<p>We live overseas and our phones are set up for internet in this country. She'll be in the States for the next five weeks. Does she "need" a phone with internet or facebook on it? Will the kids be SMSing each other? If so, I suppose I should buy her something different than just a pay as you go SIM card. She'll only be there for five weeks. But I don't want her to feel left out if others can SMS one another.</p>
<p>We also live overseas. It is possible to buy pre-paid service (pay-as-you-go): 50 USD for one month of unlimited talk/text/internet (T-Mobile). </p>
<p>It is good that you already have a phone that is “set up” for internet. If you buy a phone in the U.S. through one of the service providers (T-Mobile, Verizon, or AT&T) the phone will be “locked”, meaning it will only work with that company. If you have an “unlocked” phone, you can use any provider. </p>
<p>I would look at the websites of each of these 3 providers to see which one has a service plan that best fits your daughter’s needs.</p>
<p>Not to entice anyone to buy an expensive phone but most kids at prep schools carry iphones/big and bulky smartphones. I think you can get iphones (3gs) for a pretty cheap price now, but I don’t think it’s that necissary!</p>
<p>Iphone 3gs’s are now free with a two year contract. 
however, if shes only planning to stay for five weeks, a simple pay as you go phone should be fine. Metro pcs offers a no contact unlimited talk text and web for 40 dollars i believe.</p>
<p>Thank you all. We upgraded the SIM card to a no contract $50.00 a month plan.</p>
<p>I know that the $50.00 a month for the US isn’t expensive, but when I compare it to my cell phone bill in this country, the $50.00 is a lot of money. My home phone, cable TV and cell phone bill average together at $17.00 a month.</p>
<p>My daughter has done just fine with a plain vanilla phone that has texting. She uses her computer for email and facebook - but frankly, even in Europe during her year in School Year Abroad she was fine with an international phone that was limited to texting versus a more expensive pda. So it depends. I do find that many kids have PDA’s but are stymied to find that the coverage at their remote schools is spotty at best and not all cell companies have strong signals on a particular campus. Given the rising availability of internet at coffee shops, bookstores, etc. a PDA - if not in the family budget - is not a necessity even for the most social media saavy kid. IMHO. </p>
<p>@Rose2014 - I am very envious of your cell/cableTV/phone bills. We need more competition in the states so we can get similar pricing. A package like that here is almost like another tuition payment :-)</p>