New Student Form, Photo ID, and more.
**UPDATED FOR FALL 2014/15**

By CHAD FULLERTON, MACINSIDERS

If you are a new student entering first year you need to fill out and submit a NEW STUDENT FORM. This form is critical and you should have it mailed into McMaster no later than July 15th, 2014.

This form is required in order to get your Student Card with your photo on it which you will use for many things such as getting your sticker to show to the HSR bus drivers when boarding the bus so you don't have to pay the fare (HSR bus fare is free if you have a valid sticker, are a full-time MSU student, and paid your fees). You'll also need it for exams, and a whole bunch of other things when needing to show valid student ID.

While there has been plenty of questions and discussion over this form and other related forms which I'll mention later, we've been lucky enough to have Paula Johnson from the Registrar's Office help us out by answering some of those common questions. I'll attempt to summarize those answers here.

Students who are in upper years and returning to McMaster do not need to fill out this form again.

Obtaining the form
First of all, for those who are living out of the province, including International Students, most likely did not receive a package in the mail with the form. Not to worry, the form can be downloaded directly off the Registrar Office's website here.

Getting a photo taken
Once you have the form in hand, fill it out completely. You will note that it asks for a photo, this is important and necessary in order for your form to be considered complete. While it shows a box to place the photo in, don't worry if your picture ends up being bigger than the box. It is asked that the photo be of passport or wallet size, large enough for the office to scan and use for your Student Card. The photo should be of you facing forward and allow your face to show clearly so people can identify you. Note that it doesn't need to follow the strict passport rules, so you are allowed to smile in it!

If you need a passport sized photo I recommend Walmart or Costco as they can do it quickly, and for a very affordable price. If you are unable to get passport/wallet sized photos made, you can visit the Registrar's Office (Gilmour Hall Room 108) to have your picture taken for your photo ID at any time.

Submitting the form
Next is to submit the form. You cannot send the form in as a fax because the Registrar's Office needs a colour photo to scan from in order to create your McMaster student ID card. Sending the form without the photo is not a good idea as it will simply not get processed because it will be incomplete, that is unless you've already come down and had your photo taken at the office in person. Note: You can have your student card made when you come to campus, but be prepared for line-ups at the Registrar's Office during the first week of school.

For those you received an acceptance package with the form inside, you should also find a pre-address envelope that you can use to send the form in.

For everyone else, you will need to find an envelope and mail the form and photo to the following:

New Student Form
Office Of The Registrar
Gilmour Hall, Room 108
McMaster University
1280 Main St. W.
Hamilton, ON
L8S 4L8

The form should be returned no later than July 15, 2014 in order to ensure that your student card is created in time to be sent to you before classes start. This gives the Registrar's Office enough time to scan them, and create the actual card.

Receiving your new student card
Cards are mailed out after you have completed your online registration and payment agreement. You need to do that part first so that the validation stickers can be sent with your student ID card. You keep this card for your entire time at McMaster and just add new validation stickers for each year you register.

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GETTING READY FOR MCMASTER

Getting Ready For McMaster Overview - Start Here http://bitly.com/getreadyformac

Getting Ready For McMaster: 1. Activating Your MacID http://bit.ly/1pOZHXc

Getting Ready For McMaster: 2. The New Student Form http://bit.ly/1kSfU66

Getting Ready For McMaster: 3. Course Planning & Mock Timetable http://bit.ly/1oryTu5

Getting Ready For McMaster: 4. Picking Your Courses & Registering On SOLAR http://bit.ly/1mZupbs

-- Common Issues With SOLAR (and how to solve them!) http://bit.ly/1mmZCUa

Getting Ready For McMaster: 5. Calculating Fees & How To Pay http://bit.ly/1hnOydb

Getting Ready For McMaster: Buildings http://bit.ly/1mZubAR

Getting Ready For McMaster: Residence http://bit.ly/1nri15C

Getting Ready For McMaster: Course Lingo http://bit.ly/1p5FzAf

so i sent in my new student form and i put the pictures sideways cause it didn't fit in the box, does that matter?

I highly doubt it Anita.
If anything they will cut your picture down to size, they do the same thing for the residence photos at the beginning of the year.

No, it shouldn't matter. As long as they have a large enough photo to scan and use then that's fine. The box is just a guideline of where to place the photo.

bah...the little Asian man who took my picture said that it was safer not to smile...lol man, if only I'd seen this earlier I could've avoided looking like such a nutjob!

Haha,
a lot of people smile in their picture. Heck, a lot of people go to those little photobooths to have their picture taken for 4 dollars. I was not smart. I went to Blacks. Cost me an arm and half my leg.

Yeah, piece of advice people. Do NOT go to Blacks. It cost me just about 25 dollars to get my photo taken. AND, the girl told me I wasn't allowed to smile, even when I explained to her that it wasn't for my passport but for my student ID card. And how much does Costco charge? Less than half of what I paid. Brutal.

can I print my picture from the computer onto normal paper?? or does it need to be on photo paper?

i found many local stores around toronto that do passport photos: 2 for 7-8$~

I got it done at Costco, I'm pretty sure it was about $6.00

Meli,
Make sure it's of a decent quality to be scanned, photo paper would probably be best for quality. My room mate printed hers off on photopaper and it was fine. If anything, go to a photobooth at your local mall and pay 4 bucks for 4 little shots and send one in, a lot of people do that too.

am i able to jsut go to the mac campus and drop all the stuff off (form and picture) next time im in hamilton? since i have seemed ot miss the recommended mail in date :S

Originally Posted by WesleyS

am i able to jsut go to the mac campus and drop all the stuff off (form and picture) next time im in hamilton? since i have seemed ot miss the recommended mail in date :S

You should be able to but I'm not positive if you will get your student card at the expected time because you're handing your information in late. Go to Gilmour Hall to see the Registrar's office. If you're not going to be in hamilton within the next week I would call and see if you can still send it in by mail.

So, procrastination rules again... I have yet to do my payment agreement. If I do it today will they still send the card via mail?

Originally Posted by jhan523

So, procrastination rules again... I have yet to do my payment agreement. If I do it today will they still send the card via mail?

I can't say for sure actually. You could call but it's almost 4 pm now and most of the admin go home at 4pm. Call tomorrow and double check, you might have to pick it up when you get here.