Student Corner
Your First Week in America: The 21-Point Student Checklist
7 min read · Updated July 12, 2026
Seven days, twenty-one jobs. Every item below is something international student offices tell every incoming class — do them in week one and everything after gets easier.
Days 1–2: make yourself official (7 items)
1. Report to your international student office — this check-in activates your SEVIS record and is mandatory, not a formality.
2. Download your I-94 from the official CBP site; confirm it shows F-1 and 'D/S'. Report any error to your DSO immediately.
3. Get your student ID card — it unlocks the library, gym, transit discounts and building access.
4. Get a US phone number working (see our SIM guide) and share it with family and your DSO.
5. Save emergency numbers: 911 for all emergencies, campus police, your DSO, and the nearest Indian consulate for your region.
6. Photograph and cloud-save every document you carried, plus your dorm/apartment condition at move-in.
7. Learn your official university email — immigration, tuition and class notices go there, and only there.
Days 3–5: money and health (7 items)
8. Open a bank account — most banks near campuses accept passport + I-20 + university letter before an SSN exists.
9. Set up the university payment plan or confirm your tuition installment cleared.
10. Enroll in — or formally waive with proof of equivalent coverage — the university health plan before the deadline.
11. Locate the campus health center, the nearest urgent care and the nearest pharmacy; save their hours.
12. If you'll work on campus, start the job search now and ask the international office about SSN application timing.
13. Buy renter's insurance if you're off-campus — it is cheap and often required by leases.
14. Get a transit card or campus shuttle schedule; figure out your grocery route.
Days 6–7: set up your semester (7 items)
15. Attend orientation sessions — especially the CPT/OPT and 'maintaining status' ones; the rules you learn there prevent the mistakes in our first-year guide.
16. Finalize your course registration and confirm it meets the full-time credit requirement.
17. Meet your academic advisor and note the add/drop deadline.
18. Join your Indian students association and one non-Indian club — the first finds you a community, the second builds your American network.
19. Find your grocery baseline: nearest Indian store and nearest supermarket; note what's genuinely cheaper where.
20. Walk your neighborhood in daylight; learn which areas to avoid at night — ask seniors, not the internet.
21. Call home properly — not a rushed text. The first week matters to them more than to you.