Waterloo USA Intern Guide

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Jobs
  • Paperwork
  • Living
  • Money
  • Miscellaneous
  • Area Specific

Introduction

This document is unofficial and not endorsed by my school or employers.
We’re not lawyers, tax specialists nor do we purport to have any real knowledge.
This is a collection of things we wished we knew when we went away on our first co-op terms in the US. We hope it helps you out. Many things contained in this document were gained through mistakes and conversations with older students.
If you are a past intern and have thoughts/ideas to add to this document, let me know. Even better submit a pull request. I’ll note you if you want to be noted.

Contributors

License

Jobs

For many, the JobMine process is familiar so we won’t speak about that. You probably know how to get a job.
Something to note is that many companies in the US (particularly California) are much more laid back and don’t care if you wear a suit or not. Depends on the company. We suit up for Morgan Stanley but not Facebook.
CECA says not to do US in your first year. Even if you only have 4 months of school under your belt, there is no actual restriction for going in first year. Some of us have done it without trouble successfully.

Pay

Ask the pay in the interview. There is no reason not to. If they give you some ‘competitive pay’ ask them in an email before you accept their offer. ‘competitive pay’ can range from $25/hr - $45/hr with or without housing and plane tickets.

Relocation

Ask if they offer any help in terms of relocation.
Many companies offer a housing stipend (a bit of money, often taxable). Some will put you up in subsidized or free housing (Amazon, Apple, etc).
Ask if they cover flights. If you are going to San Francisco, use $500-750 round trip after tax as a guide. New York can be done for $200 if you find deals, but more realistically $300-$400 round trip.
Some people prefer spending a few days in a hotel at their company’s expense as they wrap-up apartment search (as making housing decisions while still in Canada is risky).
Sometimes stipends are large, sometimes they are not. If you’re not sure, assume your stipend will be taxed at ~26% in California. We’ve heard you can get much of it back if you save your receipts, something to look into.
We recommend working at a place that covers some part of your housing, unless you have the financial ability to not care. Rent in major cities like SF or NYC easily tops $1500, especially if you want to live close to downtown.

Perks

Some companies have cool perks like food, bikes, transit passes, happy hour, snacks, game rooms, pool tables, ping pong, foosball, museum passes, etc.
It’s worth checking out. Some perks might be exclusive to full-time employees, but don’t hesitate to ask even if that’s the case. For instance, one of us was working at a company where full-timers got quarterly “learning stipends”. One quarter a few team members decided to use their stipends to attend a tech conference (ODSC). He asked the company’s university recruiters directly if he could get a ticket, and they got him one.

Paperwork

J-1 Visa

Once you have your offer, email your recruiter to get all the details about pay, start date, and if they’re using Cultural Vistas as a visa sponsor. It’s useful for the visa. If your company isn’t using Cultural Vistas, good luck, and be ready to provide a lot of school-related paperwork such as proof of enrollment.
CECA and Cultural Vistas will guide you through the process. If you’re not a Canadian citizen, this process will involve making a trip to the US consulate in Toronto or Ottawa (if the wait is too long in Toronto) for an interview. You can schedule this meeting at any US consulate, including one in your home country. Note that for most consulates (including Toronto), you cannot leave your bag in the building, so you shouldn’t take it, or you will have to ask some coffee shop barista to hold it for you. The consulate has lockers for smartphones, so you can bring it with you.
Note: It is possible to extend your visa up to one year total if you are staying at the same company. For different companies, Brad was able to work for two different employers on two different J1 visas on consecutive terms. He applied for the second J1 while already in the US on the first, and got it approved once he returned to Canada in between internships. YMMV. Eric’s Cultural Vistas rep informed him that you are eligible to apply for a second (consecutive) J1 while on your first visa as long as your current internship is required by your degree (i.e. co-op). He was also informed that you can transfer a J1 visa to another company if your internship dates are consecutive (no break in between) and they use the same sponsor.

Before You Go

Have a second (or third) copy of all travel documents:
  1. DS-2019
  2. Passport
  3. Training Plan
  4. SEVIS fee receipt
  5. Resume (for customs, weird eh)
  6. Map surrounding hotel/apartment
  7. Boarding pass
  8. Proof of cash-on-hand (for customs, you may need to prove you have $2000 or more)
Don’t call it a job or say you are working! The J-1 visa status is not meant for “working”, but rather for “training” in the United States. Remember, you’re just a poor little intern training in the United States and make sure you declare that you have a J1 Visa at US Customs!
Some prefer keeping all the above as a digital copy in their Dropbox/Google Drive so they have instant access to them just in case they lose anything.
If you are a US citizen, some of the above do not apply to you. Make sure you have your US passport, health insurance card, and boarding pass.
I-94’s are now entirely online if you enter the country by air. Sometimes, you’ll get the stamp in your passport, and will know you did it right.
Unfortunately if you are entering by land, you still responsible for obtaining a paper I-94 form. You may expedite this process by completing a provisional I-94 online ahead of time. The border agents should handle it for you, but they might forget. You must obtain an I-94! There may be a fee for this.
In the event that you are admitted to the states as a visitor/tourist (B1), you may not legally work! You need a J1 status on your I-94 form! Check the class of admittance of your I-94 online. To resolve/update the admittance status on your I-94, you have two options: Re-enter the United States, or schedule an appointment at a US Customs and Border Protection Deferred Inspection office to update your I-94 Form. Schedule an appointment here.
If you are on a connection flight it doesn’t hurt to ask the person at the gate waiting area to double-check your connection flight. Amir found out he would miss his connection flight – Delta Airlines rerouted his flight for free and he was bumped to first class and also got to San Francisco earlier than he would’ve even without the delay.

Leaving the Country during your Internship

If you are planning to leave your country, make sure to have your original DS-2019 papers with you. If you did not bring the papers with you, you will be detained at customs until they can find it in their database. If they find it, you may be issued a temporary DS-2019, but if they can’t find it, you may need to provide the original papers before you can re-enter (someone needs to mail your DS-2019 to you). Note that travel outside North America requires a travel validation signature on your DS-2019 that you need to get ahead of time.
To get the travel validation signature, make sure you plan ahead and inform your visa sponsor beforehand (usually two weeks before). You might need to mail your DS2019 to their office. For the ones with Intrax, you can book a time and go to their SF office to get the form signed directly (this is probably the fastest way if you are in the Bay area).

Getting your SSN

Apply for your SSN as soon as possible given you meet the requirements of your J-1 sponsor (2 business days after checking in for intrax). I-94 is now digital so there is no 10 day wait.
Note that some companies may not pay you until you get your SSN. It takes around 2 weeks for SSN to get mailed to you after you apply, so you may not get paid until one month into your term. Bring enough money to last for a month!
Some people have entered the US ahead of time by driving to Buffalo or Detroit. They enter on their J-1 to to get the SEVIS wait process started as well as get a cell phone or bank account. Keep in mind that the immigration center in Buffalo can take an hour and a half.
A couple notes for those with name that contain hyphens (like Amir’s) but go by a shorter version (Amir is short for Amir-Reza). My training plan had “Amir-Reza”, while my I-94 has “Amir”, while my passport has “Amir Reza”. When applying for my SSN, I ran into some issues since each document had a slightly different variation, but the lady at the counter was nice enough to do it anyway. Bottom line: Always use your full name (exclude hyphens since hyphens are not used in government registries) when applying for, as well dealing with any documents you’ll need for your SSN.
Ensure your full name is on the mailbox that the Social Security Card will be delivered to. If your full name is not on the mailbox, USPS will return your card back to the Social Security Administration processing centre to be shredded. If your mailbox is part of a shared “super mailbox”, taping your full name to the inside of your mailbox door seems to work well.
Once you receive your SSN, it is important to let your bank know, so you start building a credit score in the U.S. Also make sure you let your employer know.

SSN Application

  1. Fill in form SS-5 available at theSocial Security Administration’s website.
  2. Bring forms and documentation to your local SSA office.
OR
  1. Show up, fill out the form while waiting (it takes less than 2 minutes). There’s a good chance that they’ll have a pile of those forms for you and you have to wait a long time anyway.

SSA Offices

San Francisco - Chinatown
Go early and still expect to be there for at least 2 hours. They will check your bag on the way in, but no additional security. Make sure you are paying attention to when your number is called because of how busy it is. Card arrival time was all over the place. Some people got it as early as 1 week, while others waited 2-3 weeks.
San Francisco - SoMa
Get there when it opens (9 AM), bring all your paperwork and you’ll be out of there in an hour. There is security on the way in. It takes about 2 weeks to get the card.
Mountain View
Not as long of a wait to get into the office (not as much security screening), but took longer for the card to arrive. Tends to be less of a wait in the morning, arrive 30 minutes before it opens.
San Jose - Downtown
(W2012) Long wait just to get into the building (outdoor wait due to security screening), but card arrived in 2 business days (was promised two weeks).
(W2019) Stil a long wait just to get into the building (there’s shelter overhead, but it’s still outdoors), however the business card arrived in 5 business days (was still promised two weeks).
West San Jose - Campbell
Opens at 9 AM, but the lineup outside starts more than half an hour before that. Get there early and you can be out shortly after 9. Card arrival takes about 10 days.
Austin
No security screening outdoors, short waiting time and very friendly service. Application process took less than 10 minutes and card arrived in 2 weeks as promised.
Boston / Cambridge
No security screening outdoors, ID check as you enter for the Cambridge office. Security screening for the downtown Boston office, but no ID check. Short waiting time and friendly service. Application process took 15 minutes and card arrived in 3 business days (was promised two weeks).
New York City - Downtown
No security screening but location might be hard to find since you need to take the elevator (security through obscurity). Ask around if you really can’t find it. There never was too many people when I was there, and was able to get everything done in about 30 minutes. Card took about a week to get.
New York City - Brooklyn
If you get there when it opens (8 AM), you can be in and out within 45 minutes. Security check on the way in - main entrance is on the side street with a small label marking “Social Security Administration Office”. Quoted 10 business days to get the card.
As with everything else, your mileage may vary.

Housing

You’ll want to start your search early.
Check out the area specific section for more info.

Roommates

It’s easier (and cheaper) to find a place for 3 or 4 people than it is for a single person for a 4-month lease.
Contact your company and try to get emails of other Waterloo students going down the same time as you.
The University typically posts a spreadsheet of all students going to your area on LEARN, grouped by employer. This is great, but takes a while to get started. Someone usually makes a Facebook group for major areas such as New York or the Bay Area, which can provide another place to meet potential roommates.
Contact them and ask them to meet up somewhere in Waterloo for dinner. It gives everyone a great opportunity to meet each other, get a feel for who would be a good roommate for you.

