Tips and Tricks for Incomings

Hey,

this will be the last post of this blog. It is meant to help students seeking help in some organization stuff prior or in the beginning of their study abroad semester at Ole Miss.

While at Ole Miss, I was involved in the International Student Council (Check out our Facebook page “Ole Miss International Student Council”) where we are working on improving the experience for future international students. That’s another reason for this blog entry, I want to help you!

First, I’m going to start with a comparison of the housing options. For that I talked to fellow internationals and tried to find advantages and disadvantages for each option. Note that we are almost only spread across four options: On-Campus, The Hub, Campus Creek and Flatts at South Campus (former University Trails). And I need to mention that everybody is really satisfied with his or her choice. Let’s start with our subjective opinion:

On-Campus (Residence Hall 3): 291 Rebel Drive, University, Mississippi 38677

+ Central location

+ Walking distance to everything you need

+ Gym on campus (open for every student with your student ID)

+ Miscellaneous spare time activities occur in the residence hall

+ Every floor has a lounge with a TV and cable

+ Wifi is available in the residence hall

+ Good organization from staff

+ One of the newest residence halls on campus

+ Water and electricity are included (do not have to pay an additional bill)

- Shared room and bathroom (with one other person)

- No alcohol in the building

- Shared Kitchen (every room has its own microwave and fridge)

- Need to pay every time you use the washing machine ($1.50 per wash/dry)

- Relatively expensive ($3,040 per semester)

- No Pool at the residence hall

- No visitors after 2:00am

- Cannot receive mail at the residence hall, you have to purchase a mailbox at campus mail

- No dishes, or blanket are included when you arrive

The Hub: 109 Anchorage Rd, Oxford, MS 38655

+ Modern, really nice apartments

+ Really great pool area, inclusive beach volleyball court, hot tubs, sauna, TV at the pool, soda included

+ Free shuttle back from The Square (the central part of town) starting Thursdays and continuing through the weekend

+ Very modern Gym

+ Miscellaneous spare time activities and events occur at the complex

+ A lot of Americans live here

+ TV and router are included in the apartments

- Whole complex is a little far off from the central part of town

- Might be a little too far for taking a bike to campus

- Most expensive location

- Electricity bill costs extra each month (must set up your electricity account)

- No dishes, or blanket are included when you arrive

Campus Creek: 101 Creekmore Blvd, Oxford, MS 38655

+ Nice neat apartments, not as modern as The Hub, but more modern than University Trails

+ Pool area is nicer than University Trails, but not as good as The Hub

+ Bike distance to campus (5-10 minutes) and most sport stadiums (volleyball, soccer right around the corner)

+ Very good bus connection

+ Gated Community

+ Uber to the Square approx. 5-10 minutes, about $8 - $10 USD

+ WLAN router for wifi is included

+ Near Jackson Avenue (Walmart, miscellaneous shops and restaurants)

+ Good Gym

+ From time to time they have events going on in the complex

+ A lot of Americans live here

+ Beach volleyball court, Tennis court are on site

- More expensive than University Trails

- Maintenances crew is sometimes really slow to fix issues

- No Square Shuttle is offered

- TV is not included

- No dishes, or blanket are included when you arrive

Flatts at South Campus (former University Trails): 900 Whirlpool Dr, Oxford, MS 38655

+ Cheapest Complex of these that are listed

+ Bike distance to campus and most sport stadiums (5-10 minutes)

+ Uber to the Square approx. 5 minutes, $7 - $9 USD

+ Pool with a nice sitting area and a barbecue pit

+ As long as you don’t have a problem in your apartment, the cost-benefit ratio is good

+ TV is included

+ A lot of international students live here

+ There is an outdoor basketball court

- Chaotic management, sometimes slow to get back to you (might change as it recently changed)

- Renovations will be occurring until 2019

- Some apartments were dirty on the move in date

- No Square Shuttle is offered

- Beach volleyball court is almost not useable because of only 5cm of sand on top of concrete

- Gym is poorly equipped

- WLAN router for wifi is not included

- No dishes, or blanket are included when you arrive

I really hope this helps you decide what is most suitable for you. Please note that all decorations are our personal stuff and are not included in the apartment. While trying to decide where to live, think about the number of people you want to live with and if you want to share a bathroom with someone. (I'm currently trying to get pics of the Hub to upload them, for On-Campus i just have a short video, which I annot upload here. If anybody wants it, leave a comment or mail to franz.wilhelm41@gmx.de)

The second topic is the meal plan. This was one of the most confusing things for me prior to arrival. The descriptions online and names are really confusing.

