Hangout

Saturday, June 21, 2014

10:03 AM

Try not to spam people who feature in hangouts.

Packing
o List out items, and decide priority
o Do it slowly
o Baggage dimensions
o Don't get lot of short term items Maggi etc.
o Get toor dal
o Get spices, will last
o No jeera or rice!
o For initial days, get ready to eat. Ask seniors for help.

Flight
o Make sure you are thorough about itinerary
o Immigration can take 40 minutes - 1 hour
o Baggage dimensions have to be precise

Laptop
o Carry yours if you have, else buy in the US

Communication
o Teach people VoIP: Skype, Hangout
o Get calling cards
o VoIP to phone network (Telcan, ActionVOIP)
o Vonage

Housing
o Pickup and accommodation will be by ISA
o Try getting the unit checked by a senior
o Try a 6 month lease if possible. Rent might change (it might go up)
Recommendation is 6-12-6. Aishwarya suggests 10, because 6 month lease might
end in January (spring semester). That will leave you free for intern.
o Try getting a apartment nearer to the department (EE is usually on the East, Bio in
East)
o Buying a bicycle is a good idea. Side of apartment will not matter much then. Will
help you get classes.
o Get to know the area, grocery stores, Indian stores
o Apartments with less Indians: socializing depends on you. Lots of Indians around
anyway. Choice of university does not matter as long as you are willing. No specific
advantages and disadvantages.
o West side doesn't have a proper market. East side has several Indian and grocery
stores

Transportation
o Orbit buses will plenty around the campus, you can use them to get to class, but
have to be punctual about timing and watch out for the stops
o Still better to get a bike. It gives you more flexibility. Might also help if you want to
stay late in lab/lib.
o Register it with ASU PD with photo and serial number. They are very vigilant.

Academics
o Make sure all the subjects you take are in alignment with what you want to do, not
disjointed
o Try to balance learning and GPA
o Do not copy. It can lead to legal issues.
o Concepts and knowledge and project are important. First 20-25 minutes of job
interview will be about your resume, so know it well. Especially, projects.
o Thesis/portfolio/comprehensive exam (Bio has thesis/project, no non-thesis)
o New course: go through coursework, analyze, mail the professor about the course.
Take the risk if you're interested and willing to work hard. It will be up to the mark
despite being new. Also evaluate the value of the course in career/research path.
o Degree certificate: new students can provide provisional degree certificates
o Biomed: 598 is special topic, usually first time offer

Research
o No problem if you don't know
o Join the labs, at the start if you can
o Balance academics with labs. Don't let acads slip.
o You can move labs, but tell your previous supervisor before moving
o If you want to do PhD, research work will be important
o Biomed is low on funds, so RA/TA only when you want to go for PhD

Part-time Jobs
o Student employment search on the ASU Campus Services
o Prepare resume and cover letter
o Doesn't need professional work (projects etc.)
o Event management, guest work, interacting with teams outside
o Desk assistant is what receptionist is in India
o Get your terminologies right
o Work on your resume, don't do halfhearted jobs. Don't have paragraphs. Points
and correct sub headings
o Apply everywhere. You can apply for any part time, all of them need you to
communicate with people, work hard and finish on time
o Get the cover letter right, you can have different letters for jobs. Make it more
personalized.
o References are important
o Number of hours can be discussed with the employer. Allowed only 20 hours a
week, so even if you have multiple jobs(you can), split them properly.
o Don't worry much about part time job, focus on internship. More benefit (80%
time to internship and 20 % to part time)
o For VLSI, lot of assignments and labs. Very heavy course load. Courses getting
revamped, might get heavy. It will eat into your resting time (one senior had 10
projects in one semester). If you go for tough courses, don't go for part time. Might
hurt GPA.
o RA, prof already has students working. Initially work for prof for free, then they
might hire. Look at projects, find something interesting, talk to the prof and work
for free. Even if you're exploring, tell the prof, they will be happy about it. Then
work for 2-3 months, prof keeps evaluating. Then they might take you as thesis
student.
o Read about the prof's work and recent papers. That will give you an idea of recent
work
o Jobs that are off-campus but on the portal: You can't do that in the first year. The
exceptions are ASU affiliated organizations.

Things to get
o Really hot place, winter wear is available. Come here and get winter wear.
o List on site, narrow down.

Academics
o Gokul: took two circuit courses, that helped him decide on what to do in the future
o Can always mail professors, they can help us with pre reqs and details
o EEE: 591: Undergrad eq., 598: special courses, 6xx & 7xx: PhD
o For first 3 sems, 9 credits, last sem it's ok (you might get thesis credit, give your
notice of graduation)
o Embedded: 3-4 courses, lots of job offers. Take RTES (Real time embedded sys),
RTOS( Real Time OS), ESP (Embedded SP) and EOS (Embedded OS)
o Power systems: lots of employers for full time. Internship is tougher
o Embedded programming needs good C++ skill
o EEE can have more than 2 electives, so fairly flexible

Books
o Department hangouts
o Do not depend on library for basic course books
o Indian editions are cheaper
o Ebooks also work. Do not take printouts of illegal ones to exams though.
o Abebooks will ship Indian versions for some fee, so if you're worried about weight,
you can use them. They take some time to ship though.

Forex Cards
o It's more convenient to transfer funds directly to account
o Best choice till you get a new account, it's safe
o You can transfer cash at tellers counter

Credit Cards
o You need some sort of employment, it gives you an SSN
o Then you can get a credit card
o Then build a credit
o Bank of America does not need an SSN (was the case last year) but you may need
to provide a cash collateral
o Do not carry much cash. Mostly swiping.
o Keep 2-3 cards
o Having a credit card is good for finances later

Finances
o Best time to buy dollars?: Doesn't really matter. Wait a little for stabilization. Still,
only get money for first semester.