I’m moving from France to college, and I wanted to know if anyone had tips on moving from abroad?
The trickiest part can be obtaining all of your essentials (e.g. bedding). Plan for how you’ll do that.
Do you have time and transportation to go shopping in the first few days in the US? Can you receive mail before you arrive and have it held for you (for online orders)? Can you obtain the most immediate essentials from the campus bookstore? Maybe you’ll fly with an extra suitcase and bring everything with you that you’ll need in the first week?
There’s some administrative stuff you’ll want to do like open a bank account, apply for a work permit and a Social Security Number, etc, but I suspect that the college will talk to you about that during some sort of International Student Orientation.
As for cell phones, you’ll want to research which carriers have good coverage in your neighborhood. Even urban areas can have coverage gaps due to the local topography. If you want to continue using your European phone, be aware that only two of the four large American carriers work with Sim Card/GSM phones (T-Mobile and AT&T). The other two large carriers (Verizon and Sprint) use a different technology (CDMA) that’s not compatible with most phones sold in Europe. There’s a number of discount carriers, most of whom operate on the network of one of the big 4 carriers. The same considerations about compatibility apply.
Actually, Verizon works with both- I regularly swap my US sim card with my European sim card w/ no problems. Just make sure your phone is unlocked. The real challenge with phones is that pay as you go is not as flexible as it is in Europe.
Bring much, much less than you think you need. Order your bedding online (from bed, bath and beyond / target / amazon) and have it delivered to your school. Bring your favorite lotions and potions, your favorite remedies (what you are used to taking for headaches/colds/etc) as well as any prescription medications AND the prescription from your doctor. Bring a few things that are “home”- a pillow, an object, some (packaged!!) comfort foods.
In some way, shape or form there will almost certainly be what is generically called "a Target run’ (or equivalent) during orientation week. There is almost nothing that you will need that you can’t get a reasonable version of at Target (you can look at Target.com to get an idea, but think a medium sized Carrefour). The campus bookstore will have an amazing amount as well. Also, there will be a campus ‘buy and sell’ online- a useful source for second hand things ranging from bicycles to small appliances to textbooks to graduation robes.
Finally, and optionally, you might bring a few small things as ‘thank you’ presents. You may find that some people go out of their way to welcome you (for example, you may be invited to a friend’s home for Thanksgiving), and having a little something from your home town / region is a nice way to thank somebody. You are a student, so nobody will expect anything grand!
I would think very hard regarding what you are going to bring.
There is a tendency for at least some parents here in the US to buy stuff for the student to take with them. However, assuming that you are coming from France to North America (perhaps the US), there is going to be a significant cost in shipping more than you can carry on the plane. Also, a lot of stuff will be less expensive to purchase when you are here.
Some examples I can think of are blankets, sheets, and even winter coats. All of these are going to be easier to purchase when you are here. Show up a week early and plan to go shopping.
Do you have transportation to help you get stuff to your dorm after you go shopping? One daughter is studying “slightly abroad” and the school arranged a shopping trip for the international students a couple of days before classes started.
Many years ago when I was a foreign student in the US there was a foreign student office in my university that helped with at least the visa paperwork and also with getting a social security card.
As was mentioned above, another issue is getting a cell phone that works in the US. We had a foreign student stay with us in a high school abroad program. They got a chip to use in their existing phone. Another option would be to get a new cell phone after you get here. You will of course want a deal that allows you to call France without additional charges. One issue is that if you stay with a French phone number it might cost other students at your school to call you. If you get a local cell phone that should not be an issue.
Are you coming to the US?
Also, make sure that you have your visa stuff in order. As one example, I am aware of a foreign student who assumed that once they had the student visa stamp in their passport, then did not need the form that they had gotten from the school. When they showed up at customs in the US they discovered that they needed both. Pay close attention to what you are supposed to bring in terms of visa paperwork.
Does your phone have both CDMA and GSM capabilities? Higher-end phones sold in the US often do.
