Incoming Students

Fall 2024 Admits - Join our WhatsApp group!

〰️

Fall 2024 Admits - Join our WhatsApp group! 〰️

Here is a link for the document.

Basic Overview

Congratulations once again on your admit to the University of Pennsylvania! We are really excited to have you here. There are some things that you would need to prepare before you arrive in Philadelphia. This is by no means an exhaustive list of items, nor are these lists mandatory. This is just a basic framework of the things you might need to get/do before you come here. This is based on our experiences and information provided by our seniors. 

Some of your trusty sources and contacts that you might need are:

  1. International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS)

  2. Your Program Coordinator

  3. Student Health Services

  4. And of course, Rangoli!

PennKey

PennKey is important to get access to all resources at Penn. You will receive two emails from Penn after the successful payment of your acceptance fee (if your program requires it). They will contain PennKey Setup Code, an 8 digit PennID and a 9 digit identifier (if you do not have an SSN). Then go to the PennKey website and create your PennKey. Remember that you CANNOT change your PennKey once created (unless it satisfies one of the listed criteria) so think before you create your PennKey. 

Immunisation

It is important that you have completed all your immunizations prior to coming to the United States. The Immunisation requirements are updated every year and will be available at the Student Health Services website. Some of the immunizations required are: (As on Jan 2022)

  • Hepatitis B - 3 Doses (Doses 1 and 2 must be administered at least 4 weeks apart. Dose 3 should be at least 6 months after the 1st dose and 8 weeks after the 2nd dose) If you cannot complete the third dose in India, it is fine. You can get it done here later during the fall semester; you just need to specify when it is due in the doctor's letter.

  • MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) - 2 Dose series (4 weeks apart)

  • TDaP (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) - 1 time dose

  • Varicella (Chicken Pox) - 2 Dose series, or history of illness & Positive titre test

  • Meningococcal - 1 Dose series 

  • Influenza - Required for last year’s dose. Will be offered by the University in October

  • Covid-19 - WHO approved vaccine series. Booster doses wherever applicable and/or offered.

You can take these vaccines or get a positive titre test for the above vaccines (except Covid-19, Influenza). 

  • Tuberculosis - Test required prior to coming. IGRA blood test (lab report of Quantiferon-TB Gold or TSpot-TB within 6 months of entrance to Penn) will ONLY be accepted. You would be required to fill the TB screening form in the SHS portal ( http://shs.upenn.edu ) using your PennKey.

Most people in India will be detected with the TB pathogen at low levels. As long as your report clearly states that any detected levels are not within the reference range, you are good. STRONGLY SUGGEST you request the diagnostic centre to include the exact detected value to avoid confusion.

If the report is DETECTED, you might require a chest X-ray and a doctor's letter to support it.

The best thing to do would be to request the diagnostic centre to include the quantitative results in the report. If there is a need to do the X-ray, best get it done in India as there will be issues with Insurance here unless you opt for Penn's Insurance plan-PSIP.

You would be required to get the form in the SHS website to be filled and signed by your doctor and then uploaded to the SHS portal. 

Finances 

It is important that you carry some money before coming to the US. US Immigration rules  state that you can carry a maximum of USD 10,000 without any declaration to the customs officer. You can carry cash and/or use a Forex card. Some of the places where you could get are:

  • Ebixcash

  • Book My Forex

  • Most Nationalised and Private banks offer it, but only at specialised branches only.

Once you arrive in Philly, you would need a bank account for basically everything. Some of the banks that people go to open an account with:

One of the two banks affiliated with Penn, PNC is conveniently located at 40th street so close to campus. No opening charges for student accounts. When you open you get two checking accounts and one savings account. You get one incoming wire transfer free of charge per month (This is SWIFT transfer which you do from India). After that you are charged 15 USD per transfer. There is no minimum balance required. 

  • Chase

You need to book an appointment in order to open a bank account. Book in advance as the demand would be very high in August/September. You can book here.

  • SFCU - Many complaints of poor customer service

  • Bank of America

  • Zolve

You can open a Zolve bank account from India and load money into it. You can request for a debit as well as a credit card which would be delivered to your US address.

Visa

As soon as you obtain your I-20 (or if you get your SEVIS ID before you get your physical or electronic I-20), apply for a F-1 Visa appointment as soon as possible, as this is the time a lot of students would be applying for the same and the wait times will increase. You will have to fill out the DS-160 application and pay the I-901 fee (USD 350). 

Refer to this document for a checklist of documents required for the visa interview. 

Health Insurance

Health Insurance is an important aspect of being in the US, and is a requirement before starting studies at Penn. Penn Student Insurance Plan (PSIP) is the plan offered by Penn to all their students and is the most comprehensive one for Penn students. The cost for PSIP for the 2022-23 academic year is $4,023. For PhD students, this is paid for by the department. 

Penn has two pre-approved insurance companies for international students: PSI Service and ISO. Their plans are cheaper compared to PSIP. You can choose any of the plans provided by these two companies. This document, which was created in 2021, provides a basic comparison of the different plans so you can choose the plan best suited to your needs and budget. After purchasing, you would have to fill out the PSIP Waiver form before August 31st, otherwise you would be charged for the insurance.

It is suggested that you choose an insurance plan in the US as it satisfies all the necessary requirements of Penn as well as it makes the claim process easier, compared to a foreign insurance. But if you would like to get insurance from your country, please contact Wellness at Penn.

Accommodation

Penn has limited options for On-Campus housing for graduate students. One of which is the Accolade on Chestnut street (between 36th and 37th Street). There are plenty of off-campus apartments and houses that many students currently live in. Some of the apartments at West Philly are:

Some options east of Schuylkill river:

Packing List