WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY in ST. LOUIS Olin Business School 2020 Spring
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WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Olin Business School 2020 Spring ZENG ZIMING ECOF YEAR 3 CONTENT Part 1 Monthly Activity Vlog ................................................... 2 Part 2 General Exchange Information .................................... 3 VISA PROCEDURES ................................................................................... 3 ORIENTATION ACTIVITIES ........................................................................ 3 INTERNATIONAL SERVICES & ACTIVITIES ................................................ 3 ACCOMMODATIONS ................................................................................. 3 COURSES REGISTRATION .......................................................................... 3 TEACHING & ASSESSMENT METHODS ...................................................... 3 SPORTS & RECREATION FACILITIES.......................................................... 4 FINANCE & BANKING (INCLUDING CURRENCY / EXPENSES) ..................... 4 SOCIAL CLUBS & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES ..................................... 4 HEALTH & SAFETY .................................................................................. 4 FOOD ....................................................................................................... 4 TRANSPORTATION .................................................................................... 4 CLIMATE .................................................................................................. 4 COMMUNICATION..................................................................................... 5 CAUTIONARY MEASURES ......................................................................... 5 Part 3 Items To Bring ............................................................... 6 Part 4 Useful Links And Contacts ........................................... 6 1 Part 1 Monthly Activity Vlog January I arrived at St. Louis on January 8th which was the beginning of the orientation. WUSTL is not very far away from the airport, so it is very convenient and not very expensive to call an Uber to go to the campus for the first time. The staffs and student helpers of First Year Center will guide you through the orientation and help you get insight into life in WUSTL and St. Louis. Apart from the orientation activities, we also went to the Art Museum and Zoo in St. Louis by ourselves since the workload in the first month was not so intense and you will have plenty of free time to explore this charming city. February After a month of adapting to new life, I started to feel the increasing level of the academic stress in WUSTL. Relatively speaking, they have more assignments and quizzes than UST but as return, the proportion of exams will be smaller. So, it is suggested that you should plan to consolidate and digest the knowledge frequently. March March was such an unforgettable month. With an end of exhausting midterm period, I began my spring break on Mar.7th. I went to Chicago and Orlando. Those days in modern Chicago, fascinating Disneyland and splendid Universal Studio were the best part of my exchange journey. I had also planned a trip to New York City but was finally cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19. After I received the emails of WUSTL regarding the responses to this global catastrophe, I went back to campus and booked tickets back to home. *For April and May, not much information can be provided due to COVID-19 2 Part 2 General Exchange Information Visa Procedures You need to submit series of documents to WUSTL and they will mail the required documents for visa to you. We are using J-1 visa and you need to submit the online application and make an appointment for the interview in the Consulate General of the U.S. in China with all required documents. It takes about 1 week until they can finally get your visa ready. So, remember to get to prepare your visa once you receive all the documents. Orientation Activities WUSTL has series of orientation activities where we exchange students can get to know each other, explore the campus and know better about St. Louis. International Services & Activities The OISS (Office for International Students and Scholars) provides comprehensive assistance for international students from almost all aspects. They often organize interesting gathering and activities to enrich students’ life and explore the city. You may send e-mails or go to their office in DUC Building for help if you meet any difficulty. Accommodations I lived in Lofts which is an off-campus housing offered by school. Rooms are big and the facilities are well-equipped. It has a big supermarket nearby called United Provisions where you can buy all things needed and many products imported from China. Moreover, it is located on Delmar Loop with many excellent restaurants and shops and only takes 15-minute walk to campus. The only shortcoming of Lofts is its higher price than other dormitories or renting houses. But it is really worth its price. Courses Registration Exchange students don’t have the authorization for normal registration and you need to fill out the registration worksheet and send email to your advisor. He/she will help you to register all the courses. During the add/drop period, you will have the opportunity to make changes and you can choose one course (Not from Olin business school) for P/F grades. Teaching & Assessment Methods Classes in WUSTL are quite interactive and many courses require your active participation in class. The professors and AIs (associate instructors) provide vivid and interesting classes and they are really helpful. The assessment 3 methods are different for different courses. But on average, they put more proportion on assignments and participation than UST. Homework can take 40% of overall grades and participation can take 10-15%. Sports & Recreation Facilities There are gyms and track field on campus for students to do sports. WUSTL also provides many interesting sports classes. Finance & Banking (including currency / expenses) Exchange students can open a bank account in Bank of America on campus. And Hong Kong credit cards are also available to use. For cash, you cannot take more than 5000 USD when passing the customs. Including all fees (I lived on campus), I have paid around 9200 USD to WUSTL. Other expenses, such as shopping and travel expenses are various for different people. Social Clubs & Networking Opportunities WUSTL also has orientation day for recruitment of all social clubs. You can go on that day and join the clubs that you are interested in. Health & Safety You will have to buy the insurance plan and pay for Health and Wellness fee and International Medical Plan. Medical Expenses can be quite high in U.S. and remember to bring some common medicines before arriving. Food You need to choose meal plan and buy meal points to purchase in canteens on campus. There are many tasty restaurants on Delmar Loop, Olive Blvd and city center, including milk tea shops, Chinese, Korean, Mexican, American restaurants and so on. Yelp is a useful application where you can find all good restaurants and check their menu (same as OpenRice in Hong Kong). DoorDash, Chowbus, GrubHub and Uber Eats are the most popular food delivery applications in U.S. Transportation There are shuttle buses from dormitories to campus and you can also apply for the free “U-pass” for metro and bus. However, public transportation is NOT very safe and convenient. So, Uber or Lyft will always be the best choice for you if you haven’t had the driver license yet. Climate The climate in St. Louis is a little bit colder than Hong Kong and much more volatile. It can be -5 Degrees Celsius today but 15 Degrees Celsius tomorrow. So, always check the weather report before you go out. 4 Communication You can choose either buy the SIM card on Taobao in advance or register at AT&T or T-Mobile after you arrive in the U.S. Cautionary measures St. Louis is not a very safe city and there are gun robbery cases occasionally. So be aware of your belongings and try not to go out alone at night. If you really feel unsafe or meet any trouble, you can push the emergency buttons along the roads or ask the policemen patrolling the streets for help. 5 Part 3 Items to Bring Passport, Visa, DS-2019, All ID Cards ID Photos, Copies of other important documents Cash, Credit cards Clothes for all weathers (Business suit in case) Mobile Phone, PC, Camera, Charger, Adaptor Stationaries, Calculator Medicine Snacks Part 4 Useful Links and Contacts Visa Application www.ustraveldocs.com WUSTL Current Student https://wustl.edu/current-students/ WUSTL Web STAC https://acadinfo.wustl.edu/WSHome/Generic.aspx?Type=Home&Page=http s://acadinfo.wustl.edu/apps/WebSTACHome/Default.aspx WUSTL Canvas https://wustl.instructure.com WUSTL Housing https://washu.starrezhousing.com/ 6 .