Distance from Bus Routes. Security Deposit. $ 200 per person. 1 month rent. 1 month s rent. 1 month s rent. $ miles UCB, Tom s Creek

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1 Dear New ABS Hokies Congratulations on your admission to the Virginia Tech. The Association for Bangladeshi Students (ABS) at Virginia Tech is providing this document to help you better prepare for travel and settling down in the initial period here in Blacksburg. The information provided here are mere suggestions from our experience. We hope this document will be helpful to you all. This document comes with an explicit disclaimer: this is not a comprehensive list and the ABS Board is not responsible for the completeness of the information provided here. If you have any question, please consult official documents from authorized sources. 1. Accommodation arrangement: Those who are looking for accommodation arrangements, The ABS Board is here to help. Here you will find a list (list does not include all the apartment communities) of apartment communities available in Blacksburg. When choosing the apartment community that suits you best, one should consider, proximity to the campus, Bus routes available for the community, proximity to the grocery store and shopping mall, apartment maintenance service, and surrounding environment. Please let us know if you have any question or need help with accommodation arrangement. Apartment Community Foxridge Terrace View Chasewood Downs Shawnee Sturbridge Square Approx. Rent (utilities not included) $ $ $ BR: $ $ $ $ $ $ Security Deposit $ 200 per person 1 month Distance from Bus Routes Campus 2.9 miles Hethwood A and Hethwood B 1.8 miles UCB, Progress street, Tom s 1.8 miles UCB, Progress street, Tom s 1.9 miles UCB, Tom s $ miles UCB, Tom s Nearest Grocery Stores Food lion 0.1 miles 0.9 miles 0.6 miles 0.5 miles 0.1 miles

2 University Place Lantern Ridge Cascade Pointe Ridgewood Village The Edge 3BR: $850 2BR: $ 565 $875 $ $ $ $750-$850 /bed room 1.3 miles UCB, Tom s 3 miles Main Street South 2.8 miles Main Street South 2.9 miles Main Street South 0.2 miles Tom s, UCB 0.3 miles (South Main) 1.0 miles (South Main) 0.8 miles (South Main) 0.9 miles 1.5 miles 2. Medical History and Immunization All incoming students must submit a completed Immunization History Form and TB Risk Assessment Form. If these forms are not turned in, a medical hold will be placed on your schedule that will prevent you from registering for Spring Semester classes. This hold will not be removed until Schiffert Health Center receives your forms. Both the forms are included in the document below: As this is an official requirement, ABS cannot take responsibility for the completeness of this information. Please go through the form in the link carefully and do the necessary. We would strongly encourage you all to complete the required immunization and tests while you are in Bangladesh. If you are to do these tests here, you have to pay it out of your pocket even if you have medical insurance. The ICDDRB offers a package for US travelers for all the required immunization and tests. 3. Journey to Blacksburg 3.1. Air Transport The closest airport is the Roanoke Regional Airport ( Most of us use Dulles International Airport ( as the port of entry and then take

3 a connecting flight to Roanoke airport. You could use any other airports as port of entry. Those of you who are coming to US for the first time, we would suggest that you make arrangements such that you land at Roanoke airport. It is only 40 minutes (driving distance) from Blacksburg Immigration documents It is very important that you keep all the immigration papers with you while traveling. It is recommended to keep all the papers in a separate folder in your backpack, which can be accessed whenever necessary. The immigration paper you need to keep with you are: i. Passport with VISA ii. I20 iii. Offer letter from VT iv. GTA/GRA/GA contract v. Address where you will be staying Please note that if you have any question please consult U.S. Customs and Border Protection website here: Airport to Blacksburg From Roanoke airport, you can take Smart Way Bus to Blacksburg. Please see the schedule of Smart Way bus here: This bus runs from Monday through Saturday (last bus starts at 8:35 pm from Roanoke airport, no service on Sunday). It will cost you $4 (For the safety of everyone aboard, operators do not carry change. Therefore, cash fares require exact change. That means you won t get $1 back if you give $5). If anyone lands at Dulles International Airport, which is approx. 5 hours driving distance from Blacksburg, you can take Megabus ( The Megabus starts from Union station. You can take a taxi (very expensive), Bus+Metro, or super shuttle ( to go to the Union station. The closest Megabus stop near us is at Christiansburg which is 15 minutes drive from Blacksburg. Most of you will have 2 luggages, but Megabus allows one luggage per ticket. So you need to buy a second ticket for the 2 nd luggage. Please let us know if you need help in this regard. 4. Things to bring from Bangladesh 4.1. Winter clothes We understand it is summer time now in Bangladesh, and it might be difficult to find winter clothes, but it is one of the most essential things that would help you get through your first winter in Blacksburg. Also try get clothes which are not heavy or too long (it will be difficult to move freely with heavy clothes. You want to have multiple layers of