Apartment Hunting Tips

  • Paying a deposit is common
  • Don’t pay a deposit of any kind to see an apartment
  • Utilities included is less common than Waterloo
  • 4-month leases are harder to come by than Waterloo
  • Paying the first months rent in full by certified check is common
  • Bring enough money for first month’s rent and security
  • Cashing a Canadian cheque in the US takes a long time (even if it’s a USD account)–cash is recommended
  • Sometimes you can get your stipend ahead of time if you already have an American bank account. Note that if you get your stipend in December for a winter work term, you’ll have to do taxes during your work term for the stipend money.
  • Use CECA’s hot housing leads
  • Ask your company to ask current interns where they are living and any recommendations they have. Better yet, try to contact them directly so you can get other tips about events, activities, food in the area.
  • Check the Area Specific notes for specific recommendations
  • There are “hotels” with weekly rates lower than renting an apartment
  • Some places are very low tech, so, if looking for a hotel, you are best off walking around the area and asking every hotel about their rates.
Vacation Rentals or Corporate Housing work well for our 4-month terms. Some websites we’ve used successfully are:
  • Airbnb Sublets – monthly vacation rentals
  • Airbnb – nightly vacation rentals
    • Good for when you’re unable to move in for a couple of days, especially in the SF Bay Area. Typically cheaper than a hotel. Use common sense and good judgment, always read the reviews.
  • Vacation Rentals by Owner – vacation rentals
  • AMSI – corporate housing
  • Corporate Housing by Owner – corporate housing
  • PadMapper – Craigslist & Kijiji listings on a map
  • Lovely – Subsidiary of RentPath; looks a lot like PadMapper, but with a lot of really cool extra features.
  • HousingAnywhere – Short-term rentals; especially good for Berkeley housing.

Cell Service

Unless you’re one of those crazy people who wanders around for Wi-Fi (I’m looking at you Deepinder), you’ll want to get cell service.
If you just want a phone that makes phone calls and texts (weirdo) you can get some cheap pay as you go phone. Stephen has a BOOST prepaid phone which he uses for when people come to visit him and hasn’t had any trouble with it.

Smartphones

In the past some groups were able to get a reduced rate by getting a family and friends plan.
T-Mobile has monthly 4G plans that range from $30/mo - $70/mo, offering data at ‘up to’ 4G speeds. Xenia found her data a little slow, and especially unreliable in moving vehicles, but overall it was good enough for email/FB/Twitter. T-Mobile will remind you monthly through text messages to renew your plan. If you choose not to renew, your plan is automatically converted to a pay-as-you-go plan, and you pay for calls/texts with any leftover balance in your T-Mobile account. Your phone number will expire 3 months after renewal, so you can keep it until your next co-op term, if you are returning to the US.
To save money on various taxes for his pre-paid T-Mobile plan, Rickey used CallingMart.
AT&T might also offer good options for pay-as-you-go plans.
Simple Mobile is also very good if you don’t care about data speeds. They have a fixed price, pay up front, no hidden fees. We’ve never had problems with the voice or texting service. They have unlimited to 52 countries for $10 extra. (but you don’t need it if you just call Canada - read on) They limit you to about 120kbps (yes, kilobits) with the $40 plan. You can get more with the $60 plan, but it’s not much better in San Francisco because of the limitations of their network, and they might throttle you anyway. If you choose these guys, you might have to change your phone’s APN settings to get data. Look at the instructions on their website.

Roam Mobility

Ankit highly recommends going with Roam Mobility. They’re a Canadian company that offers cell phone services to USA travellers. All of their plans are prepaid and highly flexible, and range from daily plans for short-term travellers (from $4 CAD a day for unlimited everything including data) to monthly plans that are ideal for co-op students ($40 CAD for unlimited talk, text, and 2 gigs of data). The carrier uses T-Mobile’s network. You can also pay for 4 months all at once and let the plan start right before you arrive in the United States. Also, since it’s a Canadian company, you could just pay in Canadian dollars.
The main reason Ankit loves Roam Mobility is the fact that every plan has unlimited calling back to Canada, which is perfect for interns that still want to keep in touch with friends and family at home.

Project Fi

Google’s Project Fi is an option if you have a Fi-ready phone. You pay only for the data you use, and outside of the US you get the same data speed at the same cost. To register you need a US address so you can wait until you get there, although some people managed to do it using a VPN.

T-Mobile’s Hidden Plan

Gary writes in with this tip:
T-Mobile offers a sort of “hidden” $30/month plan. It has unlimited international text and 100 nationwide minutes of talk. You get 5GB of data a month at 4G LTE speeds and it drops to 2G speeds (~56kb/s) if you go over the limit. To get this plan you MUST purchase an unactivated SIM card. You can pick up a T-Mobile “SIM kit” with an unactivated SIM from either a Walgreens (most convenient since they are literally everywhere), a Best Buy or a Wal-Mart; simply look in the electronics section. You can also purchase the SIM card online from T Mobile and get it delivered in advance to where you work or will live (2 - 4 business days). T-Mobile doesn’t sell this special SIM card in its own stores. The SIM kit should cost $15, not including tax. Note that this only works if you own an unlocked phone (of course if you have a locked phone you can simply purchase an unlock code online for as little as $10 although you might need to check if your phone works on T-Mobile’s band).
If you want to save a bit of money, you can buy a SIM starter kit at Walmart. The kit contains one nano-sized SIM, adapters for micro and mini sizes, and $30 pre-loaded on the card. This is exclusive to Walmart, and normally costs $40. However, it sometimes goes on sale and you can effectively get the SIM card for free. You can also order it online here.
The kit will direct you online where you can activate the card as well as choose the plan. The plan will only show up if you do it this way. You cannot find this plan in T-Mobile stores. The SIM kits come in micro, mini, and regular sizes.

Micro/Mini-SIM cards

Sometimes, locations that sell packages for prepaid plans only have normal SIM cards that aren’t compatible with newer smartphones which require micro-SIMs. However, normal SIM cards are actually the same as micro-SIM cards, just with a larger plastic surface which can be cut off.
To turn the SIM into a micro-SIM, either find a store that cuts SIM cards, or DIY. There are tutorials online that teach you how to cut it, either with a scissors (risky) or a cutter you can get off Amazon for less than $5.

Straight Talk

Straight Talk is an option if data speeds are a concern. They have unlimited calling, texting and data for $45 a month without a contract. There is also a plan for unlimited calling to select international countries for $60 a month also with unlimited texting and data. Note that the unlimited isn’t 100% unlimited, if you use more than 80-100MB a day you will likely get kicked off. They operate as a AT&T/T-Mobile reseller so you will get the benefits of AT&T’s network, e.g 4G data without doing business with them.
To get service you must order a micro-SIM or SIM card from their store along with a one month or three month plan. The card is roughly $15 and it takes 3 days to ship. If your GSM phone can operate on AT&T, e.g. iPhone and most GSM phones, you should order an AT&T compatible SIM card as they have the best GSM network in the country.
Once you have received everything you can activate your service online using the SIM Card and the plan you purchased. If you are porting a number from another carrier it takes about another day for everything to finish. They have pretty good customer service so if anything goes wrong you should call them immediately. Since they are not a big carrier most phones, e.g. iPhone, do not have the APN settings built in for data. The package you receive contains the APN settings you need. You will need to figure out how to set the settings for your phone.

Freedom Mobile

A special deal offered by Freedom Mobile goes like this: for $15/mo, you keep your Canadian plan (with WIND), and you get the US Unlimited Add-on; which includes service on AT&T with 1GB of data, and talk/text/MMS between US/CAN numbers. This is convenient because you can keep your Canadian phone number. But, keep in mind that your US friends may start racking up fees for texting your Canadian number, even when you’re in the US.
The cell service in Waterloo & Toronto is pretty good too.
Note that your data is capped at 1GB in the US, regardless of your Canadian plan, as per their usage policy. Brad used this for a month, but then switched to T-Mobile’s hidden plan in search of more data. Also, note that you are no longer able to use T-Mobile’s network.

BlackBerry

Getting data for your smartphone is a lot easier with a BlackBerry. If you have an unlocked phone, it’s really easy. You can get a plan with a SIM card, pop it in, and walk out of the store Facebooking up a storm.
Amir unlocked his BlackBerry 9900 phone for a couple dollars then bought the $50/mo T-Mobile pre-paid plan. $10 for the new SIM, and it has Unlimited Text/Unlimited Talk/500MB Data. The data is actually unlimited, but the first 500MB is 4G while anything after is throttled at 2G but with no extra cost. Incoming calls and texts from Canada are free, but outgoing is not (ask people to text you, then call them using Google Talk). All in all he paid for everything under $220 (including tax) for the 4 months, up-front.
BIS
There are a few options. Stephen’s a BlackBerry user who would die without BBM and Google Maps. The main problem is that people don’t like giving you data without a 1-2 year commitment. This section is only about getting your BlackBerry on the network with BIS.
He used to use T-Mobile with a weird prepaid plan but they stopped that and make you put down a deposit. He’s told that this may have changed, you may want to check this one in your state.
His one friend knows a trick with AT&T where you can get them to check your Canadian credit history. He tried it and spend an hour arguing with the staff telling them it could be done and gave up. His friend told him it takes about three hours before they will relent, uggh.
He tried SimpleMobile Winter ‘12 and had mixed feelings. Their customer support is pretty terrible, they don’t know what BIS is and they think data is data. But you can get it to work, and the service itself is fine (he thinks they actually are on T-Mobile).
Note, if you have a Rogers/AT&T phone it will likely only get EDGE not 3G.

Long distance

The reason you don’t need to pay extra for long distance to Canada is you can use Google’s Hangouts Dialer for this. Get the Google Hangouts Dialer . It’s really, really nice. Note that you need to have an internet connection to take advantage of the automated proxying.

Money

Banks

You’ll want to do this as soon as you can, you can do this without an SSN. Bring your passport and drivers license as well as your student card. Most banks will give you a free checking account if you are a student.
Note: Some banks have a savings account. You may not want one for several reasons:
  • There may be a minimum balance after 6 months
  • Having interest income in the US can complicate taxes (not an expert)
  • Some savings accounts require fees which may end up being more than the interest on your account
Choosing a bank is up to you and your preferences. Stephen suggests you stick to one of:
  • Chase
  • Bank of America
  • Wells Fargo
Kevin suggests you use TD Bank, especially if ATMs are convenient for where you live / work. TD Bank hours are generally better than any other American banks (they are open late on weekdays and for several hours on weekends).
If you are in NY, Chase is the one to open. TD Bank has a ton of branches in NYC as well, and they have a chequing plan (with a 1k$ balance to waive fees) that gives you covers ATM fees in the whole country which is super useful.
There are so many Chase branches and ATMs. Several people have been told that Chase is pretty conservative when it comes to giving credit cards to “new Americans”. You can, however, get a credit (yes, you heard me right, CREDIT) card with RBC Bank in the US if you are a Canadian citizen and have built a Canadian credit history.
Bank of America is pretty good in the SF/Bay Area. Chase is OK there too. They also have many branches there - and they are very nice!
BoA and Chase have ATMs that scan cheques instead of using envelopes. Others might have this too.
Chase offers Disney debit cards with everything from Mickey Mouse to Disney princesses on them. Josh enjoyed this option.
Chase’s mobile app can also deposit cheques for you using the phone’s camera. Josh worked with the person who built this at Chase. It is very secure.
Wells Fargo is known for being super nice. Wells Fargo has been seen by at least one person as being tougher for a CC.
You will not need a SSN to open an account at the four listed banks. They will need your J-1 visa for filling in your bank details, so bring your passport and visa. You don’t even need a permanent address. Some have had luck with using their hotel’s or their company’s. Once you do receive your SSN, it is a good idea to update this with your bank in order to build a credit rating in America.
Chase has been known not to give a bank account unless you have proof of address. To show proof of address, you have to show some document that has your name and your address on it, such as a utility bill. If you have corporate housing and don’t have something which has your name and address, people have also gotten by with a letter from your employer saying that you work here and the address at which you reside with the company’s letterhead, but your best bet is to see what the banker says as acceptable proof of address.
Stephen’s always kept a US bank account open. It’s super useful to have. If you come back to the US again you’re all setup. If you travel you can get cash easy. If you want to buy stuff online it’s great.
Eric says that keeping your bank account open is also great for getting credit in the future.
Some people want to close their account to avoid bank fees. Most banks (BoA, Chase, Wells Fargo, TD) offer a student account for 5 years from when you sign up. Bring your student ID card. They don’t require any minimum activity other than some nominal balance. Some banks may say that this is limited to US students only. YMMV.
Alternatively, BoA offers an eBanking Checking account that is free if you choose online eStatements and only use self-service options (ATMs, no tellers) for deposits/withdrawals. You can even deposit checks through their mobile app.
Some savings accounts have fees.

