As international students applying to/ interested in/ attending the University of Cincinnati; our first home is usually not in the US. Some individuals are on a visa, some are green card holders, and some are US citizens – regardless, the pandemic has shuffled our housing plans for the current and upcoming semesters.

UC does a fantastic job of accommodating students abroad: 

• Different class options 
  • Time difference 
    • For many students abroad, time difference plays a role in creating the best personal schedule. With different ‘sections’ of the same class, timings may vary to suit your needs.
    • If there isn’t an option, you might just get lucky depending on your time zone! 
  • Asynchronous vs set meeting times 
    • Similar to class options with varying times, some classes are formatted asynchronously– which means that you get the work done at your own pace. Usually this entails weekly submissions/discussions, but will not have any lectures to attend. 
      • With asynchronous classes, you need to make sure to stay on top of the work and figure out when/ if you need to attend the professor’s office hour. 
      • A positive of this format is that you don’t need to worry about sleeping through an alarm and missing the class or having prior commitments lead you to skip a class.
• Virtual events 
  • PPAC workshops 
    • The pre-professional advising center offers virtual workshops each semester 
      • Depending on what pre- professional track you are on, the events will be about different topics related to the time of year 
        • Ex: Pre-med interview workshops are  held in the spring, while medical admission test workshops are held in the fall

• Student organization meetings 
• Test prep events 
  • PPAC’s ‘Test Prep Mania’ was held over Microsoft Teams and laid out a general path to taking your pre-med admission tests 
• Committed professors and advisors 
  • Always available by email 
    • Regardless of the pandemic, communication in college is 95% email-led and now it is even more important. Professors know that students will be reaching out more for various reasons, and typically are available all day to help you out 
  • Can make appointments via Starfish 
    • Some professors/faculty would prefer to set up a meeting and answer your questions (rather than email) and so you will be asked to create a Starfish appointment– this is very simple! 

We all have our individualized situations, but UC aims to keep us as tight-knit as Bearcats can be.