Welcome to Mississippi State University!
 
Dear incoming fellow Chinese Students and Scholars,

The Association of Chinese Students and Scholars wishes you a pleasant and prosperous journey in Starkville, Mississippi during your staying here with us. While you are feeling excited about coming to pursue your advanced education, we would like to give you some advice and suggestions on how to start your new life here. You are encouraged to consult more details about the life in Starkville from your senior students after you arrived.

New scholars and students of 2008 Fall semester, please feel free to contact our president Mao, An [am557@msstate.edu] and director of living affairs Wang, Jianan [jw779@msstate.edu] for airport pickup and apartment renting help!
Here are the things you need to know:
Before You Leave China

The weather in Starkville is pretty good: it's not very cold here in the winter (the average low temperature is around - 2 o C). Therefore, you don't need to bring too many heavy winter clothes. We suggest you to bring some kitchen utensils, couple bedding sheets, and a quilt. Mosquito net is not used here. Most household items can be purchased in Starkville with a reasonable price, so you don't need to bring everything from China.

Most of us will gain some weight after a year or so, because of lack of exercises due to heavy load of research and course work. We suggest you not to bring too many clothes, especially not to buy too many new clothes, it will only waste your money if you can not wear them after a while. Good quality (name brand) new clothes are not expensive in the United States.
Airport Pick-up

After you obtained your student visa, you need to book airline tickets as soon as possible. We suggest you to arrive in Starkville two weeks before classes begin, so that you will have plenty of time to settle down and prepare for school. The closest airport to the university is Golden Triangle Regional Airport (GTR airport) in Columbus, Mississippi. This airport is 15 miles East of Starkville. Northwest Airlines and Delta Airlines have flights from Memphis, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia flown into GTR airport. There are some other airports within 3 hours' driving from Starkville, but ACSS can not guarantee your pickup if you choose those airports as your destination airport, because most Chinese students' personal vehicles are not reliable enough for long distance trips. However, you may take Greyhound bus from those airports to Starkville. Travelling with Greyhound bus is cheap, safe, and convenient. The only disadvantage is that it takes more time on the road because it stops at almost every small town along the way.

Caution on Airport Pick-up for newcomers from China

Since May 2003, Northwest Airline stopped service to GTR airport. If you can get the ticket whose destination is GTR airport(maybe it is expensive), just go ahead. Otherwise, there are mainly two airports to choose: Memphis International Airport (Memphis, TN) which needs 2 and half hours' driving, and Tupelo Regional Airport (Tupelo, MS), which needs 1 hours' driving. For all newcomers, if you decide to come to MSU during normal enrollment time(just before the beginning of Spring Senester and Fall semester), we suggest you communicate with each other in China after you get Visa, and book the tickets together, then send email to acss-l@lists.msstate.edu. Please indicate you arriving time, the number of person in your group. We will arrange the students to pick you up.

Once you have booked your airline tickets, you need to contact ACSS by sending email to acss-l@lists.msstate.edu, and the ACSS committee will arrange for your airport pickup and housing. Usually the driver will send you to a temporary housing facility we booked for new students, then take you to do some grocery shopping for your first several days. In common condition, you have to pay the gas fee for picking up. The expense depends on which airport your destination is.

Housing

There are some apartments to choose when you come here, on-campus or off-campus. The advantages for living on-campus for first-year new students are, there are telephone, central air-conditioning, cable for television, bed, chair, desk, closet available in your room. And you will have kitchen and laundry room shared with other students, and it's close to your department building. Besides, you have more chances to speak English with other students. The disadvantage would be the higher price than living off-campus. If you decide to live on-campus, you need to sign a rent lease with some deposit. The monthly rent is about $500 for Fall 2005.

However, if for some reason you do not have time to apply for on-campus housing or not prefer living in the dorm, there are some off-campus apartments available. Some of them are very close to campus (10 minutes' walking distance) You may share one apartment with other students to save money. Those apartments are not funrished, you need to open your own electricity account and telephone line, get your own bed, and other furnituare. The average monthly rent for one person is around $450 for those apartments.

Here are the information on the apartments (uncomplete rents):

Chadwich Place
Address:1120 E. Lee Blvd.
Telephone: not available(NA)
Rent: $500 for a whole 2-Bedroom, 2-Bathroom apartment
Not furnished inside. Two-story buildings
About 15 minutes' walking to campus.

Canterbury Townhouses
Address: 990 Old Mayhew Road
Telephone: NA
Rent: $(???) for a whole 3-Bedroom, 3-Bathroom apartment. Cable included.
Not furnished inside. Two-story buildings.
About 15 minutes' bicycle riding to campus.

College Park
Address: 110 Lincoln Green Street
Telephone: NA
Rent: $(???) for a whole 4-Bedroom, 2-Bathroom apartment. Water and cable included.
$(???) for a whole 2-Bedroom, 1-Bathroom apartment. Water and cable included.
Furnished with bed, desk, chairs, dinning table, coffee table, and sofa. Also with full-size washer/dryer.
Close to Jitney Jungle grocery store, about 20 minutes' bicycle riding to campus.
Three-story buildings.

University Commons
Address: 1000 Campus View Drive
Telephone: NA
Rent: $(???) for a whole 4-Bedroom, 2-Bathroom apartment. Water and cable included.
$(???) for 2-Bedroom, 1-Bathroom. Water and cable included.
Furnished with bed, desk, chairs, dinning table, coffee table, and sofa. Also with full-size washer/dryer.
Close to campus. 10 minutes' walking to campus.
Three-story buildings.

