在美国留学省钱攻略！

发布时间：2015-04-29     来源：美国留学

 It is the time toget admission offers. It is the time to get ready for the student visaapplication. It is also the time to think of the pre-departure. Let hear advicesfrom virtual intern on how will you save cost in your future study in the U.S.

Housing:

In some cities (Berkeley, CA; Davis, CA), dormitories/on-campus housing is moreexpensive than off-campus. But in others (San Diego), it is cheaper to live instudent-housing. So I compare school housing costs to the neighborhood averagecosts when choosing where to live. The further the apartment from school thecheaper the rent, but then you pay for transportation either in time or money.In the case of UCSD graduate student housing, we had to get on a waiting list ayear before (so before we even decided to attend!) to get subsidized housing,but it is half the cost of renting off-campus.

Day to Day: ​

-Cooking at home and bringing a lunch box to school saves me so much money.Eating out is expensive in America, so I limit myself to once or twice a week.Since restaurant portions are big, I will cut my food in half first and takethe other half home for another meal.-Owning a car is also expensive (insurance, tax, gas, etc.), but sometimes anecessity. Some insurance companies offer good grade discount, so I always sendFarmers my transcript. However, if you go to school in a big city with publictransportation (Chicago, San Francisco, New York), you don't need a car. Ifsaving money on car costs is important, I would research the location of theschool first. -It usually costs money to park on campus but if you mostly commute via bus orbicycle, the school may give free parking passes for days you do drive (ie: UCDavis Go Club)-Some stores near universities offer student discounts, so I definitely usethat no matter how little the discount is. Also sometimes I can get studentdiscounts to theme parks or other leisure activities, or sometimes theuniversity offers discount activities. I always ask no matter what- the worstthey can say is no. STA Travel Agency gives a special price for students.

-We always need computer programs for class, but someschools like UC Davis offer five copies of Microsoft Office 365 for free.That's generally enough for the undergraduate career, and maybe a couple togive friends who go to schools that don't provide that. -California subsidizes the electricity bills of low-income households, and mystudent income qualifies as low-income. I've saved 20-25% off my electricitybills throughout school, and maybe other states have the same program.

-I shop at thrift-stores and discount stores such as Ross,Marshall's, especially for more formal internship-hunting clothing, which tendsto be expensive new. Sometimes I can pay 1/10 the full-price for just as nicean item. I also hang-dry instead of machine-dry my clothes during the summer,since apartment laundry machines can be $1-$2 each load. 

On Campus Job: 

Most on-campus jobs give minimum wage, but they are very good for makingconnections or getting recommendation letters if you work for an on-campusdepartment (I haven't heard as much about making connections working in the cafeteriaor the bookstore, but international students can do peer advising andspecialize in the international student departments). Also, hours for on-campusjobs work around your classes and are very understanding duringmidterms/finals. If the department is small, I've heard they've given as muchas 40% pay increases to students they've really liked on staff, and have givenfull-time offers after graduation. -Graduate students can TA for tuition remission on top of an hourly wage (whichis usually higher than minimum wage from working at a bookstore). My classmatesfrom China mostly TA for Chinese Language and math/science courses, but otheroptions include grading papers. 

Scholarships:

Good grades are the basic requirement for obtaining scholarships, but I foundthat also being able to articulate my goal of study and how my interests fit mycareer/how I will contribute to society will encourage donors to give morescholarships. I heard that scholarships from public schools have stipulations,such as being an in-state resident or citizen, but maybe privates haveless? 

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