Out of pocket expenses

I am an international student accepted for Fall 2016 at Macalestor college. Can anyone tell me what is a realistic estimate of the personal and out of pocket expenses I should consider in my yearly budget. This should include two weeks of living off campus in Dec when college is closed. Tuition room and board are covered by my scholarships.

Have you contacted the financial aid office at the school which should have that data? There are many international students at Mac.

I did but all they said was that it was different for different students. Not very useful

Also look at the academic calendar and see when the dorms are closed…like Spring break and any other times. looks to me like Dorms close 12/19 and open 1/19…so almost a month http://www.macalester.edu/isp/attachments/15-16_ISH.pdf

Travel to and from home.
Travel around US if interested
Haircuts
Food outside of the meal plan…pizza, etc.
toiletries (toothpaste, deodorant, etc)
Books (can be $200 per book sometimes)
Health insurance/fees
clothes
recreation

Check out the host family program http://www.macalester.edu/isp/programs/hostfamily/
They are not obligated to host you over Xmas break, but they may volunteer to.

Also ask in:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/

International students are allowed into campus dorms after two weeks in winter. How much might students be typically spending in those two weeks living in the twin cities? Assuming they are at cheap hotels and eat inexpensive food.

Also:

  • mobile phone service
  • travel to/from airport

My daughter is a student at Mac. Some of her international friends spent part of winter break with their host families, some spent time with with friends whose families live in nearby suburbs or with students who have apartments in the surrounding neighborhood. It’s good to be prepared, but I would be fairly surprised to hear of international students who had no option except paying for solo hotel rooms for two weeks.

Personal expenses do vary quite a bit. I can say that my daughter works six hours a week, clearing less than $60/week. That has covered most of her laundry, drug store/Target items, public transportation, and occasional coffees/meals in the neighborhood.

I would definitely contact the foreign students office about this. I went to a college with lots of foreign students, and all of them had a local host family that would hep out in times like this, meaning almost no expenses over break.