Apartments on Spring Street
Address: 300 Spring Street
Telephone: NA
Rent: $(???) for a whole 2-Bedroom, 1-Bathroom apartment. Water included.
About 25 minutes' bicycle riding to campus.
Not furnished inside. Two-story buildings.



After You Arrived

After you settle down, we will have somebody help you open a bank account at one of the local banks. Usually everybody has a checking account, it's very convenient for you to manage your money.

Before school begins, you may check out our state-of-the-art recreational center - Joe Frank Sanderson Center. Most Chinese students will go there during the weekends to do their favorite exercises: basketball, table-tennis, swimming, badminton, volleyball, racket ball, strength training, aerobics, wall-climbing, etc. There are also several good quailty hard-court tennis courts available for MSU students to use. All of the above is open to you free of charge. Besides, we have an international soccer team playing at Friday and Saturday afternoon at old Intromural Field(behind International Student Office). You are welcome to join us, making the little World Cup! :-)


Shopping and Transportation

There are three major grocery stores in Starkville. Usually we do grocery shopping once a week during the weekend days. New students can take the MSU suttle bus to go shopping on Saturday mornings (there will be no shuttle bus service during holidays and summer terms) , or you may ask other Chinese students to give you a ride when they are going. The average monthly cost on food is around $150, depending on your life style. There is also a small Chinese grocery store in town. You may find your favorite Chinese food there.

There is no public transportation in Starkville. If you live off-campus, you can either walk or ride a bicycle to go to school, before you purchase a vehicle. Buying a vehicle and obtaining a driver's license are relatively easy in the United States. Chinese students usually buy cars with a price range from $1000 to $5000. In order to drive, you need to pass a written test on traffic rules to get a learner's permit. You may practise driving with a learner's permit and a licensed driver sitting in your vehicle. You can take the road test after you obtained your learner's permit. After you pass the road test, you will be issued a driver's license. We also want to remind you that in order to obtain your driver's license, you will need to provide your birth certificate.

We want to remind you that safety always comes first. Before you purchase a vehicle, please be very careful when riding a bicycle or walking on campus, watch carefully for passing vehicles when you cross the streets. Do not go to do grocery shopping by bicycle, it's very dangerous to ride a bicycle off-campus. After you purchase a vehicle, do not drive without a driver's license, do not drive without purchasing car insurance. Automobile insurance is mandatory in the State of Mississippi. The cost of car insurance is relatively cheap in Starkville. It will cost about $450 a year if you are single and under 25 years of age. It will be much cheaper if you are over 25 and married. We strongly recommend you to purchase car insurance right after you get your driver's license. It is the law.Talk to your friends who have more driving experience whenever you have a chance, you will learn more driving skills this way. Please drive safely and defensively.
TA Workshop, Orientation, and Registration

Each year in August there is a "TA Workshop" held by the university for every new international teaching assistant. There is an oral exam at the end of the 5-day workshop. If you are offered a TA position, you need to pass this exam. We encourage every newcomer to attend this workshop, no matter you are a TA or not. You will learn a great deal of English and American culture there. The workshop is free and open to every new student.

After the International TA Workshop, there is another 2-day general TA workshop for all the new teaching assistants. Then you need to attend a one-day new student Orientation. It's another workshop held by the university to give you a brief introduction to this country and this school. This workshop is offered at the beginning of every semester (Spring, Summer, and Fall).

Registration dates for new students are always the Thursday and Friday before the first day of class on Monday. You need to discuss with your advisor about which courses to take, then get his/her signature on the registration form you obtain from the registration office in Allen Hall, then you may register for courses using a telephone or register from the MSU web site. You will also get your MSU student ID made in Allen Hall during the registration.

After you have registered for courses, you need to pay some fees to the university. It is estimated that you will need to pay about $1000 at the beginning of each semester for mandatory student health insurance, student activities fees and other fees. If you have been offered assistantship, you will get your first paycheck at least 30 days after school starts, so we suggest you to bring at least $2500 cash to cover for the first 2 months' expenses.
newcontact
Email service is free to every MSU student. You may apply for an account from the MSU ITS web site after you become a registered MSU student. You may log on to your account from any campus public computers or telnet from off-campus computers. After you have obtained an email account, you may subscribe to our Association's mailing list (acss-l@lists.msstate.edu) by sending email to acss-l@lists.msstate.edu. Please state clearly in your message for your
  • Last Name,
  • First Name,
  • Gender,
  • Local Phone Number,
  • Preferred Email Address,
  • Department at MSU, and
  • Hometown in China.

We will also add your information on the ACSS Web Page. If you need to email every ACSS member, please send the message to acss-l@lists.msstate.edu. This mailing list is moderated by ACSS, if the message is inappropriate, it will not be forwarded to everybody. Sometimes there will be a delay for your message to be forwarded, depending on the moderator's schedule, but it will not be more than 24 hours.


We hope this little guide will help to make your life a little easier when you first arrive in Starkville. Please feel free to contact any of the current ACSS committee members if you have any questions or concerns. Good luck and we hope you will enjoy your new life here.
 
Association of Chinese Students and Scholars(ACSS)
Mississippi State University

Last updated on October 13, 2007 by Tao