Come and join your friends to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights with a fun filled evening of music and dance on November 4.
CAUTION: Don't forget your dancing shoes at home!! See events page for details and poster.
FAQ
Answers to some frequently asked questions for incoming students:
- Where is Rochester?
- Where should I land in US?
- What are Port of Entry, Immigration and Customs Check?
- How is my Luggage handled and where should I pick it up?
- What if the luggage is Lost or Delayed?
- What luggage should I bring with me to the US?
- I want to know more about my Department, whom to contact?
- What is the best time to come to Rochester?
- So, where do I live after coming to Rochester? Following are the kind of apartments that you can get at Rochester Studio apartment (living + kitchen) - $350 - $550 One bedroom apartment - $400 - $500 Two-bedroom apartment - $750 - $800
- Where do I live, till I find an apartment for myself? RIA will recommend you to go to Incoming Students/Resources links and look for On Campus accommodation. Contact the students in the university for finding about the other available options. We would also recommend that you speak to your prospective roommates beforehand to avoid any kind of delay in finding your own apartment.
- Should I accept University Housing (even unfurnished) or look for cheaper modes of stay off-campus? In-campus housing is a rare commodity. So, it makes sense to accept any form of in-campus housing as soon as you get one for two reasons. One, it guarantees you a place of stay immediately you land here. And two, considering the vagaries of weather in Rochester it will be much more comfortable. Especially in winter, commutation from off-campus can be a difficult task. Rochester's public transportation is not that great with the city not that connected like a metro and the University's buses (to Rustic village and 19th ward) are not that frequent. In contrast, all the university apartments are well connected by frequent university buses. Being a student, you might have to visit the school (for your lab, group meetings etc) and hence in-campus housing is most prefered by students.
- Are unfurnished apartments ok? Unfurnished apartments will still have a refrigerator, stove, heater coils (for winter). You might still have to get lamps, tables, chairs, cookware and cultery. You might want to set aside 100-200$ if you are looking to buy new ones. But all these can be purchased in one evening. Hence unfurnished apartments are not 'unliveable'.
- Where can I get cheap furniture? There are two Wal-marts in Rochester. And most students tend to go there for their initial shopping. There will also be frequent notices around your apartment for used furniture and items. Many grad students (understandingly) engage themselves in a big competition to both buy and sell such items. You can get all your basic necessities within a 100$. But you need patience and bargaining power though! Curious onlookers also get most of their stuff for free. In a hurry to leave Rochester, many people might just throw unwanted stuff near the dumpster. If it is good enough (Be careful about bed bugs though) it is okay to find a place for it in your apartment. You don't have to feel bad about taking something from the dumpster. Be proud that you utilise things efficiently and do not play a part in land filling.
Rochester, known as the The Flour City or The Flower City, is a city in Monroe County in Upstate New York. Rochester is a city, about 332 miles North-West of New York City, New York. University of Rochester was recently named among Newsweek's top 25 "New Ivy League" colleges and universities in the country (Newsweek 2006). It was ranked 6th for "Best Places with Best Education," upon the basis of both Education AND Place criteria Forbes, 2003.
The nearest airport to University of Rochester is Greater Rochester International Airport in Monroe County, Rochester. It is 2.4 miles (5 minutes) away from the university and will cost around $10-$15 to take a cab to any of the On-Campus housing. It is not a PORT OF ENTRY, which will be either Newark or Chicago (closest) as per your convenience. Rochester airport serves 6 major and 17 regional airlines around the world.
Port of entry is the US city where your incoming international airplane lands for the first time inside US. In most cases, it will be Newark, Chicago or Detroit. But it differs in individual cases wherein you reach Rochester through a connecting flight from any other city in US. For example, if your flying route is Bombay-Frankfurt-Chicago-Rochester, the port of entry is Chicago. A flight attendant will distribute customs declaration forms and immigration forms (I-94) before the plane lands at Chicago. Fill all the entries on the forms, while on the plane as per guided by the attendants. If you have questions regarding any entries on the form, do not hesitate to ask the flight attendant. The forms include questions about the contents of your luggage. Penalties for incorrect declaration can be severe, and you would not want to get caught up in a verbal interaction with officers, just after landing. One important note here, please do not scratch or over-write anything, ask for a new one and surrender the old one. Hence, be pretty honest and write the details as questioned. So long as pickles and spices are packed and sealed in a proper manner, they can be classified as non-perishable and dehydrated, and you may declare them as such. Pay attention to signs. Try speaking clearly and slowly but confidently while speaking to the officers and answer the questions honestly. The immigration department takes fingerprints of your first fingers and your photograph. This requires some reasonable amount of time, so try to have a minimum of two hours gap between connecting flights between your port of entry and Rochester.
Even if your luggage is booked through to your final destination, it will be off-loaded at your port of entry to US. This means that if your final destination is Rochester, your luggage will be offloaded at the port of entry for customs clearance. You will need to check in your luggage again. But there are signs and instruction everywhere so there is no need to worry. It is your responsibility to pick up the entire luggage off the conveyor belt and take it through the customs area. DO NOT PANIC if the officer asks you to open the luggage, the officers just want to make sure that you do not have any harmful items. To make this process easy, pack your luggage with own hands in India, so that when you un-pack it at the airport (if at all!!), there should not be a condition that the stuff in an unpacked condition is twice as much as the one initially packed in!!!
If your luggage does not seem to pop up on the conveyor system, look for it for a certain finite amount of time until the display will give indication for the last baggage. Contact the office of your Airline at the airport and fill up a DELAYED / LOST LUGGAGE form. Give them the destination address and phone number (you can give the same address where you would be staying in Rochester or address of the ISO Office) so that they can ship it there, after it arrives. There is a fair chance that the luggage might have got shipped to another destination or would not have been uploaded on your plane at your connecting airport (Frankfurt / London etc.). See to it that you fill up the form before leaving the premises. Do not be rude but be firm while dealing with the airline representatives, the phrases Please and Thank you will not hurt. And do not panic, It'll come home safe.
Based on the cumulative experiences of people who have made the same trip in previous years, we have compiled together a list for general use and one that is specific for ladies. They can be downloaded here:
General check list
Check list for ladies
It is best to contact students of your own department to get any specific information. You can also contact your Departments' Graduate Coordinator for any of your queries.
Coming to Rochester depends on financial aid and your own convenience. If you do not have financial aid then, coming 10-15 days before the orientation session (for that semester) is ideal. That will help you look for an on-campus job (or assistantship) and also adjust yourself to the place. Those with assistantship can arrive one week to two days before the orientation session.
Students already living here may help you look out for an apartment once you are here. You will get information about university housing facilities from ISO. Also, check the Links given at the sides.
Join Us
Mailing Lists: There are two existing groups you can join:
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ur_indians@yahoogroups.com is a group that connects old and current students and is a good e-platform where you can submit your general queries and keep in touch with others.
ria_ur@yahoogroups.com is a group which has primarily been started to stay updated with latest information about RIA and its events.