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Dear BSM student,

It is our pleasure to welcome you among the students of the 2015 Fall Semester of the BSM program. We, the Budapest director, the professors and the staff have great expectations of working with you!

I ask you to read this letter carefully, including the last part containing information about the courses of the new semester and the additional message about the housing arrangements.

CONTACT Our phone numbers are: (+361) 413 3038 (BSM office), or (+361) 413 3003 (College International central office), fax: (+361) 413 3030, while the BSM hotline is 0036 30 4743924 answered by Anna, i.e. Ms. Anna Fóti, our student coordinator, who you will meet upon your arrival or soon after that. Please note that most probably the first person you will meet from the staff (apart, in some cases, the student helper meeting you upon your arrival) will be Anna, who will be available during the Babilon course as well to assist your needs.

In addition to the BSM hotline you can use the BSME hotline 0036 30 618 6590 for help as well. It is answered by Judit Biksz, their student coordinator. (While BSME is a separate program we work closely with them.)

You will meet Dr Dezső Miklós, director and BSM professor and/or Dr Ágnes Szilárd, the associate director (both BSM professors as well) on the 18th of August, 2:30 pm at the pre-orientation -- in case you participate in the language program. Those of you who arrive later will meet them on the 4th of September at 2pm during the make-up pre-orientation. Finally everyone meets again on the 7th of September, Monday at 8:15 am, for the (academic) orientation. (Classes will start that day at 10:15am.)

In case you are lost at arrival for some reason (you are delayed, or have missed your plane, etc.), please call the BSM (mobile) hotline and we will arrange to pick you up from the airport/station at your new arrival time. Or you may send your message to Budapest through email to the following addresses: afoti@mcdaniel.hu or office@bsmath.hu (equivalent to the earlier bsm@mcdaniel.hu address) or dezso@renyi.hu or szilard@renyi.hu. Again, in a dire need of urgent info or in case of an unexpected change or delay in your arrival data or on weekends (or being lost upon arrival) you may call Anna on the cellphone 0036304743924 from outside of Hungary.

VISA. As for entering Hungary: everybody should be in good shape by now: you either need no visa to enter Hungary, or have already received your visa from the appropriate Hungarian consulate. In case you think you need our assistance, send a message to Agnes Szilard at szilard@renyi.hu, have you not done so yet.

Let me summarize here again briefly the recent situation regarding visas -- which depends on your citizenship. (See a clickable version here.)
Case 1. If you are a US (or Canadian, Brasilian, Japanese, South Korean, Singapore, New Zealander...) citizen, you can enter the countries of the European Union, including Hungary, without a visa. ( Here is the full country list for all visa waiver agreements. ) (You still may apply for a D type visa which is effectively a residence permit prior to your arrival, but as far as we know all or most of the US and Canadian citizens will arrive without a visa.) Once you enter without a visa (i.e. as a tourist), you are then required to obtain your residence permit within a month of your arrival. You will have to do paperwork and spend time in government offices in Budapest to obtain your residence permit. You will need exactly the same documents as you would have needed in the US, except that instead of the 80USD visa application fee, you will be required to pay about 18000 HUF cash for a residency permit. BSM will help you through this process and accompany you to the Immigration office in due time. However, we need your thorough and complete cooperation.

Case 2. If you are a citizen of an EU country, you do not need visa, of course, to enter Hungary and the residence situation is also much simpler. However, in this case you should be sure to enter the Schengen region with your EU passport, should you have any other citizenship.

Case 3. If you are not a US citizen (or citizen of the countries listed above), most likely you will need a visa which you hopefully have applied for already. In case you still do not have a visa and there are no definite plans when and where to pick it up, or your visa is not D type, contact us immediately. Please note that those arriving with a D type visa SHOULD NOT LEAVE Hungary before picking up their residence permit. If you leave prior that, most probably you will not be granted reentry into Hungary, should you need a visa, or, in case you may enter without a visa, you risk that you will have to apply again for a residence permit (pay the fee again, collect all documents again, etc.) Again, we will assist - in either case - you to get the residence permit and get your local address registered ASAP (see more about that at BABILON section).

Once you have your residence permit, you can travel freely inside the Schengen region (most of the EU countries, except Romania, Bulgaria and the British Islands, but including Switzerland and Norway), you will not need a visa to enter those countries or return to Hungary. However, if you are not an American citizen, for other European countries, like Romania, Croatia or Turkey, England, you might need a visa. Check with their embassies for rules.

