All about Fee Waivers upto $5000, Assistanships @ San Jose State University.

Getting fee waivers ( at least partial) is very rare cases at SJSU. If you have exceptional profile then you might get fee waiver. The following is applicable to every department at SJSU.

Teaching Assistant ( TA) : TA'ship is completely based on your knowledge and teaching skills, you need to be super proactive to get TAship in the first semester of your graduate study. Thing that you might need to do to get TA ship in first semester are :
1. Find out which professor offers which courses.
2. Find out the fields of interest that match your expertise.
3. Drop an email to the professor about your skills and expertise in that particular field/course focusing on what all you have done like projects,thesis,internship during your undergraduate study.
4. Finally meet professor in person by checking the office hours.

Now lets move on to the benefits of being a TA

Benefits of TA'ship:
1. fee waiver upto 2 courses which is approximately $3000 along with the Montly stipend of $354.
2. You will build a Professional Network and links with industry. Because, when you work under a professor, for sure he/she is going to have a tie up with industries all around.
3. Knowledge,Happiness is only when it is shared! so, you will definitely reach to a point where it make u feel happy about yourself being learnt something and shared what you know with the students.

Duties of TA would typically involve teaching.


Student Assistant, Instructional Student Assistant ( SA, ISA) :

This is a hourly basis(  varies from $10.50 to $12 ) job in respective departments. Duties involve grading, proctoring.

Same is the case with Research Assistantship (RA) you will need to work on a project under a professor. and pay varies based on the project your working on and the professor.

read more about from SJSU Website : http://www.sjsu.edu/meteorology/graduates/assistantships/


Here is another post on Working On-Campus,Offcampus :

http://iso-sjsu.blogspot.com/2014/08/getting-on-campus-job-at-san-jose-state.html

Accommodations, Money Transfers and Security

Although this sort of thing is a rare case possibility that I didn't think ever occurred over here, recent events have prompted me to create this post and warn everyone.

Many of us are looking for accommodations and many are offering them. The confirmations have been mostly word-of-mouth and the money transfers mostly fair. But recently, I have heard of a few people who are using marketing tactics to get people in. For example, telling the person seeking accommodation that I have two more waiting and they should confirm soon to make sure the place stays.

Now for a student who is already here, it's easier for them to come to the apartment, look through it and then decide for themselves whether they are gonna go ahead or not. And even so, a buffer of one to two days is normally allowed. All a person needs is a few hours of notice to make the house ready for the new arrival. And the new arrival can then transfer the money after they have moved in.

But what if, the student is very new and searching for an accommodation from far. Like from a cousin's place in San Francisco or from India itself. Now these students need accommodation and since they have no clue what to expect, just finding someone who says "Yes" itself would be a great thing for them.

Yet this warning is for all the students searching for accommodation. DO NOT TRANSFER MONEY TO ANYBODY AT ALL until you have checked the apartment completely. Check the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc., anything and everything possible. Take your time in checking the apartments and only when you are fully satisfied, give them a confirmation. And just to make sure that you are with good people, ask around among friends and seniors.

And the ones giving out accommodation, please keep in mind that most students who are coming to you are fellow Indian students. A lot of them are just coming in for the first time here. They don't really know how things are here. Nor do they know how things could be done. Help them understand what they are getting into and give them enough time. There are enough number of people and vacant apartments for everybody. Telling them to confirm within a day or two is asking a lot from them.

As an illustration, I heard of an incident where three girls were charged nearly $700 each for an apartment in Metro Station. They were told to come on to the Lease also and pay the money from July 15th even though none of them were moving in before the 1st of August. They were given less than a day to confirm and transfer the money without even getting to check out the apartment. When they actually landed, none of them liked the apartment and so they moved out to other places after showing her other replacements. But then, not only did the person decline the replacements, she also declined to return the money. Now this kind of a situation shames the whole Indian student community. It destroys these students perception of life and makes it even harder for them to adjust and settle down so far from home.

So new students and old students, please be very careful about your finances. And do not trust any and everybody just like that. Transfer money to someone when you know for sure about the person. Because once you transfer it, there are very very few ways you can get them back.

Internships and Full time Opportunities : CPT's and OPT's at San Jose State University.

