![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.international-student-office.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/WU_Building-Logo-1A-1-300x197.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\nWestcliff University, California<\/p>\n
Location: Irvine & Long Beach, CA Period: March \u2013 June<\/p>\n
When planning your finances, you have to expect some upfront costs. For the visa (including the SEVIS fee), you should budget between $300 and $400. Flight costs depend heavily on when you book. Since I booked relatively last-minute, my one-way flight (including two large suitcases) was around \u20ac700. If you book earlier, you can usually find flights for around \u20ac500 per way. Another crucial requirement before departure is arranging an international health insurance plan to ensure you are medically covered while in the US.<\/p>\n
Southern California can be pricey, but with the right strategy, you can save a lot of money: \u2022 Rent: You should budget around $1,000 per month for a room or apartment.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Car: A car is definitely necessary on-site. The cost for the car rental was around $700 to $750 per month.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Flatmate Tip: If you team up with another person and share both the rent and the car, you can significantly lower your fixed monthly costs\u2014ideally to around $1,000 per person.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Groceries: There are excellent and budget-friendly grocery stores like Trader Joe\u2018s or even Aldi, where you can buy good food for little money and cook for yourself.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Eating Out: Eating out every day is not recommended, as restaurant prices will quickly drain your budget.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Gas: Filling up your tank is much cheaper than in Germany. A full tank costs around $55 to $60 (about \u20ac50), depending on the car.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A very important practical tip concerns payments: You should definitely open an account with providers like Revolut or Wise. Although German credit cards work perfectly fine in the US, they often come with very high foreign transaction fees, which can easily be avoided this way.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Auslands-BAf\u00f6G: I highly recommend applying for German Auslands-BAf\u00f6G, as it is a massive financial help. If eligible, you receive up to \u20ac1,300 per month in financial support. Additionally, BAf\u00f6G covers part of the costs for your international health insurance. On top of that, you get a travel allowance of \u20ac500 per flight\u2014meaning a total of \u20ac1,000 in support for your round-trip flights.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Scholarships: You can apply for scholarships directly through Westcliff University or through the sending organization (where one-time grants of around $500 are often available\u2014it\u2018s best to double-check directly).<\/p>\n
\u2022 Family: Alongside public and institutional funding, financial support from your parents naturally plays a major and vital role in covering the remaining expenses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When planning your finances, you have to expect some upfront costs. For the visa (including the SEVIS fee), you should budget between $300 and $400. Flight costs depend heavily on when you book<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":121044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78,245,52,66,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-semester-abroad-usa","category-study-abroad-usa-student-stories","category-study-abroad","category-study-abroad-2","category-study-abroad-usa"],"yoast_head":"\n