Hi I’m a freshman at Cornell and was wondering what bank I should open my account in. I’m an International student btw. I’ve heard good things about BofA but it doesn’t have a branch in Cornell so I guess going with it won’t be smart. I need a bank that issues a debit card quick too; can’t live without my Spotify! Thanks a ton btw!!!
Not international, not sure whether that matters.
But we got my son an account at TD Bank this time last year. There was one around the block from his campus. There are branches all over the place around here. And, best yet, their hours are wonderful!! They’re open way past typical “bankers hours” including Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
The school did have a local branch with a no fee ATM on campus, but we wanted a bank where I could deposit money here, on Long Island, for his PA school. The ATM was really a non-issue— people of your generation rely on cash a whole lot less than people of my generation. When he did need cash once or twice, he was OK with the $2-3 fee.
@bjkmom Thank you!! That was helpful. I’ll look into TD
Sounds like TD is a good option. Also, you’ll use your student ID for most everything on campus (even vending machines). When you need to deposit or transfer more money to your student ID accounts, you can do that online (deposit checks by phone). Banking is so easy now, you rarely need to go into the bank. You’ll almost never need cash. Between a credit/debit card and your student ID, you’ll be set for most things.
First of all, you can use your credit card for almost any purchases in Ithaca and on campus, so you won’t need much cash on hand. My kids had accounts at my large international bank. Their accounts were also tied to mine, so I could transfer money to their accounts and they could take advantage of benefits I had at the bank (free atm withdrawal). If your parents have enough assets back home, they may want to open an account for themselves and you at a large international bank, like Chase, HSBC. It would allow them to transfer money to your account quicker.
If you want a bank account for your spending money and such, then any of those Ithaca banks should be fine. Check out their banking fees and locations.
I re-read my post and it didn’t come out the I way I wanted it to.
, doesn’t sound very nice. 
All I meant to say was if it wouldn’t cost your parents a lot of fees by opening those accts at a large international bank then it would make sense, and the only way the fees would be low is if your parents were able to keep a large deposit at the bank.
You may need a SSN to open an account at some banks, so you might be better off using a bank from your own country and just having a debit card. My daughter just went to England for a semester and used her debit card. I got her a credit card on my account but she only needed it once. She was trying to buy a ticket on the train to Paris and it wouldn’t take her debit card, but that was the only time she needed to use the credit card.
You’ll find a lot of people who don’t like B of A. It is a ‘too big to fail’ bank, and is known for having a lot of fees associated with accounts.
Very little cash needed, except for food trucks. The students Venmo each other and charge/debit everything else.