Table of Contents

Getting Started

A guide for new students in the Department of Astronomy.

Step 1: After You Accept Berkeley's Offer of Admission

  • Look over the Graduate Student Handbook.
  • If you recently graduated and have not already done so, arrange to have an “official” final transcript sent to the Graduate Division once available.
  • Arrange your financial support for your first year. If you have a non-Berkeley fellowship, make sure the Student Affairs Officer (Yasasha) knows about it. Most new students act as teaching assistants (GSIs); if you do nothing you will probably be assigned to be one.
  • Find a place to live in the Berkeley area. The page on housing has all of the gory details – see the “Incoming Student Strategy” section. The most important point is to start thinking about how you're going to find housing immediately! If you show up in August without housing plans, you will get stuck with something expensive and unpleasant.
  • If you are a US citizen or permanent resident but are new to California, you will be required by the department to establish California residency. To do this, you must arrive in California and begin documenting your presence more than one solar year before the start of your third semester in graduate school – don't arrive late! For more information on residency requirements, follow these links to the Office of the Registrar and the BADGrads guide to residency.

Step 2: Upon Arrival in Berkeley

  • Keep airplane receipts or other such documents that establish when you first entered the state. They should go into some kind of file of residency-related documents that you will accumulate over the year.
  • Get yourself a map or print this one of the campus out. If you know how to find your way to Campbell Hall (CH), you can skip this, because we'll give you a campus map on your first day; of course, it's useful to have a good area map. AC Transit gives out a good one with the bus routes and schedules on it.
  • You should stay in touch with your mentor and let him or her know when you intend to show up to CH for the first time (this can certainly be later than when you arrive in Berkeley). You and your mentor should work out plans for meeting.

Step 3: Upon Arrival at Campbell Hall (CH)

  • You'll need to bring the following things to CH to get set up:
    • Bring your Cal ID so that your Campbell Hall building access can be tied to it (this takes a few weeks and you will be given a temporary card, if there is one available).
    • $20 in cash for key-card deposits
    • $10 in cash for cubicle deposits
    • A passport (expired is OK) or green card to prove your eligibility for employment. If you don't have these, various combinations of other documents are allowed. See the last page of Form I-9 for the specifics. Read the form carefully!
    • A voided, blank check for attaching to your Electronic Funds Transfer setup form. You can also set up EFT online by clicking here.
    • Make sure you know your CalNet ID and password!
  • Find your mentor. They will give you some useful information and start taking you around the department to the various staff members whom you'll need to talk to to get your key card activated, etc. If your plans for meeting your mentor fall though, go to the office of Yasasha Ridel (501E) and introduce yourself.
  • As a new student, there are a bunch of administrative things that you need to take care of at some point. Your mentor can help you work on them over the rest of the day, or you can put them off and do whatever else you want to instead. It's up to you. Your mentor will be happy to help you get settled in whatever way you deem best.

Step 4: The First Few Weeks

There will be several activities over the first few weeks, some required, some not. Many university-wide ones are listed here. Some important and/or astronomy-specific ones are:

Fall 2022

  • Wednesday, 8/17: Department Orientation, 10-12 am. This will include a Q&A session about choosing courses, both practicalities and broader considerations, and a meet-and-greet with grads. Lunch will be from 12-1:30pm. The orientation is currently planned to be in-person at Campbell Hall.
  • Wednesday, 8/17: Respect is Part of Research workshop, time and location TBD.
  • Friday, 8/19: University-wide orientation for all GSIs (graduate student instructors). Register here beforehand. For international GSIs, there is an additional conference on Thursday, 8/18.
  • Tuesday, 8/23: You need to arrive on campus by this day for residency purposes (for more information see the link above).
  • Wednesday, 8/24: Classes begin!
  • TBD: The annual Jobs Meeting.

You should also get acquainted with the normal schedule of talks in the department.

Additional Resources

Here are some useful resources that you should probably look at.


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