|
About SDSU
On-Campus Jobs
RA/TA/Assistantship
Accommodation
Comparison of Universities
Contact Information
Internship
Airport Pickup
Miscellaneous
ABOUT SDSU
Q. Is SDSU a good university?
Answer: Like any other university SDSU also has pros and
cons:
Pros:
Job Opportunities are decent for Computers / Electrical
field.
Some decent courses.
It is actually one of the most reputed colleges for International
business studies.
Good city to live in
On campus opportunities available if applied early enough
Cons:
Lack of funds may be a problem at times
Top
ON-CAMPUS
EMPLOYMENT
Q. What is the situation with regards to on-campus jobs?
Answer: On-campus jobs mainly include Custodian jobs, working
at cafeterias, front desk jobs, maintenance jobs, GA, RA
etc. Getting any on-campus job requires you to take initiative,
with some effort and luck you can even get a very good job.
Q. How much do these on campus jobs pay?
Answer: Hourly rates start from the minimum wage of $6.75
and can go up to $15 or more. Refer to employment
section for more details
Top
ASSISTANTSHIP
How to get it:
Emails are the main mode of correspondence with professors.
The first step is to email the professor and express your
interests and inquire about their field of research. Express
a desire interest to increase your learning. If you have
not received an assistantship with your I20 then the only
thing to do is to meet the professor in his office and prove
your eligibility. Your approach to a professor depends on
his/your individual personality. Hence there is no standard
approach. The easiest way to look at the matter is to be
honest and present yourself the way you are. Keeping in
constant touch with the professor will help a lot provided
that your interests match his.
Probability:
The probability of getting assistantship depends on the
particular department. For Computer Science the situation
is not favorable because of competition. It's also limited
due to limited funds that the CS department receives. However
there are opportunities in other departments.
Assistantship and Waiver:
Students who have assistantships in a department other
their own do not receive any tuition waiver. This differs
from the policies followed by other universities as SDSU
is a state university and follows the CA state rules. For
example a CS student having a GA (Graduate Assistantship)
in the Business department receives no aid but does receive
an hourly wage the details of which can be found in the
Employment section
Q. Is there any tuition waiver if I get an assistantship?
Answer: Most Of the departments do not have much funding
with exceptions like life sciences. If one is a PhD student
then you are more likely to be considered for assistantships
which give a tuition waiver.One is likely to get a GA in
CS, Electrical and other departments, but not a tuition
waiver. There are a very few students who have got GA/TA
with tuition waver.
Q. Can I get an assistantship before coming there?
Answer: There are some students who get an assistantship
before joining the school. It depends on the professor and
the department. It's very unlikely to get TA/GA in departments
like CS and EE. It varies. But it is always advisable to
get in touch with your department chair before one comes
here. They always respond to e-mails.
Q. How do I get in touch with professors?
Answer: E-mail. One can find all the academically relevant
information about the professor if one browses the SDSU
website. One has to take a chance and e-mail the professor
if, you are interested in his/her research topic or have
any background in the same field. That would be the first
step. And what follows depends on the professor, department
etc.
Top
ACCOMODATION
Q. How do I find accommodation?
Answer: Temporary accommodations through Sanskriti are
provided by students who are members and are willing to
accommodate new students for a short period of time (For
about a week). The first step is to send a mail to help@sdsusanskriti.org
clearly indicating the following:
Name
Branch
Date of arrival
Place in India where you are from
This information helps the students have a better idea
of the temporary accommodation to be provided. Make sure
that you send a mail at least one month before your arrival
which enables students here to respond in time. A proper
confirmation by both parties is a must before landing in
the USA. Also note that all temporary accommodations through
Sanskriti will be confirmed via email sent officially by
Sanskriti. Sanskriti is not affiliated with any other organization
and new students must not entertain any personal email sent
to them by any student regarding pick ups as well as temporary
accommodation.
Q. Should I live on Campus or Off Campus?
Answer: Most of the Indian students prefer living off campus
as it's more economical. One can find all the information
about off campus living on the page for accommodation.
Q. What is the average living expense?
Answer: Depends on the kind of lifestyle one leads. However,
it's around $400 per month for rent, utilities and grocery.
A more detailed explanation can be found on the Expenses
page
Top
CLASSES
AND REGISTRATION
Q. How many courses should a student normally take?
Answer: Depends on how fast you want to graduate. Generally,
students start with 3 courses.
