Before you arrive

When to arrive ?

One of the most asked questions regards the latest sensible arrival date because lots of students take exams until right before the leave for Atlanta. The fix point to start from is the academic calendar of GaTech. Classes start somewhere in the middle of August. In the week before, there are some orientation events which you should attend. Generall orientation is hold on Tuesday by the Office of International Education. On Wednesday and Thursday, there is the GradExpo which is especially important for students having a GTA (Graduate Teaching Assistantship) or GRA (Graduate Research Assistantship) - other student spend there only a short time. On Thursday and Friday, there are orientation sessions by the different colleges: The time required ranges from a few hours (ISyE) to two full days (CoC). Please check the actual schedule at GradAdmissions and your individual college because we can only provide a rule of thumb.

The above mentioned amount of time is fixed. Depending on your individual situation you should arrive more or less in advance. A good starting point for your individual estimation is the weekend (better Saturday than Sunday) right before the week with all the orientation sessions. This is valid if you have already a room to live in, if you don´t have to get los of furniture, if you don´t want to get a car right in the beginning, if don´t want to make some sightseeing before classes start and if you have two days orientation by your college.

• If you don´t have a room to live in, you probably stay the first days at a hostel or hotel and you have to look for a room or appartment. Remember that your mobility is limited wihtout a car or a bike and, therefore, you will spend a lot of time walking. Depending on your demands you should plan between one and four days for searching.
• If you have a room which is not equipped with furniture (bed, desk, shelf, lamps, chairs, etc), you should allow yourself at least a whole day to get the big items. Time for getting small ones is included in the estimate above. (By the way, you´ll love IKEA and craigslist after the first days).
• To get a car right in the beginning, is reasonable because possibilites increase sharply with the mobility of a car and recommendable because you will be very busy in the first weeks due to you studies. Allow yourself at least 2 days for searching, buying and insuring the car. You need another whole day if you want to get the Georgia driver´s license (see other section). Title and license plates don´t need much time and can only be done after several days. If you get worried, you are not forced to get car. There are even several PhD students lifing here for years without a car.
• You probably won´t have the leisure time to do lots of sightseeing in the first term. That is why, you might do some before classes start or hope to be able after classes.
• Consider that all shops are also open at Sundays in America.
• Pay attention to your earliest arrival date because contracts in Homepark start normally at August 1st. If you have On-Campus-Housing, you can´t move in before Monday a week before classes start (that is the day right before general orientation by OIE).
• One last point: It is much more conveniant to get things like Check-In at OIE, Check-In with Faculty Advisor, opening an bank account, getting a BuzzCard, etc done in the week before orientation week because then there are much less students out there which have the same plans. Don´t get scared, it is possible to do all this in the orientation week although you have will have to wait in queue.

What you might want to pack

• Power bar with multiple outlets and power plug adapter from your home country to the US power plug because you need it right from day 1 to power your notebook, cell phone, digital camera, toothbrush etc. You don´t want to search for a power bar or adapter for yor home country´s outlets here in the US on your first day.
• Fill the wholes in your luggage with some packs of tissues, the ones here are pretty thin.
• If you love squared paper, you might bring some with you. Squared paper is very uncommin in the US. Attention: Remember the different paper formats (US brief)!
• If you plan to get a member of ZipCar (see setion "Car"), get your "record of driver´s history" in your home country - it´s much easier.
• Maybe a wheat beer glass (for the German wheat beear lovers: Paulaner and Franziskaner is available in Atlanta :) )
• You'll probably take two big pieces of luggage with you on the plane as checked-in luggage. It is very likely that you will have more stuff on your way back home (cheap clothes, souvenirs, books, study material,..). Therefore, most people use a carry-on suitcase - either brought from home or bought here in the US. This is possible because most airlines allow one carry-on suitcase AND a laptop bag/backpack. Even better, some of the airlines allow up to 18kg for your carry-on suitcase.
• Do I need to bring a (women's-)suit? You won't need one except for the following occasions: picture for the Yearbook (voluntary, taken in the fall term before the year it is published!), fairs and interviews for internships & jobs. All these occasions are optional. At the official graduation ceremony you'll wear special academic clothes available in the US.