University of Southern California (USC)

The University of Southern California (USC) will be at LAC to conduct an admissions workshop for our students.  They will review admissions requirements, talk about the application process, give tips for transferring, review general education information, and discuss tuition information.  Please refer interested LBCC students to register for the workshop by visiting the LAC Transfer Center (A156) or by calling at 562-938-4670. 

UC Admissions

UC schools have begun accepting transfer applications for Fall 2010.  There is only a one month window for these applications which are due by November 30th , and many UC schools will most likely NOT accept applications for winter or spring as some have done in the past.  Please apply online at www.ucop.edu/pathways as soon as possible.  

There are still UC applications workshops available for students, and Allison Murray of the LBCC English Department will be conducting a UC Personal Statement workshop next Thursday, November 12 th .  Students may register for workshops at LAC A-156 or by calling 562-938-4670.  On a final note, many UC schools will be attending our University Transfer Fair tomorrow (Wednesday, November 4 th ) at the LAC Quad in front of Bldg. E between 10am and 1pm if students have further questions.

Registration and Health Insurance

Happy Halloween! I hope you are enjoying all the fun costumes and decorations of one of America's most entertaining holidays!

As most of you know, priority registration for spring 2010 starts on November 9th. For our new students, this means you and all continuing students can register early for next semester's classes. You can do so online using your Peoplesoft account.

However, for those of you who have not purchased your health insurance coverage for the next semester, a hold has been placed on your Peoplesoft preventing you from registering. That hold will be removed when you purchase your health insurance for $457. You can do so online, following the instructions on http://intl.lbcc.edu/insurance.cfm. Or you can come to the office and pay with check or credit card.

If you are not sure if you purchased your health insurance for next year, you can check to see if that hold is on your Peoplesoft, it will appear on your screen. Go to Campus Personal Information, and under that click on Holds.

Please do not wait to purchase your insurance, because it will delay your registration, and prevent you from getting classes you need. Removing your hold from Peoplesoft can also take 2-3 days, DO NOT EXPECT THE SAME DAY REMOVAL OF YOUR HOLD.

Further, for those of you planning on transferring to a CSU or UC for next fall, please remember that most of those deadlines are on November 30th for the applications. You can ask Judy Oh if you have questions about transferring.

Last, for those of you planning to travel outside of the US during the holiday break in December/January, you must have a recent signature on your I-20 from our office. Getting this signature again will require 2-3 days to process, DO NOT EXPECT THE SAME DAY SIGNATURE ON YOUR I-20. You can drop off your I-20 here any time now to get a signature, and you will be emailed when your I-20 is ready to pick up.
Regards,

Justin Ramírez, Esq.
Interim Manager, International Student Program Long Beach City College
Phone: 562-938-4745
Fax: 562-938-4747

CCCP Saturday Academy : Personal Statement Seminar

Would you like to receive assistance with your personal statement? Are you having trouble writing one? If so, please register and attend our UC personal statement Seminar!

November 14, 2009; 2 PM - 6 PM at UCLA

To register, visit our website at www.cccp.ucla.edu and scroll down to the registration link. Each guest must register individually.

See attached flyer for more information or contact our office at cccp@college.ucla.edu or 310 267-4441.

CSUDH is open for Spring 2010!

CSUDH is accepting transfer applications to ALL majors from LBCC students applying for Spring 2010. The deadline for Spring 2010 applications is November 15st.   You can get paper application in the Transfer Centers at LAC and PCC.

UC Transfer Application

UC campuses will accept transfer applications for fall 2010 starting November 1, 2009.  The priority filing period is from November 1 to November 30, 2009.  The application is available online at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/apply.

CSU Transfer Admissions

CSU campuses are now accepting transfer application for Fall 2010.  Many universities, such as CSU Long Beach, plan on closing their application cycle by November 30 th .  Students may apply online at www.csumentor.edu .  Be sure to click on the International Student Application. 

UCLA Transfer Days
UCLA Undergraduate Admissions Office and Relations with Schools

All Community College students who are interested in transferring to UCLA are cordially invited to the beautiful and historic UCLA campus!  Come and learn about higher educational opportunities that UCLA has to offer and what you need to do to become a Bruin.  Meet UCLA Undergraduate Admissions staff and students who transferred to UCLA.

Two Sessions to Choose From

Day 1:  Saturday, October 17 th 9:30am-2pm
Location:  Bunche 1209B
Parking:  Check in at the Parking Kiosk located at Hilgard Ave. and Westholme Ave . *

Day 2:  Friday. November 6 th 9:30am-2pm
Location:  Second Floor Lounge at Ackerman Union
Parking:  C heck in at the Parking Kiosk located at Strathmore Dr. and Westwood Blvd. *

Each Session Will Include Workshops on

• Admissions to UCLA
• Personal Statement and UC Application
• Career vs. Major
• Financial Aid
• UCLA Transfer Student Panel
• Optional Campus Tour will be provided at 2pm

Space is limited, so RSVP is required.

Please RSVP to:  www.admissions.ucla.edu/transferconference .  Indicate the date you will be attending, how many in your party will be attending, and if you will be taking the campus tour.

For questions, please email:  transfer@admissions.ucla.edu or call 310-206-6222.

* All day parking, $10 per vehicle, is required.  Meals are not provided.

Scholarship Applications

scholarship application will be available online at http://scholarships.lbcc.edu starting September 1, 2009.  Applications are due Friday, December 4, 2009 at 4 p.m.  Students are invited to stop by the new scholarship office in Building O and use one of the designated student computers to apply.

University Appointments

Listed below are university appointments we have at LBCC thus far.  Students may register for appointments by calling 562-938-4670 or by visiting the LAC Transfer Center at LAC A156.  Unofficial transcripts and any transcripts sent to LBCC from other schools will be available to university representatives so that they may give our students an estimate on how close they are to transfer and if they are on track to meet admissions requirements. 

