Hello Americans, I need your help. I'm applying for a scholarship

>>1264699
Rather than (or in addition to) posting this on /trv/, where there may be only a few people from each of the cities you mention and where the post rate is low, you might look for sites dedicated to folks living in each city. You might contact the folks at the institutions you are looking at, they have an office dedicated to attracting students to the school and probably have some info on all the points you raise. You might also get some help by contacting the Chamber of Commerce or Economic Development Office in the cities you are looking at.

Hope that's some help. Good luck to you.

>>1264709

I feel like City-Data.com would be good for the sort of information OP is after.

>>1264699

Frankly, nobody can answer your questions without having a better idea of where you're looking to head.

The cost of living near Wayne State University in Detroit would be much lower than around the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The same applies for other states, with Massachusetts and California generally being more expensive than states in the Midwest.

Not sure about Pennsylvania.

>>1264699
>1. How much does one pay for food every month?

Depends where you live and generally, your college will have some meal plan for you. Generally compared to overseas, food portions are much larger for what you pay for. You can get burgers and shit for a dollar, to whole chickens for under 5.

>2. How much does it cost to pay for basic living-related stuff (phone, bus ticket, w/e) every month?

Like the other anon said use city data, it completely depends where you live, California will be the highest priced place on that list, followed by MA, the rest are pretty dirt cheap.

>3. How much does it cost to buy a set of basic household items (bowls, cutlery, towels, and so on)?

Go to walmart.com and look, easiest way.

>4. If possible - what's the approximate rent for a single room in the biggest cities of Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, and Massachusetts?

Go to apartments.com and look, select a price range and see what you get.

>>1264709
I searched for sites, but I wanted to compare them to actual feedback from /trv/. And I do not really want to bother the University folks. They would probably throw zillions of websites at me, while I only need four numbers with a few words of commentary. Thank you for your hints.

>>1264711
USA, y u so complicated?
It's Oakland (Michigan), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Santa Barbara (California), and Boston/Cambridge (Massachusetts).

>>1264715
1. What in the bloody hell is a food plan?
3. Good idea, thank you!
4. From my EU-based experience, it's not a very valid way of checking prices.

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>>1264699

Your asking some tough questions. But ill give you my living situation as an example.

i live in long beach CA, cross the street from CSULB. I pay 600 for rent and about 75-85 for utilities per month. I have one roommate. Food is not too expensive, depending on where you shop. When i went to the store about once every two weeks it would cost me between 35 and 45 dollars.
Buy your basic house hold goods as cheap as possible, ask around when you get here to find a dirt cheap store for towels, pillows and chairs. Depending on the city your in, some student IDs will get you free public transportation, in long beach this was the case.

Hopefully this helps OP. I hope your not a fucking radical liberal from Europe. If you are, fuck off we are full.

>>1264719
>1. What in the bloody hell is a food plan?
Food plans are thing colleges offer that basically you pay say 300 dollars a month, for 3 meals a day breakfast/lunch/dinner and you basically load up your tray/plates with as much food as you can get.
>4. From my EU-based experience, it's not a very valid way of checking prices.
US is almost right on all prices, usually the application fee is waved in good places. Never really been suprised, but if you see a range then you generally get the lowest price for the first floor and raises but places off the floor.

>>1264720
Thank you a lot! Would you say that a price for one room+utilities in University cities ranges from approximately 500 to 900 per month?

>>1264727
1. I never heard of such system before, but I doubt they offer it to PhD people in their 30s. Thank you for that information though. The more you learn...
4. Thank you!

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>>1264730

Yeah thats an accurate price range for a room. California is more expensive and its harder to land a good spot, but still doable.

>>1264730
>I doubt they offer it to PhD people in their 30s
Generally, food plans are available to any students.

Personally, I think they're a waste. It's easier to feed yourself cheaply.

>>1264735
I don't eat much, so I suppose it would be more efficient to cook myself.
How much do monthly groceries (food, toilet paper, shampoo) cost?

>>1264738
100USD should last you a good while 2-3 weeks if you look at grocery store ads, stick to walmart and shops like it.

>>1264746
Great! Thank you so much!

>>1264716
>actual feedback from /trv/

Issue with that is that the items that interest you are not really what we are paying for when traveling, they are things you pay for when you live there (groceries vs. restaurants, apartments vs. hotels/hostels) so you need feedback from somebody who lives in each place. There may be somebody who lives in the places you want who posts on /trv/, but there may not be many and they may, like many of us, stop by every day or two to see what's up.

You've had some good sources of info posted for you here.

Enjoy acquiring knowledge, and again, good luck to you.

>>1264796
I could not find a better board, and I'm not in a hurry. Also, I really love it here. You guys are so helpful. Thank you!