DEPARTING TO HUNGARY Lately it was drawn to our attention that some US airline officers have doubt about entering our students on the board of the aircrafts heading to Hungary (possibly via another European, Schengen region ports) without a so-called D-type visa, claiming that they are entitled to stay within the Schengen region free of visa only 90 days, since your return ticket is booked for a date over this period or you have no return ticket. In order to avoid inconveniences, print this letter to be shown to the airline officers in case of doubt.

ARRIVAL IN HUNGARY Please send us by email your exact arrival schedule (airline, flight number, city arriving from, exact date - make sure to add one day to your departure date since your flight across the Atlantic will be overnight) so we can pick you up at the airport. Most of you have shared this info with us already, but we still have some missing cases. In case of last minute changes, please send all relevant information ASAP to budapestsemesters@gmail.com, afoti@mcdaniel.hu and office@bsmath.hu.

In the arrival hall, look for the BSM signs. A student helper will in all cases be waiting for you (unless it is otherwise negotiated personally with you). In case you miss each other, be patient and try to locate him/her. In dire need, call our hotline but in no case leave the station/airport before successfully contacting us.

If your luggage gets lost and the carrier asks for your address in Budapest to deliver your luggage to, please give them the BSM address: College International, BSM, 1071 Budapest, Bethlen Gábor tér 2. We have a 24-hour reception there, they will receive and save it for you.

BABILON Those who come in mid-August and take the intensive Hungarian language course: be prepared for the challenges of the first couple of days because the course at Babilon school is indeed intensive! Though it includes an orientation tour in the city, the long school hours will take almost all of your days leaving little time for the daily routines of shopping, etc. The Babilon course begins on Monday, 17th of August and ends Friday, September 4th.

During the course you will go with Anna in small groups to the immigration office to pick up your residence permits if you have a D type visa or apply for the permit otherwise.

There will be BSM related events during the Babilon course, e.g. the pre-orientation at 2:30pm the 18th of August to discuss any question emerging till that point. (For those of you who arrive later, a make-up pre-orientation is on Sept 4th, 1:30pm with more events that day -- see the "calendar" below.)

You can find the timetable for the Babilon program here.

The BSM program itself will begin with the academic orientation on Monday, the 7th of September, at 8:15 am. There will be a Welcome party the same afternoon at 4:30pm.

PRE-ORIENTATION There will be a preliminary meeting with all of those attending the language school on the 18th of August, 2:30pm, Tuesday afternoon. This event will take place at Bethlen tér, the BSM headquarters; Anna will usher you to Bethlen tér from the Babilon School. This is when you will meet all the other students participating in the program for the first time, get an entrance card to the college building, etc. Otherwise, you will meet the officers of the program during the make-up pre-orientation on Sept 4th, 2pm and at the academic orientation on September 7th, 8:15 am, also at Bethlen ter.

In the meantime please feel free to send all of your inquiries to Dezso (dezso@renyi.hu), Agnes (szilard@renyi.hu) and/or Anna at office@bsmath.hu as well (though Anna might not be able to answer the academic questions). From the beginning of the semester we will meet regularly.

RESIDENCY PERMITS By Hungarian law, all visiting students must register at the Immigration Office in Budapest. Those who arrive without a visa, must apply for a residency permit, those arriving with a D type visa will simply pick it up. Please be prepred that either way this is a burocratic nuisance (you may have to wait in line etc), but our office is going to arrange for an appointment for you during the first weeks of your stay in Budapest. Those who attend the Babilon language school will be accompanied by Anna to the Immigration Office in small groups to register your local address (and apply for/ pick up the residence permit). Those who arrive later will be handled individually, on one of the first Wednesdays of September.

Once again, you are required to obtain your residence permit within a month of your arrival. You will have to do the paperwork and spend time in government offices in Budapest to obtain your residence permit. We will help you through this process and take you to the Immigration office at due time, as outlined above. However, we will require your thorough cooperation.

Please note that you will be required to pay about 18000 HUF cash for the permit.

See the "visa" section for more info on residence permits.

