The International Student's New Semester Checklist
By: Ngai Yeung ‘23
Did you opt out of your health insurance yet? Are you caught up on the latest visa updates? Save yourself a thousand bucks and other tips to streamline your semester.
1. Cancel your student health insurance
If you’re not even in the States, why should you pay for the student health insurance? To opt out, make sure you’ve updated your current address (more on that next), then email studenthealth@usc.edu your student ID with the subject line “INTL SHIP Reversal Credit”. Do yourself a favor and save a whopping $1,300 per semester!
2. Update your address on OASIS
I tried not to put this up top because you’re probably tired of hearing it by now. But seriously, do it! If saving a thousand bucks from health insurance isn’t enough incentive, think of all the official documents, goodie bags, and even I-20s you might miss because USC doesn’t have the right address. Log on to my.USC and find OASIS on your dashboard. Once you’re in, click on “Other Services” in the bar at the top, where you’ll find an option to change your address and phone number.
3. Talk to professors about exam/quiz time arrangements
Our professors’ class rosters have a column that lists out each student’s time zone (another reason to update your address ASAP!). Some profs might have reached out to arrange alternate exam times, while others insist that everyone take them at the same time. Or maybe the issue hasn’t been brought up at all. Whatever they said, it doesn’t hurt to ask again to clarify things, particularly for those in a wildly different time zone. Nobody should take a midterm at 3am if it can be helped.
4. Have a time conversion chart handy
If you don’t already know it by heart, jot down a time conversion chart on a sticky note and slap it on your desk. Spare yourself the mental gymnastics whenever you need to schedule office hours, club meetings and whatnot back into your local time (or maybe I’m just extra bad at math). And don’t forget that daylight saving time in the States starts on 14 March, 2021 this year!
5. Check the USC library for online textbooks
International shipping takes forever, especially in the midst of a pandemic. Save yourself some money and don’t buy an online version either—not before you check the USC library, that is. A part of our tuition goes to paying for the library’s many subscriptions to different databases online. Do take advantage of it and search up your textbook to see if there’s a digital copy available. I’ve personally found more than half of the textbooks I need this semester here and I hope you will too.
6. Subscribe to newsletters to stay informed
Come back! This isn’t an ad. It’s just that USC is such a huge school with so many opportunities, it’s hard to keep track of them all. At the very least, make sure you’re subscribed to the Office of International Student’s weekly newsletter (sign up here). These include events designed exclusively for international students and important visa updates.
To find out what your fellow international students are up to, hop on the International Student Assembly’s mailing list (email usgisa@usc.edu), or see if your country has a USC alumni association newsletter.
Ever wondered what they do in that obscure major? Sign up for another department’s newsletter to see what kind of virtual events they host. Then there’s the Annenberg Media’s inbox newsletter (sign up here) for general school news; but the best of them all is, of course, the Trojans360 new inbox newsletter (here!).
Don’t have a habit of checking your email? Here are some quick links to follow:
7. Check out events and clubs to your heart’s content
We get that it’s hard to involve ourselves in “campus life” during an online semester. Especially for international students, who may feel extra detached from an intangible school in a faraway country. But on the flip side, remote school means you can check out more clubs and events than you ever dreamed of. You can always drop out after the first fifteen minutes or something if it’s not your thing.
Many clubs that are high commitment have been toned down this semester, and there’s always cultural clubs if you just want to chill with people. USC also spends tons of money and time on programming each semester: browse through the upcoming events calendar and pick something that tickles your fancy!
8. Start thinking about fall housing and OPT/CPT
The world is unpredictable as ever, but we are still inching forward in time. And so just like in previous years, underclassmen are already signing leases for non-USC fall housing. Of course, we aren’t suggesting anyone to do so given the uncertain state of things, but do know that the beginning of the spring semester is when people usually sign fall leases.
It’ll also be good to apply for your OPT/CPT work authorisations early. OPT lets F-1 international students work in the States for up to a year after graduating and only applies to seniors. CPT, on the other hand, applies to all years and allows F-1 students to take on for-credit paid internships in the States. If you’re considering either, look into USC’s guide to the whole shebang (link for OPT, CPT) for more details. Applications open 90 days prior to your job/internship start date, and it’ll be smart to apply early as the U.S. is (understandably) taking an extra long time to process them this year.
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