incoming (look there if u find one talk with them) and all over campus..

We suggest that u keep looking for houses in the evenings and for ur GA in day time...
its a hard phase everybody ash gone thru here.. So will u.

2. Second question
what if i come on weekdays.
We never said we wont pick u . It will be difficult. Try to take flights that come a bit late in the evenings say around 4 or 5. So that we can pick u up easily. Even if u have to land in the middle of the day let us know well in advance so we can try to do it. Most probably we will let u know if we cannot pick u up(very rare). Just in case u don't see one of us give us a call once u land and we will figure out something.

hope this settles it all.

Madhu
IGSA board

New Fee Structure

2005-06-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

Nikhil Jalgaonkar, IGSA President, posted the following on the UIC Incoming group...

"Hi all:

This is in reference to the queries posted recently regarding the fees structure in Fall 2005.

UIC has increased the Tuition and fees starting Fall 2005. The decision was made in March 2005. Those students whose I-20s were processed before that have the same fee structure as the old one(e.g $10452 per sem for Engg students) on their I-20s. Fall 2005 onwards it'll be more(for Engg students and most of the other branches it is $11,184). The exact details can be found out on the UIC website. Also people who have recently got their I-20s might have the updated details on their I-20 itself).Do take a note of this and make changes on your drafts accordingly.

Regards

Nikhil

IGSA"

Books

2005-06-21T15:23:00.001-07:00

Hi,
Of late we have been flooded with a lot of mails regarding the books to bring.
well we have not been able to collect that information very well. however i would like to point out a few things so that u guys can decide it urselves.

1. to start with go over to these 2 websites

http://www.uic.edu/depts/ims/classschedule/
this one has the list of courses in various dept that will be offered this fall.
http://www.uic.edu/ucat/courses/
this site has a description of the various courses that r offered. so read thru both of them and think what will be the list of possible courses that u will take.

how should u decide on the courses. grad students get credit only for 400 and 500 level courses. most engg depts have a requirement of 3 500 level courses from the dept and abt 3 more 400 level courses inside the dept on an avg.

btw if u have a nice advisor u can take even weird courses such as Twentieth-Century Analytic Philosophy or advanced french...

anything is possible but usually advisors will restrict u. but u can take. the point is u can take the course of study that u want to do. if u r a grad student in mech u can go ahead and
take typography no one is going to stop u.

research and try ur best to constrain urself to the courses that u will benefit ur career which is the most important.
first semester i would encourage u folks to take one 500 and atleast 2-400 level courses. try to finish ur requirements asap.

once u decide on these courses then think of books. with regard to them u can mail the prof and ask him what book he is going to use. it will usually be a costly book and most will not be available in india. even if u get it, they r usually costly. instead pick books from which u learnt ur basics. for example i would say grab grewal for math(esp engg guys u need a math book.. and esp to madras univ folks if u can get singaravelu that will be gr8 for u) just becuase u r used to using those books.

probably the main diff here is the units. u would have all along talked in kmph u come here it is mph. that kinda is freaky but u will get used to.

u could also look at course websites and see what books they used the previous semesters. it will usually be the same this year too.
http://www.uic.edu/classes/

PS not all courses will be there. but u should find a few.

to summarise
1. see those 2 websites
2. get books that cover ur fundementals
3. if possible a good calculator helps
4. mail profs for the books, they r the best bet.

pickup and accomodation

2005-06-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Just a remainder

fill up pickup forms asap

a few things to remember

1. we do not have a confirmation mail. if u see a confirmation page it means we got it. someone in the due course it could be 1 hour or several days but before u leave india will let u know
who will come to pick u up. Even if we dont tell u dont panic. u come down here, u can be 99.9% assured of pickup if u filled the forms atleast 2 weeks in prior.

2. please co-operate with the folks with whom u r hosted. in the comments try to specify where u r from and if u r flying in along with someone let us know. the reason we ask where u r from is to try and place u with people from the same place with seniors from the same place so they get to feel a little at home.

3. and girls dont worry u will be made to stay with girls only unless u mention that u want to stay with a guy maybe a friend or relative.

4. try to pack stuff in such a way that all ur essential dresses for a week are easily accessible, so that u need to open ur big suitcases the day u land.

5. try to arrive on weekends. if u do arrive on a weekday try coming in the evening say after 3 or 4. most of us are working and it might be a little difficult for us to pick u up if arrive in the mornings. In the worst case we will let u know.

Please have this info handy.

1. address of atleast one person.
myself/nalin/nikhil someones. and our telephone numbers. If u know the person who is going to pick u up make sure u call have his tel no and address.
in the bags for safety as a standard have one of the addresses for sure.

1. Madhu Venkatesan,
901 S Ashland Ave #310A, Chicago, IL 60607
Ph: (312)-404-7110

2. Nikhil Jalgaonkar
1516, W Taylor St Apt#2, Chicago, IL - 60607
Ph: (312)-479-0503

3. Nalin Makar
726 S Oakley Blvd, Garden Apt, Chicago IL 60612
Ph: (312)-479-8390

2. have quarters to make telephone calls. it is usually 50 cents a call.

once u r done with the security clearance part and pick ur baggage up come out straight and if u see a indian face mostly a student it will be one of us.
u can look at our faces in the igsa website just in case u know who is gonna pick u up. and if possible if u know that guy send him/her ur pic so we can spot u easily. its upto u.

