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Student Admissions &
Orientation, & Faculty Info:
Graduate Admissions
Welcome Letter 2011/2012
Dear Graduate International Student:
Congratulations on your acceptance to Tufts University! We, at the
International Center, would like to welcome you and offer you our
assistance while you attend Tufts. Our office advises international
students, faculty and scholars, coordinates international activities on
campus, and handles immigration issues.
Please carefully read the following procedure which explains how to
obtain a student visa and I-20 or DS2019 form.
A. Send to the
Office of Graduate Studies:
- Your deposit
- A written confirmation of your intention to attend Tufts
B. Send to the International Center
-
International Student Information Form,
completed and signed.
- Copies of your (and your dependents, if applicable) passport
identification page.
- Financial Documentation
- Original financial documentation proving your ability to finance your
tuition, living expenses and health insurance (in U.S. dollars) for the
duration of your program. The documentation must be issued within 3
months of the date we receive the documents from you. *Faxes,
photocopies, and Email attachments are NOT acceptable. If you have a
spouse and/or children accompanying you to the U.S. as your dependents,
please be sure to provide original financial documentation proving the
ability to support them for at least one calendar year.
- An Affidavit of Support which documents financial support for you for
one
calendar year and which further guarantees sponsorship for the duration
of your program, if you will be fully or partially funded by anyone
other than yourself or Tufts University.
- A copy of a Tufts scholarship letter (a print out of an online
letter is acceptable) offering you a Teaching Assistantship or
Research Assistantship or tuition scholarship. If you have not
received the letter and can't print out the online one, please
indicate your scholarship type (tuition, TA or RA) and the amount
on the International Student Information Form. Do NOT request the
Office of Graduate Studies to forward a copy to us.
- Please refer to the "Estimate of Expenses" and
"How to
Determine Amount of Funding" pages for detailed amounts.
Note:
Students can work part-time (not to exceed 20 hours per week) on
campus but students receiving Research or Teaching Assistantships are
only permitted to work a maximum of 5 hours beyond their RA or TA.
Although part-time on-campus work is allowed, these jobs are limited.
Please keep in mind that the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services
severely limits off-campus work for students, and does not allow it at
all within the first academic year. You must check with the
International Center before considering off-campus employment. We expect
that the funding source(s) you are certifying to us will be available to
you and that you will not need financial assistance upon arrival at
Tufts. Total estimated start-up figures will range from $2,000 to
$3,000.
- Tufts University
International Student Transfer Form (if applicable)
If you are currently attending a school in the U.S., or recently
graduated or you are on OPT, your current school will need to release
your record in the SEVIS electronic tracking system to Tufts. First, you
must fill out the top portion of the
Tufts University International
Student Transfer Form. Second,
forward the form to an international student advisor at your
current/previous school so that your record transfer will occur.
Be sure you have sent ALL of the above-requested items to the
appropriate offices.
TOURIST VISA
Do NOT enter the U.S. in B-1, B-2, WB or WT
Tourist Visa Status. It is
not possible for you to change your tourist visa status to the required
student status once you are in the U.S. You will not be permitted to
register at Tufts University on tourist visa status.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (VERY IMPORTANT!)
- To help speed up the process, it is very important for you to mail us
complete paperwork including financial documentation. We will not be
able to process visa documents without complete paperwork.
- After receiving ALL of the above-listed items from section B, the
International Center will process your visa documents (I-20 Form or
DS-2019 Form). We are unable to start processing visa
documents earlier than late May.
- We process the visa documents in order of receiving the complete
documents. Due to the large number of I-20 requests, you may need to
wait for a month or longer.
- PLEASE MAKE YOUR VISA APPOINTMENT AFTER YOU RECEIVE YOUR I-20
because
we can't guarantee you that you will obtain your visa document by a
specific date. We will NOT prioritize anyone simply because you have a
visa appointment. Please be aware that you may be charged a fee for
canceling or changing the visa appointment date by the U.S. embassy and
the I-Center will not be responsible for the fee.
- Due to large number of cases we will be working on during the summer,
we will be under a very tight schedule. In order to focus our resources
on processing and shipping out documents for you and everyone else,
please refrain from calling and/or emailing us repeatedly in order to
obtain I-20 by certain date or to receive our replies. We deeply
appreciate your patience and understanding.
HEALTH INSURANCE REQUIREMENT / Tufts Health Services
In compliance with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Tufts University
does not accept international insurance plans nor will it accept
alternate US health insurance plans for international students.
It is therefore critical that you plan ahead so that the health fees can
be covered. A cost for the health insurance plan is $1,773 for the year of 2011/2012.
There is an additional, separate cost for the Health Service Fee of
$668. Both fees are mandatory. Both fees are required to be paid in
advance of the start of classes in September. We are forewarning you of
this so that you can plan and budget accordingly. If you have any
questions, contact Ms. Mary Daley: mary.daley@tufts.edu or Ms. Susan
Keating: susan.keating@tufts.edu at the
Tufts Health Services. You can
also reach them by phone: 617 627-3350 or fax: 617 627-3592.
*** The International Center is unable to answer questions about health
insurance and/or immunizations. ***
SUMMER ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING
For those students entering Tufts in the fall who would like to improve
their English skills, we recommend English language training, which is
offered at Tufts during the summer. For further information, please
contact the Tufts English Language Programs.
They can also be reached by telephone at 617-627-3568, by fax at
617-627-3856 or via email at ESL@tufts.edu. Please let us know if you
will attend the Tufts English Program.
We will send more comprehensive information on the visa application
process and the process for paying the SEVIS Fee along with your
immigration document. You will also receive arrival orientation material
at that time. Before you arrive at Tufts, you will receive several
mailings. Therefore, it is very important that you notify the
International Center, the Office of Graduate Studies and departmental
contact (if you have any) of change of address, email or telephone
number.
We look forward to meeting you! If you should have any questions, please
contact the International Center at +1 (617) 627-3458, by fax at
+1 (617) 627-6076, or via email at
internationalcenter@tufts.edu.
So that we can answer your questions quickly and accurately,
on all inquiries to the International Center please clearly give:
1. your full name; 2. degree; and 3. the program to which you were admitted.
Sincerely yours,
Jane Etish-Andrews, Director
Jodi Hanelt, Assistant Director
Naoko Kotoge, International Student & Scholar Advisor
Hannah Mumma, International Student & Scholar Advisor
Lois Hutchings, Office Coordinator
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