                     There are two ways you can get employed ( Only possible on F- 1 Visa status )  : on campus and Off campus.  On campus job u can do up to 20 hours during spring/fall and up to 40 hours in Summer. number of working hours is the same during off campus work period too which is after 2 semesters of graduate study. you will need to contact International Program Services to do some paper work to get work authorization.  You can do any number of On campus jobs but the total number of working hours should add up to the limit i.e,., 20 hours during spring/fall and 40 hours during Summer semester.  Here is something i would like to share with all of you about off campus Employment  which is made in form of flow chart to make it easy for you to understand. : sorry for my Ms paint flow chart. i hope this serves the purpose .




Curricular Practical Training or CPT is done during your Studies at SJSU. SJSU Allows 3 CPT's , either you can take them for spring/fall/summer semesters. but, you will have a restriction of working hours as mentioned above.  read more about CPT here : http://www.sjsu.edu/isa/employment/curricular_practical_training/

Optional Practical Training or OPT is of two types : Pre Completion and Post Completion of your Masters degree at SJSU to get a work permit even after you graduate. Opt can be given for 17 months.  read more about OPT here : http://www.sjsu.edu/isa/employment/optional_practical_training/

You would have to apply for this atleast 90 days ahead of time from the planned start date of work. Since processing at IPS(international Programs and Services Office in Clark hall 5th floor), & then shipping to the USCIS for approval and waiting for the approval takes about 75 ~90 days. Hence please plan accordingly.

Key suggestion:

1) when you are only left with One course in the last semester, It would be ideal to take Pre-OPT and work fulltime ( if you have an offer letter/ job after your graduation).
2) If you donot have job offer after for Post gradution, then its wise to apply for OPT period directly after Graduation.
3) Good thing about Pre-OPT is that, the un-employment days are not counted towards the total final un-employment days.

Exceptional Case : 

You can Do Off campus Job in extreme cases like  Severe Economic Hardship and is permitted only in cases where there is economic necessity due to unforeseen circumstances. This work authorization is to cover up your expenses along with the school fee. You may not apply for this work permission until you have been in full-time F-1 status for two academic semesters.

I hope this post helps you!

Thank you for taking your time in reading this post.! feel free to share this post with your friends. comment if you have any questions. stay tuned by subscribing to the Blog, lot more posts to come. Have a great days ahead!

How to Get SJSU Email - Newly Admitted Spartans

Hello and very welcome to all the Newly admitted San Jose State University students! GO Spartans!!

i have taken images of the procedure please go through one by one on how you can logon to the Sjsu email and all other sjsu applications like my sjsu, sparta jobs, Canvas etc., All you need is your student id Number with you.

1.  Open My.sjsu.edu and scroll down, you will be able to see the following icon saying : "SJSU email Sign In" . click on it.
                                  
2. once you have clicked on it ,the site redirects you to the login page where you will have to enter ID # ( Student id number ) and the password as below .

3. As you don't have the login password, you will have to create a password through Sjsuone.sjsu.edu open up this link and then u will be able to see the option for setting up a new password to login. which is : https://sjsuone.sjsu.edu/sjsuone/resetpassword/ here is the screenshot of sjsuone :

4. once u set and go back to step one you should be able to login with the new password which you set!! . and here is the shortcut link for the email login of sjsu : mail.sjsu.edu! As simple as mail.google.com :D . Have fun.! All the best to you guy! , once again, Very welcome!

37 Student Clubs and Organizations at SJSU you never heard of !!! With Weblinks! Share it!

Hey everyone., i was exploring the campus once i got here in Spring 2014. here is one i found when i dug  my phone cam today. i hope this help you find the group that matches with your interest.

Check my other post on "Exploring SJSU Campus" . : http://iso-sjsu.blogspot.com/2014/08/exploring-resources-at-san-jose-state.html

Exploring Resources at San Jose State University!

***WELCOME TO ALL ADMITTED STUDENTS of San Jose State University ***

Hello Everyone!! A special Welcome to the Newly Admitted Spartans for Fall 2014 semester :) :) Here are the few things which i wanted to tell you about what you could do with the resources of the campus to shape your career.

Note : You will need the tower card for everything . so make sure you get that asap after reaching here. You can utilize many facilities for FREE.  here is the post on how you could get Tower card which i made earlier in this group : https://www.facebook.com/groups/isosjsu/10152147483491207/

1. YOU WILL GET a MAC,Windows Machine , Ipad ( any one of these ) for FREE UPTO 1week. you can give it on the 7th day and u can take another one!! go to MLK library 4th Floor - Student Services : here is the link to that section on our SJSU Website :) : http://library.sjsu.edu/student-computing-services/student-computing-services-center
This thing helped me alot ! i was able to manage whole semester!!!!!.

