Moving from India to Dallas (Plano, Richardson: apartment, rent, credit)

[FidoDidoLK]

Hi Everybody,

Just joined in and am really impressed with the people out here trying to help each other in whatever way one can!

Infact, even i am looking for some good guidance. I have applied for a job wherein I will be required to shift from Mumbai, India to Dallas, Texas. I am likely to be accompanied with my wife & 12 year old son (now in Grade 8). My work place will be in Dallas. My spouse will pre-dominantly be a house-wife.

I am looking for advise w.r.t. the following 2 most important aspect:

(i) Schooling option for my son. He has just passed out Grade 7 from the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). Are there great schools which are affiliated to the Cambridge IGCSE or other better options (in case it does not hamper shifting from one board to another). Also looking for an idea on the cost of education;

(ii) Based on the main requirement of schooling for my son, which is the most appropriate area to reside keeping in mind that i will need to drive/travel to Dallas for work. What will be the likely dent to my pocket on account of accommodation (mostly a rented one)?

Thanks & Regards.

[chenven]

Not familiar with the IGCSE that you mentioned.
However when we moved here (from another part of the US but still...) what I found was that if I called the schools themselves directly, the staff was usually very helpful. So you may want to try that by calling a few private schools and even a few school districts here. You may also want to try contacting IGCSE itself to see if they have a list of affiliated schools.

One thing I want to mention is that there are several school districts here in the DFW area that are excellent and also routinely admit children schooled in other nations. Graduates from ISDs like Coppell, Southlake, Plano etc. go onto ivy league colleges in US. If you don;'t particularly have to continue in IGCSE, then I recommend you look at this as a good viable option.

The ideal commute to Dallas has been discussed in this forum a lot, so I recommend you check out existing threads. There's little I can add to that, except this : Do you have a preference to commute via public transportation vs. driving a car to work ? That will be a key differentiation and one thing I have noticed is that people relocating from Asia or Europe seem to have a public transportation preference. You can find DART maps on the DART website that may help you decide. However, do not really count on being able to use public transportation for your daily life like dropping your children off to school. I'm not saying its not possible. Just unlikely that you will be able to, so validate it if you need to. Is that a factor ?

There are some other useful tips on a recent thread where someone from Singapore was asking about relocating to Dallas. Check it out.

[lifofifo]

Originally Posted by FidoDidoLK

(ii) Based on the main requirement of schooling for my son, which is the most appropriate area to reside keeping in mind that i will need to drive/travel to Dallas for work. What will be the likely dent to my pocket on account of accommodation (mostly a rented one)?

Assuming you'll end up in a suburb like Richardson or Plano, you'd be looking at around $1500/month for a 2 bed apartment.

[jacobr]

Hi FidoDido,

There is no concept of IGCSE, ICSE, CBSE or central school here in the US. You either send your kid to a Public school (Which most parents do), Private school or you home school them.

You have good population of Indian's living in places like Coppell, Plano, Valley Ranch and public schools are really good out there. Will you be working in downtown Dallas? A lot of it depends on where you will work and how long you are willing to commute. Hope this helps!!

[jacobr]

Originally Posted by FidoDidoLK

Hi Everybody,

Also looking for an idea on the cost of education;

It is kind of free in Public schools. O'Coz the property tax you pay includes it if you own a home here. Private schools can be costlier..

[prasen]

Schooling i am not too sure. i guess either you send them to public schools or private. I am not aware of any accredited international programs.

having said that, i believe your child should be able to cope up with the public schools here. The public schools from what i am told are best in copell and Plano.

If you are traveling to dallas downtown plano might be a bit far. Coppell or Plano though i would say go for Copell. i am guessing housing should be upwards of 1500$/month.

if you are willing to commute say 45-60 minutes a day i would say Plano.

[dabrawl]

I am moving to Richardson and the public schools in areas are very good(Dallas zipcode but Richardson school). The commute shouldnt me more than 30 mins and the area has a very nice mature suburban feel to it. You could go more north into Plano, Allen, Mckinney but keep in mind the traffic get exponentially higher along with travel time. Obviously if you want to look at other considerations like population of Indians then further North is better. Rent will vary but a decent 2-3 bedroom place around 2000 sq ft should be around $2K a month.
Private schools cost you anywhere starting from $12K upwards per year, so if you can afford that then living in Dallas shouldnt be a problem.

[MovingtoDFW]

I think Coppell / Valley ranch will be a good fit.
About 30 minutes drive to Dallas each way, good public (i.e. free) schools. The "boards" here are local / state.

Unlike in India, where a significant chunk of the middle class sends kids to private schools, the vast majority of parents in the US send kids to public schools. Private schools can be very expensive, $20 K or higher per year.

He wouldn't have much trouble with the academics, but the culture shock can be significant.

[pistisan]

Where is you work location, and how do you plan to commute to work? How much do you want to spend on rent? The more details you provide the better we can provide you the area to settle in, but generally speaking the more affluent a neighborhood, the higher ranked their school system "ISD" is. Here, with a few exception, most people drive to work. It seems from your post, the key consideration is your son's education, check out other post on this PISD/FISD, etc. There is a lot of debate and opinion on this but all of them provide a great education and ranked highly at National levels.

[Big G]

The closest thing to the IGCSE that you're going to find in the USA (apart from a (very) few Brit-specific schools, none of which are in Dallas) will be the Middle Years Program(me) of the International Baccalaureate.

Middle years | 11 to 16 | International Baccalaureate® - International Baccalaureate®

There are a number of schools in the area offering this program.