HOUSING We do our best to find you housing as requested. However, since the demand is changing from semester to semester, it might happen that you are placed into an apartment not exactly matching your request. If you are not satisfied with the accommodation or don't get along with your roommate(s), let us (actually, Anna) know ASAP -- she may be able to find you alternative lodging. However, you may be asked to be patient for a few days until our student coordinators will find you another place to live. Due to our earlier experience, let me emphasize: we can solve your housing problems only if we know about them. So please, in case of having any problem, visit or contact the BSM office and let the coordinator handle the problem. Please, be aware, that although BSM is an intermediary between you and your landlord, you have to agree and sign the Lease Contract with your landlord. We put a blank contract in English and Hungarian, which you can use, in the welcoming information package. Be sure you read and understood it before you sign it. Please do not pay any rent until the contract is signed (but sign a contract as soon as possible). Since during the last couple of semesters there were several debates between landlords and students in cases students changed apartments we encourage the use of the following policy (and informed the landlords about this):

During the first month of your arrival, you are free to change apartments by simply leaving the first month's rent behind (plus paying the used utility fees, of course) plus any other fees, which are due. If you change apartments later, the policy set in the contract is to be followed (usually you will lose your deposit as well). Therefore, please be sure that the contract has details about this case. In case the apartments are occupied by several students, everybody who exchanges their present apartment for a different one will forfeit their money (again, usually the remainder of the month's rent plus perhaps a security deposit, if one was paid).

More on Housing Since the housing arrangement has become a crucial issue during the last few semesters, we would like to share some information with you about the housing situation here in Budapest, in addition to what is written above. It is really important for you to know what to expect before you arrive.

All BSM students spend around four months in the country. It is nowhere easy to find reasonable accommodation (within easy commute to school) for such a short period and unfortunately BSM has no dormitory facilities. Most probably you would not be able to find places with such conditions. This is why we believe it is our (the Budapest office's) duty to solve the housing question. In some of the cases during the last semesters some BSM students thought they were able to solve their housing in a better way, but it rarely worked, normally only caused extra trouble for all involved. Therefore, I ask you to act independently only if you are absolutely sure about your opportunities. However, be aware that in that case we may not be able to help you later.

The Budapest office maintains a list of furnished and fully equipped apartments with landlords who are willing to rent them out for short term. The price of these apartments (per person) is calculated under the conditions given, and therefore somewhat higher than the normal Budapest market price. But please understand, short term furnished renting is more expensive everywhere in the world. And, in most of the cases, BSM landlords have their apartments empty between semesters and that is built in the price as well.

According to normal procedure you will be assigned (and guided to) an apartment upon your arrival, as close to your wish described in the housing matching form as possible.

In general, please note the following comments:

Finally let me ask you to keep your apartment in a good shape during your stay in Budapest and give it back in the same condition you got them. During the last semesters we (almost) completely succeeded in changing the BSM apartments to certain standards, which meet the requirements of the BSM students - such as having internet everywhere. However, the monthly rent does not cover the full renovation of the apartments after each semester, so your cooperation is essential in keeping the apartments in good shape. Moreover, any damage will be deducted from your (local or US) security deposit. It is very difficult to demand high standards from the landlords if the tenants do not obey the standards themselves. So, please, keep the apartments in good shape, clean and tidy condition during your stay.

INSURANCE Let me draw your attention to the importance of having an appropriate health insure policy during your stay in Hungary. Before you leave, please call your home insurance company and make sure your insurance is valid in Hungary and find out what type of costs and up to what extend are met by it. We expect you to have a valid insurance policy, covering at least up to 30000 euros of your health expenses as well as covering evacuation costs. Several US companies offer appropriate insurance for your travel, study abroad needs e.g. Gateway US, IMG, CMI or ISOS.

A suplemental health insurance will be provided by the college here, in Budapest (included in your tuition), allowing access to a reliable, English language health service offered by Semmelweis University, the medical university of Budapest. However, it is a parallel option, but does not replace your home insurance, especially since it does NOT cover you outside of Budapest i.e. during travel, arrival, nor covers evacuation to the US!


See the full terms of the local insurance here.

BSM "campus"
BSM does not have a campus as such. It is located in a large building surrounded by a courtyard. The building is equipped with security entrances and you will be able to enter the building only using your chip card which will be given to you at the pre-orientation or orientation session. You will have to pay a deposit of 3000 HUF (cash), which will be returned prior your departure upon returning the chip card.

A list with the names of the forthcoming BSM students will be deposited at the entrance desk of the building, so in case you want to visit the BSM building before the official beginning of the semester, you will be allowed enter.

KEEPING IN TOUCH, THINGS TO DO
We suggest those who have not done so join our Fall Facebook group - you can get the link from Anna (afoti@mcdaniel.hu). Some summer students still in town joined too, willing to help you give advice about the city etc.

Also: check out our map for "useful stores around BSM" as well as a "Things to do" and "Bucketpest list" from the Spring, 2014 class.

