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Hi guys,
so, some of you may know that I am going to study into the United States, as I had already made a thread last year. I am to go to Muskingum University, Ohio, in January.
So, instead of doing threadnecromancy, I made this new thread.
Do you have any tips for living and studying in America ?
Any advice about how to lower the cost of living ?
Any great places to see in addition of New Concord and Columbus ?
Feel free to share you own experience of studying abroad !

I can't speak to that area since I have never been there, but I will say this: I worked at a college, and at least where I was, the dorms were an enormous rip-off. From the price you would have been much better served getting an apartment in town. If you were planning on staying on-campus, I would investigate this.

 Ouze wrote:
I can't speak to that area since I have never been there, but I will say this: I worked at a college, and at least where I was, the dorms were an enormous rip-off. From the price you would have been much better served getting an apartment in town. If you were planning on staying on-campus, I would investigate this.

Unless you become a Resident Adviser. A lot of schools give free room and board to RAs. It can be a pretty good gig if you are able to get in to it.

If you like ice cream, Tom's Ice Cream Bowl in Zanesville (near New Concord) is great.

Columbus has a lot to do, especially around the Ohio State University Campus. If you make it down to southern Ohio, Cincinnati is a really cool city with a lot to offer as well. If you like outdoors stuff, Ohio has lots of parks and forests. The Hocking Hills region is good for that sort of thing.

What kind of things are you interested in? That could help us better answer your questions.

There's also Graeters Ice Cream, which is phenomenal. I'd also recommend going to the Hoffbrau Haus if you get the chance.

 Ouze wrote:
From the price you would have been much better served getting an apartment in town.

It depends. College towns tend to have jacked rent prices too. Though if you can go 20 miles or so away the effect will drop off.

If you are around in the summer hard to beat Sandusky, Ohio. Cedar point is packed full of some of the best roller coasters in the world. You could also take the ferry and visit Put in Bay island

https://www.cedarpoint.com

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, also.

Thanks guys !
As an international student, I HAVE to go at the campus dorms.
But it doesn't seem that expensive, less than 2300 for 5 months

Could you tell me about Healthcare ? I am doing estimates online, and I think I have eventually found something (295 for 5 months), but I don't really know the cost of thing in America. Like, how much is it for going tp the doctor or a sprained ankle (I am a healthy person but we never know).
How many $ do you pay for you insurance, for example ?
It is not easy as I am used to have free healthcare

How much you would pay for healthcare in the U.S. will vary drastically from state to state and even hospital to hospital. Or even day by day in the same hospital. You'll have to look into specific answers about insurance through the university, your employer etc. in the marketplace you'll be inhabiting, because prices are basically set by what care providers think they can scam out of insurance companies vs. what insurance companies think they can get away with not covering on any given day. It's definitely not easy to navigate, but there are still plenty of resources out there to help if you do your research and take advantage of them. If you're paying all of your own health insurance as an individual without any kind of subsidy, I would expect to pay around $170-250 per month. However, if you get health insurance through your school, job or some other means you can likely get it for cheaper than that.

Travel insurance is also probably going to be a bit different than regular insurance.

That fee does not seem unreasonable, but with insurance there are a lot of different options.

What’s your deductible? This is the amount you have to pay out of pocket before before your insurance coughs up any cash. You will still get any discount your insurance company has negotiated with the hospital though.

Does it have co-pays a/o co-insurance? These are the amount you have to pay, even after your deductible has been met. Co-pays are normally fixed amounts, while co-insurance are a percent of the cost.

Is there a maximum they will pay? Is there a maximum out of pocket for you (after which they pay everything including your copays)?

When you go to the hospital, you are going to generate a lot of bills. For example, last year my Ex though The Boy might have had pneumonia, took him to the doc, and the doc sent him to the hospital for a chest x-ray.

Office visit: $210 (with the discount negotiated via participating insurance, only $145)
Hospital bill to take the x-ray (machines, technition, etc) $433, adjusted down to $303
Radiologist fee to read and interpret the pictures: $38, adj to $22.

If I didn’t have insurance, or was seeing a non-participating/out of network doc, I’d not have gotten the reduced prices. If you ever find yourself without insurance, ask if you can pay at the medicare rate. Worst that happens is they say no, but it’s the standard for what docs actually get paid for what they do, and is a lot less than what they bill at. My insurance is what’s known as a high deductible plan, so I had to pay those charges. My plan does have a low premium, so I don’t pay a lot per month for coverage. To contrast, the plan my Ex had access to charges ~$600 a month, but has almost no deductible and very low copays. The same trip to the doc would have only set me back $80 under her plan. My maximum out of pocket is less than what she pays in premiums, which is why I have our son covered under my plan.

It’s a complicated mess. And what I do for a living. And I still am confused half the time. Insurance companies love to take your money, but are loath to pay out. So there are all sorts of hoops to jump through and little gotcha corner cases they will use to deny claims. Most of which should be invisible to the patient, but lurk in the shadows.

