FAQ
Q: Did you manage to open an account and cash your checks?
A: I did manage to get a bank account set up last year (2010 summer). First Security Bank
on Main Street allow you to open up accounts which do
not require a certain length of custom. I think the problem with the Sub was that they wanted you to have like 4 months at least
before you can close the account.
First Security let me close the account at the end of the summer- though I believe they have lots of branches in Montana and the
West Coast so if people are travelling after the REU that might be an option as well. Plus the staff are really nice haha. - Graham Kerr
Q. I'm looking at getting an American express travellers cheque
card to act as a cash card while I'm there. Is the stipend paid
directly into my bank account here, or will i need to set one up
for example once i arrive? If so then there's not much point in
the first card.
A. <From former REU student Antonia Wilmot-Smith, from St. Andrews
University in Scotland>: When MSU gave me a cheque (aka.
check) I went to the bank that is in
their student union
building. Amazingly you can just hand them the cheque
and 2 forms
of ID (passport, driving photocard) and they will then hand
over
the cash for the amount on the cheque in exchange for a
thumbprint.
It does mean you have quite a lot of cash in your
room but I'm sure the
physics dept. would be happy to store some
if you are worried about that.
I think you can open a bank account if you want, although I found
the
American banking system so bewidering that I didn't bother.
(They have
lots of different types of current account which don't
necessarily have
couterparts here, you get charged to have [at
least some of] them and
basically don't earn any interest on the
money.) If you do get an account,
watch out for which bank you
choose, some of them will be local to the
town or state - some
students from other states had to open whole new bank
accounts to
pay in their money.
The REU allowance is very generous and everything is really cheap
over
there such that it you wont spend it all on normal living.
You can get a
meal out for $5-6 dollars and it is enough food for
days. So I lived from
the cash of the first cheque or so and took
the remaining ones home with
me. You can pay them into your bank
account here - and you have to with
the last cheque which they
post to you after the REU is over. Then the
trouble is that the
stipend is basically worth nothing over here
because of the
exchange rate.
There is a good strategy of buying anything
you need/want
(like a laptop, clothes, climbing gear etc etc) over there.
It
seems like getting things for free (things tend to cost the
same
number of dollars as they would pounds and the number of
dollars you get is ... well, a lot). And make the most of anything like
white-water
rafting that costs money. Or go on holiday afterward
in the US with the
money, or live like a king for the summer or
something - for example car
rental is really cheap too (about $35
for a day, and petrol is almost
free) so you can just go on a
random drive around the state.
I guess that's a really long way of saying that I wouldn't
bother
with an american express card.
This response is quite specific to Britain I suppose and the
current
exchange rates, sorry I can't be more general.
Best Wishes,
Antonia