3. worst case the directions from the airport.

u have two options to get out of the airport. almost most of u will arrive at o'hare. btw there is one more airport called midway but usually thye handle domestic flights.

a. take the CTA. chicago transit authority
---> take the blue line train from the airport towards the loop. if possible try to get onto to the 54/cermak trains and get down at polk. its a long ride more than 50 min. once u get down there, come out of the station and turn right and walk for 2 blocks until u hit ashland avenue. right in the corner of ashland and polk streets u will see medical district city apartments. come to the lobby and look for my name madhu in the list. before u do this try to give a call. and remember this is the worst case thing. so u need not worry but do have the directions as u never know.

b. take a taxi
---> simple thing walk out and take a taxi to any of the 3 addresses after giving us a call.

one more thing. the taxi ride will cost u about 50$ from the airport and please do not expect us to pay for it. we are doing this as a courtesy and u guys have to pay for it. if 2 of u share it u can split the cost. else be prepared. u have to tip the cabby usually 10%.

in case u loose ur baggage and u got travel insurance u can claim upto 500$ for every checked baggae so dont forget to get a claim cheque. there will be a claim counter in the terminal go there and lodge a complaint and let the guy waiting for u know abt this. give him a call.

again please fill the forms asap

Madhu
IGSA Board
http://igsa.pages.uic.edu

Information for New Incoming Students

2005-06-14T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Well, I just wanted to tell you all a couple of things that are being talked about/over in the last few days.

1. Net IDs
Please visit the ACCC website and goto the links under the heading "New Accounts". Here you can get to know what your netid is and how to activate it. Also, there is a link to activate the Enterprise ID which is used to access your records and registeration information.

You will also get some info at the IGSA website here.

Please understand that all this is NOT needed before you land here. If you cant figure things out, then dont worry about it.

2. Living here
We have provided information on IGSA Website about housing under the "Current Students"section. It has been done for a reason, which is, that the incoming students dont have to worry about housing till they are here in Chicago. It's no use trying to finalize an apartment etc before you land here because you might end up feeling that the place wasnt meant for you. If you know the person you plan to stay with, then please go ahead.... otherwise, stick to finding room-mates for yourself.

I am saying this because, houses and living conditions here arent the same as in India and you need to be here to decide what is the best kind of accomodation for you.

Hope this helps,
Nalin
IGSA Board

Movie Time!! NAINA - Friday, June 17th 2005 @ 5:15 pm CIU

2005-06-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys and Gals:
IGSA will be screening the movie 'NAINA' on Friday, June 17th 2005.
The details are:
Venue: Recovery Room, Student Center West (Formerly CIU)
Date: Friday, June 17th, 2005
Time: 5:15 pm sharp (Please note that the room has to be surrendered at 8:00
pm).
You can have a look at the reviews at http://www.nainathefilm.com/

Looking forward to see you all there!

Regards,
IGSA Board

Reminder to all the new incoming students

2005-06-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Congrats to all those who have received their VISAs. Well, the time to leave for Chicago is getting nearer n nearer.

I just wanted to remind you all to go here and then fill up the pick up and acc form once your plans are fixed. We will need all the info on that form to help you arrival and intial few days as trouble free as possible.

Address for the DS156 and similar forms

2005-06-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

All the new incoming students,
We have made a small change in our policy (sort of a policy). We suggest that you use OIS address or address of the department you have been admitted to. Up until now we had been suggesting you to use our (Madhu, Nikhil and my) addresses. Please keep those addresses with you for emergency cases only.

For more information on this please read goto IGSA website and/or download the information document.

Books List

2005-06-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

I have disabled the link for Book Lists as I havent been able to gather enough information on that yet. I am waiting to get inputs from various members for making that list so that the new students have a sort of a reference when planning to buy books.

Old and New Pics

2005-05-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

I have uploaded Pictures onto the IGSA website. I will be adding more once I am able to collect them from the different ppl who had a digicam on these events. U can view the images by going to IGSA Photo Albums

Meet UIC Seniors - Bangalore

2005-05-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,
Now comes the turn for people in bangalore. You can meet
Shankar Ramachandran - shanks_rc@yahoo.com

Get in touch with him before mid june though.
Cheers,
IGSA Board

Meet UIC Seniors - Chennai

2005-05-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,
You can meet seniors in chennai now.
One constraint do it positively within next two weeks. they will be out of chennai by then.

contact anupama - aumach2@uic.edu
Someone might also join her to meet you but that is not yet confirmed. Get in touch with her asap.

Thanks
IGSA Board.

Meet UIC seniors - Delhi/hyderabad

2005-05-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

People in delhi and hyderabad, U can meet an UIC senior if you want to know more about UIC, you can probably clear most of your doubts and talk with them.
IGSA board strongly urges you to do so to get a feeling and please be polite.

Form a group of yourself and talk with the people mentioned. It would be better if you could email them and fix up mutually convenient time and meet.

1. Delhi
Contact : Abhinayak Mishra - abhinayak_mishra@yahoo.com

2. Hyderabad
Contact: Ramya Chitrakar - ramyachitrakar@yahoo.co.in

We are trying to get some more people to meet up in other cities, please watch the igsa blog for recent announcements.

IGSA Board
http://igsa.pages.uic.edu

Indian Graduate Students Association - New Homepage

2005-05-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Indian Graduate Students Association

We have launched a new homepage to help you folks understand UIC and chicago better. We have made a decent attempt in answering most common questions. Please read the pages for more information.

Any comments/suggestions are always welcome.

Cheers,
IGSA Board.

IGSA@UIC

2005-04-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome..
This blog will serve as a forum for the IGSA team to keep our website current.
This blog will contain announcements about our activities, event parties, photographs and other thoughts that the board wishes to communicate.

Cheers,
webteam@IGSA/UIC