Information for new incoming
students after arriving in Denton
Apartment
Most Indian community stays off campus since its cheaper to stay
off campus. Also, most dormitories do not have cooking facility
available in rooms and students have to use the meal plan offered in
the cafeterias. The Indian students stay within 5-10 minutes walking
distance from the campus. Once you arrive in Denton, pick up an
apartment guide that lists locations and information about rental
agencies. This guide is available in the UNT Union on the third
level near the information booth. Select the apartments that you are
interested in based on location and call the rental agency managing
that apartment. You will then need to fix an appointment with the
agency to walk through the apartment and check things. After this,
you will be asked to fill an application. There might be an
application fee associated per applicant. You will also be paying a
rental deposit that is refunded when you leave the apartment
provided it is in good condition as determined by the agency. The
first months rent will also be collected. More information can be
obtained when you arrive here.
Electricity/ Gas
Most apartments have electric cooking ranges and electric
heating systems. Some apartments however have gas units. Depending
on the apartment you select, you will have to contact the providers
to open a new account and set up the connection. For electricity,
the company is Denton Municipal Electric Company 940-349-8210. For
gas connection, you will need to contact TXU gas 800-460-3030. You
will have to pay deposit for new connection that is refunded after
the first year of service provided you do not default on bill
payment .
Telephone
The telephone system in the United States is pretty complex. The
telephone services are divided in three major categories:
Local Service (phone line and calls within city)
Local Toll Service (calls between cities in the neighborhood, ex.
Dallas, Irving)
Long Distance (remaining calls within US and international)
Most of us here just take the Local service and use calling
cards for calls within US and to India. For each of the services you
can select different providers. For Denton, local service is
provided only by Verizon. To get a phone connection, although you
can open an account by calling Verizon at 800-483-4000 (Monday -
Friday 7:30am-7:00pm Saturday 8:00am - 5:00pm), most new account
holders are required to submit copy of proof of identity (ex.
passport) at the local Verizon store. You can also visit the store
directly and open a new account there itself. The location of the
store in Denton is at:
2219 S. Loop 288, Ste. 108
Denton, TX 76205
Ph: 940-243-0529 M-F
9:00-7:00 Sat. 9:00-5:00 Sun. Closed
This location is 5 miles from
campus. An existing student might be able to take you there, but we
encourage you to use the local Denton bus service to go there. The
service is free for UNT students with student ID card. Details of
the bus service can be obtained once you arrive here or from the
website:
http://www.cityofdenton.com/pages/linkroutes.cfm
In brief you will have to
take route 7 from campus to Denton city center and then route 2 to
Golden Triangle Mall. For Local Toll Service and Long Distance you
can select from the following providers. Details about rates and
plans can be found on their website:
AT&T (http://www.att.com)
Verizon (http://www.verizon.com)
MCI (http://www.mci.com)
Social Security
In order to work anywhere in the US (even on campus) you will
need a social security number. Generally, during the orientation
week a person comes from the Social Security office on campus and
helps fill out social security applications (refer the material sent
to you by the international office). Alternatively you can visit the
social security office near the Golden Triangle Mall (refer above
for instructions on how to get there) by local bus or with the help
of an existing student. The Social Security Office in Denton
requests a letter of eligibility from International Advising. You
can request this at 171 Kendall Hall. You will then take it, plus
your immigration documents to the Social Security Office.
On campus jobs
To apply for on campus jobs hourly paying jobs you will first
need to visit Student Employment Office (Union building 3rd level,
room 320) to create a profile and get access to the job database.
Then you will need to apply online using the instructions at the
website :
http://www.unt.edu/secs/SE_eRecruitingInstructions.htm
Remember that on campus jobs are available and you need to be at the
right place at the right time to get good jobs.
Bank Account
There are many banks in Denton. The most favorable one is Wells
Fargo. It has one office inside the Student Union building on campus
and another one just off campus. You can visit either locations to
open a new bank account. There are primarily two types of account,
checking (like current) account and saving account. Most students
maintain only a single checking account since interest rates on
savings account are really low in the US. You will need 2 forms of
photo ID (passport and visa should be fine) You can request a
student free checking account (free implying no monthly fee; yes,
there are monthly fees to maintain most checking accounts in the
US). Also recommended is that you apply for a ATM card. Beginning
Fall 2003, Wells Fargo is providing ATM card facility on the UNT
student identity card. Once you get your student id you can visit
Wells Fargo and activate ATM facility on it. The other bank used by
few students is Bank One. However, their closest branch is about 15
min walk from campus.
Driving License/State issued ID (optional, can wait)
Since it is highly inconvenient to carry the passport
everywhere, we recommend you should get a Texas state issued ID. For
either getting this ID or to get the drivers license you will have
to visit the local Denton Public Safety (about 5 miles from campus;
not served by city bus). To get the drivers license you have to pass
a written exam and a road test. More details can be obtained once
you arrive here. |