Starting Money

You should bring money down to start with, it will help with deposits and first/last month rent.
You may also want a simple way to access your funds in Canada without a huge fee. Note, xe.com will likely get you a better rate. But the following method is very flexible. This method worked out pretty well for Prashanth:
  1. Open a U.S Bank Account with your Canadian Bank (Prashanth used TD but recommend RBC, RBC has a US branch as well though only exists online)
  2. Transfer some money to this account to last you for a few weeks in US
  3. Get a US Dollar Credit Card from Canada and use this for initial spending. If you are not eligible, you can ask your parents to open it for you and a get a credit card in your name. You can use this card until you have money in your US account.
  4. Open a US Bank account in either Chase, BOA, Wells Fargo.

Credit Cards

One thing that many try to do right away is get a credit card.
Getting credit in the US can be tricky. Especially if you are under 21. Unless you’re a Canadian citizen, and have already built a credit history in Canada.
Keep in mind that instead of Interac for debit cards, all American debit cards (also known as “check cards”) are actually VISA/MasterCard cards. You can use them anywhere you would use a credit card except the money comes out of your account immediately.
You can get a Secured Credit card where you put a deposit ($300 - $500) into a special account and that amount becomes your credit limit. Something to look into. You don’t get this deposit back until ~2 years later, so keep that in mind. The bank reps say that it is a good way to get a good credit rating though, if you need that in the near future.
Sometimes you can get BoA or TD America to look up your Canadian credit history. TD Ameritrade and BoA has a Canadian credit check form. Really tough if you are under 21.
If you want a US-bank-based credit card to help build your US Credit History (if the USA is your desired full-time work location), RBC Bank (USA) has a policy of allowing people to sign up for a credit card with your Canadian SIN, then attaching it to your American SSN. The only “gotcha” is that you have to open an RBC account within 6 months of opening this card (you get it in about a week or two), or the credit account will be closed. The best part about this is that if you already have a Canadian credit card of any kind, and you keep a solid rating, you are most likely eligible for this one. Look up RBC Bank Credit Cards!
Eric would like to stress the importance of getting a credit card and building credit history in the States. It’s especially useful if you plan to move to the US after you graduate.
Shale would like to stress the importance of linking your bank accounts to your SSN, once it arrives. You likely will not build a credit history until this happens.
Brad couldn’t get approved for a credit card with his own bank (Chase), but applied for a Discover Card as a 20 year old with no credit history and a brand new SSN and got approved. They really just looked for proof of steady income. Note that Discover isn’t accepted everywhere like MC/Visa, so have a debit card handy as backup.
There are some things to consider when dealing with credit cards. Particularly not using all of your available credit. Many say you should use less than 30% of your credit to maintain a good score.
Eric says the following about BoA’s credit policy:
BoA credit card policy is to not tell you what the maximum credit limit you can get. You have to request a number and then they’ll negotiate via phone. My suggestion is once you have about a month or two of usage on your credit card, you request a large credit increase online (usually double what your limit currently is). Then in about 30 minutes you can call 866 506 5068 (direct line to a credit department agent) to negotiate an increase. Results vary widely on this one.

Bank of America - Canadian Credit Check

This worked for Akshay (an 18 year old guy at the time – W2012) with two credit cards in good standing back in Canada. Apply for the card at the branch in person. When asked for your information, inform them that you would like to request a Canadian credit bureau check to augment your US credit bureau reports (especially important if it’s your first work term in the States). If the representative is knowledgeable, they will process the credit card application normally and then will ask you to call a number (or call for you on your behalf) about 24-48 hours later (excluding weekends). If not, here’s the number you can call: 1-888-503-6092. They’ll ask for your Canadian SIN number and your last address in Canada. YMMV.
Kevin was in the same situation and followed the same process at TD Bank with similar results.
One surefire way of getting a credit card fairly soon would be to apply for a Capital One credit card that’s directly targeted for people with no credit history/newcomers. Beware this card is free for the first year, but costs around $30 per year after that.

Using Credit Cards

Keep in mind that in the US, tap-to-pay isn’t as common as it is in Canada. Most places now will still swipe your credit card and make you sign the reciept with a pen.

Bringing Money Back

There are a lot of ways to bring your hard earned dough back to Canada.
The main thing to keep in mind is that while some broker may not charge a “fee” the rate they offer may be several pips from mid-market rates.

What Stephen Does

Here’s what Stephen thinks is the way most people will want to bring their money back: xe.com
  • xe.com generally (spreads are not fixed) has a good rate. About 1.5% off of the rate posted by Google.
  • You do need to validate your identity, they will probably ask to scan your ID.
  • The actual transfer does take a while, less than a week. (Depending on your bank)
  • Use the Bid feature. You can set a transaction to occur when the rate hits some desired value.
  • Don’t trade on weekends. Weekends have less volume and a higher spread.
Stephen sucks at playing the market so he just transfer money over ~$1k at a time to try and even out my loss/gain. Stephen and Chris love xe.com’s bid system. With XE, you can make a trade right away or set a transaction to occur once the rate hits some desired value.

Some Creative Ways

  • Capital One Credit Card - I heard that they eat the 1% MasterCard / Visa network fee.
  • Bring it in cash across the border (if it’s over 10k you need to declare it. it’s a lot in $20’s, Stephen doesn’t do this anymore).
  • Mailing it by UPS/FedEx insured (got this from a TD Canada banker)
  • Buying equity on a cross listed item and selling it on a Canadian exchange (best rate I hear, but sounds tricky). This is called Norbert’s Gambit.
  • Using your family member who works at a bank and gets currency exchanged at cost (We’re told this is the best possible)

What Kevin Does

If you are with TD Canada and TD Bank, they will transfer your money between countries. For Kevin, this involved a five-minute phone call and a 2 business day wait. You can either open an American dollar account in TD Canada or have them exchange your money for CAD and deposit it in your Canadian checking account. It may be a good idea to use a USD account at TD Canada, then exchange money when the exchange rate is better.
TD insists that there are no fees for this service, but it may be the case that they charge somewhere between 0.5% and 1.5% depending on the amount transferred. YMMV.

What Michael Does

If you are using RBC, you can partner up with the US version, RBC Bank. RBC, like TD, does transfers for free between countries (NOTE: USD –> USD only!). RBC Bank in the US is purely online - the fee for a basic account is $2.95/month, but this is easily well-worth it for no-hassle, instantaneous transfers of USD between your US and Canadian RBC accounts. You can use any PNC Bank ATM in the US to withdraw (USD) money from your RBC account at no fee, as well as a multitude of other ATMs across the country. Transfers between the US and Canadian accounts are unlimited and instantaneous - RBC Bank in the US even accepts Direct Deposits and cheque deposits via mobile service (taking a picture of the front/backside of the cheque)! The USD account in Canada should be free if you already have an existing service with them; a good rule of thumb is that it may not be worth it to sign up if you aren’t already using them. Signing up for two things on the Canadian side should keep you from paying anything extra, while validating your RBC US account: “Day-to-Day Chequing” account, and the “no annual fee” credit card from RBC Royal Bank.
Once the USD funds are in your Canadian RBC account, feel free to use XE trade or some other mechanism to convert it to CAD without losing too much in the exchange. When using “Debit My Account” on XE Trade (from a US account), then “ACH/EFT” (to deposit to a Canadian institution, in CAD), you don’t have to pay any fees other than a brokerage fee that XE administers as part of the exchange rate. As recently as March 2015, Michael got 1.2647 USD/CAD exchanged ($1600 USD).

What Brad Does

Set up an account on Transfer Wise. Transfer Wise is a British startup that does peer-to-peer money transfers at mid-market rates, with only a ~1% fee (calculated in the original currency). Setting up an account requires two pieces of (Canadian) ID. They withdraw the funds from your US checking and deposit into your Canadian checking, and can be as fast as 1-2 business days door-to-door. They even have an app. A similar service is Currency Fair, although their signup process seemed more convoluted. Both of these will generally beat XE (by at least 0.5%) and banks (by a lot).
  • Wire transfer (mad fees - often upwards of $40 per transaction!)
  • Cash a check (takes 20-30 days I hear). Keep in mind, bank currency rates (are generally terrible. usually 2.5%, Stephen doesn’t do this any more). If you have family or a friend working at your bank, they may be able to waive the waiting period.

Miscellaneous

If you end up with American funds in Canada, Stephen recommends opening a US dollar account and convert it over time so you don’t get bit by the exchange rate. You can use xe.com even with a USD account in Canada.
Stephen also keeps some USD funds in a USD TD account in Canada so he can get small bills and sell USD to family without a spread.
Keep in mind that some banks charge different spreads depending on how much you transfer. $1,100 worked best for Stephen.
Spreads are not always fixed, weekends can cost more so be careful.
Stephen’s favourite method is still xe.com.

Taxes

Disclaimer: No author of this document knows anything about taxes, accounting, or even arithmetic. Do not rely on this document. Speak to a professional.
You will owe taxes in the US, which will likely be deducted directly from your paycheques. When you file your return, you may end up receiving much of that back (50% is not unreasonable). You will first file your US returns before filing your Canadian returns, where you may end up paying a bit to Canada as well.
If you situation is uncomplicated, you can try to file your returns yourself. Someone wrote an Unofficial Waterloo Intern Tax Guide that will walk you through all the forms you need and answer most questions that come up. The author of that document was as thorough as he could, but if you have any concerns, you should seek a professional.
Some people have had luck with this free government program.
CECA has some information on taxes.
  • After completion of a J-1 Visa on the Cultural Vistas program offered by the CECA, students are offered a free code from Glacier Tax Prep when a survey for codes is sent out in January to do their taxes with.
    • Codes are sent in February - since W-2 forms are due from employers January 31st of every year (Tax Deadline is April 15th, FYI).
    • It’s a handy tool for sure, since it’s a lot of plug and play for the numbers on your W-2 (that your employer sends you on January 31st).
    • NOTE: You have to send these (federal tax return) forms in by paper mail.
    • Your mileage may vary when it comes to state taxes. The rules for e-filing state taxes require long-term (6+ months) residency in a state to file state taxes for that particular state. Check your local state government taxation website for details.
Michael did his 2013 and 2014 taxes through GTP, and since other programs like TurboTax don’t process 1040NR-EZ forms (federal return), GTP is a fast and easy-to-use system to get your federal taxes done.
  • NOTE: State taxes are a different beast; each state has their own way of doing things, depending on what state you worked in.
    • For example, states such as New Jersey have eFile for non-residents, whereas NY / CA do not (as of 2014).
    • Certain states, like WA, do not have state taxes, and therefore, you do not need to file a state tax return when working in Washington.
  • For State taxes, Michael used TurboTax, or printed out the required forms on the state government website and filled them out.
    • If you can read and follow instructions and schedules, this is a fairly easy task that should only take a few hours at maximum (your tax situation is simple if it’s your first source of US income).
    • You can also pay a service some nominal fee (usually $100-500) to do your taxes for you; Michael doesn’t recommend this, since your tax return might not be that big (his CA job only had a tax return of $450, NJ $550).
Stephen used “Peter Cuttini” (contact info on Waterloo site) for his 2011 taxes. He’s heard good things about him for co-op students. (Around $300). Stephen was not very impressed with the work and will be likely doing them himself for 2012. He did them in 2011 and found them not much harder than discussing with your accountant.
H&R Block will also do it for around $300.
If you are traveling on a Canadian Passport to the US to visit (not J-1), you are likely on a B-2 visa. This tidbit is useful if you travel to the US for pleasure after the completion of your J-1.

