Information for
Incoming students from India
General Questions Answered:
About the campus
The
Denton city campus is the main campus of the university. The newly
developed campus called UNT Research Park is about 5 miles from the
main campus in Denton and houses the College of Engineering. This
new campus has begun operations from Dec 2003.
The other campus is located
at UNT-Health Science Center in Fort Worth (about 40 miles from
Denton, 1.5 hour drive). The ISA is an active student organization
managed by the students at the Denton campus. For UNT-HSC, please
refer here for
contact information.
Map
UNT Denton Main Campus:
http://www.unt.edu/pais/map/campusmap.htm
Denton
Denton is located at the
north of the triangle of cities formed by Dallas-Denton-Fort Worth.
The main airport (DFW) is situated at the center, equidistant from
all three cities and is about 25 miles from Denton. Denton is a
university town with 2 major state universities, UNT and Texas
Woman's University (TWU). It has a population of about 100,000.
Current enrollment in UNT is 30000+ students most of which commute
daily from Dallas and other cities. About 8000-10000 students stay
in University housing (dormitory) or off campus locations in Denton.
The weather in Denton is extreme in nature (similar to those in
northern India). Summers are very hot (35-40 C; June-Oct), winters
are mild (as compared to rest of USA; Nov-Feb)). We do have some
days of snowfall but nothing to worry about. There is no monsoon
season, we have rain all year round in the form of sudden
thunderstorms. Its said that if you don't like the weather in Texas,
wait a few minutes and it will change. August/Sept are the hottest
months of the year.
Minimal recommended items : Cap, Shorts for summer; thick jacket,
gloves, something to cover ears like monkey cap for winter
When to arrive
It is recommended that you arrive at least 7-10 days before
the student orientation dates sent to you by the international
office. During the orientation your documents are checked at the
university and you shall be cleared to register for classes.
Arrival
Dallas is served by most airlines. Most Indian students
arrive by Lufthansa (Frankfurt-DFW), British Airways (London-DFW or
London-Chicago-DFW), American Airlines (NYC/LAX-DFW), Delta Airlines
(NYC/Atlanta/Cincinnati-DFW), Continental Airlines (Cleveland-DFW).
For your comfort, we recommend you arrive by any airline flying
directly from Europe/SE Asia to Dallas (very few are available). We
also recommend you try to arrive on the weekends and/or in the
evenings.
Airport pickup and
temporary accommodation
ISA can pickup arriving students from DFW (Dallas-Ft.Worth) Intl
Airport, the most commonly arriving airport for international
travelers. If you are flying in only from the US (domestic flight)
on few selected airlines, you might be arriving at Dallas Love Field
Airport. In either case, you need to inform the president by email
at least 1 week in advance of your flight details. If the
information does not reach in time, we cannot guarantee pickup
although we will try to arrange for it. Once you arrive at the
airport, you will collect your baggage and proceed to customs
declaration. After customs you will be coming out into the foyer of
the airport. We shall provide a contact number in our email response
to you, please call the number from a public phone only if you have
been waiting for at least 1 hour. We will also provide temporary
accommodation in most cases with existing students until you can
find an apartment of your own.
Fees and Insurance
Refer UNT website for fee
information:
http://essc.unt.edu/saucs/tuition.htm
International students have
to pay out-of-state tuition fee. When you a get a tuition waiver job
on campus, you have to pay in-state tuition fee. Some states exempt
international students from all tuition fee (but still ask you to
pay other service fees) when they give a tuition fee waiver, but not
Texas. So, even though you might get a tuition waiver at UNT, it
does not mean a full waiver, but you end up paying about 50% of the
out-of-state fee.
It is recommended that you
get the recommended international student fees as per your I-20 for
atleast 1.5 (one and half semester) and upto 2 semesters when you
come from India. You can get a demand draft in favor of 'University
of North Texas' for one semester fee. If the actual fee is more than
the amount on the draft, you can pay the remaining by check. If the
amount on the draft is more than the actual fee, you will get a
refund check. It is also recommended that you get some cash, to take
care of apartment deposit (refundable under certain conditions,
varies from apartment to apartment) and the first month rent. You
can get this in a combination of cash/traveler's check/demand draft
in your favor. Also, you can send and receive money from India
easily by post or demand draft later.
