One year at UCLA - living costs

International Students
1

Hi everyone

I’m a soon-to-be graduate student currently in Copenhagen, and I’m going to UCLA for exchange for one academic year (around 11 months). I have travelled in the US and California a few times, but even so, I find myself knowing too little about the pricing level on specific items when creating my budget.

I have set my budget for accommodation at around 800 dollars, for an off-campus room in the adjacent neighborhoods of UCLA. Does that sound reasonable? And which standard would I be to expect from something in that price range? Private room, shared room (I would prefer having my own room, as I’m soon 27 and moved on from the dorm-lifestyle)?

Another issue is transportation. Being in LA, especially as an international student, I have the sense that it can be very time consuming relying on public transportation. I thought a more flexible option could be having access to a car, but which solution is best, and which are the prices? I have no idea what a used car costs, including insurance and what else. I know that a long-term rental is an option too, advantage is that insurance is often included - but again, I have no idea of costs.

I would be so happy if anyone could give me some advice regarding this. I’m so excited about going to UCLA!

2

I’d recommend you contact UCLA’s housing office, and the department where you’ll be studying. The latter in particular might be helpful - they might know some “unadvertised” options through faculty, subletting from other grad students, etc.

As you see in this link, the options advertised even locally are pricey:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/search/apa?query=UCLA&s=100

As to a car, I’d wait until you see exactly what your needs are. It’s true that public transportation in CA/US isn’t as well established as it is in Europe, but there are ways to get around UCLA without a car. Besides local buses/train, there is Uber and hourly car rentals (zipcar), great weather means you can ride a bike/scooter pretty much all the time.