Let’s say I go to college in Florida and I live in Miami and I want to go to Tampa is it normal to take a bus, drive or would I fly in? What would an American do? - inquiring international student who lives on a 20 mile island haha
An American might start by googling for the distance and a map program that shows driving or bus average time. Then google up some airline info.
So drive about 4 hours, bus about 13, fly about an hour (assuming a non-stop,) plus TSA (pre-boarding security check) of, well, call it two addl hours.
Google 
An American would rent a car and go. No one takes a plane for a 4 hr drive unless they are going for a same day meeting for work, or have a medical reason not to drive. Driving can make you crazy in Tampa because there are so many old people traveling at retirement speed.
If you’re truly concerned specifically just with Miami to Tampa, you’ve got your answer. If that was just an example and you might want to travel between other cities, I’d add trains to the list of possibilities.
For instance (you may want to look at a map now), I live outside of New York City. To travel up and down the east coast, as far north as Boston, at least and as far south as Washington DC, I’d likely take train (Amtrak) that actually travels all the way up Maine and down to Florida. The US doesn’t have the excellent train system that Europe does, it there are places where it’s an excellent option.
You can bus but people bring pets aboard like leatherback turtles, pelicans, armadillos. Leg room can be an issue. Better to take the water taxi.
You probably can’t rent a car as a freshman though @TooOld4School . Unless you’re a very old freshman haha.
Miami to Tampa is a 4 hr drive, probably a 5 hr trip on the greyhound or similar bus service. Ideally, I would either drive or take amtrak for that distance. It’s not worth flying imo. You have to get to/from the airports, deal with TSA, and just airport lines (and food) in general.
From a formal rental car agency, you have to be 21 to rent a car, and pay more if you are between 21-25. (25+ is the standard age without paying a premium.) Also if you don’t have car insurance (which you won’t being an international without a car) you would need to get insurance from the car rental agency which adds to the price of renting. Just things to consider…
Also, many colleges have Zip cars on campus for the students to rent by the hour or by day. You join for a very small fee (like $25-100 annual fee) then you are able to use the car for the cost of gas…not sure about their insurance stuff.
In college you will likely meet people with cars or find other creative ways to get here or there with friends. You won’t be stuck anywhere - kids get out and about.
Aren’t zip-cars kindof expensive if you’re doing more than just going to ikea and picking up a cabinet?
@philbegas I’ve also heard ZipCars are pretty expensive for long trips (never rented one myself). Here is a [Consumer Reports](ZipCar vs. Hertz Rental Car Comparison - Consumer Reports News) article comparing ZipCar vs. Hertz - note the price difference for a weeklong trip.
@classof2017345 If you do not have a driver’s license and a car, the best method is likely to search for Miami-Tampa shuttles or buses (most pairs of close major cities have these). Or if you are traveling with someone else, carpool with them and offer to pay for part of the gas.
I used to have a Zipcar account before I got a car - it is quite expensive for day trips. Regular 5-passenger cars cost about $70/day, whereas with a regular car rental company like Enterprise or Avis you can rent a small car for $25-35/day (and sometimes cheaper - I once rented a car in San Antonio for $13/day. I paid more in under-25 fees than I did in the actual rental fee).
For that reason, I never rented Zipcars for longer than a couple hours to run an errand.
Enterprise also has a car-sharing program like Zipcar, called Enterprise CarShare. Interestingly, their hourly and daily rates are similar to Zipcar’s about $8/hour and $70/day, leaving me to wonder why you would ever do a CarShare daily rental would you could just do regular Enterprise!
You could also take a bus, which I would say is likely the most economical option. Both Greyhound and Megabus run routes from Miami to Tampa (and also to Orlando). Round-trip tickets om Megabus on that route look to be about $45; Greyhound is similar (about $50). Sometimes if you book early enough on Megabus you can get a $5 or even $1 fare, but there’s usually only a few per route and you have to book faaaaaaar in advance.
As an international you will need to learn to drive in the USA. Look into that before driving on your tiny country’s license, if that is what you have. You should get on road lessons regardless because US driving (highway especially) is going to be a huge shock for anyone with limited driving. Like as not you would have to take a test, period.
Rent a car if you go there occasionally.
Buy a car if you need to get there many times (as well as other places)
Driving is the easiest option. Flying is more expensive and takes just as long when you factor in security/luggage/etc.