Studying in the US

[Gredival]

I have gone to school in MA, and currently attend grad school in Atlanta, GA.

- The south sometimes scares me >_>

I recently came to Atlanta for grad school. The Atlanta area around GT is safe so long as you aren't stupid. Some stuff does happen that makes the news and safety alert emails that go around, but so long as I am not being a dumbass I'm generally not afraid at all here.

But I agree with everyone here that the culture in the Northeast is definitely different from the South. Not necessarily bad though, at least in Atlanta specifically.

Which would be the best way to get my pocket money in there? Opening a bank account in an American bank over here or carrying the bills and open an account when I arrive?

In Atlanta, you will want an account with Bank of America or Suntrust. I don't know if Suntrust operates overseas, so do you have BoA where you are? Do you know if an acct. will work over here?

What's the usual girl/boy ratio like for CS over there? Is it as bad as in here at like <1/10?

According to my last roommate in GT's CS department, and a friend at UGA for a PhD in CS, yes it is.

Is it possible to iron clothing without bringing an iron? My answers so far to this is that college students don't iron at all. ._.

Uh how else would you want to iron? You could get clothes pressed for you at Dry Cleaners.

Are the showers co-ed?

I generally believe that colleges with co-ed bathrooms always offer a single sex equivalent. And even then, co-ed is rare.

Is a vaccine history required? I can't really recall where mine is right now, might need to fly to my dad's home to search for it over there.

I went to undergrad in Massachusetts coming from California and we had to provide vaccine info. I believe it has to do with the state health care laws in MA.

I didn't have to do the same when I came to school in GA.

What's the recommended way of dealing with a health insurance? Get an insurance over here with international coverage or get one in the States?

Not sure how GT works, but I have a school plan at my school. It is actually quite good.

If I wanted to, I could get gastric bypass or sexual reassignment surgery at no cost.

Are dorms noisy?

Most undergrad dorms are, but it depends a lot on where you stay. After the first year the party ppl group up in the same dorms, and the quiet people bunch up.

Do you know where you would be as a foreign exchange student?

What's the usual course of action if your dorm mate is a jerk? How likely is that?

If it's irreconcilable, usually you can get moved but that's pretty hard. Colleges tend to give priority to upper level students in getting singles, but I have no idea how many singles are available at Northeastern and GT, and how it interacts with foreign exchange.

[Silenka]

Is it possible to iron clothing without bringing an iron? My answers so far to this is that college students don't iron at all. ._.
Are the showers co-ed?
Is a vaccine history required? I can't really recall where mine is right now, might need to fly to my dad's home to search for it over there.
What's the recommended way of dealing with a health insurance? Get an insurance over here with international coverage or get one in the States?
Are dorms noisy?
What's the usual course of action if your dorm mate is a jerk? How likely is that?

Yeah, college students generally don't iron. If you really need something ironed, you could borrow one from someone who does have one or buy a cheap iron (I've seen some as low as $15 at department stores, really not too bad). Dry cleaners are usually pretty expensive for services, so if you're doing it a lot the best bet would be to buy a cheap iron, I think.

When I entered Ohio State University, I got placed in a dorm specially for transfer students, including international students. At least at my college, it seems like international students get top preferred treatment, as it was easily the best/newest dorm on campus. The room I shared with one other had its own full-service bathroom, even a bathtub, and there was a living room/kitchen area too. If you're lucky enough that whichever you pick has nice international student dorms like that, you shouldn't worry! But in general, bathrooms are not co-ed in dorms, there will be one for girls and one for boys.

For my college, I had to submit a vaccine history with my application. I had to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B and C I think, and Meningitis.

As far as health insurance, I don't know a lot about it. My college offered a full one for a lot of money (too much, but covered everything) or a partial one (cheap, allowed you to be seen at the student health center for free anytime, but needed a full plan from somewhere else backing it up). Might want to look into specifically international health insurance plans that you can pay for by month, at least I think I heard some people who went to Japan doing that.

Dorms are normally pretty noisy. It depends who you room with and who lives in your dorm. For example, mine was always quiet, no matter what was going on (and since mine is the biggest school in the States, sometimes it is VERY noisy). But a friend of mine who lived in a sister dorm a couple buildings away never caught a break from the loudness because he was rooming with football players and there were tons of them on the floor he was on, it was apparently pretty terrible. If you're rooming with other international students, though, you should be ok - they are almost always quiet as mice, from my experience, since they take studying seriously and try to be respectful while they're in the US.

If your dormmate ends up being a jerk, you can see if your dorm has a reassignment ability. Most of them don't allow reassignments after the choice has been made. It shouldn't be too likely, even in a school as big as mine I've barely met any real jerks. I think the biggest concern is that sometimes when people who don't know each other well live together, they can be jerks without actually realizing it. I was the accidental jerk to my roommate a few times, but she was too nice to tell me I was bothering her, so I didn't fix the problem until I realized it myself. So if you end up with a roommate who is well-meaning but does something that annoys you, just tell them nicely that they are bothering you, and maybe they will fix it. Unfortunately, if you get stuck with a real jerk, there is probably nothing you can do except maybe don't keep your valuables in your room, try to make a friend and see if you can sleep in their room instead (this happens a lot) and just stay out of your dorm as much as you can. There is a lot of stuff to do at a college/in a college town obviously, so it shouldn't be too hard.

[Mayareira]

As an ex-int. student in the US I'll answer the visa related stuff.

Is a 3 month tourist visa compatible with a 6 month student visa? I'm considering doing some tourism before or after the course.

You can not study without a Student Visa. Yes you can travel before/after (you've got 60 day grace period after + probably 1 year OPT)with your student visa as long as you are in status.

Which would be the best way to get my pocket money in there? Opening a bank account in an American bank over here or carrying the bills and open an account when I arrive?
Open a bank account when you get there.

