<p>Hello, I'm planning on moving to the United States to go to college or university there as soon as I've graduated from high school in the Netherlands.</p>
<p>As America is quite far away from Holland, is there anything, except for the educational system and the usual stuff, I should know about?</p>
<p>Regards.</p>
<p>What do you mean by everything except “educational system and the usual stuff”? For example, are you aware of the various visa restrictions, both during and after your college years? College financing? The application process?</p>
<p>Or are you wondering more about everyday life in the US: customs, insurances, …?</p>
<p>I’m aware of the visa restrictions concerning jobs etc.
I’m working on how to finance everything.</p>
<p>Yes, mainly things in daily life that may very like you said. Would you mind telling me some more about that?</p>
<p>Public transportation is almost non-existent outside of the big cities (NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, …). If you want to live off campus, you will probably need a car.</p>
<p>Standard medical insurances don’t cover dental care or pre-existing conditions (e.g. if you are already diagnosed as diabetic when you purchase the insurance, it may not pay for diabetes-related expenses in the future). Then there’s copays, deductibles and coinsurances. You might have to pay $10 for each prescription or $50 each time you see a doctor (copay), cover the first $2,000 for certain particularly expensive procedures (deductible), or the insurance might only cover 80% of your bills (coinsurance). Not surprisingly, medical expenses are a major source of personal debt in the US. European-style insurances that pay for the full cost of your health care are crazy expensive.</p>
<p>Maybe other posters can think of more things that prospective international students should know ahead of time.</p>