International Graduate Students at UNC: GETTING SETTLED at UNC

M/F:	Male/Female Speaker


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M:	International students should consider some issues before coming to UNC-Chapel Hill, like housing, health insurance. Reaching out to your department is very important. You might have questions about the culture, about logistics, transportation, tax issues, health insurance, so they are the best people to guide you and to answer all your questions. And, by the way, the Office of International Student and Scholar Services—reach out to them when you have any question regarding to any other issues. They are very helpful, and they are very friendly and a very good resource.

F:	International Student and Scholar Services is available to help international students to adjust to their lives in the United States, adjust to Chapel Hill and this university. What we try to help with is cultural adjustment, academic adjustment, and also our main purpose is to help students obtain and maintain their immigration status. So that is the main thing that we want to get across to students, is that they’re always welcome and that we will try to help them in any way that is possible for us to do.

M:	Speaking from my own experience, reaching out to some student organizations can be very helpful. For example, before I came to UNC, I sent an email to the Friendship Association of Chinese Students and Scholars asking them if they can help me with my move in. And they replied. They told me about this amazing volunteer program that can help new arrivals. And on the day I arrived at the RDU Airport, they sent a postdoc student at UNC to pick me up at the airport. He gave me a ride to my apartment, and also brought me to a nearby supermarket. His help really made my first day in Chapel Hill much easier than I expected.

M:	And regarding to housing, international students should look at housing maybe within campus or within a walking distance from campus, looking at the grocery shops nearby and looking at the bus stops nearby. As a student, you need to be close to campus. Getting your driver’s license, it’s very important. It’s good when you come that you have your license with you, if you have one, and it’s good if it’s in English. This might help for the first few weeks. You can rent a car; you are eligible to rent a car. And then, after that, going to the DMV office. It’s the office to get your license from. You need to just go and visit, and you can check it also online, DMV Chapel Hill or Carrboro, and you can get a lot of information in there.

F:	Health insurance is very important. It’s mandatory to all students. If you have health insurance, you can get free healthcare at the Campus Health, which is within the university.

M:	Regarding to the health insurance policies, we were briefed during the orientation about Student Blue. It was very easy, so I enrolled with Student Blue. It was very convenient and very good, very helpful.

F:	In my country, my son was in an English-speaking curriculum, so when he came here, the school has got specialized teachers who teach students—they call them English-as-second-language specialists. North Carolina has got a grading system for students whose English is their second language. They give him verbal tests and written tests periodically. Through those processes and through engaging with other students, he got into system.
Also, because I came with him when he was just nine, I couldn’t leave him alone at home, so I enrolled him into after-school program. All schools in Chapel Hill have got after-school programs, which is great. I liked it because it gave me time to do my school. He was in that after-school activities where they were helping them with homework and also there were several games they were playing until around 5:00.

M:	My advice for international students is to look at Chapel Hill/Carrboro City Schools. It’s a very good, helpful website. They can register their kids online, even before coming into Chapel Hill, but they need later also to go in person and finish the process. The process of joining the U.S school was very smooth, and the transition was very good because teachers, they took care of everything. The integration process with the community and with the school system goes very smoothly.
International students need—they need to bring their immunization history of their kids in English. This is very useful. And if they have any other medical histories or any other medical documentations or any other school documentations, it’s very good to bring that in English. This might help the process being faster.

F:	One type of clothing, especially for students who come from countries where mostly the weather is warm or hot, like where I come from—I didn’t know how to dress up in winter. There is a term which Americans use, like “dress in layers.” This is an abstract term to most of us who come from where the weather doesn’t—the cold weather doesn’t exist. So when they say “dress in layers,” it just means put on as many clothes as you can to make yourself warm.
There are various university policies that international students have to learn. Most of the university policies are detailed in the handbook. The one important policy, the honor code, which every student has to know. It is like a code of ethics that governs UNC-Chapel Hill community to be honest and respectful to each other in whatever you do, whether academically or outside academic. There is a module which can easily be accessed on the website, so that is very important.
University has got a legal aid office. If you have questions concerning legal issues or legal policies, there are attorneys on campus where you can make an appointment and ask for legal help.

M:	Also the department was very supportive. The person in the department who is communicating with you during the application process and the acceptance time, she or he is the best person also to ask for housing, some other logistics, the health insurance, if you have any question. I think the department is the best place to communicate with before coming in, into the U.S.

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