International Office, FTW?!?

[UK Tom]

Hey everyone,

So after accepting an offer it took my institution 5 weeks to send me the information packet and declination of an RA position. This was after several emails and phone calls to find out what was going on. So far, so lousy. The actual information packet had absolutely no useful information for an international student. My institution and the universty's international office have been very incommunicative and not very forthcoming with practical informaiton on visas, on campus employment or the cost of tuition. The latter is a real peave as it makes planning for the next two years when the only information available is x amount an hour for y hours of tuition.

American friends have agreed that the various webpages I have been directed to are unhelpful and a labrynth to navigate.

Has anyone else had any issues with their international office? There seems to me to be a distinct lack of appreciation that international students face a serious challenge in navigating a foreign academic culture, often solely through emails and the occasional phonecall.

[fromeurope]

Has anyone else had any issues with their international office? There seems to me to be a distinct lack of appreciation that international students face a serious challenge in navigating a foreign academic culture, often solely through emails and the occasional phonecall.

All I can say is that Rutgers have been amazing in helping me out in every respect, be it in quickly answering my inquiries or simpply just providing proper information and documentation from the very beginning. I imagine that without this support, it would have been nightmarish to sort out the visa and other such stuff. There's like a week-long international orientation program too, before the term starts.

So, I realize that this does not help you. But I just had to respond since I'm so happy with the way I've been treated so far. I also realize that your post is a month old.