International Students
Student Visa
The UC Davis Office of International Students and Scholars (SISS) issues your Form I-20 (needed to apply for an F-1 visa) or Form DS-2019 (for a J-1 visa).These forms can be issued only after you have confirmed your enrollment and documented that you have sufficient financial resources for the full cost of your study at UC Davis (tuition, fees, and living expenses).If your spouse or children accompany you to Davis you must document additional resources to support them.
The forms for documenting your financial resources must be submitted to the Graduate School of Management with affidavits certifying the amount and availability of funds in U. S. dollars. UC Davis issues your Form I-20 or DS-2019 only after we receive these materials. Once we have received all required documents, we notify SISS to issue your document. It may take several weeks to several months to obtain a visa after you receive the Form I-20 or DS-2019, so it is critical that you submit the required documents early (ideally by June 1) and be sure that they are complete and accurate.
If you have any questions concerning your visa, contact SISS at 530-752-0864 or at siss@ucdavis.edu.
For other questions, contact Admissions at mba.applicant@gsm.ucdavis.edu or mpac.admissions@gsm.ucdavis.edu, or 530-752-7658.
Before your Form I-20 or DS-2019 can be issued, you must complete and return:
- Enrollment Reply Form
- Enrollment Deposit
- Financial Statement for Students
- Affidavits and letters
International Student Orientation Session
Dates for MBA and MPAc Orientation still TBD. The session will cover some of the specific issues that you may encounter as part of your UC Davis GSM experience.
Peer Advice – Things to consider before you begin the UC Davis MBA or MPAc Program:
Arrival in the U.S.
- If you have not arranged housing, you should plan to arrive in Davis by mid-August to give yourself time to find appropriate housing.
- Allow sufficient time to arrive in Davis, take care of the many details involved in securing and furnishing an apartment and allow sufficient time to get settled and to study for your waiver exams if you plan to take them.
Arriving from airport
- Getting to Davis from Sacramento is much easier (and faster) as compared to San Francisco (SF). The Sacramento airport is approximately a 30 minute drive to Davis. Therefore, if there is little difference in cost, always choose Sacramento for convenience.
- Seriously consider renting a car at the airport for a few days. Alamo (in Sacramento airport) offers attractive rent prices ($25-$40 a day) if one books a car online (www.alamo.com). One must be aware of insurance (make sure it is included). The car would be very handy when settling in Davis (looking for place to rent, shopping, etc.). Public transportation is not ideal in Davis (and even worse during summer break) and a car.
- Another option is to take a bus from Sacramento Airport (http://yolobus.com/routes/index.php/42B). The bus does not accept cards so you must have cash on hand.
- Arriving from San Francisco is more difficult and can take several hours. http://daviswiki.org/San_Francisco_International_Airport.
- In addition, one can use the shuttle service from both airports (http://www.davisairporter.com/).
Transportation Around Town
- Bicycle is the main form of transport in and around Davis.
- There are also local Unitrans and Yolobus buses that operate
on various schedules. Unitrans: http://www.unitrans.ucdavis.edu/index.cfm
Yolobus: http://www.yolobus.com/ - Zipcar service (www.zipcar.com). Using this service you will enable to rent a car for a few hours or a full day or weekend. There are many Zipcar cars around Davis. It is a very convenient service if you don’t want to own a car but want to be able take it for a few hours (e.g. drive to IKEA). If you plan to use this service, you must get a certificate from your country’s highway patrol or your insurance company with your accident/claims history. This document should be in English and it would be easier to get it prior to leaving your country.
Housing
- It is possible to find housing after coming to UC Davis. Don’t panic if you don’t have an apartment prior to coming to Davis. Just make sure to arrive a week or more in advance. It may require staying in a hotel for a few days until you can find and lease housing.
- Roommates: Contact other incoming students who are looking for an apartment – there are online groups that might assist you in making these contacts: http://groups.google.com/group/uc-davis-daytime-mba?pli=1 or the LinkedIn MPAc Class of 2013 group
- Ask if there are students who are leaving for an exchange program and would like to sub-lease you their place.
- Look for housing on (http://sacramento.craigslist.org/). Be aware that it would be extremely difficult to rent a place without meeting in person. You should focus on the apartments that are sub-leased by current tenants (e.g. someone leaving for half a year) as sometimes they are more flexible.
Cost of housing
- One can rent a decent room in a house or apartment within 15-20 minutes biking distance for $400 – $600. Bigger rooms (or places closer to downtown) typically cost more. Studios start from $850 – $1,200. It is sometimes possible to rent a furnished room which is a convenient option.
Living expenses
- A general rule of thumb is that the cost of living (food, utilities, and entertainment) will be approximately $500 – $1000 in addition to your rent. One can get a simple meal for $6 – $10. To go out for a beer or glass of wine you would expect to pay approximately $5 each.
General Information about Davis
Key things to do after arriving at Davis:
- Find a place to live.
- Purchase a mobile phone with a U.S. phone number. Provide new numbers to the Graduate School of Management.
- Secure utilities such as gas and electricity.
- Buy a used bicycle (http://sacramento.craigslist.org/) or you can also buy a new bike at one of the many bike stores in town. You will also want to purchase a heavy duty bike lock to help prevent theft.
- Purchase home goods. There is IKEA in the West Sacramento (20 min drive). You can also purchase some home goods at Ace Hardware and Target in Davis.
- General shopping (such as clothing, etc.) there are several nearby malls and shopping centers: (http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=50) in Vacaville which is a 20 min drive south or Arden Fair Mall http://www.ardenfair.com/About and Sacramento Downtown Plaza http://sacdowntownplaza.com/ which are both about 20 min drive east in Sacramento .
- Open a bank account.
- Visit DMV (http://daviswiki.org/Department_of_Motor_Vehicles) for California’s ID card or Driver’s license.
Have additional questions? Please contact Jordan Dade (MBA Program Manager) at jwdade@ucdavis.edu, or Daria Costello (MPAc Program Manager) at dlcostello@ucdavis.edu.