Q. How many units should I take per semester?
Answer: Graduate Students have to take 9 units in first
semester unless you take a reduced course load. The information
about reduced coarse load is given in the student orientation
when one joins SDSU.
Q. Should I start with the 600 level courses?
Answer: One can start directly with 600 level courses.
One can always register for more than 3 classes and attend
those and finally drop the extra classes before the drop
date. This way, one can attend the class and decide to take
it or not rather than by going by someone else's opinion
on the same.
Q. How early should I register for classes?
Answer: It's advisable to register for classes as soon
as the registration starts as in some departments the classes
get full by the end of first week of registration.
Q. My visa appointment is after the date when the registration
starts, what do I do?
Answer: There are two options in this case
1. Register for classes after getting the visa and incase
one doesn't get the classes one wants, one has to crash
the class after coming here and get an add code from the
professor to add the class. This information is also given
in the student orientation which is compulsory to attend
for the new incoming students.
This is a more practical option than the second one. Crashing
a class is not very difficult. A lot of students do that.
One can pay the registration fee online and register for
classes. Incase the visa gets denied then one has to apply
for full payment refund.
Top
COMPARISONS
OF UNIVERSITIES
A comparison of two universities depends on the criteria
for comparison for in a university. Although SDSU does not
appear on any ranking list it is a big university with a
good reputation. The courses are modeled every year to include
latest technologies to as far an extent as possible. San
Diego also happens to be one of the largest cities in the
US and by virtue of this has a large number of companies
which would help a student in his search for an Internship.
Top
CONTACT INFORMATION-
SDSU
Q. What is the Contact information of the university?
Answer:
CONTACT INFORMATION
Street address:
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182
Main telephone numbers:
619 594-5200
Website:
http://www.sdsu.edu
ADMISSIONS OFFICE
Telephone numbers:
619 594-6336
619 594-1250 (fax)
E-mail:
admissions@sdsu.edu
FINANCIAL AID OFFICE
Telephone numbers:
619 594-6323
619 594-4268 (fax)
E-mail:
fao@mail.sdsu.edu
Top
INTERNSHIP
There is a separate page for Internships.
Kindly refer to it for more information.
Top
AIRPORT
PICKUP
Q. How do I arrange for an Airport Pickup?
Answer: The following are some of the OPTIONS
1. Go to the website and fill out the Airport
Pickup Form accurately. To be safe also e-mail the group
at sdsusanskriti@yahoo.com about the flight details. The
group will assign a volunteer to pick you up at the airport
and drop you at your temporary accommodation.
Please note that airport pick-up will be provided only at
the San Diego airport and not LAX
There are a couple of other options which are available.
However we recommend using the first option:
2. The International Student Center also
arranges for Airport pickups. Please e-mail ISC at iscreception@mail.sdsu.edu.
Check for the deadline for submitting an airport pick-up
request on www.sa.sdsu.edu/isc/arrivingSD.html
A taxi to the college area costs about $40 (including the
tip). Cloud 9 Shuttle service to most of the apartments
close to SDSU costs $23. Call 1-877-256-8395 or 1-858-505-4900
or visit the Web site at: www.cloud9shuttle.com
Top
MISCELLANEOUS
Q: How would you rate California State universities in
general in comparison to University of California?
Answer: Every UC is considered as a good school but not
every California state university. State universities do
not have much funding as compared to the UCs which are privately
funded (all industries put their funds in UCs). UCs are
definitely better schools and also more expensive.
Q. How are the courses in Mechanical Engineering?
Answer: The courses are average. It all depends on what
specialization are you looking at. For Design there are
not many options. Materials has some good professors and
research and Thermodynamics has a good variety of courses
on offer too.
For more information or to get in contact with your seniors
you can join mechatsdsu@yahoogroups.com.
Q. Should/Can I buy a good health insurance plan from India
rather than buying it from the University ?
Answer: Yes you can. But, we would not recommend that as
the insurance policy has to follow the specifications laid
down by the university.
You can get more information on this from the following
link, www.sa.sdsu.edu/isc/regulations.htm#wra02
Q. What all things should I bring with me?
Answer: Refer to Things to Bring
page for an exhaustive list of items
Top
|