In addition, here is advice from our students of previous semesters regarding finances:

  1. Bring a bank card (cirrus, MasterCard, Maestro or Visa). It gets the best exchange rate. Check with your home bank about charges for withdrawal abroad. Bankcards are much better than traveler's check, and ATM machines now can be found everywhere.
  2. Bring some American cash (cash is always handy in case of emergency). Do NOT change money in the US, exchange rate is much better in Hungarian banks and exchange counters. The little official exchange booths in the center of the city, around Babilon offer better rates than banks and normally they don't charge a commission. Do NOT change money on the street!
  3. It is much cheaper to call Budapest from the US than doing it the other direction. You might also buy pre-paid calling cards, which make international calls really cheap. Most of our earlier students of the recent semesters quickly bought a cell-phone (a very basic one is about 3000 forints and a sim card is about 2500 forints, half of which can be used for calls). Sometimes calling abroad via a cell phone is also relatively cheap - especially in case of the voice over IP solution. It's free to receive calls on your cell-phone. Your apartments should have internet connection as well and calling via skype or other internet based connection should be the cheapest way.
  4. Be warned that many of the smaller shops close relatively early (6 PM) and all supermarkets are closed on Sundays. However, even in the downtown area there are small shops open late evening and/or the weekend.

INTERNET You will all have Internet access both at school and at home and may use your home e-mail address. There is WIFI all over the BSM building and you may use the computer lab of College International, owner of the BSM building. If you wish to use a local e-mail address, let us know it and a local e-mail account (firstinitialandlastname@mcdaniel.hu) will be set up by your arrival. Alternatively, during the first days at Bethlen ter you may visit the computer lab and an account can be set up for you. To use the computer lab, print or copy pages, you will need your entrance card. There will be 100 pages preloaded on the card (to be used for printing or copying) and you can top it up in the appropriate office at Bethlen ter.

All BSM students are keen about an immediate INTERNET access in their apartment. We have made serious efforts and I hope all of the apartments will have fast internet connection, but in that case you will naturally have to pay a bit extra to the rental fee, since only long term internet connection is available in Hungary, and the lump sum fee need to be paid for the period when the apartment is unoccupied, too. In that case, however, the use of the service is free of additional charge and is unlimited, and much faster (most of the cases).

FURTHER INFORMATION A printed version of this welcome letter with some additional information and a survival package will be given to you as well upon or a bit after your arrival, during pre-orientation on August 18th. (Those, who will arrive only by the beginning of the semester, will receive all info at the make-up pre-orientation session, September 4th, 2pm.) You will find information about the requirements, courses, and program of the semester in the Student Handbook as well as the homepage www.bsmath.hu, which is the most up-to-date source for any info. There you will find the first version of the schedule of classes by the end of the first week of September. Check the website (www.bsmath.hu) regularly after the 22nd of August!

ACADEMIC ISSUES Finally I'd like to inform you about our course offers and ask your assistance in preparing the schedule of the courses. Since we will have most of the time 3 (or, due to the exceptionally large number of participants, even 4) classes parallel to each other, in order to avoid (as much as possible) conflicts of classes we need to know in advance what courses you are planning to take. We will ask for it via an online questionnaire which you will receive by the 22nd of August. By the same time an up-to-date list of all courses we are planning to offer will be available at http://www.bsmath.hu/ . After studying it, we ask that you fill out the online form by August 29th.

When filling out the form, try to be as specific as possible - if you mark 6-8 math classes you might take, it will be of little help for us in scheduling the courses. In case you are not decided - but only in that case - try to weight at least the courses (weight 1 meaning you surely want to take the course, any smaller number trying to indicate the chance you'll take the course).

The semester starts with a trial period of three weeks, when you can sit in as many classes as you wish. Only after this period must you register for the courses you really want to study; therefore your pre-registration iformation will only inform us about the approximate number of students in the courses and the possible conflicts of classes we should try to avoid when preparing the schedule. (But note: it is impossible to make a schedule that would pefectly suite all needs.)

Please note that there is an extra tuition fee (payable at the Budapest office) for the 6th and further math courses you would take. That is, your paid tuition covers as much as 5 math courses and the non math courses OFFERED. For any further math course a non-refundable tuition of 350USD should be paid by the registration time (i.e., by the end of the third week). In case anybody would like to drop a course later, it can be done via our online registration system. Failure of doing this (i.e. if you just stop going to a class) will result a "NA" (non-attending) grade for the course.