2. If you are Passionate in Music, playing piano, you can make real good friends from college of MUSIC at SJSU! you can go anytime you want to practice GRAND Piano. as the music rooms are open untill 10Pm during the semester!!.. Map location : https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+School+of+Music+and+Dance/@37.3351953,-121.8806731,19z/data=!4m7!1m4!3m3!1s0x808fccb8794c2123:0x2ac4b282366dbcf9!2sAquatics+Center,+San+Jos%C3%A9+State+University,+San+Jose,+CA+95112!3b1!3m1!1s0x0:0x65c6c982263779c1

3. If you are a Sports Freak, you will have basket ball , racketball for free in the sports club here are what Sports club at SJSU Have !!
4,500 square foot aerobics room
Two Dance Studios
8 Racquetball Courts
1 Basketball Court ( indoor) ,  Gym ( omg you will love this gym, it contains almost everything !!! )
Cardio Equipment (Ellipticals, Stationary Bikes, Recumbent Bikes, Treadmills, Rowers)
10, 000 square foot Weightroom.
Location : https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sports+Club+Fitness+Center/@37.3349223,-121.8800669,19z/data=!4m7!1m4!3m3!1s0x808fccb8794c2123:0x2ac4b282366dbcf9!2sAquatics+Center,+San+Jos%C3%A9+State+University,+San+Jose,+CA+95112!3b1!3m1!1s0x0:0xdc34605ae7380765

4. You Can go Swimming at the aquatic Center during these timings :) : . check the website link for that : they provide you all the equipment you need for swimming but make sure you don't go with jeans, shorts ( thin ) would be ok. they will allow!. : http://www.union.sjsu.edu/Aquatic_Center/aquatic_center.html
map location : https://www.google.com/maps/place/Aquatics+Center,+San+Jos%C3%A9+State+University,+San+Jose,+CA+95112/@37.3349351,-121.8793722,19z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x808fccb8794c2123:0x2ac4b282366dbcf9

5. You can checkout( take ) Projector, Recording equipment,camers ( HD) , Microphones , Headsets, at Media Services Department in Dudley Moorehead Hall.https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dudley+Moorhead+Hall,+San+Jos%C3%A9+State+University,+San+Jose,+CA+95112/@37.336252,-121.8840009,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x808fccbeb3394b49:0x9713b3a014780dc6 .  ( here is the map location) .

6. You will have big Canteen in Student Union Building and beside aquatic center. Explore the food items :) . . $11 is the entrance fee in the Canteen beside Aquatic center you can eat anything you want :D .

7. checkout Associated students building ( it is established in 1901 )  , Spartan Bookstore, Sparta Shops , New Student Union.

8. You can checkout books required for your courses at martin Luthur King Library. Do it asap as if there won't be many copies of the same book.

9. Study rooms are sooo awesome at SJSU!! You can go anytime you want. you can book room online : https://library.sjsu.edu/reserve-studymeeting-room/reserve-studymeeting-room

10. Most important thing is , every SJSU Student will get 150 pages FREE Printout / Semester . you can logon to your departmentla Labs with your Student ID and your Last Name as your password( first letter Capital).

 I hope this post helps !! :) :) :) Take care and Happy journey guys ! :) Very welcome to everyone! :)

ON-Campus Jobs at SJSU

With the experience of not having an on-campus job for a semester :D ..
I wanted to share my job search experience with all of you. I hope this helps you all in some way! :)

I started my MS in SJSU in Spring 2014. I came to the US on December 27th 2013. Since then I have been applying online but it was of no use until April 9th. That's when I got my first call. That day I was called for an interview. And I joined that job on June 1st.

BEST PRACTICE:

GO to every single department on campus and tell them that you have joined so and so semester and you can work upto 20 hours. Just prepare a normal resume and take 30-40 printouts and distribute them in every department. And then wait for the call. If u only rely on sparta jobs it won't be of any use : sites h can look f0r jobs :

Sparta shops
Student Union
Associated students
San jose library
Sparta jobs.
spartan book store.
Departmental websites.

I hope this helps many.