Miscellaneous

  • Amazon gives free shipping for 1 month (trial) through Prime. Get one intern to sign up at a time so you can have free shipping all work term. Even better is Amazon Student, which gives you free 6 months of Prime and subsidizes Prime at $39/year after that. Shale ships everything to his office. Carrying a box home is much less painful than going to the postal office to pick up a missed package.
  • Woot.com is awesome
  • Waterloo holds alumni events, Facebook Page which are often open to students.
  • CECA runs a photo contest every term, one for US co-ops and one for international co-ops. They encourage you to take pictures with other Waterloo co-ops and of the places you visit. They do have the right to use it for promotional purposes. You get a certificate for participation as well as money for the top 3 winners. It’s a good way to share your experiences and you might be up for some money for grabs.
  • Daily deal sites like Groupon, Living Social and Amazon Local are good sources for activities that you might not know exist in your area.
  • Learn how to do some basic conversions from metric to imperial so you can make conversation about the weather (fahrenheit), order ham from the deli (ounces), drive without speeding (miles), etc.
    • Shortcut for estimating from F to C: (weather in F - 30) / 2 = weather in C. This will be off by 1 or 2 degrees, but works well for situations like figuring out what to wear in the morning.
    • Kilometres to Miles: 1.6 km = 1 mile. If you know your Fibonacci sequence well, it it’s a good estimation tool (5 miles -> 8 km, 50 miles -> 80 km).
  • Meetups are a great way to learn new things and meet new people. See meetup.com for more details on specific groups.
  • Uber or Lyft: popular, stylish, and cheaper alternative to taxis that’s available in most cities. You get a private driver and payment is hassle free–they’ll automatically charge the credit card you have on file (including tip). UberX is the cheapest option when ordering a ride, and if you have a large group it can be cheaper to order multiple UberX vehicles instead of a SUV. You can request an Uber via SMS, or from their iPhone or Android app. The seats are extremely comfortable.
  • Venmo is a popular US-only service for giving money to your friends, similar to PayPal. It connects to your bank account and saves you the effort of withdrawing cash by just using their mobile app. It’s also completely free and allows you to charge your friends. Ankit finds it very useful when splitting things like restaurant bills between friends.
  • Splitwise: Allows you to keep track of expenses you made for other people, and tracks who owes how much money. Ankit likes to use this alongside Venmo.
  • Square Cash: Similar to Venmo. You give them your debit card or credit card and you can transfer money to anyone (even people without the app for free. Both you and the person you invite gets 5$ (you just need to make them transfer 50$. You can give them 50 and they give you the 50 back).

Area Specific Notes

I’ve been to three main areas and will focus on info for those. If you are an intern and have more info let me know.

California (General)

  • In-N-Out burger is a must try. Checkout the Animal Style burger on their secret menu.
  • Many people like Chipotle
  • You also might want to try out local taquerias. You can get good prices, fast service and authentic Mexican food in most places.
  • There’s a very good list of concerts that is automatically updated every week (ish) from a mailing list. It’s simple and comprehensive. Found here.

Car Rentals

  • Eric found USAA very useful for car rentals.
    • The website will make it seem like its for active-duty military or veterans, but everyone with an SSN is eligible for the shopping discounts. Not eligible for the insurance, however.
    • Car rental benefits arehere
    • The main thing is that the underage fee is waived for all car companies (which saves a heck of a lot of money) and there’s a discount (usually 10%) woven into there as well. You can also get these without going through USAA but USAA has the benefit of combining the two into one discount code. Hertz in particular allows for two discount codes, so you can often layer the discounts on and save a lot.
    • Being part of USAA also means you get free club gold membership into Hertz, which lets you build points for stuff like free day rentals, weekend rentals, etc.
    • Being with USAA is also helps if you are under 20 and want to rent a car.
    • Adrian thinks that a discount that seems to be particularly useful for long weekends is Budget’s free weekend day. It is basically a buy 2 get 1 day free deal.
    • Make sure to have your USAA ID when going to get your car if you rented online.
  • Baker and his friends found SmartLease to be the best option for short term car lease in the San Francisco Bay Area.
    • Their rates start with $390/mo not including insurance, and tax
    • Minimum lease period is three months
    • If you’re under 25, you’ll still receive the lowest rates (no underage fees)
    • Cheaper Insurance: The cost of insuring a leased car is substantially less than the insurance rates charged by car rental companies. They will even help you find a great insurance deal
    • Their cars are few years old but are in great condition and they are absolutely much more affordable than rental car companies
  • Tips when actually renting:
    • Insurance is usually peddled with the car rental at the counter (eg. liability, loss damage insurance, collision). If you have car insurance in Canada either on your own or with your parents, they may cover this already (be sure to have a copy of it on you when you drive).
    • Go for the smallest car (sub-compact rental). You may want a larger vehicle at the start, but you can often ask for a free upgrade at the counter and they’ll give you one. You can get a Civic, Corolla, Jetta or sometimes even a VW Passat/other full size sedan just by asking.
    • Expanding on the point above, if you do want a bigger car, and they do not want to give a free upgrade, upgrading there seems to be cheaper anyways. Granted that there is no guarantee that a bigger car is available, so if you need 6 seats for example, do not go for a 5 seater and expect to have it upgradable.
    • Some rental companies will often pick you up from where you are living/working and drive you to their rental location.
    • For Hertz, try and layer the discounts (CDP and PC codes). You can get cheap rates like 50 dollars (tax included) for a 3 day weekend car rental. It makes for some awesome road trips
    • Avoid renting cars from airports unless necessary - they tack on a bunch of dumb charges that you can’t waive (eg. airport concession fee, terminal fees, etc.). They also don’t give free upgrades unless forced to via discount codes.
    • Expanding on the point above, sometimes renting cars from airports (tested in SFO and OAK) might be cheaper than renting from the city even with the extra charges stated above. This might be because they have more inventory. Also, airport location usually have nicer/newer cars!
    • At least in the bay area, Adrian found that other car rental companies such as Budget are cheaper than Hertz but they usually have a renter’s age limit of 21+ and an age limit of 25 for additional drivers. Hertz seems to be the only company to be laxed on age restrictions. So if you need to rent a car but do not need additional drivers or fit the criteria above, test out companies other than Hertz.
    • Some credit cards offer insurance if you pay for the entire rental with that credit card. Take advantage of this! Akshay used this a whole bunch in W2015.

San Francisco, CA

  • Since SF is a city, prices are pretty high.
  • It’s very tough to find housing in the city, especially for cheap.No, seriously.
  • Don’t be discouraged, though. It’s easy to find places as low as $1400, but don’t expect anything less than that in a non-sketchy area.
  • Stuff is slanted. They’re not exaggerating in movies and pictures, the hills are steep. You know that scene in The Princess Diaries where she’s pushing her scooter up the hill? We know you watched it - that’s not a cheap scooter, those hills are vicious.
  • Bring a very good pair of walking shoes or buy them when you get there; especially if you have flat feet or any other leg or foot issues. As mentioned before, the hills are vicious and the easiest way to get around the city is to walk places.
  • Get a Safeway Card, it’s free and literally saved me over $100. Also, tell them you’ll fill it out later and you’re in a hurry. That way you get the discounts, but they don’t have your personal information.
  • There are some beautiful parts (check out the Presidio near the Golden Gate Bridge), some crazy parts (Haight-Ashbury has things you never imagined existed. Everyone is high.), and some very sketchy parts (Stay out of the Tenderloin, especially at night. We repeat,stay out of the Tenderloin at night.) Familiarize yourself with the neighbourhoods and use common sense.
  • Fun fact - it has the lowest proportion of children of any major city in the US!

Transportation

  • MUNI is the basic transit service, there are buses, streetcars, cable cars (streetcars that go up steep hills, $6/ride and in tourist areas) and subways as well. The busses are almost never on time. If you can take a streetcar, take that instead.
  • BART is a high-speed subway-ish system that goes around the more city-like parts of the Bay Area and hits more major destinations. BART from the airport to SF is super clean and ~$8.
  • Caltrain is a light-rail system that goes through all of Silicon Valley for under $10. If you’ve heard of the GO train in the GTA, it’s similar. They do often check tickets though, and you need to buy them before you board.
  • A Clipper Card is a reloadable smart card that lets you pay for a variety of transit systems seamlessly. It’s convinent and will work with MUNI, BART, and the Caltrain.
  • Many people use services such as Uber or Lyft to get around.
  • For larger road trips, rent a Zipcar (car sharing service). 5 people in a car only end up paying $15 each, don’t need to pay for gas.
  • Victor also had luck with Getaround. Gas isn’t covered, but it can be more convenient for renting larger vehicles and longer term (1 week) rentals. A 7-seat minivan cost around $10 per person per day to rent, with plenty of mileage.

Airports

  • An airport shuttle is a good alternative to taxies and BART, especially if you have a lot of luggage. For only $16 they will drop you off in front of almost any hotel. I used GO Lorrie’s Airport Shuttle to get to Park Hotel.
  • From Palo Alto, the KX Bus leaves from the bus area at the Palo Alto Caltrain station. It’s cheaper than taking the Caltrain to SFO.
  • Some people prefer Super Shuttle. From a hotel, they cost ~$25 for the first person. After the initial person, the cost goes down to ~$10 per person for the next people.
  • Others like getting an Uber from the airport. It is a $65 flat fee to/from the airport (for an UberBLACK). If you’re okay with sharing your ride, UberPOOL is a much cheaper option to get to the city ($15 for up to two passengers as of W2015). For SFO airport, Uber can only pick passengers up on certain floors. Make sure you are on the right floor and the right pickup spot.
  • If you are flying Delta, the curbside luggage check at SFO is free, and they can print you a boarding pass. This means you don’t need to carry your luggage that much further, and it usually has a much shorter line.
  • Unless you live nearby, it is almost never worth flying to/from Oakland.

Housing

  • Paramount/SFO Housing has decent pricing (Park or Herbert). The internet is slow. They are older buildings, and note that there are no kitchen facilities to use in Herbert. The Herbert and Spaulding are also located in the Tenderloin.
  • Pacific Tradewinds is highly recommended by one intern who is adventurous and enjoyed living in hostel-like accommodations.
    • 2012W - Recommended by an intern. It’s feels very home-y and undoubtedly a great place to meet technical folks and entrepreneurs.
  • If you would rather live in a more student-populated area, Berkeley is an option. The commute to the downtown area is 15-20 min, but is worth it if you want to meet people your age.

