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Dear BSM student,

It is our pleasure to welcome you among the students of the 2016 Fall Semester of the BSM program. We, the Budapest director, the professors and the staff have great expectations of working with you!

We 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.)

Use these numbers and/or send us an email at afoti@mcdaniel.hu, agnes.szilard@gmail.com, budapestsemesters@gmail.com, if there are any changes or unforeseen events before or during your travel to 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.

For a reminder of the visa rules click here.

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 we sent you a letter issued by BSM explaining the situation to airlines, citing the apropriate laws. If you did not receive or lost it download it from here.

ARRIVAL IN HUNGARY
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.

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 dezso@renyi.hu or szilard@renyi.hu. Let us know of any last minute changes as well, as soon as possible!

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 +36304743924 from outside of Hungary.

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.

FIRST MEETINGS AT BSM

Please note that most probably the first person you will meet from the staff (apart from, 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 you with your needs.

Those of you who are taking the language course will meet Dr Dezso Miklós, director (a BSM professors as well) on Thursday, August 19th, 2:30 pm at the pre-orientation.

In addition to other programs, there will be a make-up pre-orientation for those of you who arrive later, on Saturday, Sept 3rd . The exact schedule will be posted and sent you later.

Both pre-orientations will take place at BSM headquarters (address: 1071, Budapest, Bethlen Gabor ter 2).

THE LANGUAGE PROGRAM AT BABILON
Those who are already in town to 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 of the city, the long school hours will take almost all of your days leaving little time for the daily routines of shopping, etc.

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. Otherwise you will apply for the permit.

PRE-ORIENTATION

There will an important BSM related event during the Babilon course: the pre-orientation at 2:30pm on Thursday, August 19th (as mentioned above) to discuss any question emerging till that point. 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, get your local insurance card etc.

(Once again, for those of you who arrive later, the make-up pre-orientation will be on Saturday, Sept 3rd with more events that day -- details will be sent by email and posted later at www.bsmath.hu.)

The BSM program itself will begin with the academic orientation on Monday, Sept 5th at 8am. Classes start at 10:15am the same day. There will also be a Welcome party the same afternoon (details will be posted later).

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.

Remember, 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 when you apply for the permit in the form of "okmánybélyeg" (fiscal stamps) that you will have to buy in advance at the post office. (Visa holders do not have to pay this fee, since you already did that when you applied for your visa.)

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 us 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

The www.bsmath.hu website should be your primary source of all academic information, as well as some crucial non-academic info - it is always the most up-to-date. Check the website (www.bsmath.hu) regularly starting August 22nd!

You will find information about all events, the rules, requirements, courses and program of the semester will be posted on the same website. The first version of the schedule of classes will be posted by the beginning of September.

ACADEMIC ORIENTATION Please note that the opening of the program with the orientation session will take place at our Bethlen ter headquarter on the 5th of September, Monday at 8am and the participation of each of you is absolutely essential. Classes will start right afterwards at 10:15am (the schedule will be posted by the 3rd of September). There will also be a Welcome Party the same afternoon where you will meet most of the professors and other BSM students.

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.





Dezső Miklós, director, Agnes Szilard, associate director, Anna Fói, Director of Student Services

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