What's the recommended way of dealing with a health insurance? Get an insurance over here with international coverage or get one in the States?

International coverage works if you've got a current health plan.

Are dorms noisy?

Depends, but generally yeah. Int. students generally get the better rooms because they pay extra for those.

What's the usual course of action if your dorm mate is a jerk? How likely is that?

Make sure your roommate understands what's OK for you and what isn't. If he is a dick, just ask for a different roommate.

VERY IMPORTANT TIP:

Get a Soical Security Number. Its extremely important for you to have one for your current issues in the US and for the future business. Only people eligible work in the US are allowed to have one (means you cannot walk into a Social Security Office and obtain one with a student visa) but there are two ways:

1. You will be granted one if you get a part-time job on campus. Students are allowed to do part-time work on-campus.

2. They'll give you one if you apply for OPT after you finish your course. Make sure you apply a couple of months in advance as it could take up to 3 months for your OPT card to arrive.

[Greatguardian]

With some of the answers here I'm feeling reassured of Boston not being a bad choice.

Another question: Are dorm thefts much of an issue? Can one expect lockers to safely store valuables? I'm a bit of a photography enthusiast and would really like to take my camera with me over there, but it's not something I would just store anywhere. I should probably worry for my laptop too.

Lockers aren't usually provided, but dorm rooms typically have solid locks on them (varies by campus). At my university, all of the dorms require swiping a keycard (which are specific to the building you are assigned to) to get into at all, and on top of that all individual dorm rooms require swiping the keycard (which, again, only works for residents assigned to that specific room) again and combining it with a 4-digit pin code to unlock the door (which auto-locks again when it closes). It's pretty damn secure from outside theft, but you may still have to deal with roommate theft depending on who you get. That's something that's really up in the air though, and depends on who you get assigned with.

Most schools have a free software program where they'll provide you with LO-JACK for your laptop for free/cheap. It's a security program that allows you/police to track the GPS location of your laptop if it gets stolen. I'm pretty sure they also make laptop locks now which fit into the power cord slot if you really wanted to secure it. If you want to bring your camera equipment over, I'd suggest investing in a small lockbox just to be safe. You can never be too careful. Hell, my roommate my freshman year had a lock on his bloody refrigerator. That thing drove me crazy. He would randomly go home for a week at a time while I had sushi or cheese locked in it.

In general, all it's really going to come down to is who you get assigned to room with/near. Outside threats aren't really a concern at most schools, so your biggest/only worry will be your roommate and whoever you or your roommate lets into the room.

Otherwise, seconding the Boston sentiment. Cost of living is a bit higher, but screw the South.

EDIT: Actually, if your camera equipment is sensitive/breakable, DEFINITELY bring a lockbox or something secure to store it in. Even if your roommate or his friends aren't the type to steal shit, accidents happen and things get broken - especially in a college environment where not everyone may be sober. You do not want to be out a thousand bucks because someone knocked your camera off your desk and stepped on it.

[Viena]

Apologies for the necrobump, but I have a follow-up for this thread.

In the end I chose and got accepted to the Northeastern's exchange. The more contact I have with the university's staff and learn about the city and the university itself the more happy I am I made this choice. Had a couple of calls with a Northeastern's dean to discuss my academic plan and he managed to get me even more excited about the whole thing. Thank you BG for your advice on the matter, it was really helpful.

I'd like to ask two questions regarding Boston:

I should probably get a cellphone plan, and it including data would be welcomed. Which would be the best option? I have an iphone 4 that my EU carrier could unlock and use that over there. I pay 30€/month (including taxes) for a basic voice plan and a 200MB data plan (it's actually unlimited, but speed just gets capped after that). I would be looking for something similar. Also, is something like WhatsApp used and popular in the US?

I'll get on campus housing during the fall semester, but I'll have to get my own for the spring. Would anyone have suggestions as to how I could find an apartment in the area? (perhaps shared)

[archibaldcrane]

Regarding cell phones, I'm not sure but you may be able to use your iPhone on TMobile's http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans monthly unlimited talk/text/web plan ($50/mo)

[Byrthnoth]

Rent in Boston is atrocious, but you will probably want to get out of the dorms by Spring. Make friends when you get to Boston and hunt for apartments through them. If you don't find any that way, at least get your biggest friend to come with you while you check out classified "seeking roommate" ads from websites like Craigslist.

You can probably get a comparable cellphone plan over there (except for secretly-unlimited data). I have no experience with the carriers in Boston, but they're familiar names. Every one of them has shitty customer service if you have any kind of problem. Here are links to coverage maps, but they're all going to claim that their coverage is fantastic of course:
http://www.cellreception.com/coverag...ton/page1.html

[RKenshin]

I'll get on campus housing during the fall semester, but I'll have to get my own for the spring. Would anyone have suggestions as to how I could find an apartment in the area? (perhaps shared)

As another mentioned, typically are tons of postings daily on craiglist for apartments/condos/roomies:
http://boston.craigslist.org/

Backpages too:
http://boston.backpage.com/

I'd also recommend looking into whether Northeastern has their own version of a listing, where people specifically at the college post and look for roommates and such. I went to school right outside of Boston as well, and the college had their own classified listings for its students.

[BerenTebogo]

I live near Boston, and it's a proven scientific fact that being in the same state as me makes you cooler. Go Northeastern.

(Also NE is going to be better for networking. They have a fantastic co-op program. Even if you're only here for one semester, tons of companies have very close ties to NE so you'll be able to create opportunities to network / brownnose / whatever a lot easier than most other schools.)

[jmc]

Stay away from roxbury, dorchester and mattapan when it comes to apartments.

Fenway or south end area is ideal for a northeastern student.