Any info for prospective IP Law Students?

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I’ve got accepted to GWU Law for the academic year 2013/2014. I’m an international student without any prior experience of studying or living in the US.
The initial phase of joy about being accepted now came to the realization I know very little about how things work at a US university. I searched the GWU site, searched my friends’ network for people with some experience. I’ve also started barraging the Director of the International Students Division with questions about enrollment, reading lists, online housing services, curriculum requrements etc.
I’ve sent this employee three emails so far (in April, last Friday and today). And I get no response yet I get automatic notifications that my messages reach the recipient. Could this silence be deliberate? Is that possible? I’m starting worrying now.
I’m a Fulbright scholar and I hear from fellow Fulbrighters that they get a lot of information from their assigned advisors. I don’t know whether I have an academic advisor nor what steps I have to take to get actually enrolled. I might be exaggerating my concerns. It just feels like it’s bustling with activity, while I have no information. </p>

<p>Would it be appropriate to send a message to the Dean? Maybe I should call them tobe certain my email don’t land in a junk folder…</p>

<p>My question here is whether there is anyone in a similar situation? I would also really appreciate any tipps as to what to start from:) Sorry if this entire entry is a bit vague.</p>

<p>not sure how true this is…</p>

<p>[THIRD</a> TIER REALITY: First Tier Flush: George Washington University Law School](<a href=“http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/2012/02/first-tier-flush-george-washington.html]THIRD”>http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/2012/02/first-tier-flush-george-washington.html)</p>

<p>Calling the dean? No. </p>

<p>That’s in very poor taste if you’re suggesting you’ll complain that some other staff member didn’t reply to your 3 e-mails. And, if you’re going to ask the dean what the reading lists are and about housing, that’s not his job. Figure this stuff out yourself.</p>

<p>Sheesh, it sounds like you’re annoying the daylights out of everyone there with questions and repetitive e-mails.</p>

<p>You’ve e-mailed the int’l student services director THREE times already with tons of questions. Take it easy. There are thousands of new students a year. You realize it’s admissions season when staff is bombarded with questions, e-mails, and new students, right? And, you’re sending e-mails over and over again. Don’t send an e-mail then another e-mail a week later. Give people time to reply to you.</p>

<p>Try contacting someone else. Figure out who your admissions adviser would be. Contact the MSSC staff, law school staff, etc. </p>

<p>Figure out some of the answers to questions yourself. You can’t expect one person to tell you everything there is to know about housing, scholarships, and everything else.</p>

<p>Curriculum list? Look it up yourself on the website.</p>

<p>Reading list? Wait until classes start and the professors give you syllabi.</p>

<p>Housing? Go to the housing website. Read the instructions. Register for housing by the deadline. Pay the deposit. Etc. </p>

<p>Enrollment? Look up when class registrations begin online, then register with GWeb/Banner when it’s time to register.</p>

<p>Curriculum? [Overview[/url</a>]</p>

<p>GW Law Portal Login? <a href=“https://my.law.gwu.edu/[/url]”>https://my.law.gwu.edu/](<a href=“http://www.law.gwu.edu/Academics/curriculum/Pages/default.aspx]Overview[/url”>http://www.law.gwu.edu/Academics/curriculum/Pages/default.aspx)</a></p>

<p>Academic Calendar? [Academic</a> Calendar](<a href=“http://www.law.gwu.edu/Academics/Pages/AcademicCalendar.aspx]Academic”>http://www.law.gwu.edu/Academics/Pages/AcademicCalendar.aspx)</p>

<p>Housing? <a href=“http://housing.gwu.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://housing.gwu.edu</a></p>

<p>For everything else? <a href=“http://www.gwu.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://www.gwu.edu</a></p>

<p>You’re attending GW Law and you can’t figure out how to enroll yourself in a college?</p>

<p>You get accepted, pay your deposit and confirm your enrollment, apply for financial aid, sign up for a GWU e-mail address, look up registration deadlines (and register in GWeb/Banner), login to the housing website and select an available room when it’s time (look at housing deadlines), pay the housing deposit, login to GWeb to make sure your housing assignment is confirmed, look at the curriculum requirements for your program on the website (or go to the law school office to get a copy of it when you arrive), register for the classes when the time comes, buy books at the bookstore, etc.</p>

<p>Much of this stuff you should be looking up yourself, not spamming staff to spoon feed you steps. You’re going to GW-freaking-law-school. Figure out how to enroll yourself. </p>

<p>Use the gwu.edu website to find the info you need to know, contact relevant staff with the question most relevant to them in one e-mail (not every question you can think of…that’s not their job, and don’t spam them repeatedly), give people time to reply, and look up information yourself. Seriously, you’re attending GW Law. You should be able to figure out how to enroll yourself, apply for housing, etc. on your own.</p>

<p>Don’t expect staff to spoon feed you. Look this stuff up online at gwu.edu. Don’t spam staff over and over or e-mail them a laundry list of questions irrelevant to their job.</p>

<p>Thank you gwgrad:) I can subscribe to every word.
I rarely keep annoying people when I want something from them. More than anything, I wanted to establish email contact so that I could get important information without delay and be sure it wouldn’t land in a junk folder. I know it was (and possibly still is) a busy time, but please note I had waited nearly a month till I sent a second message. I do try to figure as many things myself as possible, but wanted to make sure my assumtions and conclusions were right. Sometimes it’s better to ask then to make something wrong (or miss a deadline) and cause more problems afterwards. Things get much more difficult when your task is to get info about admission process and related topics in a foreign country and your native language is not English.
My entry in this forum is a far cry from blaming someone from the GWU staff. I think they are doing their best, and I am very grateful I can sometimes take advantage of their advice and knowledge. I did hear from them in the end, I my questions were answered in detail. So yes, I regret my initial panic and am very grateful indeed.</p>

<p>From your response in this thread I felt (it was not expressed, but still) that I might have irritated you a bit:) That’s why I decided to explain my reasons once again.</p>

<p>I guess a lot of people make mistakes/get into panic etc. taking their first steps in a unfamiliar direction. I didn’t mean to cause real trouble to someone.</p>