<p>Hi, I am uncertain of how I want to book my flights to and from the US. When do students go home for christmas and after the year has ended? I don't know if I am even going to go home for christmas since it costs a bit, but I would still like to know when students at college usually plan to go home for the semester and when they come back after christmas for instance. Any input or shared concern would be appreciated!</p>
<p>You might just check the Website of your college. It tells you about Christmas break. Usually the term ends about 5 or 6 days before Christmas. Be careful that you do not plan ony leaving before all the exams are over. Fights become more expensive for the holiday season at around December 17 and stay high until January 4. Most dorms are closed for the holidays so you have to make plans anyway.</p>
<p>No, my college lets me stay at my dorm for all breaks except during the summer (free of charge). All I have to do is let them know before christmas break that I want to stay.</p>
<p>I want to know if and when students go home for breaks, not when the terms end, but maybe that is the answer? Should I plan to leave the day after the last exam or a week after the last exam? What if I find something else to do on campus or somewhere else in the US for winter break, then I don’t want to have booked a flight and etc. I know, these problems are not that big, but I would still like to optimize my first year at college in the US :)</p>
<p>Chris, students go home for breaks when their finals end. You HAVE to look at when the “term” or finals end because that’s when most students head for home. Each school has its own calendar but some students may not have finals and will leave earlier. </p>
<p>For christmas break, my elder daughter’s school ended their finals during the second week of December (7th) and returned on Jan 13th. My middle daughter’s finals ended the third week of December (14th) but she had to return the second week (Jan 7). It depends on the finals schedule. You book flights according to those dates. You find out your finals dates from the syllabus given by the professor at the beginning of the term.</p>
<p>Second the suggestion to check your college’s calendar. As an example, let me explain to you the moving in and out situation at my college. </p>
<p>Heading home: Finals ended on Friday at noon, dorms closed at 10am on Saturday (except for students with special winter break housing). Therefore most students booked a Friday night or Saturday flight. </p>
<p>Coming back to college: Spring classes started on Monday. The dorms re-opened on the previous Friday, but the dining halls stayed closed until dinner on Sunday. Sunday was the most popular moving-in day.</p>
<p>Let me add that winter break housing can be very uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Here’s what happened at my undergraduate college (Bryn Mawr, not unlike Franklin and Marshall in many regards). International students had the option to stay on campus over break. 20-30 students took advantage of that option each winter. Those students were all moved to a single dorm for the break. The caveat: the regular residents of that dorm did not move out of their rooms. That means the winter break residents had to live among the belongings of another person: winter break residents couldn’t use the closet and sometimes not even the desk when the regular resident had not cleared them. Winter break residents were not guaranteed any space except a bed. </p>
<p>Food shopping, storage and cooking was another big issue. With the dining halls closed, we had to feed ourselves. Winters in Pennsylvania can be harsh. We usually had several snow storms over winter break and the side walks were not reliably plowed, making food shopping a real drag. We couldn’t store much food either since the dorm had only 3 shared fridges for all 20-30 winter break residents. Cooking wasn’t an option either; we had microwaves but no stoves. </p>
<p>And then there was the housekeeping situation… During the school year, each dorm was cleaned daily by a housekeeper. During winter break, it was only cleaned once a week. You might be able to imagine what public bathrooms and trash cans look (and smell!) like after a week without cleaning…</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I didn’t think I would go home so soon, but if that is what everyone does…</p>
<p>Finals in the fall ends Dec 15th and they close the dorms the 16th 11 am. In spring finals end May 3rd and they close the dorms May 4th 11 am. I am just wondering how common it is to stay at school during winter break or if it is a bad idea? They have that option.</p>
<p>Thanks for the insight b@r!um, I can always count on your wisdom 
You are studying your masters at Stanford, am I right? Where do you come from originally? Do you plan on getting a job in the US after your education is completed or do you want to go home then? I don’t have many others I can talk to about these things.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m currently a PhD candidate at Stanford. I grew up in Germany and I was lucky enough to win the green card lottery while in college I’ll probably stay in the US after grad school.</p>
<p>It sounds like you were really lucky to win the green card lottery! I don’t know what the chances are of winning, but I would guess they are slim. I heard it requires you to have 50 k in your bank to keep the green card, is that true? Are there any more criteria?</p>
<p>The chances of winning depend on the nationality; for Germans it was around 4% in my days. Lucky me! I only had to show 10K in savings, but you could probably get away with very little savings if you already have a stable existence in the US (since the 10K is meant as ‘starting capital’ to help you move and get settled in the US). </p>
<p>Try not to worry about long-term visa issues right now. The US has a major immigration reform in the works right now a lot of things might change in the upcoming years. (Currently there’s talk about giving green cards to anyone with an advanced STEM degree from an American university; there’s also a chance that the green card lottery might get discontinued.)</p>