3 Weeks To Go!

Time is flying! Lindsey and I have begun making our final arrangements for our move. Unfortunately, we still have not got any housing details from UCI! The Merage Admissions Department have really dropped the ball in this area. I have no idea how they expect foreign students to participate in International Student Orientation during the first week of september, if they do not know where or when they can move in four weeks prior? It is an unfortunate disappointment because up to this point Merage has been stellar. I hate to be critical of my school, but I have created this blog to honestly discuss our experiences - good and bad.

Other news, condo still isn't sold and we have ended our listing with our original realtor. While we look for a new realtor, we are trying to sell it by ourselves with newspaper ads and a quick website (check it out).

I had the movers visit for a more detailed quote. They discovered that the apartment (despite us leaving a lot of furniture behind) is going to cost 25% more than their initial quote. Oh well, I ain't 'U-Haulin' all this stuff across a national border and a continent. Mo' Money, Mo' Money, Mo' Money!

On the topic of money, I settled on my student loan arrangements. A foreigner coming to U.S. will have difficulties getting a private loan from a U.S bank because our good credit rating in our home country is irrelevant to them (Yes, we are going to have to build up a new solid credit rating from scratch in the U.S.). Generally, the only way for a foreigner to get a fair loan in the U.S. is to have a U.S. co-signer (this presents difficulties for the majority of us). Canadians have a few more options, but they have higher rates. Merage recently made an arrangement to offer foreign students access to Sallie Mae loans without a U.S. co-signer, but I think I can get better terms from a loan shark. Therefore, after detailed research I discovered that my student loan options we A) practically give up my first born child for a U.S.-based loan or B) get a loan from a Canadian bank and continually transfer the funds to our new U.S. bank account. In the end it was an easy decision. Anyways, one more issue taken care of. Now, I just need to figure out how to transfer mad amounts of cash into the U.S.

Next big area I need to address is health insurance for Lindsey. Unfortunately, spouses can't be covered under UCI's graduate health plan. I have heard that, generally, school plans are very expensive relative to other, less extensive, plans. Merage had some private health plan options sent to me a while ago. So, I am going to revisit and try to get these arrangements finalized.

Next I will discuss what the school has us doing in the summer.