International Student Orientation

Your orientation experience will take place before the start of your semester. We look forward to welcoming you on campus!

Opening Week Schedule

Tuesday & Wednesday, January 14-15: Graduate international student orientation
Thursday, January 16: Undergraduate international student orientation session
Friday, January 17: First day of classes
Monday, January 20: No classes, U.S. holiday – Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Tuesday, January 21: Classes resume as normally scheduled

Please see below for more information about your required orientation program. If you have any questions about orientation, please contact oge@dos5.net.

Graduate Student Orientation

The international graduate student orientation session that is hosted by the Office of Global Engagement is MANDATORY for all incoming graduate students. This orientation session will be held on January 14 and 15, 2025 Check in is 8:30 am-9:30 am both days. Orientation sessions will begin promptly at 9:30 am and the day will conclude at 4:00 PM, both days. This session is for incoming Spring 2025 international graduate students only. We ask that you do not bring guests as they cannot be accommodated, this includes family members, parents, significant others, and children. Pets are not allowed. All service animals must be approved by the Disability Resource Center before they are permitted on campus and the confirmation of approval must be sent to OGE before the orientation day.

Orientation is held in-person, on-campus at University Hall, Floor 7. Once you arrive to campus, you will see signs and orientation leaders who will direct you where to go. Register for Orientation – please only sign up if you have received your visa.

What to bring:

  • Sweater or jacket – the room can get cold
  • Appetite – Light breakfast will be served both days from 8:30-9:30 AM. Hot lunch will be served on day 1. This is your opportunity to try some American food!
  • Questions – Bring any questions you have!

Other Orientation Sessions:

Incoming graduate students may be required to attend multiple orientation sessions before the start of their program. You will receive an email regarding any sessions that you must attend.

The Graduate School will be having their New Student Orientation on January 7th at 12pm and January 9th at 4pm. These two sessions are via zoom. More information will be emailed to you closer to the start of the semester.
Undergraduate Freshmen and Transfer Student Orientation

Freshmen and transfer students will attend the college-wide new student orientation. You can find more information on this orientation here: Undergraduate Orientation. ALL incoming international undergraduate students are required to attend a MANDATORY Maintaining Your F-1 Status session in addition to the campus-wide undergraduate orientation. This session will be run by the Office of Global Engagement (OGE). You will receive an email with more detailed information about this session once you receive your visa and confirm your intent to enroll for the spring 2025 semester.

J-1 Exchange Students

Please contact the International Academic Initiative’s office for more information about this orientation.

Resource Fair for ALL New Students

Please check back for more information about the new student resource fairs.

International Student Resource Guide

Please review the International Student Resource Guide on CANVAS, which you will be added to after you receive your visa and confirm your intent to enroll. This guide has information about everything Montclair and what it means to be an international student here!

Parking and Transit Information

When coming to campus for orientation or just a visit, you can park in either the Red Hawk Parking Deck or Car Parc Diem Parking Deck for $12 for the entire day. You can find the location of each deck on our Campus Map.

Campus is also accessible via New Jersey Transit bus (Montclair Heights stop) or train (Montclair Heights station and Montclair State University station).

The NJ Transit bus schedule can be found here and the NJ Transit train schedule can be found here.