INFO ON PLANNED COURSES Once again, an up-to-date list of all courses we are planning to offer will be available by 22nd of August at www.bsmath.hu.
Note that the list of the courses is not final! In case of having low interest in a course or due to any other reason a course may not be offered or may be canceled. Once again, everyone will need to pre-register (indicate the courses you would like to take) by filling out an online form which you will receive via email by August 22nd.

This semester we expect the now usual high number of students. For the introductory courses, in case of high interest, some of them, such as introductory combinatorics, number theory, topology, etc., might be offered in two separate sessions.

While 90% of our course offers are fixed, we also have some brand new or sporadically offered courses each semester. This Fall these include Lie groups and Cryptography.

For advanced students there will be two courses (advanced combinatorics and intro dynamical systems) cross listed with ELTE University and one (intro algebraic geometry) with the CEU, offered on their campuses

.

All details (course descriptions) will be posted by August 22nd.

In addition, there is a great opportunity to take courses offered by the "Budapest Semesters in Mathematics Education" program -- as these will provide you with a uniquely Hungarian experience. This separate program offers courses that are based on the high reputation of Hungarian mathematics teaching and nurturing talented high school students. See their course offerings here. (Note however that you should check with your home institution to see how their courses fit in with your major and other rules.)
Once again, an up-to-date list of all courses we are planning to offer this semester will be available at http://www.bsmath.hu/ starting the 22nd of August. After studying it, please, fill out the online pre-registration form which will be sent to you by Agnes Szilard. The form has to be filled out by August 29th.

ORIENTATION Please note that the opening of the program with the orientation session will take place at our Bethlen ter headquarter on the 7th of September, Monday morning from 8:15 a.m and the participation of each of you is absolutely essential. It will be followed by a welcome party on the afternoon, at 4:30p.m. Note that the Monday morning and afternoon classes will be held in the meantime. You will meet most of the professors on Monday in class and/or the party.

Note that all dates are entered in the BSMATH UPCOMING EVENTS google calendar from which you can import them into your calendar if you wish. Other dates concerning BSM such as announcements of colloquia talks will appear here as well.

CALENDAR

The (brief) calendar of the semester is as follows:

Pre semester important dates

August 17th (Mo), 8:00 am Hungarian language course starts, Babilon language school.
August 18th (Tue), 2:30 pm Pre-orientation for those who are already in Budapest, BSM (Bethlen Gábor tér 2.)
August 20th (Wed), National Holiday. No classes, most stores closed.
August 29th (Sat), Pre-registration data is due (see above)
September 1th (Tue), 5:30pm River Cruise on the Danube (details will follow)
September 4th (Fri), Hungarian language course ends.
September 4th (Fri), Noon Make-up Pre-orientation I.: downtown walk for those who do not participate in the language course.
September 4th (Fri), 1:30pm Make-up Pre-orientation II.: at BSM (Bethlen Gabor Square 2)
September 5th (Sat), 11am Living in Budapest ("hands-on city experience tour"; details will be provided later)

Fall 2015 Opening Program

September 7 (Mo), 8:15 AM Academic orientation, Bethlen Gábor tér 2.
September 7 (Mo), 10:15 AM Classes begin, Bethlen Gábor tér 2.
September 7 (Mo), 4:30 PM   Welcome Party, Bethlen Gábor tér 2.

Academic Calendar

First day of classes September 7 (Mo)
Registration deadline September 24 (Th) Noon
Feedback session September 24 (Th) 4 pm
Last day of classes December 11 (Fr)
Final exams December 14-16 (Mo-We)
Transcripts (drafts) handed out December 17 (Th)
Official holidays
(no classes): 		October 23 (Fri), November 26 (Th, Thanksgiving)
Local math competition: November 21 (Sa)
Putnam competition: December 5 (Sa)


Comments:
1. October 23rd Friday is a holiday resulting in a long weekend for October 23-25.
2. The Friday (Nov 27th) following Thanksgiving Thursday is NOT off.

US EMBASSY IN BUDAPEST Last, but not least let me mention the American Citizen Services of the Budapest Embassy of the United States. Please, visit their WEB site http://hungary.usembassy.gov/service.html , it contains useful information for American citizens in Budapest. Pay particular attention to the Tourist advisory section http://hungary.usembassy.gov/tourist_advisory.html . Previous semesters a couple of times we had BSM students scammed in Vaci utca, which I naturally would like to avoid in the future.



Looking forward to seeing you in Budapest

Dezső Miklós, director and Agnes Szilard, associate director

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