Insurance is yet another ball
game. The university requires international students to have certain
level of insurance (at least $50,000 worth of coverage). The
university has a health center located on main campus. There are
many insurance companies in the US as you could imagine. However,
each has its own affiliated clinics/hospitals and you get the
insurance benefits only at these locations. The university provides
insurance through a company (The MEGA Life and Health Insurance
Company) and that is valid for benefits at the UNT health clinic. It
is recommended that you take the university insurance for the first
semester. You can then compare and choose any other company if you
wish to later. Also, the insurance premium for the university
insurance is lower than that for most companies from India. The
insurance you would bring from India would most likely not be
accepted at many locations in the US and has very low probability of
being accepted in Denton area hospitals at all. Bringing insurance
from India would not be recommended for the semester, but you can
take insurance to cover your travel and first couple of weeks in the
US until the semester starts (say, a 1 month insurance plan). The
university insurance fee is added to your tuition bill automatically
and is not included in the fees indicated on the website or your
I-20. If you decide to get insurance from some other company later,
you have to fill in a form and give proof of the other insurance to
international office.
More information about the
company that provides insurance on UNT campus and their premium
rates is given here:
http://www.student-resources.net/plans/university_of_north_texas/2003/north_texas.htm
Financial Aid and jobs (for all students)
There are two types of campus jobs available. Jobs with or without
partial tuition waiver (you pay about 1/3rd of international
student tuition fees).
Most departments have TA/RA positions but these are very
competitive. In most cases, you will need to meet the concerned
faculty after arriving here to be considered for these positions.
Most departments prefer to consider students after having seen their
performance in the first semester. However, you should also apply
for these positions for the first semester directly to the dept.
before you arrive, by the deadline for your dept. The Denton campus
has about 8-10 computer labs for general access to all students. If
you gain employment in any of these labs as a lab assistant and you
are in a computer related program (like CS, BCIS), you are eligible
for partial tuition waiver.
Campus jobs (non waiver) are available in numerous cafeterias, the
bookstore, other locations. These are hourly paying jobs and the
monthly income earned is enough to pay living expenses for off
campus locations only.
Few scholarships are available for international students and most
have the application deadline as March 31. More information on
scholarships can be obtained from the International Advising Office.
Program specific questions
Computer Science:
Most students from India (about 75-80%) come to UNT to pursue
higher degrees in Computer Science. The University has approved the
formation of College of Engineering, under which there will be a new
Department of Computer Science and Engineering (from Fall 2003).
The department has hired some new faculty and has moved to a new
location in Denton (about 5 miles form current campus) during
Christmas break (Dec 2003). All students stay near the existing main
campus. There are almost no accommodation facilities near the new
location. The University has a campus bus which will serve the new
location from January during day times. Classes for Computer Science
courses are currently held all over the campus. From Spring 2004
however, all CSE department classes will be held at the new
location. All campus jobs will still be on the main campus unless
you are working in the CSE department as a TA.
The department offers
about 20-25 TA positions during the long semesters (Spring/Fall) and
about 6-10 during Summer. Summer positions are not offered to new
students. TA positions are given for grading, teaching labs and
teaching classes in CSE. The department policy is to support a
Masters Student for a maximum of 4 long semesters (not counting
summer semester). Most students are hired initially for grading
positions. The department needs the student to have passed an oral
exam before the student can be considered for any teaching
assignments. Now, most positions are filled by current TA's. It is
very difficult for new students to get department. assistance in the
first semester (but you should try and apply). Once you have been
here for a semester, the chances of hiring are higher.
Hiring of RA's is done by
the faculty directly. You should contact the faculty members to
request for any positions they might have. Almost all faculty
members need to meet you and interview you before they consider you
for RA positions. Do not be surprised if they ignore your emails
since understand that they get hundreds of emails per day from
students, their associates and conference and research committees
they are part of. |
