Things To Do When You Get To Pittsburgh

[Sundus 12]

There are many things you may want to take care of when you reach Pittsburgh. Most of this list can be translated for other cities as well.
 

·      Get an SSN (you can't get paid without it and you need it for bills)

·      Get a state ID (its easy to get and then you don't need to carry your passport around) and driver's license

·      Enroll for gas and electricity (check with landlord about service provider or google it)

o   Ask to get a budget plan for equitable gas:https://www.equitablegas.com/faqs/default.aspx?f=bus: This allows you to pay an equal amount every day. If you're an international student, you may be required to pay a security deposit initially as you don't have prior credit history.

·      Get a secure credit card (particularly if you want to stay in the US, you want to build a credit history)

 

 

 

For discounts and other perks:

·      Get a CVS card (medical store and basic grocery)

·      Get a Giant Eagle card (grocery)

·      Get an Amazon STUDENT Prime Account. Not the regular prime. STUDENT prime. Use your .edu email address for this.

o   This is important because Amazon has really cheap things (it has everything!) and you need a Prime account to get FREE shipping, along with FREE streaming of various shows and movies.

o   With your .edu account (e.g. CMU) you get 6 months of Prime membership for free.

o   Once you enroll, remember to go to Manage Prime Membership and switch off automatic renewal of membership. Else, you might forget and get charged once the 6 month period expires.

o   One person can also use it twice because we have an andrew.cmu.edu account and a cmu.edu account. I'll tell you how to make the latter below.

·      Get a groupon account for deals on everyday things as well as getaways

·      Woot.com is another great website for deals. Especially for the tech savvy.
 

CMU

 

Get on the CMU list serv

o   Subscribe to the CMU Misc market for up to date info on the latest sales (furniture etc), and housing offers

o   Log onto andrew mail

o   Go to folders

o   Subscribe to "cmu.misc". This should include cmu.misc.job, cmu.misc.apartments etc.

 

 

Create @cmu.edu address

•  http://www.cmu.edu/computing/new-user/graduate/before/email.html

Using the above link, you can also find directions to forward andrew mails to a gmail account. It's SO much easier to use than the andrew interface.