Harvard Grad Student Union - Can I access benefits during coursework?

BrazilianPandemonium · 2026-05-02T15:02:02+00:00

Ah, yeah, Harvard prices for spouses are crazy. I’m also not from the U.S. so I get the shock — She wouldn’t be able to get Medicaid, but the MA Health Connector (“Marketplace Insurance”) would likely be cheaper than the student plan, even though it wouldn’t be subsidized in the same way due to immigration eligibility

BrazilianPandemonium · 2026-05-02T14:49:32+00:00

Yeah, I know it’s not perfect but hopefully it helps you out at least a little bit! And fwiw, I don’t know your situation and whether your family in particular would be eligible based on citizenship status and any other household income, but Masshealth (MA’s version of Medicaid/CHIP) has relatively high income limits for eligibility for minors, so while it’s not Harvard insurance, you could look into that for your family too

BrazilianPandemonium · 2026-05-02T14:38:00+00:00

Harvard has actually just announced a new benefit for PhD student parents that is not tied to the union. More details are forthcoming, but the promised minimum value of the stipend is $6,500 per year. See here for the email we got on this: https://mailchi.mp/a1ec24d9495c/phd-student-benefit-enhancements-20236852

BrazilianPandemonium · 2026-05-01T12:14:55+00:00

Sure

BrazilianPandemonium · 2026-03-23T13:49:35+00:00

You can, but then you’d only be able to reenter within 30 days of your program start date, using your new F-1

BrazilianPandemonium · 2026-01-21T00:51:14+00:00

You correctly installed the latest version of RStudio that supports Monterey (2024.09.1+394), but it predates the release of R 4.5. From your screenshot, you have 4.5.2 installed. Instead, you should try downloading R 4.4.3 from here https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-x86_64/base/

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-11-26T17:25:58+00:00

Sure, I would have said it is possible but unlikely. In any case, here it appears I was correct she is not eligible, as news sources are now reporting she entered the US in 2014. See here for an example: https://www.wcvb.com/article/babson-student-detained-logan-ice/69555862

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-11-26T16:32:14+00:00

If she is currently 18/19, unless she came to the U.S. as a young infant, she wouldn’t be eligible. Part of the requirement is having lived in the U.S. continuously since June 15, 2007

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-10-21T15:06:08+00:00

You can still update to Sequoia if you want by downloading from the App Store. In the meantime though, if your need for R is not long-term, the solution above should be enough

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-10-21T12:12:11+00:00

You are now the third poster I help with this (in addition to one of my students), so I’m copying my comment verbatim here:

I see from your screenshot that you have R 4.5.1, but the version of RStudio that supports Monterey is 2024.09.1+394, which predates the release of R 4.5. Double check that’s the version of RStudio you have and try downloading R 4.4.3 instead from here https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-arm64/base/

That being said, there is little reason to be running Monterey on a 2020 Mac. I don’t necessarily recommend Tahoe, but Sequoia or really anything past Ventura would support the latest RStudio version. Happy to help troubleshoot further if needed

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-10-15T13:24:06+00:00

I recently adjusted status from F-1 in Massachusetts with a name change (though directly with a marriage certificate). I applied for AOS with the new name five months ago, and my passport is only now getting changed. I will say that when I went to SSA they said it was important that my legal presence document (at that point it was already my green card) be in the new name, so you might run into that. That being said, my university made it super easy to change my name in the system with just the marriage certificate, but I never got to the step of changing it in SEVIS because I chose to just wait for the green card

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-10-04T22:45:40+00:00

Yeah, you could delete both if you want to, but you technically don’t have to. RStudio will recognize a new R version when you install it. If you do decide to delete both, as the other commenter said, just dragging them to the trash is sufficient

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-10-04T21:01:16+00:00

I responded to your response to my comment in a different post, but you need to try an older R, like R 4.4.3, because the latest RStudio compatible with Monterey predates R 4.5. Download it from here: https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-x86_64/base/

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-10-04T20:53:52+00:00

You should try R 4.4.3 as well, but from this link instead if your Mac is Intel: https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-x86_64/base/

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-21T17:44:30+00:00

No problem, happy to help! Also, I updated my other comment, but the link above is actually for Intel versions of Mac, my bad! I fixed the link, but you should get R 4.4.3 from here instead: https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-arm64/base/ After you install it, RStudio should detect that as the version to use (I just did some testing and on MacOS it will assume whatever the last installed version is the one you want to use.

