Joining a grad program at CU Boulder. Indian passport, F-1, August intake. Notes as I go.
Before the flight
Housing in parallel: on-campus application and off-campus search (Facebook groups, Craigslist, FB Marketplace, friends-of-friends). On-campus is cheaper at CU; raffle system. Notion sheet to track every conversation. Start early. The pool shrinks.
The students already in Boulder are connected before any of us arrive. Cohort meetups in Mumbai, Bangalore. I missed this, I was living far away from these cities. Joined the WhatsApp group two weeks before my flight after another admit pointed me to it. Lesson: don't wait to be added.
Amex US accepted my application from India a few days before flight (they used my Indian Amex history); the card arrived a few days after I landed. A friend used Zolve. I used Niyo (this was before Niyo went through its many pivots). Either route bridges Indian credit history to a US card.
Mint Mobile eSIM bought online, installed dormant on the phone.
Apartment locked in → called the utility companies and scheduled electricity + internet turn-on for the week I arrive. Otherwise the appointment is a week out and the room is dark.
Visa, SEVIS, I-20, immunizations, forex, refundable flight, Insurance + BuffCare, packing. The rest is checklist work. I over-prepare the perks: PriorityPass, the JFK T8 → T5 transfer mapped in advance. Mostly excitement looking for an outlet. I'd do it again.
Landing
Weekend. Housing office closed. The plan to pick up keys does not materialize. I crash with someone from the WhatsApp group I joined two weeks ago. He picks me up from the airport. This is the entire point of the WhatsApp group.
eSIM activates on landing. Phone works.
First week
The checklist is long. Doing it all on day one is not possible. Jet lag is real. Five appointments in a row and I'll fall asleep in the fourth. Prioritize ruthlessly.
Credit history shows up everywhere: apartment deposits, phone plans, gym signups, car rentals. Not a wall, a friction tax. There's always a workaround. The thing I did not expect: sometimes the specific apartment I want is just off the table. Smaller pool, that's all.
What I wish I'd known before walking through the door: be a little gentler with myself. Family is suddenly a long flight away. Environment is new. Food is different. The social currency is different. The list is fine to over-prepare. The execution needs space.
Friends are the unlock. Everyone arriving is in the same bucket. Go mingle.