Download the following document to have an idea of what you need to carry while coming to US.
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The following are some of the questions answered by our seniors.
1. How easy is Masters (CS) in WKU?
You need to know programming (most preferably JAVA) to graduate from WKU.
So please understand that you can only graduate from this university if you are a good programmer or you have the proper zeal to learn programming.
2. Which vaccines are to be taken and should we have a certificate on hospital letterhead or
on immunization form only?
As far as I remember, MMR, Hepatitis B were the shots we took. Some of
us took the shots, some of us did not. It is not mandatory, But is definetely a good thing. In Hyderabad, you can take the doses @ Narayanguda, Blood Bank and they know what shots
are to be given to students going abroad. You can also go to your personal family doctors to get it done. So, as long as you have the proof about you taking those
doses, it does not matter which hospital or letter head you take..
3. 1st sem fee is $6860 but i got 50% scholarship,so shud i take DD
for $6860 or $3430?
Take the DD for $3430.
4. How much cash in hand for expenses while travelling and how much in
travelers checks?
I advise you all to get cash thats good to handle immediate expenses
here. You may need something close to 500$ atleast. A few 100$ +/- would not hurt
much. This cash could be in travelers Cheques, or cash, which is other
than your DD for Fee.
5. Should i take a credit card here(how much credit?)or once i open
account in a US bank near univ premises?
All of you who are under the idea that you can pay all sems fee
through credit cards, please take caution in that idea.
CASE 1: If you have a credit card in India, then you shud deal with
monthly payments there, and I am not sure if you use that here, it may
approve it ! I am not saying it may not, but I did not encounter any
such experiences, so I request students here to share their thoughts
on this case.
CASE 2: You will not get cards immediately here. You have to have
Social Security Number for that, and thats got a different procedure
to approach. How to apply for SSN is not the issue as of now ( every
year they change the procedures, and you will know about it in
Orientation) but please know that you cannot pay your first sem fee
through cards.
NOTE: You can use your seniors cards instead and repay them.
6. Where shud i make a debit card?
The common practice here, is, we open a bank a/c here, and we have to
give the bank, our Social Security Number. As soon as we do that, we
have our Debit Card.
For your Information, those of you who dont know all this Debit and
Credit,
Debit : Our money in the bank
Credit: We get some funds approved from somecards, just like in India,
for which we can use them (some one lending us $). Please donot think
we can avoid the monthly payments, as they track people through Social
Security Numbers.
7. What is STIC(STudent Id Card)and were can i get it?
This is not at all a topic of discussion(Pre Travel) !
Anyways, thats something the university will guide you how to go about
it in Orientation !
8. What documents are required at port of entry ?
I20, and Passport.
9. Rough Estimates
Please note that all these figures are approx....based on a senior's own experiences :
Accomodation -- upto 5 students may live in a room...n it costs to about 100$ per month for a student (if there are 5)...
Medical Tests -- We need to get the MMR vaccine done...may be even a single dose..
Books -- books related to the programming languages are a must (ofcourse for ur reference); its not a necessity to buy the text books...
Approx Expenses -- ur sem fees + 350$ insurance + 1500$ approx. for other expenses...itseems the approximate monthly expenses are going to be to a max of 250$.
