What's my Student ID number? What's my Social Security Number (SSN)?

For American students, their ID is the same as their SSN. For international students like us, since we don't have an SSN when we arrive, we're assigned a student ID number which can be found on the enrollment information page at the admissions website. This number is 6 digits long and typically begins with "999". It is not equivalent to an SSN, but in some cases you can treat it as such. The administration should instructions regarding forms asking for your SSN when you're filling them up during orientation.

SSN's are now only issued if you work here (on campus only!) for tax/credit purposes. Ignore the outdated parts of the old comments below.

Tim 8 Apr 2008

Once you've settled down, you can apply for a real SSN. This will take a month or two to arrive. After that you can go to the Hub to change your student ID to your SSN if you so wish.

<Although you have the option to do so, don't immediately change your Student ID to your SSN once you get it. Ask me if you wanna know why... -Kevin>

Derek adds:

Do look out for the SSN registration session during the international students orientation. also, the student ID numbers have recently been reassigned with the introduction of the new CMU ID card --- all students will now be given new numbers independent of their SSN numbers. (I believe this was done for security reasons --- your SSN number, like your IC number, is a very personal piece of information that can be used fraudulently against you. strangely, many singaporeans do not share a similar view about their IC numbers...)

Should we buy a laptop from Singapore or should we purchase one in the States?

Most people get their laptops back in Singapore. The main reason for this is so you can store some of the stuff you'd like to bring over in the laptop and have access to it once you're in Pittsburgh. Also, you'll probably appreciate having a laptop during the first few weeks of school when you won't have the time to go hunting for a good computer.

Price-wise, you may be able to get cheaper laptops (and computers in general) over here, mainly through online purchases. If you'd rather do that there are always the computer clusters for you to use before you get a system.

Arriving early?? Need to somewhere to temporarily crash at or a guide to go shopping for stuff?? Just ask any of us friendly folks who will be around when you get here. I know I'll most probably be back in Pittsburgh from 15th Aug 04 onwards all the way until school starts, so feel free to ask me if you need any help. Hint: Good food from back home always appreciated :)

Kevin (mkevin@andrew.cmu.edu)

How exactly does the academic system work? How do I graduate?

It's sort of like a role-playing game. You start off picking introductory courses to take. Upon completion of these courses, you will 'unlock' and be eligible to take advanced courses (the proper term here is fulfill the pre-requisites of the advanced courses). Every major outlines a certain set of courses you need to take in order to graduate, so once you've chosen and taken the right courses to fulfill the requirements of that major, you're set.

Double majors should consult their academic advisor in the same department as policies may differ from department to department.

The Undergraduate Catalog, even though it is really thick (big if you are using the online version), will provide sufficient information with regards to what exactly you need to do. For more detailed descriptions, try your department's webpage.

For example: The ECE Academic Guide: http://www.ece.cmu.edu/users/shared/primer/index.php

this response is far from complete. Please help to add further information if possible.