Neighbourhoods

  • Tenderloin - There’s some great Indian and African food here, but it is one of the sketchiest neighbourhoods in San Francisco.
  • SoMa (south of market) - Relatively boring, many things close at 6. Your tech office might be here.
  • Financial District/Embarcadero - Expensive as hell, everything closes early here too.
  • Telegraph Hill/North Beach - Great Italian food and bars.
  • Mission - The best Mexican food and burritos in SF are here.
  • Hayes Valley - Expensive place with lots of hipster restaurants and stores.
  • Nob Hill - Extremely beautiful area. Pretty sketchy at night due to how close it is to the Tenderloin.
  • The Castro - San Francisco’s famous gay neighbourhood.
  • Fisherman’s Wharf - Apparently lots of great seafood, but it feels like a big tourist trap.
  • Sunset - Somewhat inaccessible by public transit, but has some excellent Chinese food and dim sum.

Activities

  • Biking the Golden Gate Bridge is a must.
    • Ankit recommends renting a bike at Fisherman’s Wharf, biking all the way to Sausalito and taking the ferry back from Sausalito to Fisherman’s Wharf.
    • If there’s time, Ankit recommends checking out Battery Spencer for a great view of the bridge.
  • Go to Twin Peaks if you want a really breathtaking view of the San Francisco skyline from a mountain.
  • Coit Tower is also a great place to get a view of San Francisco’s skyline and its rolling hills.
  • Some buildings in the Financial district have publicly accessible rooftops with some really nice views. Keep in mind some of them are only open during work hours (9 to 5 on weekdays).
  • SF has many beaches, such as Ocean Beach and Baker Beach, where you can catch a great sunset.
  • Alcatraz Island is worth going to.
    • You should book the ferry ticket a month or two in advance.
  • If you like exploring, San Francisco has many great parks:
    • Golden Gate Park - Ankit recommends spending a Sunday renting a bike and exploring the park, since they close some of the roads to cars on Sundays. Make sure you get to Ocean Beach to watch the sunset!
    • Golden Gate Park is so huge that it deserves multiple visits. Rent a boat and row around Stow Lake (don’t get a pedal boat, they’re noisy and slower), then climbing up Strawberry Hill for some awesome views of the city!
    • Mission Dolores Park - Great for sitting around and people watching. Bring blankets and a frisbee! Bi-Rite Creamery is a staple and really close to the park. It also has great views of the Bay Bridge!
    • Alamo Square Park - home of the famous painted ladies.
    • Land’s End - A relatively easy hike ending in an excellent view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sutro Baths are interesting, as well as the Legion of Honor.
    • The Presidio - Fort Point is the closest you can physically get to the Golden Gate Bridge. Take a picture from under it! The Palace of Fine Arts and the Walt Disney Museum are worth checking out.
  • Bouldering/Top roping is a super popular hobby in the city. Mission Cliffs and Dogpatch Boulders are the main places people go to. You can try out a day pass or get a monthly membership.
  • Lyon St Steps - Incredible views of the Bay, Sausalito, Alcatraz, and the Palace of Fine Arts make this part of the most expensive neighborhood in SF. Beware - it’s quite the hike and some sections are steep, but it’s well worth the view.
  • Escape Rooms - Get locked in a room with your friends, and solve puzzles and find clues to escape it in less than an hour. There are a lot of really good ones in SF. Victor particularly liked EscapeSF in Chinatown.

Food

  • If you are looking for cheap, delicious meals, head over to Chinatown. Big boxes of dim sum for ~$4, bubble tea is only ~$2 (they call it boba)
  • San Francisco is known for great burritos, and most places in the Mission are dirt cheap and give you an amazing Burrito. Josh’s favourite is El Farolito at 24th and Mission (Cash Only). (The one further down 24th takes card.)
  • The cioppino is a San Francisco staple, and you can find some great cioppino in North Beach.
  • For a very satisfying and stereotypically American burger, check out Super Duper Burgers.
  • Ghirardelli’s is San Francisco’s famous chocolate and is worth trying.
  • Philz Coffee is everywhere and has many flavours of coffee.
  • La Mejor Bakery near 24th Mission BART station has delicious bread and pastries baked daily, well worth checking out.
  • Pineapple King is an awesome Hong Kong style bakery in the Sunset. Try their butter pineapple bun!
  • There aren’t many good AYCE KBBQ places in SF - Carbon Grill is probably the best one.
  • The SoMa StrEAT Food Park has a rotating selection of (decently good) food trucks.
  • SF is the world capital of coffee. Some of the more well-known ones include Sightglass, Four Barrel, Ritual, Mazarine, Andytown…
  • If you want to splurge on sushi, Michelin-starred Kusakabe is a must-try.

Bay Area

  • Still expensive
  • Get a Safeway Card, it’s free and literally saved me over $100
  • Learn to love the Caltrain
  • Caltrain isn’t like the GO, they check your tickets all the time
  • Go to Gilroy Premium Outlet Mall in Gilroy, it’s amazing and has great deals. It’s worth a trip after your first paycheque.
  • Pizza Hut is not as fancy in the US. It will blow your coworkers’ minds if you tell them that Pizza Hut is a sit down restaurant with waiters
  • If you want to get a second hand bike, there is a place in Burlingame operated by a very nice man named Alan Gorman that’s pretty good. Search “Alan Gorman Bicycle Specialist” on Yelp.

Activities

  • Helicopter Flying Yes you get to control the helicopter. No license or classes required. Ask for the introductory flight lesson.
  • Aerobatic Flying Yes you get to fly the plane and make it do loops and stuff. No license or classes required. Look for the gift certificate for aerobatic flying.
  • Skydiving - Eric says it’s much better than the one near Toronto (he’s done both). This one you fall for a full minute and you land on the beach. Try and time for an hour or so before sunset. He says it’s awesome skydiving onto a beach while the sun sets.
  • Paintballing - They usually have good Groupon deals.
  • Skeet shooting - no license or classes required.
  • Computer History Museum You can easily spend a whole day here.
  • Planet Granite for those who want to indoor rock climb
  • Go Karting
  • Stanford football game - Eric says they’re just like the movies!

Trips

  • Yosemite National Park
    • If you want to stay in a cabin, make sure you book several weeks in advance since they fill up really fast.
    • Booking hotels in nearby towns that are about an hour away, like Mariposa, is also an option, but they fill up fast as well.
    • If you want a breathtaking view with minimal walking, check out Glacier Point.
    • Upper Yosemite Falls is a long hike (4 hours) but its also well worth the views. Fairly popular route. Bring water and good shoes and be prepared to be tired.
    • If you’re willing to spend two days hiking, you can hike the famous half dome.
  • Highway One
    • Very scenic highway that runs along California’s coastline.
  • Mono Lake
    • If you end up in this area, Ankit highly recommends hiking the Parker Lake trail, a 4-mile hike with amazing views of the Sierras.
    • There’s also a historic Wild West ghost town in the area.
  • Los Angeles
    • The famous Hollywood Sign and the Hollywood Walk of Fame are must-sees.
    • Some of the nicest beaches are in this area: Venice Beach and its boardwalk, Santa Monica Beach and its pier, and Malibu.
    • Griffith Observatory also has a nice view of the Hollywood Sign and a huge telescope you can actually look through! Don’t miss the live-narrarated planetarium show.
    • Rodeo Dr. is a super high end shopping district, very nicely decorated and an awesome place for people watching and car spotting.
    • Larchmont Village is a quaint old-towny shopping street, with a lot of hipster stores and a nice Farmer’s Market.
    • The Third Street Promenade is also really pretty and fun to walk through.
    • The Getty is a free art gallery and has beautiful paintings and scenery – only cost is the parking.
    • Raunaq says Koreatown has the best Korean BBQ
    • Sawtelle Blvd has really nice Japanese restaurants
  • Las Vegas
    • Cirque de Soleil shows are a must.
    • Grand Canyon if you have a day or two. Drive out is about 4 hours each way however so be warned.
    • Hoover Dam has a nice indoor tour where you get to see the generators and water tunnels. Also a beautiful sight.
    • Casinos and restaurants of course on the strip.
    • Penn & Teller is pretty much a must-see magic show in Vegas.
    • Dancing fountains in Bellagio is a lot of fun to watch. It’s free.
    • Luxor has $5 minimum bet blackjack.
  • Hawaii (you will need at least four days to a week)
    • One thing about Hawaii is you need to pick which island(s) you want to see. They each specialize in different things.
    • in Oahu:
    • Surfing
    • Jet skiing! You can drive up to 70-75km/h on these jet skis, and its right next to the military airbase -so you can often see and hear F22 raptors flying over your head. Makes for a pretty awesome experience
    • Beautiful view of Honolulu and the surrounding ocean: about a 20-30 minute hike up.
    • on Big island:
    • Playing with molten lava! The national park on the island is alright, but this tour company actual takes you out to the lava fields and lets you get up close to molten lava. You can even poke it with a stick if you want. One of the highlights of Eric’s Hawaii trip.
    • Driving an ATV in the Hawaiian forest
      • A pretty fun ATV driving adventure, and you get to see a couple of awesome waterfalls as well
  • If you need gear, Stanford outdoor gear has awesome stuff. REI and others will rent camping gear too.

Cupertino

Checkout the Valley Fair Mall and Santana Row. Valley Fair Mall is a typical mall with everything that you expect in a Canadian mall. De Anza and Stevens Creek has plenty of eatery’s around. If you haven’t tried California Pizza Kitchen, you have to go immediately. If you want to go clubbing you have to hit up SF or Mountain View.
Malls/Shopping
Restaurants

Mountain View

Pretty much anything on Castro Street.

Palo Alto

Everything here is pretty much centered around University Ave.

San Mateo

  • Bon Chon Korean chicken wings and drumsticks. So good
  • Mango Garden Go for lunch, amazing meals and portions for under 10$
  • Ikes Best sandwich places hands down. Huge selection, either 9$ or 10$
  • Ben tre Another amazing place (Viet food). 9-12.50$ their 5 spice chicken is the best
  • Rave Burger. The best burger in San Mateo.
  • Pancho Villa Taqueria. Really awesome Mexican food, fresh juices, and smoothies
  • Mexican Indian fusion B st between 2nd and 3rd.
  • Lots of Japanese places
Restaurants/Bars
Beaches
  • Santa Cruz Boardwalk There’s a $7 bus from San Jose that takes ~50 minutes, but renting a car may be cheaper if you have a few people or don’t feel like taking the Caltrain to San Jose. There can be some pretty good surfing here depending on the season, and there are a few places to rent equipment. Get lessons if it’s your first time.

Housing

  • Foster City - Sand Cove Apartments is a good apartment complex and they are very helpful with setting up housing for people out of the country. They do flexible leasing and month to month rentals. In the past, QuinStreet co-ops have lived at the other properties owned by the parent company (Woodmont, who seem to own a lot of land around here).
  • Mountain View - Central Park at Whisman Station is a good apartment complex and they are very helpful with setting up housing for people out of the country. 20 minute walk from Caltrain. Not that convent for transit. Safeway is about 2 miles away.
  • Mountain View - AvalonBay is okay if you have 1 person in the living room. ~$2600 a month for 2 bedroom, unfurnished. Very close to the CalTrain; very close to Castro Street (restaurants) and it’s a 15 minute bike ride through a biking trail to Google/LinkedIn. They have 3 pools and a gym.
    • 2012F - Viktor - Expect to not get your deposit of $750 back because they need to “clean” the place and they charged us $600 for no reason (something’s really messed up with their internal communications). The pool is not heated. It’s a lie. It took them 2 months to sort out the fact that we weren’t supposed to pay for the first 3 days when they didn’t give us the keys. I guess they never did fix those charges. Their contract actually makes no sense if you try to read it. It’s~20-30 pages and they try to squeeze all the money you have out of you.

