Moving to San jose From Greece. (San Francisco, Sunnyvale: crime rate, find a job, neighborhood)

[Flatro1]

I am a 22 year old mechanical engineer from Greece and I definitely want to move to northern California.I am thinking of taking some graduate studies in San jose in order to be able to find a job after I finish my studies there.I have 50000 dollars.Is it enough for the tuition in San Jose state university?I have sent an email to ask them but I am waiting for a reply.I am thinking of trying to obtain a green card by the DV program the US government does every year.At what month graduate studies begin?Also I want to know what are the pros and cons of living in northern California.I was thinking about san francisco but I saw in SFPD site that they have over 2000 crimes a week.

[Nell Plotts]

You must always look at the crime rate (crimes/population), not raw numbers. Also the crime rate varies by neighborhood. This is true world wide, even in Athens.

The cost of living in the Bay area is stunning, for example San Francisco is more expensive than New York City. There are books available in the US that I am confident that you can purchase through Amazon that detail college costs for many universities. Use them to evaluate your financial needs.

Most of the engineering programs on the west coast are rigorous, make sure that you are well prepared as you will be competing in the classroom with many of Asia's excellent students.

[Heidi60]

Northern California is one of the best places to live in the country but with it comes a very hight cost of living. San Jose is about 165% of the national average and Palo Alto is closer to 200%. You would need a lot of resources to compete for housing. You might check out some company's web sites that you are interested in as they often have relocation packages to assist new hires. Other than the high cost of living, we have the best fresh produce and the highest gas prices. There are crime reporting sites which I would advice checking prior to moving into a specific neighborhood. Generally, the eat side of San Jose has higher rate than the west side or some of the nearby cities such as Sunnyvale or Palo Alto. Isnt' tuition information on the SJ web site? I think they also get federal dollars for foreign students which might help you. This is rough time here and many unemployed people have returned to school to improve their skills in hopes of finding jobs so it might be a busy time for the school. Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Flatro1

I am a 22 year old mechanical engineer from Greece and I definitely want to move to northern California.I am thinking of taking some graduate studies in San jose in order to be able to find a job after I finish my studies there.I have 50000 dollars.Is it enough for the tuition in San Jose state university?I have sent an email to ask them but I am waiting for a reply.I am thinking of trying to obtain a green card by the DV program the US government does every year.At what month graduate studies begin?

There is very little chance they will respond to your email because the information you need is probably available online:

Academic Programs

[Evergreen7276]

Big Mistake. You will hate San Jose.

[jovial gent]

you don't want to live in san fran and commute to SJSU....would be a pain. bay area is great though....don't sweat crime or the haters ITT

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Evergreen7276

Big Mistake. You will hate San Jose.

If you hate yourself. And broadcast it to random people online (in other words, ignore the haters).


SJSU will do you just fine, and there are many options for different types of housing here, albeit not cheap. Look to share housing with other students to save money and get acquaited with others in your situation