Cal Poly Pomona
Mon., Dec. 7, 9am-12noon

Mount St. Mary's
Thurs., Nov. 19, 9am-11am

UC Irvine
Mon., Nov. 16, 9am-1pm

UC Merced
Tues., Nov. 10, 1pm-3pm

Greetings Students,

Welcome back! Happy fall semester to our students. We are very excited about the new students that have arrived 3 weeks ago to study here at our college, and equally excited about our new ALCI students starting last week.

As usual, I have some important announcements. First, if you haven't registered for 12 units yet, please do so as soon as possible. We will be checking! All of you have until September 17th to register for 12 units! Updated open classes here: http://www.lbcc.edu/documents/openclasses/OpenClasses_Fall09.pdf

Your health insurance also needs to be purchased for the new academic year with the new insurance company. More information on that is on our web site.
If you haven't heard also, all LBCC students had an increase to their fees of $6 a unit. That balance is present on your PeopleSoft, and you must pay that as soon as possible! Please check your PeopleSoft also to make sure that your classes are still there and you haven't been dropped or had a class canceled.
If you are not returning to LBCC for this semester, you must also notify us as soon as possible.

Last Semeter at LBCC?

If this is your last semester at LBCC and you are enrolled in less than 12 units, you MUST get permission from Judy Oh to maintain your legal status as F-1 visa student. Please make an appointment with the counselor to get a permission form.

If you plan to graduate at the end of fall 2009, the deadline to file for graduation is October 1, 2009. Please submit your application in the Admissions and Records office if you wish to graduate at the end of fall 2009.

Counseling Appointments

If you need to schedule an appointment to see a counselor, please go to the Counseling Center located in Building A or call 562-938-4560 or 562-938-4561 to schedule an appointment with Judy Oh. If the staff tells you that the appointments are closed for the week, please make sure to tell them that it is for the "International Student Counselor"

Health Insurance

As of today, a registration hold has been placed on all international students for the fall semester of 2009. Since all of your health insurance coverage expires in August, you will have to renew your insurance for the fall semester or the entire year of 2009-2010.

We have changed insurance providers. LBCC's new health insurance provider is Student Insurance, and ALL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS MUST BE UNDER STUDENT INSURANCE (Do not purchase from Renaissance/Nation Wide). You can find the new registration forms for health insurance here in the office, or you can now pay for your insurance online! Follow these instructions:

1. Go to the website: www.studentinsuranceusa.com
2. Click on "International Plans" (down the left hand side; in blue)
3. Select a State (California) in the drop-down box
4. Select your School (Long Beach City College) in the drop-down box
5. Click on "Apply Online Now"
6. Create an Account (with username and password)
7. Login and choose the desired coverage (for Fall 2009 or the entire year of 2009-2010)
8. Continue to payment, select mode of payment, and pay by credit card
9. Print receipt and bring to International Student Office

Once you have paid your health insurance, after you have paid here in the office, or after you have paid online and brought us a receipt print-out, we will release your fall 2009 registration hold and you will be able to register for classes. Do not delay! Putting off paying for health insurance will mean postponing registration for classes that already have limited space available.

For those who have yet not registered for classes for this summer and plan on taking classes this summer, you can obtain a request to override form for your summer hold, which will allow you to register for summer classes only.

Student Assistant Opening(s)

It looks like we will be having one or more openings for student assistants for this summer and into the fall. One of our student assistants is "retiring", and at least one other will not be around to work this summer. If you are interested in applying to be a student assistant in our office, applications are here at the front desk. You must be maintaining your F-1 status at least through the fall, as well as being a student in good status here at LBCC through the fall, with a minimum of 3 Summer units. A copy of your summer registration print-out from PeopleSoft must be attached to your application. Please feel free to attach a resume to your application as well.

No decision has been made yet on how many student assistants we will be hiring nor for how many hours. Once you have applied I will contact you with more information.

I hope this email finds you all well and studying hard for finals to finish off a successful semester. Please come and visit us at our new location in the E Building lower concourse (downstairs).

Traveling?
For those of you considering traveling outside of the US during the Spring Break, there are 2 important things to remember. First, you must turn in your travel request form along with your I-20 no later than one week prior to your departure date. Please also check this web site: <http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html>. This site will provide you with travel advisories around the world. Also check with your own embassies as well for travel advisories. I would like to also advise caution if traveling to Mexico because of increased violence in relation to the drug wars the Mexican government is fighting along the US border with Mexico.

Introduction of Our Interim Manger

Dear Students,

It is my pleasure to join you here at Long Beach City College as your Interim Manager of the International Student Program. I just wanted to take some time to introduce myself as I start to hopefully get to know each one of you.

As a native of Long Beach, I am happy all of you have chosen to come to study here at LBCC. I'm a graduate of Long Beach State University, with a degree in political science. After undergrad, I chose to live and work abroad with the US Peace Corps as volunteer, providing service as an educator in the Republic of Bulgaria. After two years with the Peace Corps, I returned to California, where I earned a law degree from Whittier Law School. While at Whittier Law, I studied international and comparative law, and studied in Spain at the Universidad de Cantabria for a summer.

I am happy to be starting my post-legal education career here at LBCC as an advocate for each and every one of you. I'm a committed internationalist, and believe that your presence here makes LBCC a better institution, that the American students have just as much to learn from you, as you have to learn from them.

Shortly we will be having a welcome to the spring semester BBQ, where I can meet more of you. Until then, I hope all of you will take some time to stop by my office to introduce yourself.

Regards,

Justin Ramírez
Attorney at Law
Interim Manager, International Student Program
Long Beach City College
JRamirez@lbcc.edu