San Diego, CA

Food

  • Stephen waited in the rain for 2 hours to eat atPhil’s BBQ. The ribs are amazing. In 2017 Stephen visited San Diego and found it just as tasty as he remembered.

New York City, NY

  • Really expensive
  • Paying first and last months rent plus one month of security is super common.
  • Brokers fees are usually 1 month rent, often more than you’d like.
  • Brokers fees are super negotiable
  • More scammers here than any other place I encountered, see the place before you pay
  • Housing moves fast. We got an appointment to see a place, got on the subway right away and once we got out the place was already taken
  • Bring checks with you, that’s how you secure a place
  • Don’t live above 100th Street unless you aren’t afraid of anything
  • Manhattan Costs Money
  • Wall street area is surprisingly dead in the evening
  • Brooklyn is much cheaper, consider it
  • Middle of Brooklyn can be a little sketchier, but Bay Ridge is super beautiful
  • Get a MetroCard pass on your first day, $112/mo for unlimited travel is a great deal
  • Trader Joe’s is cheap
  • Chase bank is everywhere (also in Duane Reade)
  • Get a Duane Reade Card
  • Watch your stuff on the subway, wallet in front and all that stuff
  • Flying into LGA is cheaper, NJ transit is good, hard with two suitcases

Housing

  • 92Y was a great place on the upper east side (Gossip Girl zone). It was clean, had a brand new gym, weekly cleaning of sheets and stuff, had security 24/7. Be warned that many students hated it because it was only the room (kitchen and bathroom were shared). They also have a very restrictive guest policy, where guests have to be signed in for $10/night.
  • NYU offers summer housing in various locations, but demand is high and these places go fast. Be ready to start your application in January. Also, note that some buildings don’t have air conditioning, others don’t offer single rooms, and all have fixed move-in/out dates that may not fit your start/end dates. You can Airbnb for a week or two if you need a slightly longer term.
  • Educational Housing Services offers intern and student housing all over NYC throughout the year (not just summer). Think of it like residence without being affiliated to a school. These places also go fast, so be ready to apply several months beforehand. Some of their many buildings are really nice. The sales agents are really helpful, but they will hound you in a more salesman-like way than you’d expect.

Food

  • There are so many places to eat in NYC, try new stuff!
  • Yelp is your best friend. As Canadians, we underestimate it because it doesn’t have much content. In NYC every hole-in-the-wall has dozens of reviews, so use Yelp to vet the places you want to go, or just find a random restaurant.
  • Rooftops are great. These tend to be bars, but you can also find restaurants, since many bars are restaurants during the day. They offer great views, especially the ones in Brooklyn that let you see the skyline. VU Rooftop in Manhattan also has one hell of a view of the Empire State.
  • Halcart (The Halal Guys) at 53rd and 6th is to die for. Make sure you go to the right one. Get the hot sauce. There will be a line, it’s worth it.
  • Pizza - In NY it’s a different kind of food. It’s also highly contentious which place is best. One thing is certain: any random hole in the wall will still give you amazing pizza.
    • Grimaldi’s is usually number 1 or 2 on most lists. It will be packed. Go on a weeknight. You will stand outside for 20-45 minutes or more. On Saturday expect over an hour. You can do take out which will be a bit faster. Eat it under the Brooklyn bridge! Graham found this place to be decidedly average and not worth the wait.
    • Lombardi’s is really good and in Manhattan. The wait is more reasonable.
    • Artichoke Pizza has a few locations around the city, and their signature dish, the artichoke pizza, is a gooey and delicious mess.
  • Bagels. They really are better in New York. Find a high rated bagel shop near you on Yelp, it can be great for breakfast. Russ and Daughters has an amazing smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel.
  • Fat Cat is a nice bar and has lots of pool tables, ping-pong tables and even scrabble. Prices are decent. Also allows people under 21 in before a certain time.
  • Dallas BBQ is really good and has awesome prices. This place was declared sub-par by a Texan intern, who presumably knows his stuff.
  • Carmines is family style (gigantic plates) Italian food and really tasty. Pretty busy.
  • Shake Shack, “the East Coast In N Out”.
  • Prosperity Dumpling has four dumplings for $1, and they are the best dumplings I have ever tasted.
  • Smorgasburg is a food festival ever Saturday and Sunday in Brooklyn. It’s a bit pricey for street food, but tastes good. The maple lemonade is great there.
  • Sprinkles is a good desert shop (amazing cupcakes) and they have a cupcake ATM! The ATM is a novelty, but I would recommend using it at least once, since it’s cool to watch and the cupcakes are as fresh as the ones you buy in the store.

Activities

  • There is something for everybody in New York. If your underage or cash strapped, there is plenty of free and all-ages stuff to do.
  • Many companies are museum sponsors, so check to see where your ID badge will get you in free. Bloomberg ID’s will get you (and friends) in EVERYWHERE. Also, talk to your friends, and see where they can take you on their ID badges.
Attractions
  • Top of the Rock, it’s like going to the top of the Empire State Building, but better because you can actually see the Empire State Building. Very touristy, expect to be waiting a while.
  • 9/11 Memorial. The museum is amazing, but make sure you book tickets ahead of time
  • The Met is a MASSIVE museum that you’ll never be able to see all of. Lots of Greek, Roman, etc art. If you go, check out the faberge section, it’s tiny but impressive
  • The American Museum of Natural History is large and fun! Graham says it’s a classic, but it’s mostly dioramas and dinosaur bones so he got tired of it after a while.
  • Museum of Modern Art. Some of the temporary exhibits can be terrible, but some of the other ones are cool, and of course they have the classics like Salvador Dali, Picasso, Monet, Warhol, etc on the higher floors.
  • There are plenty of random little museums that are small, but have interesting content, such as the Museum of Sex (sorry, no corporate discounts here, also, VERY graphic. When I say graphic, I mean like 10ft screen playing the porno “Deep Throat” when you walk in.) or Museum of Math.
  • Kayak on the river for free! There’s also several places along the Hudson River that have this.
  • Grand Central and New York Public Library are iconic, close together, and free to look at, however, they don’t provide entertainment for long.
  • Yankee and Mets games are pretty cheep if you sit in the nosebleeds, and the stadiums are on the subway lines.
  • Subscribe to Nonsense NYC and Nerd York City for offbeat events weekly.
  • Shows
  • Try getting rush tickets (going to theatre day of and buying) or go to TKTS in time square. Both options are day of only and will be 40-60% off.
  • Shakespeare in the Park puts on amazing high quality productions of Shakespeare plays for free in a theatre in Central Park. You can get some decently well known actors such as John Lithgow in these. You can get tickets via online lottery or lining up day of. Lining up day of is the more reliable method (if you’re willing to wait literally all day), but the online lottery is possible to win, especially if you get your entire family requesting tickets for you every week. If you end up with extra tickets, return them or bring friends!
  • Comedy in NYC is amazing. Comedy Cellar (21+) was Graham’s go to place, and he even saw a surprise appearance by Aziz Ansari trying out new material. They have a two item minimum, so be prepared to buy dinner, snacks, or beer. Upright Citizen’s Brigade also has some hilarious shows. Some of the more obscure stuff is free, and still good.
  • Slam Poetry is also pretty good in NYC. Nuyorican Poet’s Cafe had some good (and not so good) talent, and is all ages.
  • Wicked and Les Miz are both good. Blue man group is strange but kinda fun.
  • Don’t get your hopes up for Book of Mormon.
Parks and Walking
  • You can spend many days exploring parks like Central Park or Prospect Park.
  • Walking:
    • Walk from Brooklyn to manhattan over the Brooklyn bridge. Daytime is better for seeing the bridge, nighttime is better for the skyline, sunset is perfect.
    • Wander any of the parks (Brooklyn bridge, central, prospect)
    • The high line (really nice hike on an elevated converted train track in the middle of manhattan)
    • Times square. You’re in New York, so go be a tourist and see it once. Go look for like 5 min then get the hell out and never go back
  • Central Park:
    • Imagine memorial
    • Chess Pavilion. They let you sign out chess pieces for free, and play on the tables around the pavilion.
    • Row boats in the lake. Go ahead, take that special someone.
    • A castle. It’s tiny, but it’s got a good view.
    • The Ramble. This is a nice, really thickly forested area that is one of the few places you might get to feel alone in NYC. Bring a book and read on the stones by the waterfall.
    • Rental bikes. Groupon usually has deals for these, or you can usually just negotiate with the guy selling them.
  • Prospect Park
    • Grand Army Plaza. It looks pretty and will make some nice photos.
    • Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Beautiful flowers, though makes sure you time your trip to get them when most are in season.
    • Brooklyn public library
    • Greenwood Cemetery is close by
Misc.
  • Williamsburg flea on Sundays is fun. There are a few flea markets in the area, go to the one on the water for sure, but look at the others as well. They have some really cool crafts, but don’t expect it to be cheap. These days area also great hipster watching opportunities.

Seattle, WA

Housing

There are a bunch of awesome places to live when in Seattle. If you’re working for a company like Amazon or Microsoft, there is a corporate housing option that you can take. Otherwise, there are a few cool places to look at, but keep in mind that some of them don’t do short-term leases. YMMV, but these are what someone found when looking for housing for a full-time position.
  • Essex Apartments - They have a lot of properties in major cities, but Seattle seems to have a few that are in great locations.
  • Equity Apartments - This seems to be the frontrunner, since they have the lowest rent on the Belltown properties, as well as the highest number of properties per capita.
  • Mill Creek Apartments - Opening two new buildings in Q3 2016, close to the downtown core.
  • AMLI Residential - Some of the interns working at Amazon were living in the AMLI South Lake Union property; the location and pricing is not terrible given the location & age of the properties.
  • Avalon Communities - Upscale (more expensive than average) apartment homes in Seattle, Redmond, Kirkland, and Bellevue.
The above places may have the following amenities (which may or may not be important to you):
  • Heating / Ventilation / Air Conditioning (sometimes referred to as HVAC) in unit
  • Washer/dryer in unit
  • Dishwasher in unit
  • On-site fitness center / party room
  • Business Center (usually a meeting room, separate computer area)

Food

If you’re a foodie, you’re in the right place! There’s a lot of awesome things to eat in Seattle. Yelp really is your best friend here. Belltown is a really nice area when it comes to certain kinds of restaurants, but remember that price tends to vary widely with location within Belltown. If you’re a foodie, be sure to check out the top 20 new cheap eats for 2016 by the Seattle Times article; all of which are worth checking out. Here’s another selection of the better places enjoyed when eating in Seattle.
  • The Grill From Ipanema - Brazilian All-You-Can-Eat Steakhouse. A little pricey ($50 per person), but great selections and cuts of meat.
  • Shiro’s Sushi - This place is always really busy, so make reservations well in advance. Also a little pricey ($65-75 per person), but this is as close to a Michelin star sushi place as it gets! Akshay recommends not making a reservation (for the bar seats, they don’t do reservations as of W2015) and ordering the omakase.
  • Sushi Kashiba - This place is “Shiro’s 2.0”; cheaper, better quality fish, and more modern look. Shiro Kashiba (the world-famous sushi chef who studied under Jiro himself) opened this place in December 2015. A must-go for sushi lovers!
  • Kushibar - Great ramen place. Has a decent selection of appetizers and other Japanese dishes as well, but coming here for the ramen is never a terrible idea. Great quality for price!
  • The Lucky Diner - A hole in the wall, for sure, but don’t be mistaken - this place has great milkshakes and burgers! Careful of the busy periods, though - the service quality won’t be as top-tier.
  • La Parisienne - This gem had well priced baguettes and drinks in a well-placed location. Quaint cafe-style establishment, $10 for breakfast! (coffee, breakfast sandwich, and buttered baguette)
  • Chili & Sesame - If you’re not into the Korean BBQ scene, and just want good-quality Korean dishes in the Belltown area, this is the place to go.
  • Paseo - Caribbean sandwich place. Great selection of sandwich types - on the top 20 list of “great cheap eats” for 2016 by the Seattle Times.
  • U:Don - A mix-and-match Udon bowl restaurant with an establishment in Capitol Hill and U-District. Great Japanese Udon - great prices, great selection of ingredients, and awesome side dish/appetizer selection.
  • MOD Pizza - One price, any number of toppings. Amazing value for price, plus the milkshakes are pretty decent. Multiple locations in Seattle / Bellevue area.

