IGSA @ UIC

Campus Information

UIC Location
UIC is located on the west side of the loop in downtown Chicago. It's a beautiful place to live and study. Just look up on the east side to look at the Sears Tower for some motivation. Its a very urban locale with lots of shops and quite a bunch of things to do for entertainment. If you want to know more, you can check out the article City Life in Chicago Life - A Users Guide for Students.

Fee
Tuition fees in UIC vary depending on the number of credit hours you take. Typically a graduate course would have 4/5 credit hours. International students must register for 8+ (if you are a 50% RA/TA/GA) or 12+ credit hours (if you are not working / working on hourly basis / have less than 50% assistantship).
Learn more about Tuition and Fees.

Credit Hours
Credit hour usually means the number of hours you get for attending a particular class. In UIC grad students take 400 and 500 level courses only, for only these are counted towards your degree. Suppose if your department says you need 36 credit hours to graduate it means that you have to do 36/4 = 9 courses to achieve this. In UIC both 400 and 500 level courses carry 4 credit hours. People don’t take 100/200/300 level courses at grad level because they are not counted towards your degree, unless you have been asked to take that as a prerequisite. Refer to your particular department about this.

Differential Fee Amount
This is something very important. Most of the departments in UIC with an exception of a few Liberal Arts departments charge a differential fee. Differential Fee is the amount that you have to pay even if you have received a tuition waiver. This fee includes insurance + tuition differential + administrative charges + lab fee + U-pass fee. In a typical scene for an engineering student differential amount will be $1600 per semester, MIS/MBA around $4000 per semester. The tuition differential amount varies greatly among different colleges. So please look at either the graduate college website or contact your respective department for more information. With regards to insurance a company called Campus Care provides it. However if you plan to take some other insurance you can opt out of it to save about $360 from this differential amount, but insurance coverage is mandatory and you must prove to the college that you have some form of insurance.

USA Currency Information
All dollar bills have the same size and color. Denominations are 1,5,10,20,50 and 100.
Also note:
1 Penny = 1 cent = 1/100 dollar
1 dime = 10 cents = 1/10 dollar
1 Nickel = 5 cents = 1/20 dollar
1 quarter = 25 cents = 1/4 dollar
Please be careful to check the denomination of the dollar bills while using them.

Climate at Chicago
The temperature range in Chicago is usually around +40C to -30C. Don't get afraid immediately of Chicago's cold winter. You usually stay indoors i.e. home, bus, red car, lab, class, work place, shopping mall, grocery store, etc. You'll hardly be out in the cold, say just to walk from the bus stop to your house, etc. It's easily manageable, so don't worry about this.

Also, the temperature drops gradually from Aug. to Dec, and your body easily adjusts. All of us are comfortable here even though most of us have never lived in sub-zero temperature ranges. Get a little warm clothing like a pullover or a wind cheater or a sweater. You can buy an actual winter jacket later after you get here. And, if you don't really have a fetish for wearing leather jackets avoid them, water and leather do not go well together .

Security
Chicago is known for a high crime rate, lots of killings etc... But at the same time it generally wouldn't affect you as a student. There are a few places in the cities where you should never venture. Typically, you will never in your lifetime need to go there. The university provides good security features like red car, campus shuttle and there is a separate UIC police. So dont really get panicky about stories you might have heard about chicago, mafia, Al Capone and stuff like that. Its pretty safe by most standards.

Campus shuttle
This is a bus service, which takes you to different buildings in and around campus, and you'll use this during most of the time. It runs from 7:00 in the morning to 12:30 at night and is free for the UIC students and faculty.

Red Car Service
This is a van which is run by UIC Police from 11pm to 6am. This van could be called by phone and they have free service from most campus locations to our houses. This is very safe and almost all students use this at night.

Campus police
They are on rounds 24 hrs a day.

The rest of the life is similar to what you have seen in India. Never leave a bag unattended, don't take anything from strangers, don't carry too much cash(actually you will never have to.... welcome to the word of plastic cards), etc... especially in the airport when you arrive. Do not trust any strangers. Somebody will be there to pick you up, so don't wander out.

In short you don't have to worry. We have been here for a year and find it safe enough. Also, if your parents are reading this, tell them not to worry about this. All students are safe here. Also, you'll be told about this during your new student's orientation.

For more information, point your browser to the UIC campus life section.

Related Links
Tution
Weather in Chicago
Campus Life