Be aware, according to the news, Ohio is in the mist of a bedbug epidemic. Supposedly more prevalent in the north/east part of the state.

What about the weather ? The university told me it is 2°C (35°F) in winter but an ex student that came back from Muskingum told me -20°C (-5°F) ! So, is it really that cold in this part of the USA ? (by the way, do you understand / use the Celsius and metric systems ? Or only your systems ?)

And yeah, ChainswordHeretic, I am going to be in the North-East of the State...

I have eventually found a healthcare insurance a bit more expensive (325) but with no deductible so that's ok, and that is tailored for meeting US universities criteria.

Speaking about enormous rip-off, for this price I will have collective showers
But unlimited access to the university sport facilities !

What I am also curious about is how to socialize with American people: I saw that usually people from English speaking countries are more welcoming, but that it is hard to get past that and to developp a true friendship.
I have been told to join a fraternity as a way to socialize.

Thanks for the little tips, guys

In three days I am going to have my Visa interview in at the U.S. embassy, wish me luck !

Weather- you're off the Great Lakes with nothing in the way. Expect below freezing, and occasional large dumps of snow. Especially in late January.

And no. Don't expect metric or Celsius. Expect senseless rambling about how confusing/'bad' they are.


---
Fraternities are for drinking (excessively, not socially) and raping. Don't recommend. At best, expect bad movie stereotypes.

True friendship... Maybe? 'Gaming buddies' is more likely. Lots of students are commuter students these days, with jobs or lives of their own. Outside of classes you won't see them.

----
Positive and potential helpful suggestion: Offer tutoring services in your native language/and or others you know well. Either for the language department or independently at an hourly rate. Real meaningful experience with foreign languages is something severely lacking at most US universities.

Ohio has cold winters and hot summers. Prepare accordingly. You don't need to join a fraternity to make friends. Making contacts in the language department could definitely be helpful.

I am eventually in America ! I arrived yesterday night.
So far, I have been very busy with administrative stuff, a campus tour etc...
I didn't had choice for my health insurance, I bought the one from the university so this is solved !

And yeah, Ohio is REALLY cold. It is snowing right now !

The room is pretty big finally, even with a roommate. However, the showers are shared for the whole floor, I didn't expect it, especially for 700§ a month...

For the moment, no american students are present, only international ones (they will come the 14th January).

 godardc wrote:

The room is pretty big finally, even with a roommate. However, the showers are shared for the whole floor, I didn't expect it, especially for 700§ a month...

As is tradition for undergrad housing

The communal shower thing is fairly common for some reason for dorms, especially older ones.

 Vaktathi wrote:

 godardc wrote:

The room is pretty big finally, even with a roommate. However, the showers are shared for the whole floor, I didn't expect it, especially for 700§ a month...

As is tradition for undergrad housing

The communal shower thing is fairly common for some reason for dorms, especially older ones.

I think it dates back to WW2 Barrack's design, and a lot of those same guys built college campuses after the war. Individual showers would have been more expensive than making a single large community shower.

Of course at my College, it was that way because the guy who designed it also built the min-security prison up the road. It wasn't obvious until it got pointed out, then it was SUPER obvious. Add barred gates and doorways and the dorms were clearly prison blocks

So, I have finally returned to France. One semester was really short and time flies !
I think I can say it has been one of the greatest experience of my short life, and I discovered such a friendly culture and people, I wasn't expecting that.
So, now is time to return to 40k !
Thank you America for being so amazing, Ohio particularly !

Okay, okay, enough with the inconsequentials. Did you get to try any of that ice cream while you were here?

 Just Tony wrote:
Okay, okay, enough with the inconsequentials. Did you get to try any of that ice cream while you were here?

Haha yes I did ! I do remember bringing a date to Tom Ice Cream bowls for example !
And I have to say the ice creams were huge and tasty

 godardc wrote:

 Just Tony wrote:
Okay, okay, enough with the inconsequentials. Did you get to try any of that ice cream while you were here?

Haha yes I did ! I do remember bringing a date to Tom Ice Cream bowls for example !
And I have to say the ice creams were huge and tasty

Glad to hear you enjoyed it and that you were able to make it to Tom's Ice Cream Bowl. That place is legendary.

So I'm curious though - it seems like you weren't expecting a friendly people and culture in Ohio and were pleasantly surprised. What were you expecting initially and how did your experience differ from your initial expectations?

IDK why exactly but I was expecting American people to be quite distant and difficult to bond with. However, evreyone including strangers, were very kind and friendly, apoligizing and helpful. Way more than in my hometown...
Just crossing the street and if I came accross someone I had never seen before, they would smile and say hello. It goes straight to my heart !
Sometimes I even thought: "eh, they are a bit naive". It was just so cool to see human being actually being nice and that cared for each other
Not distant at all, except that you don't kiss to say hello and I deeply missed that lol