MSE Graduate Student Council

The official graduate student organization for MSE

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New Students

This section includes information on:
– Moving
– Housing
– Residency
– Research Groups

Housing Groups

These Facebook communities might be helpful in finding roommates or housing:

In addition, these websites may also be useful:

Cost & Neighborhoods & Timeline

All of the graphs were found on the Graduate Assembly – Housing Guide

Guide Graphic - Housing

Guide Graphic - Map

Guide Graphic - Distance

Guide_Graphics

Residency

This information was found on the CBE GSAC & Cal website. More information on residency for tuition purposes can be found here.

If you are not a California resident, you must apply to be one before the beginning of your second year to avoid paying nonresident tuition.

To become a resident, you must show that you have been in the state for at least a year and that you plan on making California your permanent home. To ensure that you have proper documents to prove this, you should do the following things:

  • Keep all documents confirming your arrival in California: plane tickets, gas receipts, lease contract, etc…
  • Apply for a CA license as soon as you can – schedule a meeting with the DMV.
  • Register to vote in California, and vote in the next election. You will get a mail confirmation, take a photo of this and save the card.
  • Change your permanent address to California with the post office, your bank, credit card companies, etc. That way your statements and bills will reflect your new address.
  • If you open a California bank account, save your opening statement and the closing statement of your old account. Otherwise save the first statement that shows your new California address.

In June you will need to submit these documents to the registrar’s office (along with tax forms and documents confirming your employment with the department).

Research Group

If you have been admitted to the department without a research group, you should schedule meetings with various professors and try to establish a group by October of the first semester. Take time to meet with all the professors you are interested in to make sure it is a right fit. Multiple meetings might be needed!