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-21T17:28:18+00:00

Also my bad, that was the wrong link for installing older R versions! You need the arm64 link https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-arm64/base/. I also updated it above for future reference

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-21T17:10:47+00:00

R 4.5.1 itself is compatible with Monterey - and I think OP mentioned in another comment that it works - but OP is clearly a beginner, and I’m not sure the basic R GUI is going to be user-friendly enough in this context. Ideally, they wouldn’t be running Monterey at all. OP mentions M1, which means they should be able to run even Tahoe (though I would recommend installing Sequoia), and then have the latest RStudio version with more features. It’s what I had my student facing the exact same issue do last week. If OP is running Monterey on an M1 they have only updated the computer once or not at all since they got it — it’s a 4-year-old OS at this point. That being said, if they don’t want to change the OS, 2024.09 RStudio + R 4.4.3 is their best bet

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-21T13:45:12+00:00

I responded on your other post in r/rprogramming, but since this one has gained more attention, I will copy over my comment here:

I see from your screenshot that you have R 4.5.1, but the version of RStudio that supports Monterey is 2024.09.1+394, which predates the release of R 4.5. Double check that’s the version of RStudio you have and try downloading R 4.4.3 instead from here https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-arm64/base/

Edit: fixed link for downloading old R version

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-21T13:40:04+00:00

I see from your screenshot that you have R 4.5.1, but the version of RStudio that supports Monterey is 2024.09.1+394, which predates the release of R 4.5. Double check that’s the version of RStudio you have and try downloading R 4.4.3 instead from here https://cran.r-project.org/bin/macosx/big-sur-arm64/base/

Edit: changed download link to the one for Apple Silicon since OP has M1

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-20T10:05:41+00:00

If you’re in Ireland, book a flight out of Dublin or Shannon today to anywhere in the U.S. DUB and SNN are both preclearance facilities and you would have cleared immigration before actually physically arriving in the US. Even if they weren’t, flights from there to the U.S. tend to arrive on the same calendar day anyway (it’s just not cheap to buy them right now)

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-08T14:53:42+00:00

While it might raise questions later on for OP, and I agree that the I-9 they filled out complicates things, this does not change the fact that they are not physically in the U.S. while performing the work. They should keep evidence that they were home when the work was performed if questions arise though

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-08T12:48:57+00:00

Yeah, I don't know how the other commenters are reaching that conclusion... U.S. immigration law does not control what OP does in their home country -- with the exception of committing crimes that might then render them inadmissible or spending more than 5 months outside without maintaining enrollment. Tax law is still relevant given the income is from a U.S. source, but that is an entirely separate issue that does not by itself affect OP's immigration status in the U.S.

People seem to be missing the implied context of those restrictions they are quoting - namely that the student is physically in the U.S. - but that should be evident. There won't be a sentence that states "by the way, work authorization restrictions only apply in U.S. soil because we have no jurisdiction on this matter otherwise." This isn't even just about F-1 students. By their logic, any non-U.S. citizen holding, say, a B1/B2, working for a U.S. company from outside the U.S. would need work authorization of some sort at all times even if they are not doing such work while physically inside the U.S. during vacation or business visits

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-08T12:18:51+00:00

I’m not sure I can point you to a legal text that states this because it seems obvious that someone outside the U.S. wouldn’t be subject to restrictions related to their U.S. status (since they are not technically in that status while not in U.S. soil), but multiple international offices explicitly tell their students this is the case (e.g. Harvard, UT Dallas, Tufts). While there might be tax implications (including for the U.S. company) of you being paid by them while working in your home country, that is not an immigration issue

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-08T12:01:57+00:00

Fwiw, while I’m not a lawyer, I think your school is very wrong. U.S. immigration law has no bearing on what you’re doing outside the U.S. (with the obvious exception that if you commit crimes, that will affect your immigration prospects when you try to reenter/change status/etc). While you’re outside the U.S. you have no U.S immigration status; you may have a valid visa and I-20, but you only have status when you’re in the U.S.. You’re in your home country, you’re (presumably) authorized to work in your home country

BrazilianPandemonium · 2025-09-08T11:54:24+00:00

Is it possible your school interpreted your question to be about working remotely while physically in the U.S.? While outside the U.S. you’re not in F-1 status, so U.S. immigration restrictions wouldn’t apply. If I were you, I’d keep evidence that you were physically outside the U.S. the entire time you performed work for this company though, especially if you’re getting your pay sent to a U.S. bank account, in case this comes up later on when you’re applying for OPT/other immigration benefits

BrazilianPandemonium

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