Settling into Grad Student Life at Stanford (August 2014)

I've received quite a few helpful tips as I settled into life at Stanford... I thought I would take a few minutes to write some of them down, in case they may be of use to "future generations". Note that this information is accurate as of August 2014!

Checking-in Early - I arrived a couple of days earlier than the designated check-in date. I wrote in to housing, and they were kind enough to let me check-in a day earlier... In general, I've found the housing staff to be quite helpful and friendly. So if there's anything you need from them, I would say to not hesitate to ask (nicely).

Arrival at the Airport - Take the supershuttle. The cheapest option (shared mini-van) is fine. Stanford discount available here. You shouldn't have to wait more than 20 minutes. The shuttle is parked on the 3rd floor at a curb across the road. If in doubt, just ask the information center, they'd know.

Dorm Essentials - Online shopping ftw.
Google Shopping Express provides one-day delivery for pretty much everything you need. Currently, they only service Bay Area (including Stanford), SF, LA, and Manhattan. The way this works is that when they receive you order, they'll hop onto an environmentally friendly Toyota Prius, go to the respective stores (e.g., Target, Walmart), pick up the stuff, and drop it at your place, *on the same day*. In other words, you can check into your housing residence in the morning, find out your mailing address (housing won't release your mailing address before you check in), and have pillows and sheets shipped to you by 9pm. How cool is that! If you sign up now, you get 6-month trial membership that includes free delivery. Note that this service is currently in beta-testing stage... I really hope it won't go the way of Google Reader (i.e. discontinued)

There's of course also Amazon Student, which lets you get Amazon Prime free for 6-months. The service is pretty similar to Google Shopping Express, except it's next day delivery. In general though, I think you are more likely to find esoteric items on amazon then google express.

Soap.com (and sister sites): 3 months of free next-day shipping on all household items you could possibly need. Likely to be cheaper than Google Express

Craigslist - Doesn't require an introduction

SUpost - Craigslist in the Stanford area. Useful for dorm-essentials, bikes and cars.

Food!
Online shopping ftw again. Amazon Fresh Food provides same day delivery of meat and produce. DashFood delivers from restaurants, including one Singaporean Restaurant!

Transportation 
Car Rentals: ZipCar

BikeShop: I bought my bike at the Campus Bike Shop at Tresidder Union. It was a little pricey, but it was the most convenient option.... Plus, the SUID Card office is on the second floor of Tresidder Union, so I managed to do both things at once on the first day of arrival.

International Students Loan Closet
If you are an international student, be sure to check out the international students loan closet. They loan out a lot of household items, for as long as you are on campus, for a nominal registration fee of $10. Look at what I got!

The loan closet is in the basement of Abrams, EV. But you'll have to make an appointment first at the I-Center.

How to get to the DMV by public transport
If you do not have a US license, you'll need to schedule an appointment with the DMV to take a written test, as well as a behind-the-wheel driving test. The international center has pretty good information on this, so I won't repeat it here.

If you have a US license, but from another state, you will not have to take the behind-the-wheel driving test, but you do need to take the written test. Making an appointment will save you quite a bit of time, but appointments fill up ~3weeks in advance, so you'll have to plan ahead. I didn't make an appointment, went to the DMV when it opened and there was already a line outside o.O. Though I was in-and-out of there in 2 hours, so it isn't too bad really. Make sure you have all your documents (I-20, I-94, passport and out-of-state license) when you are there!

There are two DMVs near Stanford - Redwood City & Santa Clara. Both are really easy to drive to... but Redwood City is more convenient via public transport. For Redwood City, take the Caltrain (from Palo Alto or California Avenue), alight at the Redwood City Station and walk 12 minutes to the DMV.

For Santa Clara, you can take bus 22 from El Camino.

Musings
1. Most things can be accomplished online. There seems to be no need to head out to shopping centers anymore. I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

2. Paradox of choice - with so many options, I feel compelled to look up all of them and find the best buy, which is incredibly difficult with different packaging, sizes, quality etc. I also feel obliged to read the reviews, and people can have such different opinions. Ugh, I hope this doesn't mean I spend all the time saved from going shopping in front of the computer.

Acknowledgments
A lot of the above information came from Erika Weisz, who has been immensely helpful as I settle into Stanford :)

Emailing Professors for Research Opportunities: Dos and Dont's

I received an email from a high school senior today, enquiring if I was looking for a research assistant. It was very well worded and polite, but clearly a form letter. Since it's the summer, and I have a bit of time on my hands, I thought I would reply to him with a few tips on how to better write these emails (I have accumulated quite a bit of experience over the years :p).

I won't post his original email, but here's what I said:

1. Don't send emails using bcc. Professors receive many such emails a day and have to choose which to respond to. The less yours feels like a mass email, the more likely you'll receive a response. 

2. Address the recipient appropriately (most grad students would be ok with a first name, but mr [last name] might be safer; Dr. [last name] for post-docs and Professor [last name] for faculty.

3. State clearly in the first paragraph your current education level. Vacancies are different for high school freshmen, seniors, undergrads and college grads. The recipient shouldn't have to figure it out themselves from your resume.

4. You need to be a little more specific about your research interests. It's good to have broad interests, especially when you are in high school, but you need to elaborate. Listing fields (i.e. "psychology, sociology, neuroscience, and medicine") actually tells the recipient very little about what you are interested in, and as such, difficult for him/her to figure out whether you would be a good fit for the lab. 

5. 

Specifically, I am interested in the subject of your research and would love to further investigate my passion for it. 

This sounds a little insincere if you had not demonstrated some knowledge that you know what the recipient's research is about. Show that you've done some homework and did not send the same email to a 100 .edu addresses. So comment intelligently on the recipient's research focus, and how his/her work fits with your own research interest.

I hope he doesn't take it the wrong way! Just thought these tips would give him a better chance in his search!