Activities & Misc. Fun

The “over-21” scene is really upbeat in the Fremont / Capitol Hill areas of Seattle. When interviewing (full-time) at Microsoft, Michael was told about the following areas by the concierge, as well as found a few places through exploration.
  • Capitol Hill:
  • Fremont:
    • TROLL - A “must-see” for artsy folk who like sculptures.
    • Fremont Bridge - if you like seeing drawbridges open multiple times a day, go here.
    • Dusty String’s - Music folk will like this. If you’re familiar with “Long & McQuade’s” in Waterloo, this is kind of like that!
    • Theo Chocolate - If you’re a chocolate person, this is a must-go-to-immediately-because-it’s-awesome.
    • Add-A-Ball - Seattle arcade, located in Fremont. Largest collection of coin-operated arcade machines in Seattle, with a great selection of pinball machines.
    • Fremont Brewery - Family-owned craft brewery, founded 2009.
    • Paseo - Fremont Caribbean restaurant. Also has a location in Ballard.
    • Nectar Lounge - Fremont lounge, offers live music, martinis, food, and atmosphere.
  • Downtown:
    • GameWorks - Mostly known for its amazing selection of arcade games, the new gaming lounge is a great place to hang out if you need the power of a fast PC / gaming system at a fair price, without bringing all of your stuff with you.
    • Italian Family Pizza - Mom-and-Pop-owned Italian pizza restaurant. Great quality pizza with a family-friendly atmosphere.
Akshay lived in Capitol Hill (W2015), and really enjoyed all it had to offer. Here’s some stuff he liked:
  • Witness - Southern-style bar, Akshay looooves their Chicken and Waffles (W2015). Be sure to go to Saturday night sermon (9 PM).
  • Rhein Haus - They have bocce. ‘nuff said.

Tourist Attractions

The main places are really only the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. More will be added as it is explored.
  • Seattle Space Needle - Local tourist attraction. Great to visit once or twice, but can get old quickly if you’re around for a while.
  • Pike Place Market - Local farmer’s market near the water. Great location, decent prices, awesome atmosphere. Fresh seafood every day!
  • Experience Music Project (EMP) - Awesome for music buffs, plenty of interactive exhibits.
  • Gas Works Park - Great view of the Seattle skyline, as well as the beautiful Lake Union.
  • Pacific Science Center - On the ASTC list of reciprocity - if you have a membership with this museum or any other one on the list, you can get admission here for free!
  • Seattle Aquarium - Opened in 1977, this is the ninth largest aquarium in the US by attendance and the top five paid visitor attraction in the Puget Sound region.

Surrounding Area

  • Redmond (where Microsoft is) and Bellevue (where other parts of Microsoft are) are the “satellite cities” of Seattle.
    • There isn’t much to do here, since usually people with families and older (retired) folk tend to reside around here. This unfortunately means that everything closes really early (before 10pm), and there is not a great many things to do at night. Most people who work at Microsoft that want to do things will travel into Seattle somehow (usually public transit - driving is hell on the 520) to have fun.
  • Mount Rainier - Great place to go hiking around and on, however during the winter it can get difficult to drive around.
  • Stevens Pass - Great skiing and snowboarding location, for both beginners and experienced folks. (small-ish mountain, little variety in slopes)
  • Snoqualmie Pass - Another great place to ski and snowboard, only an hour drive away from Bellevue!
  • Mount Baker - Closer to Bellingham (a bit further of a drive), another great place to ski and snowboard.
  • Mercer Island - Fantastic area for outdoorsy people who like exploring.
  • Norway Pass - Great hiking location - 4.4 miles, roundtrip. (860-4500ft elevation)

Getting Around

  • If you’re going to and from Redmond / Bellevue from Seattle, it’s probably best to take public transit. Ridesharing apps like Uber or Lyft will cost upwards of $15 per ride, where public transit would cost around $5.
  • For the most part, if you’re just touring around Seattle, Lyft/Uber is pretty fair. Taxis in this area are not terrible either; since they’re competing, you’ll usually pay around the same price for the same distance travelled.
  • Amazon/Microsoft provide ORCA cards. Take advantage of it. The 545 route is great to get between Redmond and Seattle, and the 550 route is great to get from Bellevue to Seattle.

Coopersburg, PA

  • Driving/Bus is probably the easiest and cheapest way to get into PA from ON.
  • Bank of America is near Lutron campus and are experienced with dealing with international co-ops
  • Quiet town
  • Minimum necessities close by (food, convenience, pharmacy, bank). Government related tasks (e.g. SSN application) have to be done in Allentown (20 min drive north).
  • Not much to do within walking distance. The area becomes more interesting with a car.
  • “Nearby” towns/cities include: Philly, NYC
  • Plaza near BOA has decent food (Mex, Chinese, Italian, diner) and two large grocery stores (it’s worth getting the “bonus cards”)
  • Musikfest, a popular free music festival during summer
  • Climate is similar to ON but slightly warmer on average

Pittsburgh, PA

  • Pittsburgh is not super big so biking and busing are pretty decent means of transportation. Though be warned about biking since there are a lot more hills than you would expect.
  • There is a pretty vibrant downtown and a bunch of cool neighborhoods to check out.
  • There is a very vibrant underground music and arts scene which is not closed off to outsiders. There are “frist Friday” gallery crawls that are free and take place on the first Friday of every month in Garfield (Garfield is a neighborhood).
  • There is a lot of nature in Pittsburgh and you can go hiking in Frick Park or Schenly Park.
  • If you like public markets the Strip is the place to be. It has local merchants and awesome restaurants and cafes.

Eats

  • Peace, love and little donuts - They sell tiny donuts in the Strip that may be more delicious than Tim’s.
  • Impressionz - A hole in the wall jerk chicken place in East Liberty. This place is super small and the owner is super friendly.
  • Dave and Andy’s - An ice cream place in Oakland beside Schenly Park.
  • Jean-Marc Chatellier - An amazing French Bakery

Austin, TX

  • Live music capital of the world, try to attend at least one live music event
  • Home to SXSW, also hosted the Formula 1 in Nov 2012
  • Don’t believe anyone who tries to intimidate you with tales of barren landscapes and cowboys. Austin is nothing like that!
  • College football is a huge deal. The colour of the Texas Longhorns (University of Texas) is burnt orange.
  • Austinites LOVE their food. When someone mentions a new food place, everyone else chimes in with opinions/makes a mental note to try it.
  • Way lower cost of living than SF, especially housing.
  • A very dog-friendly city. There are dog parks, dog-friendly restaurants and bars, even dog bakeries.
  • Very biker-friendly city too.
  • Public transport sucks. It’s impossible to get around without a car. GET A CAR.
  • Watch out for deer crossing the roads/highways further out from downtown Austin.
  • Vintage shops, thrift shops and local art along the street/bazaars make good places to shop for gifts.
  • Downtown Austin is where the University of Texas is. West Lake is the richest area in Austin, and also where Bazaarvoice is located.
  • Weather can get up to 40 Celsius (110 F) in the summer, and drops to 30 Celsius around mid-Sept. Even in December, weather might be something crazy like 23 Celsius.
  • If it ever snows in the winter, nobody dares to drive and no one goes to work.
  • Shopping carts are also known as ‘baskets’, or ‘buggies’. Use at own risk.

Transport

  • Get a car, or a friend with one. If you don’t live downtown, it’s impossible to get anywhere without driving. Places in Austin are very spread out. Ask your company to subsidize/sponsor one, or give you a transport stipend. If you are under 21, make sure you get this straightened out beforehand, because car rental companies are iffy about car insurance, so you might not qualify for rental.
  • If you don’t have a car, be prepared to spend a ton of money cabbing, even for trivial things like groceries. Ask Xenia for details about living by the 360 highway in West Lake (there is nothing there).
  • Yellow Cab Taxi Austin has amobile app that you can use to get a cab. It’s nice if you have no clue what your exact location is, just use the app and GPS it. Bonus: you don’t have to speak to the operator and repeat your personal details over and over again. You also get to track your cab as it arrives and they will send you an email when your cab is 0.4 miles away. Note: the waiting time for cabs is 20 minutes on average.
  • Public transport (buses - Capital Metro) only exists near downtown and many people have negative opinions about it. Still, if you are spending the whole day downtown and don’t want to walk or cab, it is a viable option. Xenia used it once during the Formula 1 weekend and it did its job.
  • Austin is home toMellow Johnny’s and is a very bike-friendly place. People often bike along the 360 highway, and there are nice trails in the local parks. Bear in mind there are some very hilly and sloped areas so figure out if you are capable of biking those paths before getting a bike.
  • Whether biking or driving, WATCH OUT FOR DEER, especially on a highway. They can cause a lot of damage. Actually, watch out for them when walking to work too (true story).

Food

  • Tex-Mex (Texas-Mexican) is amazing and very common in Austin. When eating Tex-Mex, remember to get queso, because melted cheese! Good place are Chuy’s, Torchy’s, Trudy’s.
  • Texas BBQ: try Rudy’s, Salt Lick, County Line, Franklin’s, Iron Works. Texas BBQ is a must-try! Marbled beef brisket, mm. Ask your colleagues about their favourite places too, they will likely all have different opinions. And then you can try every single place.
  • Food trucks are delicious and a very different experience. Some delicious ones are: Peached Tortilla (Vietnamese/Mex fusion), Chilantro (Korean/American fusion), Be More Pacific, Mighty Cone. Some food trucks are always moving around, with different schedules and location, so track them down online, or you might get lucky and find them at an event/music festival. Other food trucks stay in ‘food truck parks’, where there are a bunch of food trucks along with some seating areas, completely outdoors. There is one right along South Congress, very strongly recommended.
  • The Oasis: overlooks Lake Travis, go there for a beautiful view. Tourists like to go during sunset.
  • Hopdoddy: Fantastic burgers.
  • Sway: Thai fusion. Expensive, but so delicious. Dishes are served to share. Try the drinking vinegar too.
  • Uchi (Tyson Cole), or Uchiko (Paul Qui). Japanese fusion, dishes are served to share. Very expensive, chef’s tasting for 2 can go up to $250, consists of 10 dishes with dessert. Best meal of my life!
  • South Congress: Magnolia Cafe (24/7 diner), South Congress Cafe, Homeslice (gourmet pizza), food trucks.
  • Other places: Foreign and Domestic, Barley Swine, La Condensa, East Side Pie, Contego, Taverna, Mandola’s Italian Market, Phil’s Ice House.

