It's only 5½ months till I start at Columbia.  The first program is the international orientation program, which commences in mid August.  That should orient me enough to get by in New York and live the Columbia student life.  Till then, there's much to do.

It's only 5½ months till I start at Columbia.  The first program is the international orientation program, which commences in mid August.  That should orient me enough to get by in New York and live the Columbia student life.  Till then, there's much to do.  My current list consists of:

To their credit, the University has provided quite a few resources to answer many questions, from the International Student's Office, who have been really helpful when I asked specific visa questions.  Also, a group of students are maintaining "Virtual Peer Advisor".  This is a wiki (similar to Wikipedia) that contains a bounty of useful information.  Lastly, they've also set up the "Hermes Society", which is a group of students who can provide advice to incoming students.  I've just started to communicate with my contact, but I hope it should come out useful.

So, it feels that it will be quite a full 22 weeks.  One of the things I noted was the core courses in first semester.  There are possibilities to exempt out of subjects if you can pass an exam which is held during the first or second week.  I've already short-listed 2 subjects which I believe I should be able to receive an exemption for.  So, during this period, looks like I'll need to start reviewing my knowledge of those subjects (starting school early!).

Thus starts my journey to New York...

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