USC campus
USC · Los Angeles, California

You don't have to
do this alone.

ISMP at USC is a group of volunteer mentors who meet international students here on campus. Come to one event, or get matched with a mentor and start from there.

Your mentors here

Some of the mentors you'll meet here.

They run the workshops, host the dinners, and stay in touch long after your first semester.

Andrew Chen
Andrew ChenSenior Manager of Business Intelligence, YahooUC Berkeley and USC · MS, Business Analytics
Christine Lee
Christine LeeNanofab Process Improvement Team Lead, USC Information Sciences InstituteUC Berkeley and UCLA · MS, Material Science
Josh Blum
Josh BlumSoftware Engineer, CorelationUCLA · BS, Biochemistry
Mabelle Texeira
Mabelle TexeiraCustomer Solutions Expert, AppFolioUC Santa Barbara · BS, Biological Sciences
Jackie Chiu
Jackie ChiuSenior Support Engineer, EDBUC San Diego · BS, Computer Science
What to expect

What a mentor actually does.

  • Real help
  • Open to everyone
  • Your pace
01

Get help with the real things.

How to email a professor, a roommate problem, a housing question, and what looking for a job in the U.S. is really like. These are the parts of life here that nobody explains. Our mentors are unpaid volunteers who know how hard it is to move to a new country, and they are happy to help.

02

Open to everyone.

ISMP is built on Christian values, and all of our mentors are Christians. Their faith is what motivates them to volunteer and invest in the lives of international students. What you do together is practical and personal: studying, working, and building a life here. There is no requirement to be Christian to participate. Every international student is welcome.

03

You set the pace.

You meet your mentor once to start. After that, you decide how often you meet and what you talk about. Some students meet every week. Others only want to talk once, before something important like a big presentation. You can stop at any time.

Students at an ISMP welcome event
A large group of ISMP students and mentors at a board game night in Philadelphia
A mentor and a student holding their drinks at a cafe
Students at an ISMP welcome event
01

Get help with the real things.

How to email a professor, a roommate problem, a housing question, and what looking for a job in the U.S. is really like. These are the parts of life here that nobody explains. Our mentors are unpaid volunteers who know how hard it is to move to a new country, and they are happy to help.

A large group of ISMP students and mentors at a board game night in Philadelphia
02

Open to everyone.

ISMP is built on Christian values, and all of our mentors are Christians. Their faith is what motivates them to volunteer and invest in the lives of international students. What you do together is practical and personal: studying, working, and building a life here. There is no requirement to be Christian to participate. Every international student is welcome.

A mentor and a student holding their drinks at a cafe
03

You set the pace.

You meet your mentor once to start. After that, you decide how often you meet and what you talk about. Some students meet every week. Others only want to talk once, before something important like a big presentation. You can stop at any time.

Eason Cai
“Joining ISMP was one of my best decisions because it gave me a true home away from home.”
Eason Cai · Physics and Computer Science · UC Berkeley
Photos

A year at ISMP.

ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo
ISMP community photo

There are mentors at USC right now.

Tell us your year and what you want help with. It takes a few minutes.

Apply to get a mentor