About Us: Advising Options
Students
You can choose from three options.
Virtual Drop-in Advising
Virtual drop-in advising is offered Fridays from 1:30pm – 4:00pm EST. You may join a Zoom meeting with an international student advisor to discuss F or J immigration questions. These drop-in sessions will last no more than 15 minutes, so if you have an inquiry that you think will need more time, please email isss@ohio.edu to schedule an appointment.
Instructions on how to join:
- Click the above link on Fridays between the hours of 1:30pm – 4:00pm to enter the Virtual Drop-in Advising Waiting Room.
- A staff member will greet you shortly and ask for your PID # and a brief description of what you would like to discuss with the advisor (please have this information on hand and ready). You will then be placed back to the virtual waiting room.
- When the advisor is free and prepared to assist you, you will be moved from the virtual waiting room to the virtual advising room to begin your discussion. After you are finished speaking to the advisor, please select “Leave the Meeting”. We have established this procedure in an effort to maintain security and privacy, so there may be short delays before you are greeted by an ISSS staff member.
In-Person Drop-in Advising
In-person drop-in advising is offered Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 1:30pm to 4:00pm. Come to our office in Yamada International House during these hours to meet with an advisor. These meetings are limited to 15 minutes, and are offered on a first come, first served basis.
Scheduled Appointments
If you are not available during the walk-in advising hours, or if you have a complex question that you believe will take more than 15 minutes, you can schedule an appointment by emailing or calling our office. We recommend scheduling an appointment if you wish to discuss changing your visa status, applying for reinstatement (if your SEVIS record has been terminated), or if you have a lot of questions about CPT. At this time all appointments will be conducted on Microsoft Teams.
Please note that we do not hold individual appointments to discuss the OPT application process. To learn about this please sign up to attend an OPT workshop by logging into your iCats account, scrolling down to the Events section, and registering for an upcoming workshop.
Scholars
Scholars (visitors conducting research and visiting professors) can schedule an appointment with a scholar advisor by calling our office or emailing isss@ohio.edu. Unfortunately we cannot offer drop-in advising for scholars at this time.