Remember when you first came to IIT, and how scary it was to start college? You probably had a ton of questions about professors, getting around, and more. Wouldn’t it have been great to have had those answers before you even arrived, and maybe even a friend on campus? Well, now you can be that person for your fellow IIT students! We have developed the I-Buddy program for current students to help incoming international students in preparing for and adjusting to life at IIT and the United States. Current students would not need to be from the US; they are welcome to act as buddies as long as they have spent one year on campus.

IIT students would email their buddy/buddies over the summer to answer their questions before they arrive at IIT. Many questions will be about dorm life, extracurricular activities, getting around Chicago, and academics – basic stuff in which you are the true experts (and may have even had the same questions before you came to IIT). New students want to hear this information from someone who has been there, and there is nobody better to help them than you. The International Center will provide you with contact information for campus offices to share with your student(s) in case you are asked questions that are not in your area of expertise (i.e. financial aid packages or immigration issues). In addition to an email correspondence, you are invited to attend various cultural events or get-togethers during the academic year with your new buddy, though these are not required.

If you are interested in this program, please feel free to register here. We plan to match buddies in early July. We hope that you will consider participating in this program to help make life a little easier for your fellow students!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ashley Sinclair at studyabroad@iit.edu.