Hello there. Are you doing well? Lovely. I had two London-related dreams last night, and one was simply that the prices of plane tickets went down. Yeah, sad. The weird thing is, they actually had.
I think I might be psychic.
Anyway, there are a lot of websites out there aimed at making the transition from America to the UK as easy as possible but wading through them can be a bit overwhelming. I’ve compiled some of the websites that have helped me the most in preparation for my move.
UK-Yankee Forum: I would say this website has been THE most helpful, since, as a forum, it is updated just as regularly as anybody needs it to be and you can ask individual, specialized questions. The people on this forum KNOW what they’re talking about. However, I will say you can spend too much time on here and make yourself worry about things that don’t pertain to you or have the smallest chance of happening. If you’re a student like me, start with this board.
UKCISA: This site will take you through the basics of applying for school, getting funding, figuring out where to live, and getting your visa. This is for the beginner who needs an overview of the process.
Homestay: Like Airbnb, but you’ll be living with the family who owns the home. This is a good alternative to hostels or arranging for flats you’ve never seen. A great advantage to this is that you’re living with people who know the city.
Zoopla: If you plan on living on your own or buying, check out Zoopla. You can search by the kind of property you’re looking for or area such as post code. Even if you planning on having flat mates, it can be a good springboard to give you an idea of what’s available in any given area.
Flatshare: The most popular website for finding flatmates, although there are more out there. You can search for any number of factors including preferences in the ideal flatmate, but I tend to just search by location and price. It’s good to look at even before you’re serious about looking just to give you an idea of what’s available and what you can expect price-wise.
Of interest:
London property prices by tube line map, international scholarships, check to see if your creative programme is accredited
This is by no means a complete or exhaustive list. It’s just a good jumping off point from which to start preparing.
americanbookwormlondon.wordpress.com 