I just found out that I have been chosen to be a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship recipient. ^___^
Yayayay. Well, this blog is supposed to be a part of my project, so expect a lot more updates from here on out!
Jenn
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
For Your Information
It has been quite a while since I last blogged! I guess I didn't really do much that pertained to studying abroad. I felt like it was too early to do anything, but it's only four months away now!
My spring quarter at UCR has gone by very quickly. Week 5 / midterms week is already over. :) Five more weeks until summer! Actually, that's really nothing to be happy about. I'm going to be taking summer school because I want to finish a few more upper division courses before I head to Hong Kong.
Anyway, let me give you a quick update.
I applied to study abroad through the UC Education Abroad Program at CUHK in February. There hasn't been any real updates since then. I had some pre-departure things to take care of in March, but that was the last thing that actually had a due date on it.
The next thing that I have to turn in is the UCEAP Health Clearance Form. CUHK also requires a health form of their own, so do be mindful of that. The first thing that I had to do was make an appointment for the Travel Clinic at UCR Campus Center. When you pick up your EAP Selection Letter, you will receive a Confidential Health History Form that you must fill out prior to seeing the nurse at the Travel Clinic (I almost forgot about it). Also, make sure you bring your immunization record. For about an hour, you're just going to sit there and listen to the nurse talk about diseases, dirty water, etc. You might even get a little paranoid about traveling after the consultation, but I'm sure you'll eventually get over it. :)
Apparently, I have to take three shots and take some sort of medicine. All of that amounts to about... $250. I do have private insurance, so I don't really know if the prices would be different if you have USHIP (UCR insurance). I did check with my doctor back home to see if it might be cheaper getting it done there, but nope... no luck. :( I have to pay at least $300. Insurance doesn't cover any of it. Ugh! Oh yeah, the consultation is $25. You're going to have to go back a few times until you're completely done with the UCEAP health stuff, so you're probably going to have to pay for those follow-ups. I'll keep you posted. The paycheck that I received just a few days ago is going to go towards funding all these darn immunization vaccines. -__-
According to an email from a UCEAP advisor, CUHK applicants are going to have to wait until June to receive an official acceptance packet that contains housing and visa information. You're going to have about a week to turn in everything, so you might want to do some early preparations. Here's the link to a website with the important forms that you're going to have to fill out.
It would be a good idea to take some 2 x 2 inches passport/visa photos right now. I took mine last week.. I paid about $18 for four photos, which is EXTREMELY overpriced. Anyway, I realized that I would probably need more than four photos. I'm not about to go pay for more, so I did it my own way. :)
You can take your own photo at home, but make sure you meet all the photo requirements. I already had some photos, so I just scanned that. I proceeded to upload it to http://www.123passportphoto.com/. That website will help you generate a 4 x 6 inches image that contains 6 of your visa photos. From there, you can either print your own at home on glossy paper or get it printed at CVS, Target, etc. I found glossy photo paper lying around, so I just did it at home. The quality was good enough. My face turned a little more orange compared to the original photo, but I think I'll be okay. After I cut all the pictures, I realized that each individual photo was slightly bigger than 2 x 2 inches. It was more like... 2 1/16 x 2 1/16 inches. I now have 12 more visa photos.
CUHK applicants... you're going to need at least six photos. One for your Hong Kong visa application, one for the CUHK health history form, and four photos... just because they want it. The photo you send in will most likely be your CUHK ID picture! Take a look at the CUHK IASP Checklist for more information. FYI, IASP stands for International Asian Studies Programme, which is the program that UCEAP applicants are admitted to in CUHK.
I plan to apply for a multiple entry visa for China, so that'll require one photo as well. That is something that you apply for in America. You would go to your nearest Chinese Consulate and fill out some paperwork. After you turn that in, you should be able to pick up visa stuff within a week. It will cost you $140.
Oh my goodness. I did not expect to spend this much money on pre-departure things! I still need to buy my plane ticket!!
