Namaskar,
Congratulations on being accepted for higher studies at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. We warmly welcome you to join our community and build powerful future with us. Committed to create a bright future, for yourself, set to make your dream a reality, you must be excited, anxious and frankly speaking, a bit nervous too. We all were before we came here. This letter should help address some of your and your family's concerns.
Lowell occupies a significant place in the history of the US. It is where the industrial revolution started in the US. The once busy and prosperous textile mills have now been converted into offices or preserved as historical monuments. Situated in the northeastern part of the state of Massachusetts, being in the midst of what is called the New England states, it is characterized by its typically unpredictable weather. Temperatures range from -20 deg. C in chilly winter conditions up to 35 deg. C on a hot summer day. It rains almost throughout the year, in the form of intermittent mild showers. By Indian standards, the climate is cold for almost 8 months in a year. The University of Massachusetts of Lowell is one of the five units of the UMASS system. With some organizational changes in the UMASS System, and the reduced allocation of funds to education in recent state, budgets, the number of assistantships available to students has decreased in the past few years. Thus, it could be advisable for any international students to be prepared to bear his/ her expenses for the first year at school. While most good graduate students find support in the form of a funded research project (full or partial semester support) in the second year, it varies greatly with the department. Besides, assistantships, there are a number of on-campus jobs available and open to international students at places like the bookstore, police, cafeteria, laboratories and campus facilities. But the competition for those is immense. The pay varies from $6.75 to $12.00 per hour depending upon the nature of job. The rewards would however, require the essence of people's skills, communication, dignity of labor, and hardworking potential, which are the ways of professional life in the US.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
You MUST plan your arrival on the weekends to ensure help from ISA for your pick up from the airport.
Let us know about your arrival with all information, i.e. flight no, name of the airline, time and date on which you are arriving at least 2-3 weeks in advance on the email addresses on the back to ensure ease & certainty for you pick-up.
If you have any questions about anything, please email us at [email protected] or refer to http://www.geocities.com/isalowell.
Please try to make it at least 2 weeks earlier before the start of the class for taking care of your accommodation, completing some official work at university, getting an on-campus job etc. The whole idea is to have you feel comfortable before the start co of the class.
Get all the official documents and at least 2-3 true copies of each of them as they might be required any time.
Contact your friends (if any) of ISA members for your temporary stay well in advance before you arrive.