They have 11 (!) different options but I will only focus on the most common ones: Plus 1 and Rebel 50. If you understand those two, all others will make sense.

First of all there are a lot of food locations on campus. We have three all-you-can eat places (Rebel Market, The Grill at 1810, and The Marketplace at RC) and numerous other options (fast food, Starbucks, Coffee Shops).

Plus 1 just means one meal a day. You can either swipe at one of the All-You-Can-Eat places and eat as much as you want (either breakfast, lunch or dinner – be aware that dinner at the Grill costs $2 extra) or you can go to any other option and get drinks and food equal to but no more than $8. If you spend more than $8, it can be paid via cash, credit or Flex money. I’ll come to that in a minute. You can only use that plan once a day and if you don’t use it will become invalid. For example: If you don’t use it on Sunday, you cannot use it twice on Monday instead.

The second main option is Rebel 50. That means 50 swipes at any of the above mentioned All-You-Can-Eat places or you go to the Student Union, which hosts five fast food restaurants (Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, Qdoba, Which Wich and McAlister’s Deli) and get something there for equal to but no more than $8. If you spend more than $8, it can be paid via cash, credit or Flex money.

Oh, and one more thing: Flex Money and Express Dollars. That’s money you can put on your student ID and pay directly from there kind of like a debit card. Flex Money is included in Express Dollar (that means, every location you can use your Flex Money is also a place you can use Express Dollar, but not the other way around). Additionally, though you can pay everywhere on campus with it, you can also use Express Dollar at a couple of different places around town. I really don’t know why there are two options. I would recommend that you put a little of that money on your card and just use it when you want to eat an additional time or you spend more than $8 on your plus 1.

Every other meal plan is basically a combination of those two. Depending on how often you like to eat and how often you like to cook, I can definitely recommend the meal plan.

Another thing I bought was the unlimited drink card. You can use that for free coffee at the Coffee Shops including Starbucks, but not on the whole variety of coffee options. You can also use it on fountain soda (Coke, Dr. Pepper etc.), but I only found one fountain soda machine at Einstein’s. If you are really into coffee it might make sense to get, but as I said it’s only the basic stuff. For example, you can only get a tall Pike, Dark Roasted, or Blonde coffee at Starbucks. No fancy stuff like lattes and cappuccinos. You can easily fill up your bottles with soda at any All-You-Can-Eat place and at the Student Union. Water is provided throughout the campus!

What else can I recommend to you?

Get the Uber and Lyft app and invite each other, so you can get free rides. You need that to get around here. Lyft is cheaper most of the times but only 1-2 drivers if any.

Other useful apps: Blackboard has an app. What’s Blackboard? It’s the homepage/platform where all your assignments and grades are posted and where you can get in contact with the profs.

Groupme is a great way to get group work done. You don’t have to exchange numbers, you can set meetings and create surveys. Sometimes really helpful!

Splitwise is a great app if you travel with a group. Everybody puts in his expenses and afterwards you can see who owes whom money. There are a thousand different options like percentages, group tables and all that stuff!

Bus.ly is the one bus app for Oxford that actually works on German phones. There is another app in the American appstore if you have access to that. The app works decently but not perfect. Better than nothing I guess :)

GET is an app for your student ID. You can see your funds and manage them. I used it a couple of times to check how much Express money I have left.

Ole Miss is the sports and news app. Makes you a real fan ;) You can get game time alerts and all that stuff.

Rebel Rewards is pretty cool. You have to switch on your Bluetooth in the sport facilities when there is a game to get points. If you get more point you’ll achieve different levels which unlock all kinds of free stuff like T-Shirts, phone charger, replica helmets and even sweaters. It’s pretty useful if you love to watch sports and collect Ole Miss stuff. I got stuff in the value of at least $200 USD.

If you want to get a SIM card I can recommend you the J1-SIM. It’s easy to order online and works well around town. The price is good and depending on the contract you have a lot of data.

Rent a bike on campus. That helps to get around. Especially as you probably don’t have a car.

Get to know the Square. It’s a great place to party and meet new people. One of my favorite restaurants was in Jackson Avenue and called Rice n’ spice. Really good Thai food.

That’s all I got right now. If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will be happy to help you.

Best regards

Franz