Well, that's all for now. As you can see the title of this entry is "For Your Information".. I hope you find this helpful! :) This will probably be some sort of a series, so look out for part two! :D
Jenn
My spring quarter at UCR has gone by very quickly. Week 5 / midterms week is already over. :) Five more weeks until summer! Actually, that's really nothing to be happy about. I'm going to be taking summer school because I want to finish a few more upper division courses before I head to Hong Kong.
Anyway, let me give you a quick update.
I applied to study abroad through the UC Education Abroad Program at CUHK in February. There hasn't been any real updates since then. I had some pre-departure things to take care of in March, but that was the last thing that actually had a due date on it.
The next thing that I have to turn in is the UCEAP Health Clearance Form. CUHK also requires a health form of their own, so do be mindful of that. The first thing that I had to do was make an appointment for the Travel Clinic at UCR Campus Center. When you pick up your EAP Selection Letter, you will receive a Confidential Health History Form that you must fill out prior to seeing the nurse at the Travel Clinic (I almost forgot about it). Also, make sure you bring your immunization record. For about an hour, you're just going to sit there and listen to the nurse talk about diseases, dirty water, etc. You might even get a little paranoid about traveling after the consultation, but I'm sure you'll eventually get over it. :)
Apparently, I have to take three shots and take some sort of medicine. All of that amounts to about... $250. I do have private insurance, so I don't really know if the prices would be different if you have USHIP (UCR insurance). I did check with my doctor back home to see if it might be cheaper getting it done there, but nope... no luck. :( I have to pay at least $300. Insurance doesn't cover any of it. Ugh! Oh yeah, the consultation is $25. You're going to have to go back a few times until you're completely done with the UCEAP health stuff, so you're probably going to have to pay for those follow-ups. I'll keep you posted. The paycheck that I received just a few days ago is going to go towards funding all these darn immunization vaccines. -__-
According to an email from a UCEAP advisor, CUHK applicants are going to have to wait until June to receive an official acceptance packet that contains housing and visa information. You're going to have about a week to turn in everything, so you might want to do some early preparations. Here's the link to a website with the important forms that you're going to have to fill out.
It would be a good idea to take some 2 x 2 inches passport/visa photos right now. I took mine last week.. I paid about $18 for four photos, which is EXTREMELY overpriced. Anyway, I realized that I would probably need more than four photos. I'm not about to go pay for more, so I did it my own way. :)
You can take your own photo at home, but make sure you meet all the photo requirements. I already had some photos, so I just scanned that. I proceeded to upload it to http://www.123passportphoto.com/. That website will help you generate a 4 x 6 inches image that contains 6 of your visa photos. From there, you can either print your own at home on glossy paper or get it printed at CVS, Target, etc. I found glossy photo paper lying around, so I just did it at home. The quality was good enough. My face turned a little more orange compared to the original photo, but I think I'll be okay. After I cut all the pictures, I realized that each individual photo was slightly bigger than 2 x 2 inches. It was more like... 2 1/16 x 2 1/16 inches. I now have 12 more visa photos.
CUHK applicants... you're going to need at least six photos. One for your Hong Kong visa application, one for the CUHK health history form, and four photos... just because they want it. The photo you send in will most likely be your CUHK ID picture! Take a look at the CUHK IASP Checklist for more information. FYI, IASP stands for International Asian Studies Programme, which is the program that UCEAP applicants are admitted to in CUHK.
I plan to apply for a multiple entry visa for China, so that'll require one photo as well. That is something that you apply for in America. You would go to your nearest Chinese Consulate and fill out some paperwork. After you turn that in, you should be able to pick up visa stuff within a week. It will cost you $140.
Oh my goodness. I did not expect to spend this much money on pre-departure things! I still need to buy my plane ticket!!
Well, that's all for now. As you can see the title of this entry is "For Your Information".. I hope you find this helpful! :) This will probably be some sort of a series, so look out for part two! :D
Jenn
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