My understanding is that Verizon uses sim cards for 4G data service, but it still relies on CDMA for voice service. Most phones sold abroad do not support CDMA, which makes them incompatible with Verizon.
Thank you for the information!
I’m binational (French-US) so I don’t have to worry about visa! I’ll also live off-campus, that’s why I’m a bit worried about the move. I won’t be going back to France for a while as well: Are you advising I sell most of my things that I would have to ship?
I think my phone would work with Verizon, but I was wondering if some carriers had student or family plans because the plans are so much more expensive than the french ones.
I also worry I won’t have time to get my driver’s license
If you have a full drivers license already, in most states you will just need to take the written test (info usually available online) and swap your French license for a US one (states vary, but I know that the 3 states that I have moved to with an international DL have let me keep my international one). Time at the DMV has never been more than a couple of hours, but in one place required two visits. If you don’t already have a full drivers license you will have to do a road test as well, and there may be some extra rules.
Bad news on the phone front: handsets are a little cheaper but service fees are higher than the EU. There are family plans though.
If you are effectively moving to the US then you are making different decisions than a typical student. Shipping things trans-Atlantic is expensive (both ways) which (along with your storage options in France and what your off-campus housing situation is), will shape what you keep and what you ship. Without a lot more info nobody here can really give you advice.
Most US states will let you drive on an international license at least for while, although I’m not sure whether you would be able to register a car without a state license. Obtaining a US bank account may be difficult until you have a US address, but you could investigate TransferWise, which caters to international types and can provide a debit card. Regarding whether you should move your furniture, etc. from France, you should investigate what’s available. If you ship a partial container by sea, it might not be too bad - usually the movers will come and give you a quote.
“a while” can be 30 days. States are really different about this. And, it can get ugly fast. I was living outside the US, visiting family in NC. While stopped at a red light another car hit us from behind. The police officer responding had a fit about my non-US DL, told me an official “International” DL was required in that state and that he would arrest me if I drove away in the car (it was still driveable). He stayed there until the car was parked in a nearby parking lot & we left in a cab. I *knew he was wrong but there was no fighting it in the moment.
(I went back to the house and looked it up - he was totally wrong. Turns out it was part of harassing ‘foreigners’ (aka people they assumed were illegally in the US).
@collegemom3717 , you are right, it is important to check the requirements of the specific state. I think that, technically, an international license is not a license pe se but more an English language confirimation of the foreign license, but I always carry one when I am traveling back to the US. Where I live in Asia, you can use an international license for one year, but after that you need a local license. I just checked my home state of New Jersey and it is the same. You can drive on a foreign license (plus perhaps an “International License” for confirmation) for only one year. In any event the international license should give OP time to obtain a local license.
I wonder if you could do Bed Bath and Beyond’s Pack and Hold service, and/or local pickup from Target, etc. This would be so you are not paying shipping fees from France to US. For the Bed Bath and Beyond, you go online and pick out all of your items, then they are gathered and held at the store closest to your college; when you come for move in, you pick them up (would need a car) and pay.
Yes, reduce all of your possessions to just what will fit in one suitcase.
Which state ?
Graduate student or undergraduate student ?
I disagree about the advice to reduce your possessions to what will fit in one suitcase. I moved a similar distance (across an ocean). I took about 14 suitcases for 2 people. I’m sure that my new house is bigger than your dorm though. Two of the suitcases I took on a trip 2 months in advance and left at my house. Two others, I shipped via luggage forwarding (luggageforward.com) at a cost of $150 each. The other 10 came with me (and 2 other people) on the move via airplane at a cost of about $600 total. Check with the airline and luggageforward.com to see what the cost of luggage would be and compare that to the cost of purchasing new clothes/bedding/housewares etc.
Dorm room + common sense = one suitcase.
Dorm room + 14 suitcases = yard sale.
OP is living off campus, not in a dorm