Shopping

  • SoCo (South Congress). A street of one-of-a-kind, mostly local vintage/thrift shops. You can also find roadside stalls selling local art/crafts. There’s also a big bazaar that goes on in the evening of First Thursday (of every month). If you’re hunting for a pair of cowboy boots, Allen’s Boots is cowboy boot heaven. You might also find a gem of a vintage pair hidden in nearby shops.
  • The Domain: outdoor mall, home to an Apple AND Microsoft store. Austin Cake Balls is also here, try the red velvet! The Domain is a huge mall with more high-end, branded stores. They do have some affordable shops though, the first H&M in Austin opened at the Domain in 2012. It takes forever to walk from one end to another and there are two ‘halves’ to this mall separated by Macy’s. Do some planning before you go here.
  • Barton Creek Mall: indoor mall, full of typical stores, makes for good shopping.
  • The Arboretum: Another outdoor mall, located near The Domain.
  • North Cross Mall: Chaparral Ice Skating rink is located here, and you can get a discount on entry price if you check in with Yelp.

Activities

  • These accounts on Twitter are all relevant to news/music/food in Austin. CultureMap Austin and do512 have good daily feeds on events.
  • Alamo Drafthouse: watch a movie while having a full meal and a beer. Ninja-like waiters take your order (written) at the beginning of the movie, and serve your food in 30 minutes or so. The Alamo Drafthouses also do replays of old movies and special screenings for holidays, etc.
  • Take a segway tour around downtown!
  • Music festivals: SXSW, ACL, Fun Fun Fun Fest, and a ton of others. Live concerts too!
  • 6th Street: a street of clubs and bars. East 6th is also dubbed ‘dirty six’, West 6th is where the classier places are. There are some under-21 places, one of them is ‘The Library’. A lot of the bars always have live bands playing.
  • University of Texas (UT). Attend a football game and soak in the Longhorn spirit.
  • Go water biking. If you play it smart, you can make it during sunset and watch the bats (population of 1.5mil) streaming out from underneath the Congress bridge.
  • Armadillo Art Bazaar: occurs before Christmas, fantastic for gift-shopping.
  • Ice skate on the roof of Whole Foods during ‘winter’.
  • Go jet skiing! Watch out for deals for other outdoor activities on LivingSocial/Groupon/Amazon Local, you can get up to 50% off on activities like paddle boating, kayaking, etc.
  • Visit a shooting range.
  • Volunteer at Dance International in exchange for Ballroom dancing lessons for the whole term.
  • Visit San Antonio: the Riverwalk is a very touristy place, but it’s gorgeous and worth a visit.
  • Ride a horse or something.

Chicago, IL

  • Welcome to the Midwest! Chicago is the only city that matters around here.
  • Climate similar to Toronto, being on the shore of Lake Michigan. Not very windy. (“Windy City” nickname is from politics, not weather)
  • Lots of good info on r/chicago
  • Avoid Jackson SSN office like the plague. Go to the one on 1233 W Adams instead.

Transportation

  • CTA is really convenient. Unlike the TTC, your transfer does not have to be in a continuous direction of travel. You can take anything you like within the transfer window (i.e. free roundtrip).
  • If you take the train at 3 or 4am, then you are literally walking into the homeless’ house. Try sit close to the train conductor and always stay awake.
  • Beware of Ventra double-charging. Ventra uses standard RFID technology as your credit card, so your transit fare may be charged to the wrong card if you slap your entire wallet on the machine.
  • Metra is commuter rail, often only run during weekday rush hours (like most GO Trains). It’s also more expensive than CTA.
  • Pace is the regional bus service that goes to the suburbs.
  • Divvy is the bike-sharing program, like Toronto’s Bixi.
  • Chicago drivers are among the worst in America. Be careful.
  • Taxis are easy to come by in Downtown/Loop. Sketchiness vary. Try not to use credit cards on taxis because your credit card info may get stolen. If you do attempt to use credit card, some may tell you that the machine is down, which more often than not is a lie.

Food

  • Near North Side has a lot of food options. Although a lot of them are fancy restaurants, there are also many affordable ones. Giordano’s and Portillo’s were wonderful.
  • There are a lot of good restaurants in Chinatown. Take the Red line to Cermak-Chinatown. Along S Archer Ave, you will find Lao Sze Chuan’s real Fuqi feipian, and Ming-Shun’s kickass dim sum. There are too many good ones to list here.
  • Around Millenium Park, there is Wildberry for good brunch and Mariano’s for cheap (relative to the loop) food.
  • Good Vietnamese food in Uptown / Argyle area.
  • Take the Pink Line to 18th (Pilsen) to eat great Hispanic/Mexican food. (Do not go after dark)

Safety

  • Some areas of the city are not safe. Always be aware of your surroundings, and take appropriate measures to protect yourself. Use common sense.
  • Crime data is available on Chicago Tribune and Chicago Police Department.
Avoid:
  • West of Western Avenue if you are south of North Ave.
  • South of I-55 Stevenson (Lakefront, Hyde Park/Jackson Park, IIT Campus, uChicago Campus, and U.S. Cellular Field are OK during the day; take Jackson Park Express to Hyde Park area). Despite claims that Bronzeville is gentrifying, it is still quite sketchy.
  • CTA trains south of Roosevelt or Cermak-Chinatown, especially at night.
  • Note that those are just guidelines, as there are no definite boundaries between a “bad” and a “good” area. Use your best judgement.

Housing

  • The usual websites will do. If you speak Chinese, check out CSSA-IIT or Chinese of Chicago for housing. Most are near Chinatown, IIT, UIC, or Loyola.
  • Try to target your research on the North and North West of Chicago, for safety reasons. Stay close to the ‘L’. Here are some nice neighbourhoods you’d want to stay in:
    • Lincoln Park
    • Bucktown
    • Wicker Park (Not West Wicker Park)
    • Ukrainian Village
    • East Village
    • Noble Square
    • Logan Square
    • Near North Side (Expensive)
    • South Loop
    • Lakeview
  • The price for a rent in those neighbourhoods is between 500$ and a 1000$/month, for a shared apartment with your own room. Normally the rooms are not furnished, so always ask details.
  • Also, in every case, you will have to pay two rents the first month, one for your rent and one for the deposit.
  • Demographic data is available on NY Times.

Activities

  • Many events throughout the year. Check Reddit, Yelp, Timeout, etc…
  • Lakefront Trail is beautiful.
  • Lots of parks near the lake that you can explore.
  • Wicker Park is hipster central. Boystown is gay people zone, also very hipster.
  • Bunch of theaters.
  • Amazing architecture everywhere, many Frank Lloyd Wright buildings here
  • Museums are everywhere as well. Make sure you give them your Chicago ZIP code, and ask for Chicago resident discount. The biggest ones are Museum of Science & Industry, Art Institute, and Field Museum. (Note to Torontonians: ROM is bigger than Field Museum)

Boston, MA

Food

  • Being a seaside city, Boston is well-known for their seafood. Classic dishes are clam chowder, lobster rolls, and oysters. Some great options are:
  • Some local chains worth checking out:
    • Boloco has awesome burritos that are both healthy and affordable
    • Tasty Burger is a well-known chain in Boston that serves great burgers, and is often open very late
    • Clover is a new chain serving some fantastic and simple vegeterian meals
  • The food trucks are great street eats and are scattered all throughout Boston. The city of Boston provides a list for your convenience
  • You generally can’t go wrong in Downtown Boston (Park Street or Downtown Crossing stops on the ‘T’)

Living

  • Boston is an expensive city to live in. Multiple sources (1)(2)will put it as the third most expensive rent city, behind San Francisco and New York City.
  • Public Transportation in Boston isn’t fantastic, so a big thing to think about is how you’ll get from where you live to where you work. For example, all of Boston’s subway lines connect in the downtown core, which means if you live on one line and work on another, you’ll likely end up having to go into the city and then back out as part of your commute. Therefore:
    • Biking is super popular if you can
    • living and working on the same line makes a lot of sense
  • To get a sense of what cost of living is like on various subway lines, check this out
    • Note: these medians are…medians. If you’re willing to look, it’s very possible to find housing significantly below the medians here.
  • Myles recommends these neighborhoods for a co-op term:
    • Central Square: Between Harvard and MIT, you’re in a young and culturally diverse environment with a ton going on, and quick access to the city
    • Porter Square: A bit more suburban than Central square, but typically less expensive
    • Jamaica Plain: Another young and hip neighborhood southwest of Boston
  • Less expensive options can be found by living in the geater suburbs of Boston. Some areas to check out:
    • Framingham
    • Malden
    • Waltham
  • Avoid South Boston if you can for safety reasons
  • As previously mentioned, Craigslist and Padmapper are good resources. However, depending on the term you’re arriving, it may be difficult to find housing for just four months. You may have to end up going through a broker
  • Some Boston-specific resources for finding housing:

Activities

  • History
    • The Freedom Trail is a great Historic walk through the city of Boston
    • The North End is quaint and old, definitely worth walking around
  • Museums
    • The Museum of Fine Art (MFA) and The institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) are both fantastic, and have First Friday events worth going to (21+)
    • Harvard Art Museum is worth seeing
    • The Museum of Science is cool to check out
  • Walking around
    • Harvard and MIT campuses are both accessible by the ‘T’
    • The Boston Common and the Boston Public Gardens are beautiful parks in downtown Boston.
    • Mt. Auburn Cemetery is gorgeous and a must-see
  • Summer
    • If you’re into fitness, there’s an outdoor gym at the intersection of Silber and Backstreet near Boston University
    • During the summer, there are free movies played on the Esplanade along Charles river. Schedule can be found here
    • Revere beach is beautiful, although somewhat crowded, during the summer
    • Boston is big on sailing, and there are tons of sailing clubs you can join to learn!
  • Shopping
    • The state of Massachusetts has no tax on clothing or footwear! Recommend stocking up here while you can.
    • Boylston and Beacon Street in Back Bay have a ton of shopping options
    • Assembly Row is a relatively new mall on the orange line with a great movie theatre
  • Fenway Park is always a fun experience, even if you don’t like baseball

Transportation

  • Boston’s transit system, called the ‘T’, is the easiest way to get around Boston. A monthly pass is very reasonably priced.
  • Driving in Boston is a nightmare. The city is 400 years old. Most of its roads were intended for horse drawn carriages. Avoid this if you can
  • Biking is also a very popular option given the density of the city. Consider renting a bike, bringing your own, or using the Hubway service

Full-Time

When you finish your degree, you may wish to pursue full-time employment with an employer in the US. Some may which to take a return offer to their final term employer or try some other companies.
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