4 clothes to beat the cold). Suggested places to buy: Mostafa mart (Bashundhara City mall), Bango bazaar, Opposite to Dhaka College, Westecs etc. i. Heavy winter Jackets (preferably down jackets, make sure it is not long, with hoodie, waterproof) ii. Spring jacket A lighter jacket that you would wear in Bangladesh winter iii. Sweater lighter ones, so that you can layer them up iv. Hoodie v. Thermal (Inner/tights)

5 vi. Others: Gloves (leather), Muffler, beanie/monkey cap, socks (for winter) etc Other clothes: i. Trousers: Jeans (you will be wearing this most), Cargo pants, formal pants, Track pants, shorts ii. T-shirt: Polo shirts, regular Tees, Bangladesh jersey iii. Shirts: Formal and casual shirts (you don t get to wear it very often) iv. Rain coat/ Rain jacket v. Sleeping clothes vi. Traditional clothes: The only time you get to wear them are during dawaats, religious festivals, and Bangladeshi national event celebrations (try to get some in red and green). a. Men: Panjabi, Fotua b. Women: Salwar kameez, Fotua, Sharee (Limited) 4.3. Shoes: i. Sneakers ii. Sandal shoes iii. Snow boots: Not available in Dhaka, you can buy it from Wal- Mart, cost $25-30.

6 4.4. Utilities: i. Towel ii. Bed sheets iii. Kantha iv. Shaving gears v. Belts, card holder (for debit/credit cards, IDs) vi. Umbrella vii. Socks for summer and winter viii. Bodna 4.5. Baggage: i. Back pack ii. Hand luggage Please, see size instructions of your airline iii. luggage Please, see size instructions of your airline 5. Move in to your apartment Before you arrive at Blacksburg make sure that someone from the Apartment Complex office will be there to hand you over the keys to your apartment. Please contact your apartment office and finalize with them the key pickup. You may want to request your host member (we will assign a host member for you who will help you to settle down for first few days) to help you with moving into your apartment.

7 6. Reporting to GLC ( This is the first thing to do after you come to Blacksburg. You have to go to the Graduate Life Center (GLC) and report that you have arrived. You have to sign in by showing your I-20 and get a printed copy of I-94 from them. Take all your immigration documents with you when you go there. 7. Reporting to the Department Please contact with your department office and inform them that you are here. You have sign some paper works at your department. Ask them if you have any question about the orientation program. Try to make an appointment with your professor as early as possible. 8. Reporting to Schiffert health center ( You need to report to the health center and submit the completed medical history report. 9. Student Services ( You need to visit the Student Services building to get your Hokie Passport (VT ID). You have to complete registration for the semester before you get the Hokie Passport. You can also get the health insurance from the Student Services Building. You will get instructions about health insurance at the orientation program. 10. Blacksburg Transit (Bus service) ( Before you get a car, BT buses will be your means of transport. We have a wonderful bus service here at Blacksburg. Most of the apartment communities where Bangladeshi students live are on the bus routes. You can ride the bus free if you have a Hokie Passport. Without the Hokie Passport, you need to pay 50 cents each time you get on the bus. Here is the BT bus stop sign. 11. Grocery, Shopping, Restaurants, Movie theater Grocery Store ( Restaurants ( 6, ,16490m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1) Movie Theater ( ,13z)

8 11.4. Shopping Mall 4516, ,13z/data=!3m1!4b1 ) 12. Maps and Locations for the VT Campus Use the interactive campus map to locate the building you are looking for. 13. Heads up: Money is your best friend Those of you who are coming with a GRA/GTA contract, this is a little heads up for you. Please be prepared that the take home amount is significantly less than what is stated in the contract letter. You have to pay taxes and university fees (known as Bursar fee). Most of the Bangladeshi students can claim a tax treaty which makes the first $8000 of you income tax-exempted. But without the tax treaty, you will pay approx. $300 (per month) of tax out of your GRA/GTA. You will pay another approx. $300 per month for the Bursar bill. This is one of the biggest surprises for the newcomers. So be prepared and budget your GRA/GTA accordingly. Also right after you come to Blacksburg, you will need money to buy the initial household staffs. Please make sure you have the kick-off money available. We tried to cover all the important aspects of Moving to Blacksburg in this document. We sincerely hope that this information helps you to easily settle down and adjust to the life in Blacksburg so that you can concentrate to the most important thing for which you are so far away from home: your degree. This document does not cover everything. If you have any question, please let us know. We will try to update this document as we address your questions. Congratulations once again and we eagerly wait to welcome you all to our community. Please feel free to contact us if you need help with anything. The ABS Board is here to help. Regards -The ABS Board Farin Siddiquee,Treasurer Tonmoy Roy, General Secretary Rubayet Elahi, President (Originally documented by: The ABS Board , edited version: The ABS Board )